Requests...

I'd love to see some copies of things like Kiri's (and others) timetables, "Where's Wally" sheets, and other templates used on here as inspiration.

Unprompted comments from children in room 21

The following comments were made by children when I asked them to explain how Karawhiua works in their room.

It makes it fun
It makes us think harder.
We get on with things and actually do rather than just talking.
Everyone gets on with work, so it is quieter

In the hour I was in the class, Toby completed 2 workshops with different groups and 2 running records whilst the other children all completed their work without needing to see him for clarification.

The power of managing the classroom in this way is very evident. I have a wondering about how much all the teachers are aware of what we mean when we say Karawhiua? It is important that everyone understands what we are and are not talking about.

Feedback and thoughts needed...

Hi Team! I would love your feedback and thoughts on how the Learning Reports (online and paper systems) would work during Karawhiua. Where do you see it fitting into your timetables. How can Karawhiua influence the way the LR's impact on our students' learning?

Other management ideas

Timetables, Where's Wally recording sheets etc, to help MANAGE the Karawhiua time in classes

Quality work

Here is an idea from Kiri about how the children monitor their own Quality Work. They use this list, co-created by them, to check that work is up to standard. It is backed up by other posters around the class which explain key points....like compound sentences, similes and interesting word choices for example.

Quality work

Here is one idea that Sue has. The children have access to these sheets whenever they need them. They are used in pair conferences and to check that quality work has been done.

Questions for Kiri - What do you think?

Thanks for letting me investigate the Karawhiua process that happens in your room. You have done so much with it in such a small amount of time!

I was wondering what your view was of Maths interchange in a classroom that uses Karawhiua as its teaching model? Is there still a place for this or could/should we look at not having maths interchange anymore? What are the teaching implications of this and what about the effect this would have on the Special Needs team?

Questions for Marama - what do you think?

Thanks for letting me observe what was going on in your class today. I am really excited about the workshop sessions that you are running. The kids I spoke to seemed really tuned into the system as well. My question for you, and you might like to the kids to feed into this answer, is around the idea of Quality Work. How do you know that that the work the children are doing IS Quality Work?

Workshops - Garrick from Rm 8

Workshops are good because you get to learn different things, things that you don't normally learn about...like extreme weather! I got to learn about this because you add your name to the list to learn about two different topics and I chose Extreme Weather and "Just Like New".

Right now I am off to work on my Mihi, which Marama added to the list as an option - you work on this when you are not with the teacher.

I like workshops because normally classes don't do workshops.

Workshops - Livvy from Rm 8

Each Monday we have got to go up to the Whiteboard and add our names to a workshop. These are groups that we pick to do things in, like reading, spelling and writing. Marama gets us down to the mat and she writes on the little board things that we have to do if we are not in a workshop. Most of these things are work that has to be finished by the end of the week.

My thoughts about this are.....I think it is quite good because you get to choose things that we are interested in or things we are not very good at and it is also really good because you get time to work with Marama without anyone interrupting. (the workshops run for 20 minutes with a 10 minute gap in between so she can help other people).

Observations of Karawhiua

Today I am heading out to classes, (Rooms 18 and 8), to check out what they are doing to manage the timetables for Karawhiua in their classrooms. I am hoping to get some excellent ideas to share back with other teachers.