TAI - Student Engagement

This term our Teacher as Inquirer (TAI) focus has been student engagement and what strategies we are using.

This term I have had two thirds of my class coming to school with a lack of understanding of what is school and basic school readiness skills.   My soul focus of student engagement has been to establish what skills the children have all ready for formal learning.  After the first day at school it was evident this particular co-hort of learners have many challenges around school readiness particularly with following instructions and doing as the teacher asks.  

In order to establish formal learning programmes I have had to implement strategies on what is school and what is expected at school.  This has been done mainly through class and individual learning stories.  These learning stories are read everyday at school and some of the children have their own individual copies to go home. 

Another strategy I have implemented is the over use of stickers to shape the behaviour for formal learning to get the children to sit and listen and focus at mat time.  Once a child has received 10 stickers they get to choose a prize out of the teachers prize bag.  The whole class has visuals around the teachers whiteboard at mat time so they can clearly see the teachers expectations.  I also point to one if I think it is needing more attention from a particular child. 

   

We have been focusing on our class whaakatauki Maanaki Te Katoa  - (be kind to all) and the concept of Manaakitanga (respect). We visit these conversations around what this looks like and what we can say to each other to show Manaakitanga.  The students are now able to recite the whaakatauki and are more aware of showing respect towards each other and the classroom.   Good Manaakitanga is a strategy I have been using in order for the children to have developmental play in the afternoon as I found that the children lacked the tidying up skills to have free play initially and the concept of coming to school to learn and do work.

With Student engagement I have also implemented an environment that captures all learners learning and engaged at school.  I have saturated the classroom environment with photographs of the students engaged in learning to embed that this is their classroom and to take ownership for their learning.