Hello everyone!
I haven’t written a blog post in so long. It can be hard sometimes to get it all done. Usully making resources is a priority because I just like using my own material with my class and I prioritise that. I do however miss writing blog posts and I am going to try get back into writing them more often. So, let’s catch up! After along stint at the junior end of the school, I am back with 6th this year. I had fifth and sixth for two years when I was an NQT, so it is much easier this time around, with a bit of experience behind me!
I am enjoying it so far. I have a class of 34 so I am finding it more challenging in terms of sheer numbers, ( I was spoilt last year with a class of 20!) but I am enjoying the curricular content and the pace of the day. It has been a big change and it took me the first week or week and a half to figure out my teaching style with the older ones but every day is getting easier, as I get to know the children better too.
One aspect I am excited about is getting involved in initiatives with the class to make the lessons a little but more exciting.( I would love to meet a teacher who can make decimals, long division or Irish verbs fun- it is just not possible) I think that has been the biggest change for me, having to acknowledge that some lessons are just going to be sedentary, and well, not quite as fun or entertaining as they may be with the younger ones. So to counteract this we are going to be doing a lot of the curriculum via initiatives. We have registered for the Young Entrepreneur Programme, which will be great for real life maths experiences. We registered for Science Blasts which I did before and would highly recommend. We haven’t come up with a question yet but hope to finalise that this week. The SNA in our room has been bringing them out in small groups to work on coming up with questions and hypothesis which has been great. We also signed up for the Blue Star programme which is one I did before too and I found it really worthwhile, lots of resources etc and a great way to learn about the EU.
I am still keeping an eye out for more to sign up to. Some people think it is a lot of extra work but I find it the opposite from the ones I have taken part in. It usually helps with planning and resources etc and gives the children something concrete to work towards.
So far we have been doing place value and addition/ subtraction in maths. Next we move on to data which will tie in nicely with the JEP work. We have been doing mé féin in Gaeilge and recount writing in English. We did projects on the Book of Kells in history and now we are doing project work on the Rugby World Cup for geography and history. In science we are learning about our body’s defence mechanisms. I will beworking on report writing next when we finish recount, so I will attach a link here to a free resource for report writing if anyone needs it.