Reflection PB4L

The last couple of weeks has beed extremely hard for me in Room 1. I was trying to get routine and creating a culture of learning in my class, unfortunately, Room 1 has higher needs and I desperately needed advice.

What I observed. 
- Obsessions with online games like Wormate and Cool Maths games
- Even after lowering the cognitive expectations, very few students were able to work independently and staying engaged 
- Huge behaviour outbursts if ipads have to be packed away
- Children sneakily getting ipads, hiding behind couches or around corners and going on online games without completing tasks or participating in group activities.
- There are only a few children willing to help with tidying up at the end of the day

After having reflections on a daily basis and conversations with Michelle and Gretchen, this is what we came up with: 
- Rewarding children with stickers as much as possible.
- To eliminate the obsession with online games, provide time in my daily routine where they could play on it.
- Set out activities on the tables before the children come into class after morning tea and lunch.
- Create a space for Neo with activities for him.
- Set his TA up so that she knows what to do and how to transition him into the class before she leaves.
- Super star children to have milo with Michelle in the morning. (All the children that behaved well).
- Count children down in preparation to packing ipads away.

Outcome:
- The children are coming into the class and settling a lot faster - star chat working.
- Most of the class responds really well to the time allocated in the day for online games. There are still 2 children that sneakily go on at the wrong time. And 4 children not responding when prompted to pack away. (2 of them even willing to stay after school in order to continue with their games)
- Neo's had 2 good days, with no outbursts.
- Some children come in after MT or lunch and start to work on the activities immediately. Although they are not coming to the mat, at least they are settled and listening.
- Reading groups has started to function as there are less interruptions and children are responding well to the count down to golden time.

New problems: 
- Although I have taken groups and introduced new literacy games such as Bingo and alphabet loop game, these are not activities the children choose to do as an independent activity.
- The children that are not behaving are in the minimum, so now nearly the whole class is able to have milo with Michelle - which is not practical.
- Children that is refusing to pack ipads away because of online games, are now willing to run away with ipad in order to continue playing.
- There is a group of children that loves colouring in- which I encourage due to the fine motor skills developing - however, very few seems to finish it and a lot of paper is wasted.

So what?
- Consult with Room 1 teachers for a solution around ipads not being packed away at the given time.
- Research ideas on literacy activities that children will be able to use independently.
- Ask colleagues for advice and solutions around how to encourage children to help with tidy up time. (Possibly a JOB chart?)
- Think of a practical way to solve the paper usage in room 1.