The first blogs for 2020 are here again! This is the 17th blog I’ve written as a member of the St Luke’s community. There’s always chatter in the staffroom leading up to blog week of what the topic of our latest blog is going to entail. As I scrolled through a few staff blogs, with over 30 new staff this year, many follow the theme of new challenges and opportunities. While it is my third year at St Luke’s there are always elements of mu work that feel new, year after year.
This year in Stage 2 we have seven teachers. Our learning spaces are set up for 2 teachers to 60 students. This is to allow for flexible groupings of students to meet students at their point of need. Throughout the year you develop strong relationships with double the amount of students and you always have a listening ear just across the learning space. This year however I am a team of three. There are many sayings about the number 3.
Three’s a crowd.
Three’s a charm.
Three’s a party.
We are only five weeks into the party and I find myself still searching for solid ground. The goal posts have shifted slightly and we as a teaching team are adapting our practice how we can. We have acknowledged that 90 students together for learning isn’t effective, especially when we would want to, in the last session, but we want to have the opportunities for our students to know each other and learn together. This will come from a rotational basis of team teaching together across afternoon key learning areas. Across our students we are looking for ways to integrate through group work, reading groups and cooperative groups to ensure we are a connected learning group.
Open learning is different to a traditional classroom. You are pushed outside of your comfort zone and there is always another teacher in the space to lean on or consult with. It has been my normal since I started teaching. This year is different, a challenge, and something we are still working to achieve.
While writing this blog, I feel it is a little bit of a mishmash of information but currently this is all I have. Ideas on a page about how the year will unfold and the opportunities it will present. I look forward to writing my 24th blog at the end of the year and filling you all in on the, no doubt, great journey.
Angela
iTeach 