Gulf Elementary 2019-2020
Welcome Back!
Step Right Up to the Greatest Show on Earth....
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls - Welcome to the Greatest School On Earth, Gulf Elementary,
We want to officially welcome all of you to the 2019-2020 School Year! Summer has come and gone and now it is time to continue with the excellent traditions of Gulf Elementary School. Thank you to all who are helping prepare for the new school year. The commitment of our teachers, custodians, office staff, support staff, and District departments/employees to ensuring that Gulf Elementary remains a celebrated and successful "A" school is spectacular.
In education there are many lessons to learn from the circus. The balancing acts, plate-spinning, contortionist, juggling, and even a human cannonball all have similarities to our lives as educators. How we cope is whether we turn into a ring-master, clown or juggler - maybe even a high-flying trapeze artist!
We are thrilled to welcome....
Bryce Archer- ESE Self-Contained
Enjoy the remaining time you have in these last few weeks of summer!
We are looking forward to working together to make our school the Greatest School on Earth!
Sincerely,
Kim and Dawn
The Teacher: The Circus Ringmaster
What kind of teacher do I want to be? This is the first of the nine provocations that I have been pondering while out on my day-a-week observations. I kept a keen eye on what the teacher did (or didn’t do) versus what they had the students do. My Eureka! Moment came when I realized that one possible teaching style is to be the circus ringmaster.
Let me unpack my analogy.
The circus ringmaster has a very important job. You see, it is their role--no their privilege--to introduce, with great hype, what is to come… “Come one! Come all! See the best circus in the world! Come see the most incredible performers of all time! Come see the things you can’t see anywhere else!” The Ringmaster is in the spotlight for a brief moment before handing the show over to their performers and orchestrating the timing and transition of the acts.
The idea of the teacher as the ringmaster moves away from the traditional view where the teacher, as the fount of all wisdom, pours out abundantly to their thirsty students.
The ringmaster teacher is a teacher of the 21st Century. Their role is to introduce the topic, move the lesson along, and forecast what is next. “Come one! Come all! Be the best circus in the school! Come actively work with the most incredible performers of all time! Come learn and see things like you may have never before! Come see how strong and successful you can be!”
The ringmaster never really leaves the circus. They work after hours to choreograph intricate acts and prepare the needed materials for the show. Their voice is a constantly guide of what is to come. And at the end of the show, they reappear in the spotlight to announce what is to come and bid Adieu.
But there is more to the circus than just the ringmaster. The lure of going to the circus is to be in awe of the performers—the agile acrobats, the vivacious clowns, the dare-devilling stuntmen, the posing elephant and who could forget the tamed lion.
If the teacher is the ringmaster; then the students are the circus performers. The students bring the “wow factor” to the 21st Century circus class. They are the ones performing the tasks, asking the questions, doing the mental aerobics and constructing their own knowledge. They are the ones who, in my opinion, steal the show.
I was beyond amazed and wowed at actively involved the students were; how much they moved around the class; and how they collaboratively pieced together their own understanding on a brand new concept. What kind of teacher do I want to be? Well, a ringmaster teacher of course!
What I Observed:
There were 20 Year 11 students in Community and Family Studies. I observed the last 45-minutes of a 90-minute period. The teacher was well-prepared and had arranged the desks in a manner conducive for the collaborative lesson activities (Standard 3.3.2 Select and use relevant teaching strategies).
The class consisted of 20 mixed-ability students from diverse cultural backgrounds. The students each had their own device, although type of device varied from a tablet, to a laptop, to a touchscreen laptop. The teacher used both the whiteboard and SMART Board to display pertinent information. The teacher's careful planning for the use of technology in the classroom helped expand opportunities of learning for the students (Standard 2.1.6 Implement teaching strategies for using ICT to expand curriculum learning opportunities for students) and kept them stimulated and engaged; students had the freedom to record their ideas in a meaningful way.
Students were actively engaged in a variety of kinesthetic, verbal, and written activities where they had a lot of freedom to record notes in their own style. The teacher knew how each of their students preferred to learn (Standard 1.2.1 Understand how students learn and the implication for teaching) and catered the lesson for each of their needs -- their attention spans, desire to move around, the need to learn in social settings, and relevancy of the content. Today’s ringmaster did this:
T: introduces the “Clock” activity and instructs students to make “appointments”
T: walks around the classroom to listen in on pair discussions
T: gives praise to students who are on task
T: uses verbal and hand cues to manage class volume
T: monitors time and instructs students when to find a new partner
T: wraps up the lesson with a recap of the content and a forecast of what is to come
Author
Hi, my name is Ruth. I am a pre-service teacher at ACU on a journey. My goal is to, one day (in the near future), teach Food Technology, Design & Technology (Mandatory) or Society & Culture. I would like to gain experience teaching in Australia before transferring to an International school somewhere on the globe. Destination TBA!
References:
"Australian Professional Standards for Teachers." Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2015. http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/standards/list
Duchesne, S., McMaugh, S., Bochner, S., & Krause, K. L. D. (2013). Educational psychology: for learning and teaching (4th ed). Cengage Learning Australia.
Marsh, C. J. (2004). Becoming a teacher: knowledge, skills and issues (3rd ed). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W: Pearson Education Australia.
A fun little clip to remind you how each participant of the circus is unique and vibrant in their own way.
"Meet the Teacher" Thursday, August 8
"Meet the Teacher" Thursday, August 8
6:45-7:45 pm Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 4 & ESE
The Houses of Gulf 2020
Pre-School Itinerary 2019-2020
Monday, August 5
8:30 -10:00 Breakfast in IB Cafeteria
10:00 -12:00 Grade Level Meetings
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch on your own
1:00 – 3:30 Work in rooms
Tuesday, August 6 District In-Service Destination
8:30 - 10:00 Set The Stage To Engage with Justin Gallon: PLC Cafeteria
10:00-10:15 Break
10:15-11:45 Session 1
K-1 Get Your Engagement On! PLC Room 19
2-3 Get Your Neon Read On! IB Room 31 (Grade 3 Hallway)
4-5 Student Generated Questions and Equity: IB Room 67
ESE/Art/Music/PE will be off campus
11:45-12:45 Lunch on your own
1:00-2:30 Session 2 House Meeting PLC Cafeteria
2:30-3:30 Grade Level District/PLC Training In grade level chair's classroom
Wednesday, August 7
8:30 – 12:00 Work in Rooms
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch on your own
1:00 – 3:30 Work in Rooms
Thursday, August 8
8:30-11:30 Today, here in our own Big Top (PLC Cafeteria), right before your very eyes, a fabulous array of acts has been assembled for your delight and delectation.
10:00-12:00 Ice Cream on the bus ramp
11:30 -12:30 Lunch on your own
12:30 -3:30 Work in Rooms
Friday, August 9
8:30 -12:30 TEACH Refresher Course in PLC Multi-Purpose Room/Work in Rooms
12:30 – 1:30 Lunch in IB Cafeteria
1:30 – 3:30 Work in Rooms