October Meeting highlights!

Thanks everyone who attended the October meeting, I had a great time and learnt a thing or two!  For those who were unable to attend here's a few of the things that came up and resources that were shared.

This month's meeting topic was this one:

I would like everyone to choose ONE thing that they think every CRT needs to know!  It could be a strategy or a resource for their bag of tricks.  It could be a video you really want them to see or a document you think all CRTs should read.  It could be factual, practical, motivational or inspirational!

Sharing a concept:

I'll be opening with a pre-prepared statement by one of those attending (a CRT teaching Primary and one of the highly experienced members of our group):

Every CRT needs to be flexible and able to teach/adapt anything. Nowadays I use the 'one book lesson' idea where I choose a book and use that book for maths, literacy, art/craft etc. I'm at the stage where I can walk into a classroom without resources and go with what is there. If nothing is there I am still able to provide work for students by looking through their workbooks and making learning games etc from their previous work. Eg; Spelling bingo, round the world, buzz, times tables games etc.

Previous to this I carried a couple of story books and a few resources with ideas/quizzes etc that I could adapt for any grade level. I usually gathered resources aimed at grades 3 & 4 and this way I could adapt up or down as the need arose. Most often they were sourced on the internet - I just kept searching until I found what I felt was 'me' and I was comfortable in teaching. 

-Sandi

Sandi is kind of like myself and a couple of others at meetings, often what we bring to share to meetings like these doesn't get shown because we can dominate the focus as the newbies look to the more experienced members for guidance.  We sometimes prefer to hang back so everyone can bring valuable insights to the table and be included in the overall learning process, to be teachers as well as learners regardless of their career stage.

This came up only at the very end and I thought it was worth putting out there as food for thought about being a CRT.  Having talked to Sandi after the meeting concluded she wanted to stimulate discussion around the concept of teachers as individuals and the relationship between that and finding good resources for our classrooms.  It's important that we find resources that suit our individual teaching styles for them to be as effective as possible when we deliver them.

I'd like to take a moment to point out that things like this really make my day in meetings.  It shows me that people are well and truly into the spirit of being as helpful as possible for their colleagues to the point where they'll create something like this as a discussion starter.  They will spend time framing what they want they would like to bring to the table in a way that launches everyone else into thoughtful discussions.  The sharing of teaching concepts as well as resources to pass around.

Security Blankets.

  
Another member brought her emergency teaching ideas book to show us and it was great thing to have a look through.  It had a lot of great stuff in it and it was an eye opener for many.  Not just the book itself and it's activities and resources but what it had become over time. 

Opening the cover showed a bunch of post-it notes about things she'd picked up from around the place that weren't in the book to start with.  She added to it in a way that helped her to stay with the book as her main resource in a compact way (it's cover is about the size of an iPad so is easily portable!).  She also had notes scribbled in the margins about added strategies that allowed her to more effectively use the activities and it had evolved into a much more valuable resource than it started out as.  It was a really interesting look at yet another approach to building up your "bag of tricks".

She continued on to say that she doesn't really use the ideas in the book very much now, but enjoys having with her all the time.  While it was a very valuable resource in it's time, it remained an important part of her CRT tool kit.  The conversation turned to how common it actually is for CRTs to hold onto their "bag of tricks" even when they don't need them anymore as they became something more than a bundle of resources.  Some of us also owned up to doing the same, with boxes ready in the boot of our car or in a prominent place in our house, ready to delve into at a moment's notice even though we never seem to go back to them all that often.  They have become our security blankets, a source of confidence instead of a source of teaching tools.

The rest of that conversation is being reserved for a full post in it's own right ;).

The new version of this book (Emergency:  Inspirational ideas for all teachers - 2nd Ed) can still be purchased from EDSCO Educational Supplies and can be found in various university libraries (some open to the public, some not).

Websites
 
A couple of different websites were also thrown into the mix.  

The Literacy Shed (Visual Literacy).

The Bug Club (Literacy - Subscription fee - free trial available)

Monash University Dean's Lectures.
(can be hard to navigate - see also Monash Uni on YouTube).

Christmas is coming!

I also mentioned that Christmas is just around the corner and it's probably time to start looking at swapping christmasy stuff on the side rather than devoting a whole meeting to it later.  We'll continue that for the November and December meetings too.

Another member brought in Christmas activities that used buttons and other everyday resources usually found in primary school classrooms or art rooms.    The paddlepop snowflakes and button christmas trees were especially popular.  

The conversation moved through different activities you could do in the run up to Christmas, including the materials needed and where they could usually be found.

Wandered off topic...  Art came back!

We usually wander off topic at least once in meetings and in this case christmas art activities was the culprit.  The topic was clung to and there was lots of recycled art work discussed.  Of course no-one complains if a CRT uses recycled materials that were on their way to the bin and it can be very effective both educationally and visually if done the right way.  It lets you combine art/craft with sustainability for a good and well rounded lesson.  Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most effective too!

This recycled polar bear collage ticks all the boxes.  Engaging, fine motor skills, recycled materials easily accessible, minimal tools (paper, glue and scissors), stunning finished product and display item.  You could easily attach a picture book to this activity and finish with a maths activity to wrap the whole thing.
We did this with a couple of activities (the picture is of student work), drawing on our collective knowledge and understanding of learning styles, resources, engagement of students and continuation of activities and discussed how recycled art/craft is often a great place to go in primary on those days when you find yourself without a program ;).

This month was one of the smallest groups we've had in a while but that's not not a bad thing all told with many apologies received from those who wanted to attend but couldn't.  There's down sides to smaller groups of course; with more in the room more gets shared in a "take home" kind of way, the input of ideas and theories is broader in scope and there's more people to mingle with in the down times.  Smaller groups however allow for more in-depth discussion and a much more personal feel to meetings where CRTs have time to discuss interesting tangents and be more social and we don't have to rush to make sure everyone gets their turn. 

In spite of being a smaller group a LOT of great stuff came out of it (not just what's here of course) for both beginning and more experienced CRTs alike.

Note:  Only one of our members has been mentioned by name.  This is simply a product of the fact that we don't use anyone's name without express permission!  Many great ideas, some of which are mentioned here, came out of this meeting and everyone involved brought their 'A game' to the table!  If you don't mind us using your name simply let us know, we think you all deserve the credit and are only too happy to help see you get it ;).

Regards,

Mel.