6T's Assembly Item

Our Assembly item was a mix of prerecorded and live action as we reflected back on all the great learning and events from Term One. Thanks guys for being an amazing class!

What did you enjoy the most about Term one? 

Setting a Goal...

One of the things that we are focusing on this term is to learn how to set a goal that is achievable, then setting out to complete it. If we think that life is like a game, what do we need to do to get the ball into the goal? Sometimes we need to focus on practising skills, sometimes we have to find effective ways to get around the opposition, sometimes we have to persevere even when we don't feel well. We have to remain committed to achieving that goal.

Our students were asked to write down two goals that they would like to achieve this term. We discussed that they needed to be specific and achievable. They then had to come up with a game plan. They discussed with each other what it would take to achieve their goal. We will revisit our goals in four weeks and see whether or not we have made steps in achieving our goals.

This is part of a classroom focus this term, to identify what our learning intentions are and then as we progress through a lesson, identify if we are understanding the instructions and what is being taught. On one of the whiteboards in our classroom is the following chart:

We explain what the outcome of the lesson is going to be. Students will then be asked how much they understand. There will be opportunity to either move on or to revisit the lesson depending on the amount of understanding.

Identifying what we know or don't know is one of the first steps to achieving our goals. They become a starting point for helping us to understand where can improve. Asking others and finding strategies helps to then move forward to achieving our goals. 

What is a goal that you want to achieve this term? How do you think you will achieve it?

What will we do to be successful this year?

 One of the back to school activities we have completed is to reflect on our learning and what we need to do in order to be successful.

We discussed what our hopes and goals for the year. It was interesting to hear many of the different goals that students had, often reflecting the uniqueness of each child and what they felt they could achieve.

Many students talked about excelling in sports or being academic, which are definitely worthy goals. The ones that were really special were the students who wanted to just improve in an area they felt was something of a weakness. An example was one girl just wanted to be better at soccer.

It was interesting to ask the following questions of the students:

• What will your teacher need to do to help you this year?
• What will you do in order to be successful?
• What should kids do in this class to make the class run as smooth as possible? 
• What do you hope to learn this year?

 The responses were varied, but in reflecting on these questions it allows students to consider what they will achieve this year. I especially like the first one as it gave a real clue as to what we teachers need to help students. The most resounding comment came through was to explain things so that they could understand their work better!

My goal, of course this year... to find ways that will explain things better so that everyone understands!

What are your goals this year? What do you hope to achieve?