Friday 2 February 2018

The Dunn Way

With the start of a new school year, there are mixed feelings of both excitement, for the successes that lie ahead and sometimes fear, of being separated from friends and teachers from the previous year.

Day 1
Learners were given mini whiteboards to draw something of interest to them and the rest of the class had to put words to the drawing. It proved to be a good ice-breaker particularly for those new to the college.

My first challenge as a teacher, after introducing myself, was to learn and PRONOUNCE every single learners name correctly by the end of that 50 minute period. I could hear a few giggles because learners had little confidence in me and for good reason. They did not know and trust me at that stage, so it was my time to shine. I made a volunteer say their name, shook their hand, repeated their name and said "lovely to meet you". This was repeated for each learner, but I had to keep repeating the first name, second name, third name etc. On a few occasions, I slipped up and mispronounced a name or 2 or called a learner by the wrong name and when learners laughed at me, it was an ideal opportunity to introduce "The Dunn Way"

The Dunn Way focuses on the 3 R's
ROUTINES
RELATIONSHIPS
RESPECT

Respect - in this learning environment, we respect all learners by encouraging and supporting them. Teacher: So what can we do next time I mispronounce your name
Learner: Tell you how to say our name the right way.

We were off to a promising start and were all on the same page about RESPECT in Mrs Dunn's class.
Good RELATIONSHIPS were already forming as learners were excited and I think a tad bit impressed that I knew their names which I used at every opportunity.

The last half of the lesson was an introduction to de Bono's Hats and using that knowledge to solve logic puzzles and critical thinking challenges. I threw in a few literacy strategies (word definition and chunking) to build learner confidence.

A minute before the bell rang, we rehearsed our end of lesson ROUTINE where we stand by our seat to check that we have packed up our belongings and the room in an acceptable condition ready for the next class.

Day 2
I was quietly impressed as I stood at the entrance to my room to greet each learner by name and watched them head for the mini whiteboards to attempt our critical thinking challenges. It seemed as if we were all accustomed with our 3R's (ROUTINES, RELATIONSHIPS, RESPECT). 

As much as I was trying to make a good impression on my learners, they were doing the same. Much praise was bestowed upon them as I thanked them for every effort made:
-fabulous uniform
-entering the room quickly
-getting to class on time
-respecting the learning environment

After about 20 minutes of critical thinking activities, done colaboratively or individually based on learner preference, I put forth a suggestion of taking a 2-minute break and in unison, my precious angels said, "no Miss let's continue working"......music to my ears.

My challenge is to
-be consistent with the 3 R's and maintain high expectations
-continue to remember to thank learners when expectations have been met and not take them for granted
-keep learning exciting so that learners continue to trust me as their teacher and willingly engage with their learning
-contact whanau within the next few days to introduce myself, let them know how their child has settled into class routines, thank them for sending polite and respectful children to school and to see what both of us can do to best support their child.

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