Enterprising kids

So we had handmade Christmas cards - beautifully packaged; Christmas candles - made from tumblers, tea-lights, a bit of doily and ribbon (remember these - 27p to make - for sale at £1.50); Peppermint creams packaged in handmade papier-mache pots wrapped in cellophane; polystyrene snowman with ear muffs to hang on your trees; home-made sachets of hot chocolate in cinammon, mint and orange flavours; hand-painted baubles, bookmarks and badges.
The children worked industriously and feverishly to get their products made and ready in time to sell. They decorated their stalls and as each stall got bolder, other stalls were buying last minute bits of ribbon from me!
The stalls were ready, the children were on edge, the doors were flung open at 3:10 pm. By 3:30 pm every item was sold even paperchains used to decorate the tables. The peppermint cream group had even raffled off their last tin of condensed milk at 20p a raffle ticket!
One child said to me "It was like a market place - I couldn't see any of the other stalls, I didn't have time to look!"
What a great success!
The next day we totted up our totals, the children put all their information onto spreadhseets and worked out their profits. The smallest profit was £14 and the highest £35!! That was those candles I told you about!
Brilliant experience, super learning and such fun!

Using ipads to make Christmas cards

I need to quickly interrupt the enterprise project to show off some art from my class. At Christmas we usually created our own Christmas cards based on Paul Klee's 'Two dromedaries and a donkey'. This year we used the app 'Brushes' to create the background colours and then the children either added the camels and donkey by hand or with the app (which was tricky as you can't do particularly fine lines). Nevertheless, they are beautiful and I'm sure all the families will be thrilled to receive their cards this year. Please have a look and take some time to comment for the children's sake. Next post shortly about our hugely successful enterprise sale!

Enterprise progress

So the children are fully involved in their projects. They have had a dad in this week to talk about budgets and planning their profit margins, this was really useful for all of us because we (the staff) decided to charge them for petrol and rent including electricity etc - Mwahahah! Only £1 of their £10 budget, we are kind :)

Today one child from each group went shopping with two members of staff. They followed a shopping list and bought items they couldn't buy at school. It has all been very exciting! They are now creating advertisments for the digital signage, website and walls around the school. They will be slipping fliers into the school production programmes. I have no idea at this point which group will win, but the learning has been tremendous. If you have any good ideas, please comment for the kids, they love to hear from people other than me!

Enterprise project

This month we have started an enterprise project in our class. The children have grouped themselves into friendship groups, I felt this would encourage team work more. We have been using some of the great ideas from CBBC's 'trade your way to the USA' teacher/student packs. They have really had the children thinking. Product ideas for bananas? Banana hoodies, onesies, peelable lollies, recipes of all sorts!! The children have been guided into really thinking about problem solving and ideas to improve. Our new boy, from Lithuania, has a problem understanding English - solution? Headphones that translate what people say into Lithuania !! Brilliant! As the children learn about planning their products, how to make profit and advertising etc. I will blog some if their ideas and best bits ;)

Writing complete

Thirty astonishingly good stories later - well I am still marking actually, but the buzz around the children during their writing was palpable, some of the finest writing I have had the privilege to mark. I wish I could post it all up here, but time and space won't allow it. I am including one for now, and may add excerpts of others. I really hope some of you literacy bods read and comment. The children love seeing positive comments on their efforts.

‘Machinarium’ by Daniel

Because of the puzzles, today was the longest day of my life. We crash-landed on a colour-less, lifeless, tedious planet. I was the captain of the S.S. R.Bot and as a result I was responsible for landing on this dreary planet. This barren planet has a very rich smell of oil-waste coming through all the pipes underground. It doesn’t feel right; it just doesn’t feel right...

Under the pile of broken arms and other limbs lay me, Ned (Norbert Edwardo Deuce), the rusty old tincan, broken like everybody else in this landfill.

“Please help me, please help me” I repeated to myself as I knew if any robot was without limbs for more than ten minutes they would die. Suddenly a finger came out of the gloomy black sunless sky, and relocated my head to my body; oh the spring in my spine felt soooo good! Then the gigantic digit came and attached my legs into their sockets and I was able to move freely and get my other arm.

There was the space-craft.

“It looks more like a city now. Why?” I asked a guard. His reply was, “They’ve converted it into a city because they know they’ve got no hope getting it up in the air since the great crash.”

“Can I go in please?”

“NO! Only police allowed.”

Now was the time to test my new body. Does it have the most important power; the power of puzzle-solving?

Carelessly I kicked the cones down the gorge out-skirting the city. There was one cone left, so I decided to consume it. Underneath it lay a can of blue paint – guess what? I gobbled it up being extremely careful not to spill it in my body. There was a big pot of white paint and I needed to dip the cone in light blue paint because the colour if his hat was light blue. So I put the blue paint into the white paint and it made light blue. Then I dipped the cone in it and I realised that the guards wore helmets with a little light on top. There was one on the light-post, so I climbed the light-post with the little rungs. I got it. I thought to myself as I put together the cone and the light-bulb. I yanked the lever for the last time and finally he let me through. It felt so exciting walking along the bridge to the city, so I inhaled all of the lovely aromas.

Suddenly...

Week of game-playing complete.

So the children have worked this on the game every day this week. We have focused on problem-solving, critical thinking, vocabulary building, team work and planning. Every day the children have had opportunities to move on in the game, taking notes as they go to build up the action of the story. No formal writing has taken place so far. They have worked in pairs, but also in groups, sometimes just getting up to help others solve problems; learning through the week that it is not a competition and that everyone's perspective will be different when it comes to the writing of the stories.
When the headteacher came in to observe he noted how engaged the children were and asked them how using a game would help them with their writing.
One child commented that it helps him to 'come up with ideas' and that 'normally I have to think really hard for ideas but the game has given me loads.' The children were all positive in their responses, which may be novelty value, but in their own planners some have made comments such as 'I didn't know games could be used for Literacy!'
I can't wait to see the writing that comes out of this next week, and the children will be beautifully behaved for a long time to come wanting to finish the game I think!!

Character work

Today we moved onto introducing the main character of the story. The children had a visual of the robot from Tuesday's work and had some descriptive language in a mind map. We looked at techniques for character description such as direct description, through dialogue, through thoughts and using imagery.
The children were all keen to be 'blogged' but particularly want me to continue with Paddy's story, so I have got Paddy's and three new children's work. We all hope you enjoy what you read!

'How did I get into this mess? How did I even get here? I've not become smaller than a child. I've got some pale, white, enormous eyes. I wish I had my normal human eyes again. Bzzzt. Why on earth Bzzzt am I Bzzzt making Bzzzt weird noises. Wow! I've got a microwave for a body. At least I won't be hungry anymore; and it says X-12. Maybe there's even other robots like B-7 and F-10, woah!'

Paddy

"I know I'm a rusty old can, but I still have feelings." Robe moaned to his friends. Robe wandered away with his head down and a rattle and bang, as his noisy, rusty feet walked slowly away. 
"I wish I was not a rusty, tin can but a shiny can with silver lines on my tummy," he said to himself. As Robe was walking he did not see the old tumble dryer on the floor and he tripped over it.
"BANG!" went his metal feet and arms on the ground as he fell.

Erin M

As cold as ice I sat on the grave yard; I was shimmering with frost.
 I shouted in rage, "Help!" but no one answered. There were hardly any trees or no oxygen, my heart beat was slowly beating three seconds at a time. I drifted over the rubbish as I thought I was going to die. I was old, rusty, metal and hard but I had to survive.

Jack

Dear Diary,
I was gazing up at the stars, until suddenly I saw a huge explosion on the ground... It was an explosion filled with metal objects. I was being transformed into a robot, with a rusty golden body as if a huge pile of mango juice was being poured all over me.

Nimmy

Responses to our work

We are so excited to see our number of visitors going up and up, and to be receiving such encouraging comments.  We have even been mentioned on another site - scroll down and see.


http://paper.li/macnmug/1344492563

First day of Machinarium English work.

The children were so excited when I explained the task ahead. Today we just looked at the first couple of pages before the game even started, took screen shots and annotated them using Skitch. The children then put together some scene setting moments. Great discussion took place involving where the story was set, what they could see, hear, feel, smell, what era it was set in, what had happened. Some brilliant writing from today, and I am very excited about what they will produce in the next couple of weeks. Here are some snippets:

After the apocalypse, I thought that I was dead, but I was wrong. The place was now a wasteland, the sun was sunless, the trees were leafless. The land was as rusty as pipes, and the rest of the terrain was decayed. I headed to the ancient city that looked familiar.

 

Paddy

 

In a dark gloomy realm where a dead empire lies in war I keep peace between war and harmony. So far war has not struck us but, one hundred years ago our mechanical warriors fought hard to protect our kingdom. I search for the great wizard sword with a magic that not even the most powerful wizard can hold.

 

Jacob

 

As rusty as metal, the tower of tins near a mysterious pile of waste felt dry and unusual. The smoky sand floated through the air. Suddenly, a mysterious metal thing drifted across the sky and into the deserted mechanical waste of junk. The universe felt magical through the sandy air.

 

Lexiss

 

I've been captured by a few hostile robots in the middle of a war. Their ship crashed on a far away planet. On this planet it's like a vast wasteland and a huge pile of junk, with armoured robots with guns in the palm of their hands.

 

Harvey

 

I know the children would be very pleased to hear some comments that I can pass on so feel free!

 

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Pre- iPad English lessons.

So after lots of research and playing around I am starting a short unit of work using the iPads as a basis for generating story telling. I will be using the app 'Machinarium' by Amanita design. I wanted to find ways of engaging a very boy-heavy and Maths able class in quality writing. I also was determined to use the iPads, new tools for us this year. Having used Myst in the past, I felt that gaming through digital literacy was an interesting and exciting way to go. I read blogs on sites, these two particularly I found helpful - Bill Boyd and Mr.Andrews and devised a few lessons based around this reading and my own knowledge of my class and their capabilities.

Tomorrow we begin, I will be explaining the process, and we will start slowly, looking at the 'front cover' of the game, using Skitch for note taking on the setting, and beginning the process of character development. We will use paper and pens alongside stylus and tapping; we will, I hope merge the old and the new.

We will see!

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Coaching and Ofsted

Last night I completed my short coaching course. I feel reenergised and ready to get back to school. I have set myself a couple of targets linked with the course. Get some performance management under my belt and then plan some coaching with those members of staff. I am also really keen to try a bit if coaching with my class. I have a good cohort this year and u reckon we can use some of the skills to help direct and inform our planning.

Today, first day back, ofsted inset with a very nice chap who ended up being a bit scary! New ofsted framework is tough but made me focus and plan. Was thrilled to see literacy so high on the agenda, and special needs. It was also good to see performance management there and all my coaching thoughts and ideas seemed to fit in well. Need to be really organised about everything this year though!!
Hoping this will be an amazing year for me professionally!

Only one more day ...

Sad isn't it, that us teachers get so depressed about going back to school when we've had six weeks off. I actually do love my job, and always look forward to getting my teeth into something new each year, but I never manage to get all those pesky jobs done that I plan to at the end of July!

This term I am planning to put my new-found, or maybe newly invigorated knowledge of coaching (after my NCSL course) into practise. I do want to use it to support others I work with, but I particularly want to use it with my class. I have a strong, bright bunch of 10-11 year olds coming to me this year, and I want to challenge them and myself in different ways. We will plan together, talk through our next steps, our weekly, monthly and termly aims as a class and as individuals. We will blog on our Edmodo page, and tweet in class about how we are getting on, become more reflective as learners - all of us. I am stealing the tweet idea from this fantastic lady, she has some brilliant ideas!
 Mrs White's 5th grade class


I am getting myself ready for school, PE kit bags filling up, shoes polished, blouses ironed. It still feels like I need another week, please?!

Being lazy

I do love holidays.I've had a great couple of weeks doing exciting things with my lovely kids, and still have another few weeks of fun. I am avoiding work as much as I can but still check emails, still keep updated on twitter, have started reading Will Ryan's inspirational book, and have signed myself up for a free online course in coaching! My plan is to jot down ideas, here, so that if only I read them at least I will remind myself what I was thinking about!

I want to really inspire my class to be independent learners this year. Last term I set the children up to do group projects about the Olympics. They were amazing. They created music, presentations, displays, designed artwork, so many different things. I plan to do this again, push them to learn what they want to learn, guide them to build skills and creativity.
They are keen to learn science through gadgets, let's see what they come up with.

SENCO conference

Had a brilliant day at John Innes centre in Norwich for the essential network conference. Learnt so much and am overwhelmed by what I need to do, but looking forward to getting my teeth into it all. Thank goodness for my superb LSA support who is totally behind supporting me. We have a big job ahead of us! On a personal note I became an aunty today :-)

First blog, ever!

First ever blog being posted! I am Amy, a year 6 teacher and senco. I am trying to keep on top of changes and developments in the new(ish) world of iPads. I have the beginnings of a small website for apps to help children with special needs, but also want to share what we try with the year 6 class. It's all brand new for me, but so far we have used them in a Maths lesson led by a year 7 teacher from the high school. She was impressed. I asked all the children to open up the year 6 folder, go to the 'MathsAttack' app and open it up. They were then asked to click Monty's quest. The teacher wanted to do the 7 x table so I asked the children to click that and stop. So far so good, or not, two pairs started to play so I had to remind them of ground rules; they need to restrain the urge to fiddle when listening to instructions! I was then able to ask each ability group to take a particular challenge; beginner, intermediate or expert and turn off the sound. The children then worked in pairs to beat their own personal best at answering quick tables questions. All good, brains warmed up, good listening and visiting teacher impressed - happy me!!