Session 4 - Summary (27/1/17)

Session Four has been one of our most successful, productive sessions so far. This could be due to the fact that we actually started to put the display up. Before this time we had just been preparing all of the pieces of the display until we had a practically finished display, that we could put up in one go, so that we did not leave St Mary's school with a half finished display board for a week or more. This would have taken away the excitement for the children as they would already know the ideas behind the display and therefore not be as effective. However as our last two sessions were on consecutive days we decided to start putting the display up today.

We made the decision to put the signpost up first as this would be one of the main focal points of the display. The reaction that the pupils had when they saw it was amazing. They all started to say "oh look! I'm going to go to Hogwarts" or "I'm going to the future!" This was a really gratifying feeling as it meant that the hard work that we put into the ideas had paid off.

During the break we all had children that we asked to read to us. We also were able to help some children find books that they wanted to read. As it was our first time being in the library on a Monday, it was our first time meeting many of the children, a lot of them seemed younger, but nearly all just as eager to read. However there were a few children hiding from the cold in the library, but they were still looking at books.

We also put the whiteboards up for the children to write their book recommendations on. The first guided reading session that we had were amazed by the fact that they could write on the display and were very eager have their say about what book to read. Furthermore, the teacher loved the idea and said that it made her want to update the boards in her classroom to make them more interactive and up to date with the topics that the children are learning at the moment.

During the guided reading session the teacher suggested that we take a child each and listen to them read in a separate room. This was a great idea as it meant that there was less noise and it was easier to focus on the one child reading to you rather than trying to keep conversations with three or four pupils at once.

We discussed with Issac that our last session was the next day and asked if there was anything else that he would like us to do, other than the display, but he said no. He was happy for us to finish the display and do what we had planned the next day.

OVERALL REFLECTION OF THE SESSION 

Session four was our most successful and productive session as the key parts of the display were completed in this time. We were extremely proud when children saw the display and were excited by it. This was proof to us that our display had gained the interest of some pupils.
It was the first time we used the separate room for guided reading and it worked much better than being in the library as it was quieter and meant the children were less distracted. We therefore, decided that for guided reading and one to one reading in the next session we would use this room if it was available.