How Much Teacher Directed

[Guest]

as it says really, how much of your day do you spend doing teacher directed activities. and do you have set 'lessons' a day or in your daily plan is it just TD and then you chose what area?

 

At the mo we do CLL and MD as teacher directed nearly everyday but seeing as all areas should have equal importance im thinking we should just specifiy TD on our daily timetable then sort the areas out within the context of the whole week to ensure we are providing a balanced curriculum??

 

what do people think? I'm still training at the mo but still good to try and make suggestions!!

 

Also do you all plan for specific activities that address each ELG or just take it that some are covered in the everyday routine?

 

Sorry another quick question, I'm working in special school and so a lot of our children are still working from the stepping stones, should I include these on my lesson plans instead of the ELG's or should I still have the early learning goal as my learning objective but differentiate by using the stepping stones when needed?

 

thanks

 

jo

[Guest]

anyone?

[Guest]

Hmm. Feel bad because you haven't got any replies but what I do isn't a model of perfection by any means. Across the course of a week's mornings I have 3 adult directed activities. On Monday and Wednesday my TA and I each do a separate activity. On Monday she will work with half the class on her activity whilst I cover the other half. On Wednesday we each cover the half we haven't done yet. These activities could be from any one of the 6 areas because I have a thing about 'breadth and balance' for the children who are only part time. On Thursday we have either a MD or CLL activity and will cover the class between us. Whilst we're working with groups or individuals the other children are 'free flowing'.

 

My free-flow activities are all planned and linked in to our mini-topic for that week. There is always one thing out for each of the 6 areas. On my plans I denote what area I think a particular activity will cover but sometimes the children will take it in a different direction.

 

Tuesday mornings we have someone who does music with the children and we also do P.E. Friday mornings are left free 'just' to 'be' with the children and find out where they are.

 

In the afternoons we all work on the same activity. This can cover any one of the 6 areas and are practical in nature. However, I am now going to make Tuesday afternoon into a 'just be with the children' time also as I find these sessions really useful. The last half-hour or so is 'free time'. Everything from the morning has been packed away and the children are free to get out whatever they want.

 

About the stepping stones thing - I don't plan from them although some of my children are still achieving between points 1 - 3 on the Profile. I've interpreted the stepping stones as the stages children might go through before they start working at the level of the ELGs. However, I know some people do plan from the stepping stones.

 

I'm sure other people will soon chip in with how they do things.

[Guest]

I have either a CLL or MD focused activity everyday (usually 3x CLL and 2x MD a week). Each week I also have:

 

1 x focused Art or DT activity

1 x Sci / Hist / Geog type based activity (usually only very short carpet session, or somethig like a walk round the local area)

1 x ICT session, which the children love

2 x PE

2 x PSED type circle times in small groups

1 x Hall time for things like parachute games / role play / soft play etc

We also have short story / singing / music sessions during the week.

The rest of the time is given to free choice in the classroom / outside area (free-flowing for most of each day)

 

It sounds like a lot of focused stuff, but my carpet times are only about 15 mins each and always very practical and lively. Plus, we usually only work with a group at a time on the focused stuff. So, for example, I might be doing a short focused MD/CLL activity with a group of 5 children, my TA or student might be doing a focused Art / DT activity, and the other one will float. At least half the class are on child initiated activites for each session.

 

We do put out planned activities, e.g. making animal masks (linked to topic), but unless it is a focused activity, the chlidren are free to choose it (or not). Often they will, especially if an adult is supporting that activity as many of them like to be where the adults are.

 

To make sure the outside area is always open, some of our focused activities take place outside, so that it is always supervised.

 

Sorry I've gone on a bit! Hope it helps

[Marion]

We are a FSU so slightly different.

We have 2 CLL and 2 MD focused activities (to cover the big ability range) plus 2 other Focused activities per day.

[Guest]

Hmm. Feel bad because you haven't got any replies but what I do isn't a model of perfection by any means. Across the course of a week's mornings I have 3 adult directed activities. On Monday and Wednesday my TA and I each do a separate activity. On Monday she will work with half the class on her activity whilst I cover the other half. On Wednesday we each cover the half we haven't done yet. These activities could be from any one of the 6 areas because I have a thing about 'breadth and balance' for the children who are only part time. On Thursday we have either a MD or CLL activity and will cover the class between us. Whilst we're working with groups or individuals the other children are 'free flowing'.

 

My free-flow activities are all planned and linked in to our mini-topic for that week. There is always one thing out for each of the 6 areas. On my plans I denote what area I think a particular activity will cover but sometimes the children will take it in a different direction.

 

Tuesday mornings we have someone who does music with the children and we also do P.E. Friday mornings are left free 'just' to 'be' with the children and find out where they are.

 

In the afternoons we all work on the same activity. This can cover any one of the 6 areas and are practical in nature. However, I am now going to make Tuesday afternoon into a 'just be with the children' time also as I find these sessions really useful. The last half-hour or so is 'free time'. Everything from the morning has been packed away and the children are free to get out whatever they want.

 

About the stepping stones thing - I don't plan from them although some of my children are still achieving between points 1 - 3 on the Profile. I've interpreted the stepping stones as the stages children might go through before they start working at the level of the ELGs. However, I know some people do plan from the stepping stones.

 

I'm sure other people will soon chip in with how they do things.

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Hi Moose,

for your freeflow activities can children choose from any area of the classroom or do you specify which areas they can go to and also do you have a planned activity in each area?

[Guest]

Hi unicid - I don't think I have as many areas as some people. My permanent provision or 'areas' consist of:

* materials' tray (I change what's in here every week e.g. flour, porridge oats, sand, water, compost etc)

* phonics board

* interactive numeracy display

* role play

* writing area

* CD/tapes

* reading area

* exercise box in the outside area

 

In addition to the above, all of the other activities are set up for the day. I spread the activities between the table tops, the carpet area and the outside area. All of the activities are planned to fit in to the mini-theme for the week except, often, MD. So on Monday, when we're looking at the book 'Walking Through the Jungle' the independent activities will be my permanent provision and:

* making a jungle scene from tap-a-shapes (PD, MD)

* tracing round leaf templates on to different types of paper, and cutting them out (PD, CD)

* using magnifying glasses to look at ferns (KUW)

* having animal masks, clipboards, tent, pith helmets and binoculars and imagining you are in a jungle, recording the animals you can see (CLL, CD, PSED)

* drawing a new character to go into the story (CLL, CD)

* building towers of multilink and then add 1 more and count to find out how many there are (MD, PD)

* using plastic fruit to make repeating patterns (MD)

* using K'nex to build a bridge that you could get across a jungle river on (KUW, PD)

* using the jungle playmat, animals and leafy twigs to act out the story (CD, CLL)

 

I operate a pictorial system whereby all the 'jobs' have pictures. The jobs for the day are velcroed onto boards with space for the children's names underneath. Each child has their name with a velcro strip on the back. Each board has a number on it and a corresponding number of velcro strips underneath. This shows the number of children who can be on a job at a time. I start the children on a job first thing, trying to start children off on an activity that they might not usually try, but they are free to change whenever they want and they decide what they want to do and how long/short a time they spend on an activity. They denote their choice of activity by fixing their name underneath the 'job' picture. I know it sounds like a complicated system but it isn't really, it's just that I'm not very good at describing it! Whilst some people will think it's too prescriptive I like it because it gets children to recognise their names, encourages them to be independent and means that jobs don't get over-crowded and result in me having to sort out disputes about limited amounts of space/equipment!

 

Have I answered your questions? I'm a master at using 5 million words when a couple would do !

[Guest]

Thanks for this Moose - Im definately going to implement your system from September Do you have any examples of pictures you use for each job?

 

I'm also pleased to see I'm not the only sad person to use the forum at al hours of the day!!!!

[Guest]

I am sad - I admit it! I keep telling myself I must get a life but never seem to have the time!

 

Sorry - I didn't keep the jobs pictures because I did them direct into 'Word', printed them off and then laminated them. I used Microsoft clip-art online or a Google image search to get the pictures.

 

I've made up a quick example for you. jobs_example.doc. I then trimmed around these and laminated them. Everything fits onto 1 A4 sheet: the picture of the job (at the top), the number (which is situated in the middle of the sheet) and then the space for the children's names (at the bottom). I have a LOT of pictures and add to these as I get more equipment although some pictures, like the 'acting' one, can cover a whole range of activities.

[Guest]

Thanks a lot Moose. I suppose the children will quickly get to know the pictures. Do you have a board/surface where your pictures are or do you place them by each activity and also do you implement this system in September as soon as children join you?

[Guest]

Yes - the system is in place when the children start. They need 'training-up' to do it but soon pick it up. Most of the pictures are self-explanatory but if I think there's one that they might be a bit unsure of then I show it to them at the beginning of the morning and explain, 'This is the picture for...job'. For lots of equipment e.g. K'nex, Interstar, Lego, Duplo etc you can get actual pictures off the internet so they're easily identifiable. I also have generic pictures e.g. 'making things' which can be a picture for loads of jobs! I've looked on Microsoft clipart and found a few of the generic pictures I've used and written a brief explanation underneath to show the range of jobs that those pictures can cover. jobs_example.doc

 

The boards are altogether, mounted on the wall, so I had to give thought to where I had enough space to put them. I've used different coloured card (laminated) for each board so it's easy to see where one ends and another begins!

[Guest]

You can find some classroom signs here - they are not perfect, but if you have Paint installed on your computer you can cut and paste them to suit your needs.

[Guest]

Here are some area labels that I made a while back using Clip Art (online), just to add to ASPK's link

Area_Labels.doc