End of year reflections

This year has been huge for me. I have learnt a lot about myself as a teacher and a co-teacher. I have found that working together being on the same page and investigating the same issues in teaching and learning. I have found that especially in reading we have made a lot of shift even though this is not the area of our focussing inquiry. 

Inquiry 

This year has been a huge year of learning for me in terms of DMiC maths and reflecting back the critical successes we have had in this area are. Children all have strong shared values around what maths looks like in our classroom. This is due to the early implementation of our class maths norms and the constant talk about them. The kids are excited to do maths, they want to talk to their friends about what they are learning and they want the problems to be hard. They don’t get upset when they do get the whole thing first time they listen and then try again. I skill have much to learn in DMiC but I feel one success is how well Chrissy and I have worked together to build our knowledge and help each other in this area well skill maintaining our own teacher voice and style. 

Other 

Reading

We are really proud of the reading shift we have seen this year. We have had most of our learners make over a years shift with half of our learners making 1.5 years or over. We feel this is due in part to our routines that encourage millage, we get kids to read every morning and take books home every night. We also believe that the discussions and creative tasks have had an impact here. Our class love reading and that love of reading is evident in their shift. 

Chart


Writing

This week we have been doing practice test condition writing for our test on Thursday. We have been talking to each child about their goals. It is so wonderful to look back at their writing at the beginning of the year and now and see so much more writing, more structure and more description, My biggest success her though are two boys, At the beginning of the year writing time would come and they would chuck their pencils and find a corner to hide or cry. Now they sit for 40 mins with everyone else and write. They write 4 sentences with no tears they just try and that is the kind of shift your feel as a teacher a shift from fear to happiness and pride. 

Reflectioning on my inquiry

2018 has been a huge year of learning for me and my inquiry focus has been language acquisition in mathematics. I have learnt so much about shifting the balance of talk and providing support for learners to engage in talk.

This is my presentation about my inquiry and my findings. I have also share some insights into my tool and how it has worked for me and my class. I hope that you will find this presentation interesting and perhaps it will have an impact on your practice as my inquiry has in mine this year.

My Inquiry Presentation Manaiakalani & Outreach Principals Wananga 2018

This year I had the privilege of being part of the MIT program and as part of this we shared our inquiry impact story with the Principles and School leader from the Manaiakalani and Outreach Cluster at the 2018 Wananga on the 1st of November. 

What happened for the learners

As a result of my inquiry was that learners became more confident in their use of mathematical language and this meant they were able to model, explain and use this language when solving problems and discussing mathematical ideas.

For one of my target learners this supported great shift in her mathematical ability and with her making two years progress in one year. Another learner in my inquiry group made 1.5 years progress. However this was not the case for all learners and as such I wondered if students interaction in the intervention played a larger role than I had anticipated.

What evidence do I have for this
A clear picture of the language development was painted by the vocabulary survey which was taken in terms 1 and 4 this showed that students understanding and ability to use this small range of vocabulary had greatly improved.

I also used Gloss Data to look at mathematical strategies and explanation. This as we have discussed a lot this year may not be the ideal for of assessment for the DMiC method however it did how that students how activity engaged in the intervention could understand the language and this supported them to solve the problems.

What did I do to make this happen?
This inquiry has been a huge area of growth for me as a teacher. I have step out of my comfort zone and tried many new things. This started with a focus on coding which quickly shifted toi using a range of approaches to support language development and discussion in mathematics.
-Developing a shared language and classroom culture.
-Write Questions rich in language and open for discussion
-Integrating language into coding tasks
-Providing language and discussion prompts

Wonderings about what next

As we move toward to end of 2018 and into 2019 I want to continue this approach and see if with learners becoming more familiar with DMiC in can have a bigger impact. I also wonder if the key principles of this approach the rewindable videos, prompts for discussion can be adjusted and applied to literacy as an aid to goal setting and discussion of goals in reading and writing. I am interested in this because of the work that Danni Stone has been doing this year with her year 7 and 8 students in the connection between reading and writing and the language that we can draw from reading to writing. It also came up at MIT that the prompts and videos could be integrated across the curriculum building more familiarity and cross curriculum integration.  

Video of my Inquiry Presentation Manaiakalani & Outreach Principals Wananga 2018

This year I have enjoyed the privilege being part of the MIT program. Throughout the year I have learnt so much and extended my knowledge. It was a big moment for me presenting to the Principals from Manaiakalani and the Outreach. This is the video of my presentation at the Wananga and I hope it will connect with my journey.

Opening Manaiakalani & Outreach Principals Wananga 2018

Today I am at a very special event. We had the opportunity today to come together with teachers, leaders and passionate in what they do as teachers.

We are so privileged to have partners who support us as clusters through financial support, research support, all the families and people who make this possible.

Today we are celebrating all the people that are Manaiakalani by making connections. Today is about making friends and staying friends when we leave here today to make the connections last, so we can make it work.

 

Why we do this is for because we want our learners to be out there. Playing the game with style, passion, as themselves.

We have been on this journey now for sometime and we are clear in our ambition. Clear in using the data to inform positive change and innovation.

We want the learning journey that communities want to be in the forefront of education and consider what we do to make this possible when it does not match what they Ministry of Education goals for that community. We are lucky in New Zealand to have a government who are willing to listen and hear and see what is going on in Education and notice the shift being made in Manaiakalani.

Change, accelerated shift is not possible without Manaiakalani teachers throughout New Zealand, who collaborate together, accept challenges and innovating and finding what works.

DMiC Developing assessment exemplars

We have had a lot of questions about how assessment works within the DMiC pedagogy.

What we discussed today is why are are assessing?
We assess for our teaching to know what we need to do. To identify gaps and see student needs. We also must consider what we are collecting with each assessment and how that will be used in our teaching.

When we assess we find gaps in what we have taught and what has been learnt and this allows us to adapt our teaching a find next steps for ourselves and our learners. We also need to be aware of how these assessment impacts on our awareness of students ability, needs and helps us to report to parents.

What does assessment involve?
We are using evidence to make decision for many different reasons. We also have to communicate the evidence that we find from assessment for parents, boards, government and of course our learners. This communication is for different purposes both summative and formative for kids that is setting goals for themselves a long side their teacher.

Aim:
Our aim for assessment is to create some exemplar that allow use to moderate the understanding across the school. We need to have exemplars that work for us and our school. We want to know the learning trajectory for our kids.

In order to create these exemplars we needed to first have unit plans, learning outcomes based on curriculum elaborations, a learning trajectory and assessing the learning.

Students can set goals for themselves for the unit and they can self assess these goals. This could be based on the use of a few problems in the area and creating a list of goals which students could select from. The amount of goals and how this works would depend the students, their needs and how the teacher scaffolds the goal setting.

The aim is the push the individual accountability.

The exemplar tasks could include open questions that ask for all of students knowledge of a question.
Write and draw everything that you know about one half and one quarter?
Heather says she can prove 3/5 is the same as 6/10
Can you show some different ways she might do this?
What other fractions are the same? Can you prove they are the same in at least three different ways?
Can you put the fractions in order from smallest to biggest:
2/3 3/4 5/10 3/9
Show how you know.

The aim of a DMiC lesson is to touch on many levels so that students can show what they know and see the possibility of them extending beyond their year level or below their year level.

We are creating a trajectory and learning outcomes for patterns and relationships:

Inquiry update Term 4

This year I have learnt a lot so far but also seen some gaps in my teaching and my implementation. Recently I tested my inquiry group on the gloss test again and conducted the vocabulary survey again.

My findings were interesting.

Gloss

What I noticed was that three of the six in my target group have made progress in some areas of maths. I found the shift in fractions interesting was this area is high in topic specific vocabulary that students did not know earlier in the year. This links to the data form the vocabulary survey in which I found students understanding of mathematical language tested earlier in the year had improved greatly.

Vocabulary Survey 

I am wondering if Students A and B's lack of shift has to do with the way in which they engage with others in mathematics as these students skill struggle to talk positively to others and share their ideas in DMiC.

Getting Feedback

Throughout term 3 I have been working on creating a site and physical prompts that will support students to have in depth conversations in maths.

This site draws on students created videos as models for vocabulary and language scaffolds.

As I feel this site, the prompts and QR codes are working well for me and my class I wanted to share the resource and see what other teachers thought about its potential use in their classrooms. 

Here are the questions I asked and some of the feedback I have received so far. 

What did you find useful on this site?

The layout was clear and things were easy to find and seem easy to use.

I liked the layout of the QR code links - vocabulary item with a explanatory video featuring 'real' kids using the target word - great to see the vocabulary item in action with real kids.

I loved exploring this site. It left me with a thirst for wanting more. I loved the connections students can make through the use of QR codes to link a rewindable video of peers explaining their maths thinking. I actually found your ideas regarding coding extremely helpful as that is what I want to be exploring next Term. Your videos to explain activity to students is just what I needed as a teacher.... and is exactly what other teachers that are new to coding will need. I thought the information on each page was simple and easy to read.

What else would you like to see on this site?

More videos showing the kids using the QR codes.

Videos of what the QR codes link to. I would have loved to see these videos on this page. A short description of the DIMC theory about the benefits/power of students explaining their thinking (the why behind what you are doing).

Two out of three people who have given feedback so far said they would use the site. The other stated that she felt the content was to young for her year 7 & 8 class.

If yes how do you see it being used?

I would love to use the student prompt videos especially when introducing them to my groups next year.

I would love to try using this with my students next term, using Tamaki student videos. I think this is a great way to consolidate their understanding. I will also use this site to explore coding with my students, something I have wanted to do for sometime. Love these videos.

Any additional ideas or feedback

I would like to adapt the idea and use QR codes within Literacy to help build students vocabulary knowledge/retention/understanding.

Wow you are an inspiration! Love what you are doing at Point England. Your passion shines through in your site. Keep on sharing!

Thank you very much to the kind people who have given feedback so far. I hope to add a section on the site with more specific detail about the DMiC approach to Mathematics. I would also love to start working with other teachers to build up the content on the site and will be contacting some of the teachers who gave feedback to see if this is of interest to them.

I would love any additional feedback. So please feel free to check out and potentially use this site in your classroom. If you do I would really appreciate your feedback which can be given through this form.  

Digital Fluency Intensive Northland Cohort #2

Last week I had the privilege of sharing my experiences with the wonderful group at the Digital Fluency Intensive Northland Cohort #2. I am so great for this experience and I find that every time I go up North and share (this being my second time) I find myself humbled by the commitment and passion of the teachers as they learn what they need to know to embark on their journey to develop their classroom.

The day focused on learning to develop our classroom site focusing on the users and the purpose of our sites. We talked a lot about why we make and use class sites and how having a clear plan and layout helps to make our sites effective.

It was incredible seeing the Cohort setting big goals and working hard to achieve them. I really enjoyed helping different teachers identify challenges for them and supporting them to overcome these. The challenged ranged from creating buttons to embedding content.

At the end last week I got some wonderful feedback from Kerry and the Cohort:

Hi Clarelle

It was lovely to have you here with us this week on our Digital Fluency Intensive, thank you so much for coming and sharing your expertise.  I think everyone now has their sites well underway and looking pretty fancy!  

Robyn said you really helped her put things into perspective with how to organise and upload her iPad resources to her site, you'll probably hear from her if she gets a bit stuck.  With your help Sue from Kawakawa was happy with the improvements she made to her class site and Dani left you a nice comment on her blog, click here for the full post 

After looking at Clarelle's class site, I have gotten some ideas for how to link in Explain Everything activities to my slides and she is happy for me to use and adapt some of the activities accessible on her site - Thanks Clarelle! 

I was really grateful for this feedback and for all the people who supported me and gave me this opportunity to share.

DMiC Professional learning

Social and Academic Status

Updated 12 April 2019

How does status change in our classroom. When do children hold academic status. Children who have a range of language stills seem to have more status to the other kids. Status is given for many reasons and this can impact the way that children interact. Can we plan our lessons to change the status for kids? How can we talk as teacher to evaluate or change the status? 

How does this affect behaviour? 

-Children will often raise to the belief of others. If one thinks I can do it then why should I. 

-If children believe that someone else holds all the power they may choose not to share. 

What we believe about our academic abilities and those of others is often form my our perceptions rather than reality. 

What we value and push for in mathematics will be reflected in the way the children engage in maths.

What do I think the kids think being smart in maths look like:

-Sharing their ideas

-Explaining their thinking

I want to support students to think about:

-Never giving up

-Challenging each others thinking

We read an article by Jo Boaler. This article talked about the different elements of maths. 

Multidimensional Classrooms

This talked about elements of a multidimensional class. It talked about adapting the problems so they are group worthy. Every child has something to add. We can get students to share a small part and this can add status and support the whole groups thinking.
In the classroom this looks like an expectation that everyone can participate. The problem is open to multiple strategies and potentially answers. Children learn that there is no correct way of doing it, they can all achieve. 

Assigning Competence

This is when the teacher actively raises the status of the students by praise the Mathematical thinking and sharing. This can be done to provoke the class to think about an idea but also build students confidence, status and increases the visibility of the students ideas which could be missed if the teacher did not actively engage and support that student by raising the status of their idea. As a teacher it is important to be specific about what you are praising as this make sure that students know it is not empty praise.
It is about how we know our children and what praise works best for them to assign competence. It is all about relationships. It requires the ability to step back and open your ears to the groups that are working to pick up what working. It is about setting the expectation that they share that great idea that you heard. 

Student responsibility 

Getting students to take responsibility for the groups thinking. Removing the individual responsibility and put it on the group to make sure everyone understand and can justify. This can be done by the teacher coming in with a question for one student and then if the student doesn't  know moving away and giving the responsibility back to the group to support the development of this thinking. This can be feed in through the group norm discussion and the praise you provide. We talked about how this links to the vocabulary because students need to explain their ideas. Even if a group really struggles there is so much you can praise and affirm because mathematicians do not always get to a fully formed answer.
This needs to be a part of our groups norms, we should expect that everyone understands and enough students to say "I don't understand" and get them to ask questions. The more to praise the student responsibility and when they take these responsibilities for their own learning so students know that this is what we do it maths. Reasoning and providing evidence is a key skill our kids need to succeed in education and life.  

Don shared an example in which and group did nothing they could not start. During the sharing back the teacher said "You are the most important group, you struggled today and so it is everyones responsibility to make sure you understanding and it is your responsibility to ask questions."

High expectations 

Students appreciate challenge, having difficult problems and making sure you push students forward with critical questions and getting them to use these with each other. Again it comes down to how it it set up in your class and what you expect.
If you have a question ask each other not the teacher. It is all about putting the responsibility back on the learners. What do you think? It is also about encouraging them to consider more than one way of solving a problem. This can be effective for higher level learners, sometimes drawing out the problem is extremely challenging with complex problems.

Effort over ability

Praising what students have done and reminding them they can keep stepping up and doing more. Praise those who lesson and try their very best. Make sure no matter what the ability of the students they are pushed and challenged so they put in all the effort they can. This builds students who keep going and trying even when faced with huge challenges.
You gotta get up and try, try, try -Pink It is about being motivational in the way you encourage learners to try. Celebrate the little things praising the little moments. By choosing a group that didn't get it right you are able to praise effort over ability. 

Learning Practices

This is about stopping at any point and revisiting the learning practices. What are we doing to learn? This can link back to the class norms. Teacher need to know what practices you are looking for and value will help you to notice and praise and teach to this practices. 

Co-Teaching a privilege and an honour

As teachers we are always so focused on student learning. Our inquiry focuses on the needs of the children and how we can address these. We are always looking at, talking about and using data to support make sure we are doing all we can to support students learning.

I have blogged about this a lot, so this blog post will be different.

I wanted to reflect on some of the big changes that have happened for me over the last 3 years and what impact they have had on how I teach and particularly how I teach with others.

2016: This was a year of new for me, a year of intense learning with MDTA, working in a shared space with 2 other teachers and of course learning to teach and learn using digital technologies to enhance learning. This year was huge but in the all the learning I took in so much but didn't nessairly have time to process it all and see just how far I had come. 

2017: This year was still very busy but I see it as the year of time. Of course I am a teacher so there is never enough time but this year I worked in a single cell class and had time to apply to skills I had learnt and had time to process the huge amount of skills I had learnt and really find out who I am as a teacher. 

2018: This year I feel like a co-teacher! I feel that within our two teacher space we work as almost one. Sharing everything, asking questions and most of all learning together and from each others. It is strange how much you can learn in three years. But I know that my journey this given me the skills, passion and ability to co-teach and learn. 

What I believe are the key things to co-teaching: 

• Know who you are as the teacher. 
• Know what you bring. 
• Notice the what your co-teacher brings
• Take every chance to learn
• Take every chance to teach together and have a shared voice. 
• Be honest and open, ask questions and discuss issues. 

This year I am privileged to work with a Chrissy who has a passion and eye for art. As a result of our Co-teaching I have become an art teacher and my passion for teaching art has grown. I hope that you have the chance to Co-teach and learn together with the wonderful teachers around you. Even if they are not in the class with you every day make the most of what they bring because we are stronger together. 

Manaiakalani Hui Inquiry update

On Friday I was privilege to share my inquiry at the Manaiakalani Hui. At the event we our video played and everyone at the Hui got to choose a table to go to and talk with the people there. I really enjoyed the conversations had at my table and some of the questions and connections I made from this event.

I hope you enjoy this video summary of my inquiry. Please leave any question you might have as I would love to talk with you about my journey.

Feedback on my tool

Thanks to Zac Moran for sharing some insightful feedback on my tool. 

Today we got the opportunity to give Feedback to one of our colleagues tools that they have created.  Clarelle has created a site that is still in progress but nearly finished, this site is for learners and teachers to help build vocabulary in mathematics.

Clarelle has worked really hard over the last 6 months creating a tool that can be used to help learners build vocabulary in mathematics.  Not only will this help learners in mathematics but will go across the curriculum and help build vocabulary in so many different areas.

Clarelle has placed laminated cards around her classroom so her learners are able to go to them when they need help.  These cards have a QR code on them where learners are able to use their iPad to take them to her site where her learners have made short videos explaining what these words mean and how to use these different prompts.

The only problem that she is facing is that the videos don't open on phones via Google Drive, but her learners are using iPads so that won't be a problem.

This site will bless so many people and is extremely helpful with our new DMIC approach to mathematics this year.

MIT Tool feedback

Today the MIT teachers had another wonderful day at KPMG. As part of our day we explored our inquiry projects and talked about our next steps for amplifying these inquiries.

Rebecca's inquiry focuses on increasing critical literacy in her classroom through argumentation. She has also been using a range of prompts to support critical and inclusive discussion in her classroom. 

Her tool focuses on sharing the prompts and the discussion boards that she has used to provoke critical thinking.

Some of the collective feedback for Rebecca was to provide more description around how teacher can effectively engage students in using the discussion boards. We also suggested that she adding an about this tool page to provide more support for the users of her resource.

Inquiry update Term 3

This week I had a release day to work on my MIT (Manaiakalani Innovative Teacher). The focus for my day was to amplify my Inquiry and step up the interaction and conversation in my classroom.

As a result of this my students and I talked about the vocabulary we have been learning through our discussion based mathematics and created rewindable videos that children can watch to remind themselves of the words we have learnt.

We also learnt to use a range of discussion prompts which can been seen in my earlier blog post.

In order to make this accessible for the learners and other teachers. I created a site which makes all this visible and links to QR codes which students can scan and see a model to support them. Click here to see the site.

Please note that this is not a finished site and will continue to develop throughout the year. 

Building a common language

Now that our students know the class norms of DMiC (Developing Mathematical inquiring Communities) it is time to step it up and demand mathematical language and interaction from all students. I have been thinking about this a lot over the last three weeks and as a result of my observation in class and the professional learning we have had I am going to introduce some conversation scaffolds.

The idea behind these scaffolds is 3 fold. The first set aim to provide correct mathematical language and sentence structure for sharing an idea. They also aim to give students who still struggle to find a place to start or their voice to share a guide to join in.

These prompts are reminders of what the children already know but at times forget as this process is still becoming 100% embedded in our classroom. 

The second set of prompts is about increasing the level of back and forth conversation within the small groups. I have noticed that students in my class will take the first idea and stick with it without agreeing or disagreeing. 

I choose these prompts because it is clear that we need to develop more talk around the strategies being used to help the whole group understand the mathematical thinking. 

I added these prompts because of the professional learning we did yesterday and the need to now push kids to ask Why and think beyond the how of the mathematical thinking but why did we choose that strategy. I also provides the opportunity for critique and rethinking. 

My next step with these cards is to get students modelling how to use them and adding QR codes to the cards so that students how are unsure can watch the video and see how these can help them converse in mathematics. 

DMIC Professional learning

The Journey

As we begin to feel more comfortable it is time to let go of some of the things we have picked up. It is time to think more about what every child brings to the mathematics learning. 

When we think about our social group it is not as much about how 'good' they are at working with numbers but about all they bring. Do they talk a lot and are good at sharing? Are they all very quiet and need a chance to speak? 

It's time to:

-Think about how they work together

-Do the Boys and girls work well together

-Keep quiet and give the kids time to talk and 'wait time'

-Give opportunities to talk with turn and talk etc. 

-Try to keep your language inclusive, 'we' your groups learning. 

Justifying and Arguing Mathematically

This is about extending students thinking and pushing kids to reason and explain. It is time know to choose justification norms which we can now add to our mathematical discussions. I believe it is time to build on our group norms and add to the norms. This may be We provide reason for our mathematical problem solving, or We agree or disagree with mathematical thinking and explain why. 

As a school and a team we could build up and back of questions and prompts that will require students to justify and argue. 

Require that students prepare wats to re-explain in a different way an explanation to justify it. 

We talked about how we as teachers can make justifying happen. I have been using these reasoning prompts: 

Generalising: 
This comes towards the end and often the kids are struggling to focus. You may want to jump straight in a leave the warm up until the end. What questions with extend the generalisation.
-Does it always work?
-Can you see any patterns? What are the patterns?
-How is this the same or different from...?
-Would it work with all numbers?
-Look at multiple examples is the rule the same?
-Could you do this with.....?
-Does it still work...?

CoL Reflecting What Now? Conversation 3

So what now? I have talked about where I am at and now I believe this conversation needs to look at what next. 

As we come into term 3 I feel like some of the conflict is lifted. Now is the time to bring it together, step it up and keep moving forward! 

As I look at refining my intervention I thought of 5 things that I am doing but that need stepping up or changing. 

1. Focusing the activities even more to make sure they provide the best opportunity for recycling of language, use of language and development of understanding. I will do this by making the language central to the task. I have a few ideas about how I want to do this. Firstly making sure the language specific to the learning is visible in written and oral forms.  Secondly given students a chance to create example of language. A fraction is....... explainer videos. This could ideally big picture -My wish- lead to a word wall that is digitally interactive. 

2. Planning more closely at the language. This links closely to point 1. I need to think even more closely about the language in my problems and activities and make sure this is clear in my planning. 

3. Providing discussion scaffolds. I know that conversation and discussion is a struggle for many of our learners. I want to add to the stills our children have been learning in DMiC. I believe that students having a physical scaffold they can hold and touch will support this further. 

4. Providing texts that support mathematical language. This is around building a link between literacy and mathematics. I want to connect the mathematical language, concepts and ideas to a story or text. This would provide a context for problems that are real while building the knowledge that mathematic is across the curriculum. 

5. Using video recording and analysis to really understand at the quantifiable level the impact of the action that I am taking. This would happen over a two week cycle as we rotate or learners every 2 weeks to develop a classroom culture that we are all  one class with two teachers who learn in different ways each term. 

I believe this is accelerate learning because it is just stepping up and adding to what I have already been doing but really stepping it up!

CoL Reflecting on my actions Conversation 2

As we continue to explore our inquiries it is important to look at what has worked, what has changed and for who. I have been thinking about this a lot. What is my impact and how do I really know that I am having one. Yes I know that sounds a bit strange but it is really important to me that the things I plan and run through over and over in my head are seen by the children as having the desired impact and if they are not why. 

What have I done differently:
-I have introduced frameworks for discussing the norms of mathematics in the classroom. I have intentionally been discussing this framework daily with the kids to build a knowledge of the language and develop a positive mindset for my learners. This is something I first saw in Rob Wiseman's Class.
-I have been choosing vocabulary that I know the children struggle with and unpacking it for the learners in the launch of the problems. I have been thinking carefully about the vocabulary in the follow up activities for the children to ensure that language is recycling of language.

I know that I have done something differently because we are all taking on new a approach to mathematic. I am constantly reflecting and considering What Next?

I feel that I always want to do everything but that is not reality is it. For that reason I believe that a lot of the changes that have happened have been the intended changes however there is always times where things do not go to plan.

CoL Reflection on Inquiry Conversation 1

This term we have been challenge to think back to help us move forwards and to make sure that our theories and practices are clear in our minds as we move forward into term three. At our recent CoL meeting Dr. Rebecca Jesson provided some scaffolds to help us to this effectively. 

1. I have been engaging with a range of research including the resources and models from CS unplugged,  literature on vocabulary development, Our DMiC professional learning and mentoring as well as the wonderful support from Dr. Jannie van Hees. As a result my inquiry and approaches have drawn on different pieces of this research. I have tried to include the recycling of vocabulary as this was a point the Jannie explain is very important for vocabulary retention. I have done this through the use of our class mantra and using topic specific language in our problems that we unpacked through our problem launch.

2. One thing I have noticed throughout this process is that I am testing a lot of new ideas however the data I have been collecting is mostly anecdotal. As such I am not following the research based principles as closely as I have done it past projects. I believe the elements of reflecting of self and how my action have impacted is still there however my theories have changed a modified throughout the process. I still believe that the problem is a lack of topic specific vocabulary in mathematics makes it challenging for kids to attack larger problem.

My theory is that through exposure to, use of and recycling of this language in guided and independent work in multiple contexts students will develop a deeper understanding of this language increasing their ability to solve larger problems. 

3. I have learnt so much... I feel like I have been in a state on conflict in my inquiry for two terms and I have tried so much and much of it from anecdotal evidence has worked well for a number of learner. However now it is time to collect more specific evidence and look at a group over a two week period in which I am front loading language in the DMiC launch, using specific language in the problems, providing opportunities to use a recycling the language in group discussion and independent tasks. 

CoL Meeting Rebecca Jessen

Rebecca Jessen- Planning and predicting: THEORY is everything.

So far we have work alongside a number of people to develop Theories.
-What language learning is going to go on in their heads.
-What is going to happen in my classroom program to make the learning happen.
-What am I going to do.

If we consider Dolphins as the model for what we are doing as Inquiry. We can only see the Dolphins (Learning) when they pop out of the water. Our theories should allow us to know where the Dolphins will pop out. But we know in reality the Dolphins always pop out not where you expect them to.

Now is the time to lift the game on what is working. It is about looking at each children and revisiting the theory in relation to each child. Why did it work better for some learners then others.

You only know if something works in a particular situation is by TRYING it out. 

Planning 

Where is the mismatch between what was planned and what actually happened. What did they kids think I did. 

Implementation

What it boils down to: 

1  - Figure out the students’ strengths and needs 

2 - Use the existing research base to plan something different that is likely to use strengths to meet the need

3 -DO the different thing

4-Which engages the students in a different way of learning

5-Which results in learning.

I had a great discussion with Rebecca about what I am doing how it is work and what conflicts are happening for me in my inquiry. 

-We talked about stepping it up by making the activities more focused. 

-videoing and analysing discussion

-Planning more closely at the language. 

-Providing discussion scaffolds. 

- Providing texts that support mathematical language. 

-2 Week cycles of analysis. 

I have a lot of ramp up this term and I am so excited to Ramp it up and see what We (My learners, Myself and of course you). 

Col Meeting

As we launch into the second after of the year we must again consider what makes learning, teaching, children and teachers successful in education and life.

One of the things we need to remember is that one of the Pou that holds importance is that teachers and in fact I believes students should be evaluative. They are evaluative through evaluating ourselves, our practice and success based on the success of our learners.

As we learn it is important to remember that we are influences and we must with care and love support each other as teachers and inquiries to be great teacher, because great teachers make children learn.

What do we need in Term 3?
Term three is an amazing time as we are for the most part settled as a class and the pressures from wider school activities (Fiafia, production, School wide testing).

If it is not visible it failed. We are aiming to crank up learning this term and our Manaiakalani goal of visibility  is so important. It makes it possible for all Adults involved with a children to crank up learning together supporting a bigger shift for our beautiful learners who are pushing themselves as much as we push them in there learning.

We have been talking about Language and the importance of language. Language learning is at time taught in a boring way. We need to make learning exciting.

We must also remember that importance of the language of learning and the language of success. We have a large group of children who speak G.I Cheechee because their first language is not English, Tongan etc.

As we spend more time in this community we learn the language G.I Cheechee and then when we are tired you speak it to the kids. We must remember we need to build the language of success. One way is to repeat it back to them.

The cultural history of our children no so far back there is a history of language amounts of language being produced.

We know that to accelerate students need to:
-Finish work
-Get feedback
-Have scaffolding
-Have scaffolding removed and gain independence.
-Publishing

So how?
This is a question I always have and I want you to consider it with me. Russell talked about connecting language to the known environment. Do our kids know the correct word for the things they involve every day. It may be that there is a problem in the community that the learners can take charge of. Twice a week is the magic number. We need to make sure we see kids twice.

Blogging Twice a week in the the summer holidays show high gains, so we need to do this in our classrooms.

GAFE-Closing Ignites Session

Kim Sutton-Good Questions
Kim started by talking about how she was not 100% sure on what she want to share. Then she had a discussion with Jesse and this lead to her topic. She talked about all the questions that she and many other debated at university.

She then said this does not add up to the the number of questions kids ask about 437 a day. Some questions by kids are pretty common "will you play with me?" but they can be crazy like "why is hate more important then love?"

Why do you ask these questions? "Because if I don't ask question, how will I know what to change in the world. "

Questions are probably more important today then answers

Ky Staal and Lara Ferri- young entrepreneur project

These students' took us back to year 10 in which they took two weeks to follow their passions. They had to employ the teachers and get them to help them. They had to make sure their project help their community and school. 

We watched a video that explained this and showed how students took on the leadership roles in these projects. 

They shared through a fair in their school hall explaining how their projects had an impact for them, others and the wider community. 

"In order to evolve other education system we must first involve the student" This quote stood out for me. 

Michael Davidson-Lego stories

Micheal talked about how one learner changed his perception of education. He talked about how the lego in his classroom allowed a learner with very little english told his stories.

He said "innovation is a state of mind". I am not sure I agree with this. I think yes you have to have a drive and a passion and a mindset but innovation needs to much more it needs partners, time, thought, challenge, risk.

How can you watch learners and notice what they are doing and allow them to build with it.

Jay Atwood- What Gran has to say
Jay grew up in a small town with a town moto of "Where tradition meets tomorrow."

-Know what is trending
His Gran, new what was happening.

1. Know what is trending
2. Share what you learn
3. Everything is hard before it is easy.

It takes a teacher to make that link from hard to easy. The role of teacher are changing.
This image is what you get when you google teacher.

But that is not reality. Don’t say “it is easy” learning is messy but what if we can get kids from the point where it is hard to where it is easy.

4. Have fun with it.

Don’t be afraid to enjoy the challenges just because it is hard doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it.

GAFE-Manaiakalani Google Class Onair

In this session Rebecca Spies talked about her experience as a Class OnAir teacher. I really loved the way she openly shared about this experience.

She explained that each lesson has:
-A video of the lesson
-Lesson Plan (this is an extended plan that has lots of detail to help teachers).
-Reflection
-Learner created content.

We watched a lovely video of the learners in her class exploring their five senses and looking at describing what they experienced using scientific language.

Class OnAir gives the kids a chance to get even more exposure and more comments which provide questions and prompts to think more.

These are the fantastic teachers who share their teaching through Class Onair. 

I really enjoyed this session because it gave me a change to really explore the Class OnAir videos with someone their who could explain and add to my experience. 

GAFE- Google Science Journal

Kim Sutton works for Google and works with many Educators to support them in their use of Google products. She is a teacher who has taught a range of year levels.

Todays session is on Google Science Journal. This App allows you to use a range of sensors on our phone or iPad to record experiences and understand, sound, light, distance etc.

You can use it to collect data and add notes. You can add sensors on to it you can code with it. On the Science journal you can get the code. 

This app is awesome. They are working on Google Drive integration for this awesome tool. However Kim was not sure of the timeline for this. 

There are lots of cool lessons that use the music videos from OKGO. These are are very cool and provide motivation and creative experiences for kids.

There are loads and loads of great ideas of how to use the science journal app for many different curriculum areas. You can find the resources and ideas here.

Thanks Kim I loved your session and can't wait to start using this App with my class. 

GAFE-Create A Formative Assessment System Empower by G Suite

John Meng- Works at Rooty Hill High School. He supports teachers to step up their practice. He also teaches Maths and Languages. He leads teams in these areas. 

This workshop looked at the pedagogy behind formative assessment. This will centre around his experiences.

We started by talking about our own experiences of formative assessment.
-Someone shared their use of Google forms as a way of doing formative assessment.
-Bump it up wall, students compare their work to the wall. They also get feedback throughout the process. This allowsto peer support a critique.

What is formative assessment: This is assessment that happens within the process of learning. 

One way of thinking about assessment is... When a chief tastes a soup, they can change it to salty, they can change it, That is formative. When a Chief serves the soup to the customer, That is summative. 

We see that feedback has a huge impact for learners. We need to identify the gap from what we know to what we ned to know.

However....

Feedback alone is not enough, it has to be coupled with motivation and we want this motivations to be internal. John suggested that Doug Fisher's model is a positive model for formative assessment.

Here is the video he shared

We learn language by producing language, if we are using academic language student's should be using this language as this is home we learn it. 

He talked a lot about the use of interaction on Google slides. Powtoon could be good for instruction and modelling.

GAFE Sydney-PBL in a Google World

In this session Kimberly Hall helped us to explore project based learning and different digital tools that could be used to help with different elements of the inquiry or project based learning. 

Developing the question 

The first tool we looked at was Answer Garden. This tool is ideal for seeing prior knowledge. It is good as it has a live nature kids can contribute multiple responses however you can only write the same thing once.

Kimberly talked about the the classroom mode being the best. Make sure you turn on the spam filter and you may want to change the settings to hidden. 

We all use Google search all the time. This site Google Inside Search When we search a person, place or thing a knowledge card comes up on the right hand side which provides details about it and related things which can extend understanding.

Padlet has some great updates that you may not be aware of, you can add images, videos, voices, memos. It is not as usable as you only get three boards.

Canva is something I have used as a professional to create infographics. It can also be used to make certificates etc. Another place for creating infographics is Piktochart.

Accessibility tools

Rewordify- You can put in a lump of text and it literally rewords it. Changing the language for kids who struggle to read at that level. You can get it to highlight parts of speech. You can get it to make activities that could provide some opportunities to dive into the language. 

DotEPub-This terms a webpage into an Ebook. 

Read&write-This tool is an equaliser for for kids. It has a tool bar that does text to speech, it highlights the sentence. You can highlight text and it will read that specific section. It has highlighting tool so kids can highlight key information that they identify in their research. It will create a Google doc with the things that are highlighted text and it links back to the source.   You can simplify the content. 

This is definitely a tool that I will be exploring some more in the future. 

Thanks Kimberly for sharing. I really enjoyed these tools and believe many can be used across the curriculum.