Another conversation not recorded - I've found out why now. I'm pressing the wrong 'upload' button at the end of the session. :/
As with the Year 11s, I had a conversation with the year 12s about the things we've done this year. They weren't very talkative, but I did get a few good points from them.
Last Emperor
Please, for the love off all that's good and holy DON'T teach this again! It's confusing, we don't get it, it makes no sense. We want Shawshank - we know why we couldn't have it, but that's what we wanted (it's a R16 text and I had a 14yo in the class). Do something that's English (meaning Western), not Eastern, do something where the cultures are familiar and we recognise things that are going on.
Selection of Writing
Be stricter, you're too lenient. Make us get the writing in much earlier rather than a rush at the end. Motivate us with 'you can't do anything else until you finish this'. Make it boring so we have to do it - take our devices away, take our music away, make us sit in silence, and make us write with paper and a pen. One lesson a week devoted to writing. We want to do it in class where our soccer and sports don't get in the way. We want to have a booklet with all the tasks in them at the beginning of the year so that we can see what we need to do and have time to think about them. We want the selection of writing tasks to be linked to the texts that we're studying to give us a deeper and broader understanding of the wider context.
Personal Reading Responses
eeehhhh, uhmmm....
Close Viewing
Kids were over talking by now. 7m30s was too long for their concentration spans to cope with.
Friday 31 October 2014
L1BENG - End of Year Reflection
A little bit annoyed - my second attempt at a YouTube capture didn't work! Hopefully I can remember everything that was said today.
Creative Writing
These students were evenly split - half wanted free choice for their writing topics, half wanted set tasks. We talked about creating assessments where there was a range of options that allowed for each.
They were happy with the feedback that they received, but wanted more one-on-one time to 'find all the mistakes'.
Formal Writing
They found this really difficult. They wanted more practise around it - not just here's the task, here's how to do it, now do it. They wanted a chance to write an entire practice piece before the assessment so that they could make the mistakes and get specific feedback before their actual assessment piece (in this instance, portfolio drafts were included).
They wanted the same amount of freedom as creative writing - equal options of set and free tasks.
They wanted a range of styles to choose from - show them a number, eg a formal letter, a persuasive essay, a blog post and let them choose the style they want to write on.
Speeches
Very verbose on this - they loved it or they hated it, no middle ground. They were 'ok' with the idea of presenting the speech one-on-one with me, but not in front of their peers.They didn't like the recorded one very much, and they didn't like the live one very much.
Night
One student asked if it was the first time I'd taught it, because the content seemed worn out and hagged like I'd done it too much. Interesting - I felt a little that way too.
Some didn't like it, some found it eye opening. Many wanted to have a guest visit from the author so that they could talk to him about his purpose. They realised that couldn't happen with Night, so they wanted a New Zealand text so that they could do that. They found the book easy to read but struggled to get the ideas on paper because they couldn't identify with the emotions. They wanted the content to be taught in two ways - half emotive and half non-emotive.
Close Viewing
This was in the first term, and most students liked the text choice, however they thought 8-Mile would be much more appropriate than Freedom Writers. They thought Freedom Writers was too outdated. They thought it would be good to teach contemporary films that they already had seen and to learn how to seem them in a new light and find the deeper meanings in them.
Creative Writing
These students were evenly split - half wanted free choice for their writing topics, half wanted set tasks. We talked about creating assessments where there was a range of options that allowed for each.
They were happy with the feedback that they received, but wanted more one-on-one time to 'find all the mistakes'.
Formal Writing
They found this really difficult. They wanted more practise around it - not just here's the task, here's how to do it, now do it. They wanted a chance to write an entire practice piece before the assessment so that they could make the mistakes and get specific feedback before their actual assessment piece (in this instance, portfolio drafts were included).
They wanted the same amount of freedom as creative writing - equal options of set and free tasks.
They wanted a range of styles to choose from - show them a number, eg a formal letter, a persuasive essay, a blog post and let them choose the style they want to write on.
Speeches
Very verbose on this - they loved it or they hated it, no middle ground. They were 'ok' with the idea of presenting the speech one-on-one with me, but not in front of their peers.They didn't like the recorded one very much, and they didn't like the live one very much.
Night
One student asked if it was the first time I'd taught it, because the content seemed worn out and hagged like I'd done it too much. Interesting - I felt a little that way too.
Some didn't like it, some found it eye opening. Many wanted to have a guest visit from the author so that they could talk to him about his purpose. They realised that couldn't happen with Night, so they wanted a New Zealand text so that they could do that. They found the book easy to read but struggled to get the ideas on paper because they couldn't identify with the emotions. They wanted the content to be taught in two ways - half emotive and half non-emotive.
Close Viewing
This was in the first term, and most students liked the text choice, however they thought 8-Mile would be much more appropriate than Freedom Writers. They thought Freedom Writers was too outdated. They thought it would be good to teach contemporary films that they already had seen and to learn how to seem them in a new light and find the deeper meanings in them.
Thursday 30 October 2014
Last Day - L1BENE
As today is the last day of term, I asked the kids to reflect on their English Journey this year with me. Technical Noob glitch meant that I've deleted the voice recording that I took, so hopefully I remember everything they said!
Creative Writing
They like the freedom of choice
They liked the feedback - that helped them to find their errors and fix them so that they could make the necessary changes.
Formal Writing
They want more freedom of choice
They found it difficult to write formally because they're not used to speaking formally. Perhaps bringing in a DP or BRK would help to have them practise formal speaking.
The feedback was confusing. They want it in student speak and easier to understand.
Static Image
They liked this. Some have difficulties with expressing emotion on the page.
They want specific instructions and know exactly what they have to put in the static images - like how BIC teaches art.
They liked the feedback that they receieved - they could understand this.
Night
Found it easy to read
Found it easy to know the themes but hard to find the examples in the text
Would rather have more group activities
Would rather have individual activities
Found it hard to relate to
Wanted more on author's purpose before exams
Freedom Writers
Majority really enjoyed this
Needed more time on language features and director's purpose - maybe better in a longer term with more time available
Wanted more on director's purpose before exams
Creative Writing
They like the freedom of choice
They liked the feedback - that helped them to find their errors and fix them so that they could make the necessary changes.
Formal Writing
They want more freedom of choice
They found it difficult to write formally because they're not used to speaking formally. Perhaps bringing in a DP or BRK would help to have them practise formal speaking.
The feedback was confusing. They want it in student speak and easier to understand.
Static Image
They liked this. Some have difficulties with expressing emotion on the page.
They want specific instructions and know exactly what they have to put in the static images - like how BIC teaches art.
They liked the feedback that they receieved - they could understand this.
Night
Found it easy to read
Found it easy to know the themes but hard to find the examples in the text
Would rather have more group activities
Would rather have individual activities
Found it hard to relate to
Wanted more on author's purpose before exams
Freedom Writers
Majority really enjoyed this
Needed more time on language features and director's purpose - maybe better in a longer term with more time available
Wanted more on director's purpose before exams
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