We're halfway through the term and I think a lot of teachers

have explored it in different ways in their classes.

I think children are becoming more familiar with

the language; they feel it’s a more natural part of

their learning in the day. Teachers themselves,

talk about it with each other. I think that the inquiry

has framed it well because it fits within the context of the inquiry.

The learning is overt and sometimes I think, children are

using the key competencies with each other, naturally, and

then suddenly realising, ‘Oh, that’s a key competency’, and giving

it the language that the teachers have tried to

share with them.

When I’m planning what I’ll do next in

terms of our inquiry process, I consider the way the lesson

lesson is going to unfold and which competencies will naturally

unfold. It’s really as simple as that, because in

everything we do in life, outside of school and in school,

we need those skills to make things work.

So, in the lesson that I took today, which was an inquiry-based

approach, I wanted to place the children in the position of discovering

connections, which was where we were heading in our inquiry;

but I knew as well, that they would have the opportunity to

participate. They would need to think; they would also need to be able

to relate to one another and work as part of a group.

We were thinking that they’re different because that one’s got

people and that one’s got leaves.

Where they are at is still with me modelling a lot of things,

so I haven’t handed over a whole lot of stuff to them yet

because they’re young; they are still working out how to do that,

but they still need practising turning to a partner and

contributing, taking turns, coming to agreement – all

those are what the key competencies are.

It’s how they treat each other in the key competencies leads

beautifully into ‘how they treat each other’ and ‘how they approach

their learning’. So when I’m sitting down with any group of

children and I’m talking to them about their learning –

their inquiry for example – I can refer to the key competencies;

I can refer to the class charter, and the children click into that

straight away.

It’s like when you learn something new, you gotta think deeper to

learn more about it.

The cards I use in my class – we call them evaluation cards

– we do them at the end of the day. It takes about fifteen minutes,

but it will get refined at the moment. We go around the circle and,

at the moment, I pick the cards for them (just randomly),

so all the cards get seen and they all get used to them.

When they are good at them, they will then choose their

their own cards to talk about.

Today I struggled with my thinking, because some questions that

I don’t know, and I found it really hard.

But Sharnie helped me with my work.

I was a successful thinker today, when I finished writing

in my diary with a total of 86 words.

So we go around and they reflect on their day,

basically, using the key competencies.

We refer to the PowerPoint a lot – the pictures are up.

The children know that they are part of each competency,

and next would be to actually start having the children

put it in their own words. To use their own words,

[for example] ‘What does relating to others mean?’

Because I think sometimes when you use that term it's

very – quite adult – and I’m a great advocate;

I love using kids-speak.

So I want them to turn that language into their own

and really own the term ‘relating to others’.

In these ways, when we are doing this, what it does allow me to do,

is to integrate dispositions into the learning and it just makes it all

very explicit and very clear for the children.

They know where they are going.

The children are getting better with the language and I actually

hear them pulling each other up. They will say, "Are you managing

yourself right now and stuff like that?" The goal for me is that

they will do this without me having to prompt them

and remind them that these are the things they should be doing

as good students, as good people in our classroom.

And it would be nice if they could link it in with their home lives

as well. That they come in and know that they were thinking well

in the weekend and after school or… The other goal for

me is that when they go home at night, and mum and dad or

whoever says, ‘How was your day? What did you learn?’

then they don’t just go 'Good; nothing', because that’s

the feedback from parents that I've had, is that’s what they say.

So, that they can say, ‘I was a successful thinker today

because I…’ or ‘I struggled today with managing myself when…’

That they know there is something that they can

talk about from their day.

I think these young children, some of them quite skilled

in managing themselves in their own little world.

The challenge now is bringing ‘relating to others’ into that.

A lovely little thing that happened in my class that was completely

natural and unbidden was, Erica wrote a little piece of writing

where she talked about managing herself.

When I read that, I felt really excited because she understood that

managing herself was about her making a choice;

that when she was affected by other people,

she had options. That showed me that –

and the fact that she used the language that I had been

feeding in just constantly; [e.g.] 'Hey, when you are doing that

you're managing yourself'; or 'Are you managing yourself?'

now or whatever – that, she understood that

and it has become part of her language.

Some children have chosen to take those key competencies

and use them as part of their goals.

And that was interesting in the kinds of conversations that

we facilitated with parents when they did that,

because the more we get the child to start or

have the conversation running, the more parents understand

that what they do at home, and what the kids do at school

has a nice marriage, and they can have the language to talk

to their children. So, that's a common language that would thread

between school and home. I think parents understand that,

in that the key competencies are more about "How I

operate as a person," less about, "Did I learn how to

spell a word today". And I think that makes a nice marriage

between school and home.