Bursts & Bubbles - Celebrating my 2022 Inquiry!

 

Presentation

Monitoring, Recording, and Tweaking – What have I found out?

Share data that you have collected/ recorded about the implementation of your changed practices or intervention

Describe the evidence you have so far about the effects of your changed practices or intervention on desired learner outcomes and how you summarised and recorded these

Towards the end of Term 3, I began to record our problem solving lessons in order to observe myself and the learners during the process. It became apparent that the recordings were not showing the progress I had anticipated.

My main reflections from rewatching these lessons were:

• Providing the learners opportunity to act out and draw the problems aided in their comprehension of the problems. 

• Learners were confident working through the first part of the framework, where they noticed and highlighted the important information of the problem. However, the rest of the framework needed to be worked through together with the teacher. 

• I am explicitly teaching and modelling the specific Learning Process thinking skills: Notice, Find, Plan, Group and Solve support learners to solve maths problems.

The recordings have allowed me to pick up on any of the learners misunderstandings in number knowledge, strategy or mathematical vocabulary. This informed my number knowledge/strategy workshops for the following week. 

Explain  

This inquiry has made me reflect that both myself and the learners are at an emergent stage of the problem solving journey and I have made tweaks along the way. In Term 2, I was observed teaching problem solving and it was noticed that we were creating problem solving tasks that were more an ‘application’ type of task. This feedback allowed me to tweak my learning design and it meant that now the tasks had many possible answers, instead of just one. 

Open ended mathematical applications to allow learners to:

• Develop problem solving strategies

• Demonstrate use of mathematical knowledge

• Build further mathematical knowledge

• Experience meaningful contexts for mathematics

Mid Year Data

At Stonefields School we have had an update of our mid-year data. Below is the Whole School Snapshot for our Maths OTJ’s. 

Year 3 Shift Data:

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. Year 3 saw an overall increase in the number of learners moving from working within to working towards expectation. This negative shift helps affirm my target group as they are all Year 3 learners currently working towards Stage 5. 

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.

Tohatoha | Share Staff Meeting

Last week, myself and educators from around the country were able to kōrero, connect and share what is currently happening in our akomanga. It was great to hear the new knowledge and skills they had acquired and the resulting changes they had made in their practice. 

Thank you to all the participants, I am grateful for the rich dialogue and resources shared:

DIMIC

Special Addition Marie Hurst 

Master the curriculum 

White Rose Maths

AMA Auckland Maths Association

Bruce Moody 

Wilkie Way Maths Charlotte Wilkinson

From Planning to Implementation

Restate your inquiry question:
How will I develop learners' ability to solve problems in maths through thinking skills and a problem solving framework to raise achievement in maths?

Implementation =

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

• Further develop learners key number knowledge and strategies.

• Design a problem solving framework to help learners in maths.

• Learners are able to explain their thinking and how they solve problems in maths.

The changes I have made to my teaching practise are:

• Incorporating problem solving in to my weekly maths programme

• The problem solving groups are of mixed ability allowing students to learn from each other, and not have their learning capped by their group's achievement “level”. 

• Inquiring into problem solving also influenced how I teach my number knowledge and strategy workshops. I went back to basics and used the NZ Numeracy Development Projects Books (Book 5 and 6). In these workshops learners have 'mini' problems to solve as well, broadening their exposure to problem solving activities throughout the week.

  
  
  

• Explicit teaching of what problem solving is (how to think, talk, act like a mathematician, maths talk moves) Adoption of the talk moves in maths discussions, is allowing the students time to wrestle with the problem on their own.

• Create a problem solving framework for learners to use. (which includes the Learning Process thinking skills)

Monitoring =
Throughout the intervention I have monitored progress using SchoolTalk evidence, student work samples, learner voice and teachers notes. 

I will keep samples from my target learner group from the beginning of the year till now and it will show the progress they have made. This information will be recorded on my blog.

Reflection =
Learners are engaging with the framework and need to continue using the problem solving framework as practice. My next step is to record some lessons so I can listen back and note down every time I model a Learning Process thinking skill and every time a learner uses the Learning Process thinking skills.

I want to further develop learners' ability to share their maths learning. This relates to my previous blog post about turbo boosting digital technologies. My next step is to screencastify my target group are able to explain their thinking and how they solve problems in maths. Screencasts redefine learning:  If they are created independently or collaboratively by students, they can then be uploaded onto a sharing platform and students can receive feedback from peers.  

Turbocharge Effective Practice

 A key consideration for the Manaiakalani Kāhui Ako is our pedagogy Learn Create Share, including how we are capitalising on the affordances of the technology to turbo charge effective practice. 

At our most recent PLG we were asked:

Have you identified this as a current strength or an area of development in your practice?

I reflected on this and feel it is an area I want to develop =

• Transform the way we learn

• Offer new experiences

• Offer new opportunities

→ Google Screencast for learners

During our Talanoa a few of my CoL colleagues sparked some inspiration for me:

- Clarelle Carruthers about Rewindable resources.

e.g. a rewindable video of peers explaining their maths thinking.

Am I providing enough opportunities for children to rewind and revisit their learning?

- Hannah West shared her Honours Dissertation with me around using student-created screencasts in maths.

Will screencasts allow my target learners to provide additional valuable mathematical thinking through oral language rather than only written problem solving? 

I am so grateful to have inspiring colleagues, and opportunities to openly share practise and ideas during our CoL PLG's. 

Causal Chain

The purpose of a causal chain is to tighten up my intervention and to understand more deeply what I did that resulted in a shift in student achievement.

Hypothesis

 A hypothesis is a tentative answer to your research question that has not yet been tested.

My hypotheses about the aspects of teaching that are most likely to shift student learning are shown in the visual below. These hypotheses have been generated from evidence about the students combined with evidence about the learning environment.

Research #3

Ell And Darragh, F. D. L. (2021, November 1). Teaching and learning mathematics at primary school. The Education Hub. https://theeducationhub.org.nz/teaching-and-learning-mathematics-at-primary-school/

I connected with a lot of the information in this article, particularly the last section about engagement. 

An important idea that studies have shown to impact students’ mathematics engagement and progress is mathematics learner identity. Mathematics learner identity describes the relationships students form with mathematics and how they see themselves as a learner of mathematics.

The Agency and wellbeing data shows that my target group has a lower perception of themselves as learners than their peers. My next step is to deliberately help build their view of themselves as capable of learning mathematics, even if it is hard; and to value learning mathematics, showing them the relevance it has in their lives. 

I am going to focus on these things when connecting mathematics concepts and skills together with my learners attitudes, prior knowledge and thinking:

1. Talk: this includes teacher talk and students talk. It is important to discuss thinking, explaining and justifying their ideas. If I explicitly model and teach them a framework of how to break down mathematical tasks/language, then they will be able to understand and solve maths problems. 

2. Tasks: To promote engagement and powerful learning, the tasks teachers choose should show that mathematics is also for solving puzzles and problems, working things out and making connections. This term I have been working with an external Maths PLD facilitator around designing these ‘open, low floor - high ceiling tasks’. Everyone can make a start because the entry point is easy, and students can take the mathematics as far as they like. The purpose of using these types of problems is so all learners feel success, hence building their confidence and resilience when learning mathematics. 

Howley-Rouse, A. (2021, November 7). Five research-derived themes to consider when teaching maths. The Education Hub. https://theeducationhub.org.nz/five-research-derived-themes-to-consider-when-teaching-maths/

Research #2

BES. (2016, May). Hangaia te Urupounamu Pāngarau Mō Tātou [Video]. Education Counts. https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/topics/bes/introduction 

This video specifically talks about how the BES pedagogy accelerates progress in mathematics education and supports student collaboration and wellbeing. There were many points that made me think of my inquiry, especially hearing the student’s voices. 

Learner A voice = I like it this way because we can communicate with each other and work and talk together to find out everything. 

Learner B voice = If we don’t get something we will be able to get help and we’ll be able to explain what we don’t know and we’ll get help from that which is quite good.’ 

Learner C voice = It’s good to let other people have a go and not just yourself, it’s not always you get it right, you can use other people’s ideas to get the question right and it’s alright if it’s wrong because you know what you’ve got to learn next time.

Looking at my target learners' voices, they feel okay about their maths learning and are aware that sometimes it is tricky. However, I am wanting to fill their ‘toolbelt’ with what can help them with problem solving. e.g. a process and visuals to help them solve maths problems. I would love to see my target group's voice at the end of the year emulate the above student voice from the video. 

My end goal is that my learners find mathematics enjoyable and relevant. One comment in this video caught my attention when a teacher talked about using meaningful contexts for the problems, specifically what students do at home. 

This reading helped me form hypotheses about aspects of teaching that might contribute to current patterns of learning.

Research #1

In my previous blog posts, I have detailed a rich profile of students’ learning through the collection of data.

The academic readings that have helped me form hypotheses are outlined in the following blog posts:

Anthony, G. and Walshaw, M. (2009). Effective Pedagogy in Mathematics. Educational Practices Series, no. 19. Brussels: International Bureau of Education.

Effective teachers shape mathematical language by modelling appropriate terms and communicating their meaning in ways that students understand.

This reading confirmed I need to be breaking down the content so my learners can understand the problem. My next step is to build a framework for how learners can unpack a mathematical task/problem. For example, at Stonefields School we have a school language called the Learning Process, which teaches thinking skills to help them in their learning. 

Students learn the meaning of mathematical language through explicit “telling” and through modelling... The teacher should model and use specialised mathematical language in ways that let students grasp it easily. 

My next teacher act is to deliberately teach and model the use of the learning process thinking skills. By connecting the thinking skills to visuals, this will help learners know how to access them and use them when they are in the learning pit/stuck in their learning.

When reading this information, I was reflecting on how I can bring the Manaiakalani pedagogy of Learn, Create, Share the forefront of my inquiry focus.

As we learn the mathematical content we are also learning a process for learning. 

Create artefacts/resources to share what we have learnt.

Share these to support others in their learning.

Reflecting on my Data...

Reflecting on the data, I have changed tack. I’ve come to realise I have a few 'cuspy' learners in the group who I feel will be easier to shift. Whilst I will still work with the other learners, these will be my new target group.

Here is the baseline data reflecting my new target group =

Learner Voice & JAM Data:

Target Learner 1: Male, NZ European, Year 3, Student Support Level 3

Target Learner 2: Male, Filipino, Year 3, Support Level 2 

Target Learner 3: Female, Korean, Year 3, ESOL 

Target Learner 4: Male, NZ European, Year 3

Target Learner 5: Female, Other Asian, Year 3

The JAM assessment shows areas of gaps in their number knowledge and strategies as detailed in the modules. The learner voice allows me to hear how they feel about maths problem solving and what challenges they have in their learning. 

School Talk Gap Analysis:

The SchoolTalk progressions are also showing the gaps in the learners number knowledge and addition and subtraction strategies.

Hauora/Wellbeing Data: 

I analysed the data of the Te Whare Tapa Wha 'wellbeing tool' with my target group and the rest of our hub. It will be interesting to see at the end of term 2 the shift in their individual recognition of their own wellbeing. 

Agency Self Perception Data:

I also analysed the data of the Agency Self Perception tool with my target group compared to the rest of our hub. I hope to see these learners perception of themselves as an agentic learner increase later in the year. 

 

Looking at this baseline data my reflection is that learners have gaps in their number knowledge which make problem solving difficult and learners are unaware they have multiple tools/supports to help them in this learning.

Baseline Student Data and Evidence

Learner Voice & JAM Data:

Target Learner 1:  Male, NZ European, Year 3, Student Support Level 3

Target Learner 2:  Male, NZ European, Year 3

Target Learner 3:  Male, NZ European, Year 3, Student Support Level 3

Target Learner 4: Male, Filipino, Year 3, Support Level 2

Target Learner 5: Female, NZ European, Year 3

Target Learner 5: Female, Korean, Year 3, ESOL

The JAM assessment shows areas of gaps in their number knowledge and strategies as detailed in the modules. The learner voice allows me to hear how they feel about maths problem solving and what challenges they have in their learning. 

School Talk Gap Analysis:

The SchoolTalk progressions are also showing the gaps in the learners number knowledge and addition and subtraction strategies.

Hauora progressions & Wellbeing Data: 

	Taha Tinana	Taha Hinengaro	Taha Whānau	Taha Wairua	Taha Whenua	Combined
SW Inquiry group	3.58	3.50	3.83	3.58	3.50	3.60
Hub 8	3.37	3.28	3.50	3.46	3.54	3.43
Difference	-0.21	-0.22	-0.33	-0.13	0.04	-0.17
Percentage Difference	-5.97%	-6.31%	-8.70%	-3.54%	1.04%	-4.77%

I analysed the data of the Te Whare Tapa Wha 'wellbeing tool' with my target group and the rest of our hub. It will be interesting to see at the end of term 2 the shift in their individual recognition of their own wellbeing. 

Agency Self Perception Data: 

	Self Aware	Assessment Cap	Collaboration	Using Tools & Strategies	Resilience	Take Action	Combined
Hub 8	3.28	3.03	3.01	3.05	3.10	3.19	3.11
SW Inquiry group	2.47	2.36	2.33	2.72	2.50	2.42	2.47
Difference	-0.81	-0.67	-0.68	-0.32	-0.60	-0.77	-0.64
Percentage Difference	-24.62%	-22.06%	-22.57%	-10.62%	-19.27%	-24.26%	-20.64%

I also analysed the data of the Agency Self Perception tool with my target group compared to the rest of our hub. I hope to see these learners perception of themselves as an agentic learner increase later in the year. 

Looking at this baseline data my reflection is that learners have gaps in their number knowledge which make problem solving difficult and learners are unaware they have multiple tools/supports to help them in this learning.