Bursts & Bubbles - Celebrating my 2021 Inquiry!

 

Whānau voice / Student voice Distance Learning Edition!

Last post I discussed how I wanted to gain learner and whānau voice about their writing learning at home and how I can support them. Here is what was shared:

 

These ideas will be further developed in our Digital Learning Conversations next week where we will have the opportunity to mutually share insights, progress and achievement and discuss the learners next learning steps.

Aug-Oct Lockdown & Distance Learning Reflection

With most of Term 3 in lockdown due to Covid-19, distance learning has been the ‘normal’. With this, come some challenges in keeping the momentum of my inquiry going. I have tried my best and adapted my inquiry to make it work for all my learners during distance learning. Manaiakalani’s Learn, Create, Share pedagogy has been my guide and put my students at the very centre of their learning. 

Here are my reflections:

We have used an integrated approach, linking our concept learning about Space with the curriculum learning areas of Reading, Writing, Maths and Science. 

The learners have impressed me with their device readiness, showing etiquette in the new digital classroom environment. They are communicating using the Google Meet hands up tool and muting microphones on and off with ease. 

Learners have created so many rich records of learning. These have been shared during our workshops and on Padlet. We have been able to provide feedback via the Padlet and SchoolTalk. It was great to see learners writing comments on each others posts as well.

Target learner 1: Male, Year 1 Sri Lankan 

 Target learner 2: Female, Year 2 NZ European

Target learner 3: Male, Year 1 Chinese

Target learner 4: Female, Year 1 Sri Lankan

Target learner 5: Male, Year 2 Russian

Target learner 6: Male, Year 1 NZ Polish

This evidence identifies formative feedback of students progress which was recorded on SchoolTalk for writing learning progressions. 

Term 3’ distance learning has highlighted the importance of involving parents in this process as well. Throughout this lockdown period, we have had high whānau engagement and interaction, it really feels like we are all in this together. In Week 8 and 9, I spoke with each family and discussed their child’s challenges and successes of distance learning and what learning they were most engaged in. I recorded these connections using the Whānau Kotahi tool so I can monitor the engagement and level of relationships.

As distance learning seems to be continuing for this term, my next step is to gain learner and whānau voice about their writing learning at home and how I can support.

TOHATOHA - Manaiakalani SHARE!

I was fortunate to facilitate a Share meeting just before we went into the latest lockdown.

Myself and educators from around the country were able to connect and share strategies around writing and our learners. We had rich dialogue, lifted each other and shared resources. Thank you ladies for your openness, you have inspired me!

From Planning to Implementing

 Restate your inquiry question:

How will I change my teaching practise and design for learning to support learners' ability to articulate their next steps in writing? 

Implementation =

The learning outcomes I want to improve for my students in this inquiry are:

• Know and understand what successful writers include in their writing

• Co-construct the success criteria for writing 

• Use the success criteria to articulate their next steps in writing
  
  

The changes I have made to my teaching practise are:

• Using the writing process and slowing the learning down. We now spend a few days building our knowledge before we even write! 

• Adopting mixed ability writing ropu (groups) and moving writing to the morning block of the timetable.
  
  

  
  
  

• Showing learners multi-modal examples of what good writing looks like. Below is an example from my learning design around narratives.
  
  

  

• Co-constructing the success criteria with learners. Below are some examples from my learning design around narratives. There are different success criteria for my 3 different ropu.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  Implementation of my change in practise will be evident in my design for learning and will be recorded on this blog.

Monitoring = 

I am monitoring the effects of my changed practices/intervention on learner outcomes through SchoolTalk evidence and writing samples. I keep samples from each learner from the beginning of the year till now and it shows the progress they have made. I will also be monitoring thorough student voice, observations and anecdotal notes. This information will be recorded on my blog. 

Reflection = Learners are engaging with the co-constructed success criteria and can reflect on their writing when conferencing with me. However, I want to further develop learners' ability to articulate their next steps in writing when they are independent of me (working with a buddy or whānau). My next step is to create feedback prompts to support learners articulating their next steps. 

Additionally, I have noticed an increase in learners' confidence in writing. I had learners at the start of the year that were writing 1-3 lines with lots of teacher support. Now these learners are writing 1-2 pages independently! My next step is to gather student voice to see if this is reflected with the learners. 

Data

Over the past two weeks, we had an update of our mid-year data. This data shows that writing is the biggest need in Stonefields School.

Here are my noticings =

We are seeing some progress!!

The overall year group shift data uses matched data to show how different year groups have made more or less than expected shift in the last 12 months.  Therefore, the year 1s are left out of this data set as they have been at school for less than a year. 

Of standout note are the Year 2s where 24 learners have made more than a years' gain.  This represents 53% of all year 2 matched learners.

My Wondering = Year 2’s data lower than Year 1’s. How can I reduce this statistic?

Along with National data, there is an emerging phenomenon that boys are achieving lower than girls. Why is this still the case?  

This data gives me motivation to keep up the mahi in my inquiry so I can see positive change in the data at the end of year.

Causal chain

This is the causal chain for my inquiry which shows my plan for the rest of the year.

This may be adapted as the year progresses to meet the needs of the learners.

The current status quo

Develop a rich profile of relevant aspects of your current teaching.

At yesterday's PLG Anita, Emma and I had a really good chat with Fiona. She asked us to talk about relevant aspects of our current teaching. This will help me design an intervention and give me baseline information that I can use at the end of the year to evidence shifts in my teaching. 

Currently learners are hooked into writing through real life experiences. For example, we had some whānau come into the hub and we made sushi. From this I was able to extend learners' vocabulary by teaching them ‘powerful verbs’ (inspired by Murray Gadd). Here is the language that came out of this provocation: 

“Chomping on the crunchy seaweed”

“The delicious sushi vanished in my mouth”

“Soft, slimy and slippery avocado sliding into my mouth.” 

Another aspect that is increasing student engagement is creating an element of choice in their learning. After making sushi they could choose to write a description or a thank you letter to the parent helpers. The learners opted-in to the workshop they preferred and in doing so, felt more ownership of their learning.

The current challenge of student learning is they do not know their next steps and are not able to articulate these. 

Learners can identify surface features but do not have enough knowledge of how to apply these correctly when refining their writing. 

Learners are using visuals to check they meet the success criteria. 

On reflection, I am jumping ahead and trying to design the intervention already! 

I am going to fold back and ask the learners for their voice about what they think good writers include in their writing. I am going to co-construct the success criteria! 

If learners have a better understanding and clarity of surface features in writing, they will make connections for what they need to include in their writing.

If I empower learners to co-construct success criteria about what good writers include in their writing, they will include these features in their writing.

 

Manaiakalani CREATE!

Emma and I co-hosted a workshop this week for the Manaiakalani: Creativity Empowers Learners meeting, with an amazing group of our learners. They were so determined in teaching a group of adults how to design their very own pencil case! 

Check out the presentation and photos below:

Research #2 = Murray Gadd

 I was fortunate enough to go to Murray Gadd’s “What makes a great writing lesson/programme?” presentation in May.

My takeaways from the presentation are:

Data shows that 36.4% of all Year 1-8 boys are under-achieving in writing, and 39% of all Year 1-8 Maori and Pasifika students are under-achieving in writing.

He highlighted that learners finding success in writing is important. Not only because writing is used to demonstrate understanding and learning in school but, beyond education, it is part of their daily lives with texting, blogging, and social networking. 

Engaging kids to write through sensory experiences or ‘open’ topics where there is freedom and choice about what to write about and give them thinking/talking time. 

Effective teachers know how their students are progressing as developing writers and ensure the learning is differentiated. 

I have since incorporated writing groups into my practice. Who needs what teaching and when? I can monitor learners' progress of using surface features and plan my workshops based on the gaps. I will record this information on SchoolTalk. 

Effective teachers know what writers do as they write. 

In collaboration with other teachers that also attended the presentation, we have designed some visual success criteria that help the learners move between the different phases of writing. 

Effective teachers ensure there is a positive and enthusiastic mood and learners are prepared to take risks when they write.
Teachers must continually ask themselves: Are my students writing enough? I reflected on this question and I have now introduced free writing into my writing programme. This gives learners an opportunity to write on self-selected topics. This writing will not be assessed but is available to be shared and celebrated during sharing time. 

Effective teachers make constant links for students between reading and writing. 

Learners need to understand that there is a writer behind everything they read. On the flip side, making opportunities for their writing to be read by someone else, will make the experience relevant and purposeful. During feedback with me, we will talk through the visual success criteria and reflect on what changes we can make to our writing. I will ask learners some guiding questions. What must I do to help the reader? Does it make sense? Does it sound right? Have you used the best words? 

Murray was incredibly inspiring and I left with practical ideas and resources to strengthen the engagement and achievement of my students in writing.

Gadd, M. (2020). What makes a great writing lesson/programme? {PowerPoint slides}.

Research #1 = Reading

 Share three pieces of academic or professional reading and explain how they and other sources helped you form hypotheses about aspects of teaching that might contribute to current patterns of learning.

ERO: Keeping children engaged and achieving in writing: Teaching approaches and strategies that work.

This reading features strategies and approaches that were observed in 40 primary schools across New Zealand where achievement in writing had been accelerated. These are the aspects that stood out to me:

Students were active partners in designing their learning plans; they were supported to monitor their own progress; knew what they needed to learn next, and were able to provide feedback about the teaching actions that worked for them.

A balance of informal writing opportunities and more formal writing instruction. During play-based learning, children often independently chose to write lists, menus, books.
Pre-writing activity/ Prior knowledge -- writing down their keywords, learners ask questions, read a book, write down more keywords. They were then asked to think of a sentence that included some of the interesting words and tell their neighbour their sentence.

Parents and whānau were formally invited to be part of the process and were involved in workshops to develop home activities and frequent, regular three-way conferencing in which teachers emphasised progress and success.

Teachers involved most parents in setting goals and agreeing on the next learning steps with their child. Collaboratively analysed children’s writing samples. A shared understanding of the writing progressions helped children and teachers know about individuals’ writing achievement, progress, and next steps.

My takeaways from this reading are:

Creating opportunities for learners to be part of designing what they learn. This will increase their ownership and will support them in articulating what their strengths are and what their next steps are in writing. 

My learners are able to think, draw and talk about detailed ideas. This can further be developed by giving them ‘independent writing’ time. Growing their love for writing and allowing them to see themselves as writers is important. 

Reflection: I feel there is a missing piece in my hypotheses about involving whānau in their child's learning, specifically writing. I want to strengthen whānau engagement through involving them in their child's learning in writing. Having three-way conversations (learner, parent/s, and teacher) to talk about the students' writing and giving whānau tools to help their child’s writing at home.

If I involve whānau when giving and receiving feedback about their child’s writing, will writing achievement lift?

If I  provide whānau with strategies and resources of how they can help at home, will writing achievement lift?

Education Review Office. (2019). Keeping children engaged and achieving in writing: Teaching approaches and strategies that work. Wellington, New Zealand: Author

Hypothesise

 1. Share your findings about the nature and extent of the student challenge. Make sure it is clear what evidence from your inquiry supports each finding.

2. Explain how some of the data you have used to build a profile of the students’ learning will be used as baseline data at the end of the year.

My explanation of how I will use this baseline data is in a previous blog post.

Manaiakalani TOD

On the last day of Term 1, we had a Manaiakalani Teacher Only Day with a focus on literacy. The inspiring Keynote speaker; Dr Rae Si'ilata talked about “What is effective practice when it comes to reading, and what is effective practice for our communities?” She talked about culturally responsive pedagogy and effective bilingual/biliteracy practice for our Pasifika learners. Throughout her presentation, she shared personal experiences and anecdotes which really hit home and gave me some perspective. My biggest takeaways were to always privilege the native speaker in the room, include more bilingual texts and texts need to act as mirrors, not windows! Get the learners to write their own stories and then read them! What is their story?

I also attended three workshops led by other Manaiakalani teachers where I reflected on my practice and learnt some new strategies that I can implement.

Workshop 1 = Shared Reading & Integrated Learning
Workshop 2 = Better Start Literacy

Workshop 3 = Deep Diving into the text

Dr Shawn Hawthorne: ‘What works for teaching ‘reluctant’ writers?’

In Term 1 we were lucky enough to have Dr Shawn Hawthorne share a presentation around ‘What works for teaching ‘reluctant’ writers?’

Here are my takeaways: 

The data:
- By Year 4, 25% of students are achieving below level 2 

- Girls score better than boys on most writing tasks 

- Attitude towards writing declines with age

- Maori and PI students have lower scores than Pakeha students

Engagement can be considered to have 3 key elements:
1. Behavioural 

2. Cognitive 

3. Emotional 

Researchers have recently added ‘ agency’ as a 4th element.

Sometimes children fail to engage because they do not see themselves as writers, they don’t see a need for writing, writing is too hard and it will end in mistakes to correct. Engagement is essential for other conditions to ‘click’. 

Factors that affect engagement:

Something that stood out to me was the Key Belief of ‘all students are able to improve their writing.’ One way we can help these students improve is by giving them strategic knowledge which involves developing their knowledge and skill, in using strategies that help them to effectively manage the demands of the writing process. 

Shawn Hawthorne’s Effective pedagogy for teaching writing closely links with the information I shared in the Writing Process PLD which I co-presented with Anita and Gina at Stonefields School. He believes there are 8 effective practices for teaching writing:

Practises 5 and 7 closely align to The Writing Process I have been implementing in my learning design to teach writing.

Delving deeper into the challenge of student learning: Preliminary findings

After our last PLG we were asked to frame our focus around the desired change we wanted to see in student learning NOT a change in teaching (as yet!). As teachers, we naturally try to think of what tools we can use to help students first. But before I do that I need to really understand the nature and extent of the challenges the learners are facing when writing.
For example, when learners come and show me their writing after self and peer feedback - they still don’t have full stops/capital letters. They are unable to feedback in writing.. Why is this?  Learner Voice and Writing Samples
This is what the learners said:

e-asTTle Writing scores

This graph shows e-asTTle data from my Year 2 target learners from the beginning of the year. As shared in a previous blog post the learners School Talk gap analysis shares similar findings with this other data.

My reflection of this baseline data is the learners don’t know
what their next steps are in writing and they are unaware
they have multiple tools/supports to help them.
It is clear they have gaps in:

- Punctuation: learners are not including the basics such as
capital letters and full stops.
- Spelling: high-frequency words are spelt incorrectly and
they are unaware they have tools/supports to help them
with their spelling.

How can I create explicit tools/supports that promote feedback
and create a greater shift in their writing?

Target Learner 1: Male, Year 1
Sri Lankan

 

Target Learner 2: Female, Year 2
NZ European

  Target Learner 3:   Male, Year 1 Chinese

Target Learner 4: Female, Year 1 Sri Lankan Target Learner 5: Male, Year 2 Russian

Target Learner 6: Male, Year 1 Polish