next steps - how are you doing them?

[Guest]

do you plan an activity to meet a child's next step in an area of learning, or simply date when you have seen evidence of it? i have 14 children in my key group and so doing in say 4 activities to meet next steps (several have the same one) in PD this week, as well as doing follow up activity from last week for children who need extra input and ones who need extending, and also an adult -led activity means i am running out of time to interact with children in CI. feeling like i'm torn in too many directions! any advice welcome please x

[green hippo]

As a rule I don't set up activities for next steps. We now do the objective led planning - so we might have a starter activity/activities and always enhancements that link. We also have 3 focus children with their own separate next step - we try to meet their next steps through their play, I usually plan a couple of enhancement or suggested activities which link with their next steps but will also extend their learning through the week with support and further enhancements where necessary.

We do our focus activities at the end of the session - splitting the children into their key groups to do an activity - these cover needs of the class as a whole with lots of differentiation! Sometimes I split the class by their ability if this is more appropriate.

1 adult has the main responsibility for the focus children, 1 for each of the 2 objective led plans and we swap through the week. Of course we are all aware of each others plans/focus children so can cover those if we get a chance. This means that we can all flit between supporting children towards the next steps and extending the learning in whatever they are doing.

Green Hippo x

[Harmony1985]

A mixture of both really. I use my next steps to inform my adult led activity time planning, but also keep my eyes peeled for hose spontaneous moments when they do it and you let out a little cheer inside.