New Year, New Class

I am really excited about this new year continuing to work at Longford Intermediate

This year I am continuing to teach year 8's. I have 26 students in my class. Made up of 14 boys and 12 girls. The class has a range of abilities ranging from a student with ORS support, to students that are very capable.  I also have a range of health and behaviour issues from one student with ADHD (Medicated), another with ASD and mental health issues, to a few that have behavioural issues which they currently meet with a councillor for.

Due to the range of needs I have spent the first two weeks getting them to understand that we are all in a learning journey together, but some are at different stages of our journey. I have been trying to create an environment of trust and support, where my students feel valued and not afraid to give things a go. I have been working on several class projects around art, which I will share once finished.

The classroom space I have is currently set up into two main working areas. The first involves the actual classroom. Students have individual desks. I had set the room up for the first week, and have now let the students reset to the room to how they feel it should be set up. Some students have chosen to sit by their friends in small groups, some have chosen to sit by themselves, four students have chosen to sit in pairs. Students are welcome to move around the class during working time, to find a space that suits them. I also have a kidney table for meeting groups with, which students work at during working time. The second space is a "breakout room" which is attached to the class with a glass door. This was used last year for my ORS students. This year it has become the "study Lounge" where students can chose to work quietly in. Students have been given the freedom, but have all been told that first choice is theirs, however, if they are off task, second choice is mine. So far it seems to be working.