Category: Classroom Practice
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Love for the Learning Buzz!
What have I missed most over the past months of school life? We have been roller-coasting through school closure – distance learning – hybrid learning – back to school – quarantining – distance learning. There are many things – but my first reaction was ‘There’s a learning buzz’. If I asked you to describe what…
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‘Small Moments’
As we approach the beginning of the new school year it got me thinking about ‘small moments’. Our Writer’s Workshop training has focused us all at BMS on how a story can be created from just a simple ‘small moment’. So much of preparing for the welcoming back to school of our students, teachers and…
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small words – Big Changes
After a long hiatus from blogging I am ready to jump back into this space to reflect on professional learning and I am excited to be inspired from the benefits of doing so! Just recently I was pondering over the fact that I have probably read and edited thousands of pieces of work by students,…
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Literature Circles: A Powerful Practice to Support Differentiation
Literature Circles. Of all of the practices I introduced as a teacher in the Primary Classroom, I believe this to have been the most powerful. For me, literature has the power to connect us all beyond age, nationality, language, culture, religion or gender and also has the power to provoke thoughts and opinions that lay…
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The True Value of Student-led Portfolio Conferencing
I was first introduced to the concept of a student-led portfolio conference many years ago, and quickly became a strong advocate for their use as part of any effective reporting and assessment practice within a school. For further information about student-led portfolio conferences please have a look at the links below: Student-led Portfolio Conference prezi…
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Enriching Comprehension Skills – Imaginative Illustrator
I currently teach Literature Circles lessons to two Year 6 classes each week, generally my favourite part of the week, when we can immerse ourselves in reading together! One of the greatest challenges in a multi-lingual, multi-level classroom is managing student groups to ensure everyone is understanding what they are reading and moving beyond this…
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Primary School Vs Middle School Girls Football Match!
It was with great excitement and anticipation that the Year 6 Primary School girls gathered after school on a crisp January afternoon. The girls had only had a number of football training sessions with ‘Coach Jones’ but were enthusiastic and confident in facing their first match challenge against the Year 7 girls. The final result…
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What is a classroom?
For teachers and children thoughts are turning to getting ready for back to school around this time of year. Students in many countries are buying new backpacks, pencil cases and school supplies, whilst teachers endeavor to get classrooms ready and organised for the arrival of their new students. Bulletin boards are being papered, materials labelled…
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Learning to Make Mistakes
Mistakes, errors, corrections, shouldn’t haves. Whatever you want to call them, we all make them, most of us daily. In fact, education, learning and indeed life is all about making them, yet our students are often most afraid of mistakes. The focus for learners is more often than not on what wasn’t done well and…
Jenny O'Fee 