Shoebox Café BLOG - Private Tutor & Childminder PERTH & KINROSS, SCOTLAND

Nothing like making it really obvious and the kids love it! 

"Balance is not better time management, but better boundary managemant. Balance means making choices and enjoying them."    –  Betsy Jacobson Do your batteries feel drained? As you climb towards the final days of term, feel proud of everything you and your students have achieved. As the going gets tough, remember to take care of Number 1! An easy thing to say, but too often missed. We've worked hard enough without punishing ourselves further by forgetting simple personal treats and care. As I type this post for you, even though I'm excited to write it, I myself have reached the point of no return and my hair has not seen a good day for about two weeks! Albeit with my curly locks, working in Malaysia with the intense 30 Degree heat, doesn't make it easier. Frizz, frizz and more frizz! Some of the tasks completed by myself in the last 3 weeks are as follows; Class Residential, Residential Assembly performance, Whole School Art Exhibition, Reports, Parent-teac...

Put it in a jar! Sometimes, it's easy to forget about those wonderful 'wow moments' . However hard we try as teachers to recognise those precious moments, they're so easy to forget with the every day hustle & bustle of a buzzing school. Not to mention the one million other 'TO DO' things you're trying to remember.  Inspired by a friend, try this! It's simple and very effective! Throughout your academic year, every time one of your students amaze you with a 'wow moment', write it onto a post-it note and add it to your class jar. At the end of the year, sit and read these moments with your class. You will be amazed at how much progress can be shared together, not to mention the warmth created within the atmosphere, seeing smiles all around when you walk down memory lane. Give it a try... 'the best PSHE lesson I ever had, revealing their moments.'

2013 Batik Factory Visit   Jerejak Residential  Chinese New Year  Landscapes We have thoroughly enjoyed a variety of great outdoors learning experiences this year. Year 3 have taken part in the following: Visit to a Batik Factory (Fashion) Visit to a clothes factory (Fashion) Jerejak Island Residential (Rainforests) Divali Celebrations Chinese New Year Celebrations Navigation Around the school (Adventurers and Explorers) Visit to the local beach (Science) Adventure to Turtle Beach (Adventurers and Explorers) Wow...such a busy year! :) 

Up the mountain we go! It's that time of the year again when I'm permanently glued to the computer. As I type this post, I have unfortunately got distracted from my reports in the need of having a break! ;-) Whilst I sit here chomping on a double chocolate subway cookie, I am attempting to have a quick 5 minute break.  ..... Break over!  TIPS FOR ORGANISING YOUR REPORTS 1) Set up your student files by gender! This is very simple and stops the issue of needing to find and replace he's, she's, his, her, himself, herself...etc. 2) Inside your gender files, set up 3-4 differentiated folders (Low, middle, middle-high, high) 3) Create a bank of general comments in-line with your differentiated groups, copy & paste for every child in that group followed by a quick edit and tweek.  If you have any other fantastic ideas to support with this long process...do tell! ;-)

This post was also shared on The Staff Room We all know that peer and self assessment is the best way to ensure that our students are truly reflecting on their progress. It's with self and peer evaluation that helps young students learn how to assess their efforts and achieve the highest level of thinking; evaluation.  What do you think? How do you feel? What do you think you have improved? How have you improved since your last attempt? Was your outcome successful? If so, how? If not, why?  Not only is self evaluation crucial, peer evaluation offers our students the opportunity to learn how to provide supportive and constructive feedback to others. A necessary skill needed in employment. It can be very challenging to implement this with our timetable demands. How can we find the time to do this? Tip 1 - train your students in a few weeks with this simple key! Symbols are quick and easy to complete. Older students can spend more time writing reflection state...

Learning Logs 'I love doing my learning log every week. I get to choose my own research topic and I really enjoy making my pages interactive with flaps, questions and quizzes for my reader. It's so much fun!' Innuka, 8 Years Old, SCIPS, Penang. Are you bogged down with the daunting task of preparing daily homework for your class? Do your activities allow for creativity, choice & independence? Are you setting homework daily, marking daily & feeling frustrated with sheets/books/sheets/books/sheets/books piling up on your desk, on top of your daily class work? Learning logs are one of the best teaching ideas to inspire children to write. With a purpose, an audience and independence to choose, every child can present their ideas, thoughts and research in their own unique way. A way to improve this scrap-booking log idea further, children could present their research online by blogging either directly or by posting images of their log entry. Parents love ...