Tools/measures/approaches

The tools, measures, and approaches that will help gain an accurate profile of my target learners are using their JAM data as well as schoolwide tools including the Agency Self Perception tool, learner voice about the thinking skills in the learning process, and schooltalk progressions.

Learner Voice = I will use this to measure students’ understanding, help pinpoint what challenges they still have in their learning. This will also help me understand what tools are helping the students and what their next steps are.

JAM Data = These assessments will be taken during Term 1 and Term 4. In Term 1, I will use the results of these assessments to see what the learner’s gaps are and Term 4’s samples will be used to compare and see the progress the learners have made throughout the year.

School Talk gap analysis data = This data will show whether learners have progressed in particular number knowledge progressions.

Anecdotal notes =  Throughout the year I will be observing the learners during problem solving and recording this qualitative information to identify learners' needs, track progress and capture any rich dialogue. 

As stated in my last post, my learners' wellbeing is another important focus of my inquiry. I will be collecting data from the Hauora progressions on School Talk and our Stonefields Agency Self Perception tool.

 

2022 Inquiry!

The stand out takeaway I took from the first Kāhui Ako meeting was related to Russell's inquiry about having "present, happy, healthy, engaged ākonga who are learning in the goldilocks zone". I feel this is really important as the learners I am teaching this year have had most of their schooling journey interrupted due to the COVID pandemic. Taking this into account…

I am wanting my inquiry to focus on the well-being of my learners - how they feel about their learning and their confidence. I can gather evidence from the Hauora progressions on SchoolTalk as well as our Stonefields Agency Self Perception tool. 

I have a group of learners that are working below where they should be for maths with gaps in their number knowledge. This is evidenced in School Talk gap analysis and their PAT results. I have identified that these learners are either ESOL or are on our Student Support register. This year I have moved to a Year ¾ hub and the challenge of student learning I plan to focus on is maths problem-solving. 

When chatting with Anita Unka (CoL teacher) we discussed using the Manaiakalani pedagogy of Learn, Create, Share as a guide for my inquiry focus. There is potential for my students to learn a new method to solve maths problems, they can then create resources (I'm interested in the app Google Jamboard) to showcase their new learning and share this with other children to help them! 

I also spoke to Gina Harduar (Associate Principal) about my planned inquiry focus. Part of our Stonefields Strategic and Annual Plan 2022 is how we are using the Learning Process to promote and engage learning.

We discussed my learner's PAT data and it was highlighted that problem-solving was a big need.

Here are some of my wonderings…

How do I create a step by steps to figure out the word problem?

How do I model thinking skills to help learners figure out a problem?

Can there be visuals to support this?

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.