Inquiry focus

One of the points which was discussed in our first meetings with Mary was the response from students that no one other than their classroom teachers read their writing. I started to think and realised this is mainly true. The students have blogs where they post their work and writing but they seldom have viewers leaving comments. I also started to reflect on how I would feel as a writer if no one was reading my writing.

During my discussion with Mary to plan my teaching as inquiry, I shared with her my hunch which was 'the students will be motivated to write if there is an authentic audience and purpose to their writing'.

Therefor here is my focus question - Will students identifying an authentic audience engage them more in their writing?

There are several success criteria for my inquiry:

• One, the students will be motivated to write when there are people who will read their writing and give them feedback
• Two, there is a real purpose for their writing
• Three, they will be able to be receptive to feedback from others
• Four, they will enjoy writing and not view writing as a task they have to complete

Tapping into their thinking about Writing.

This is the first survey which the student filled about their understanding about the purpose of why they write, who they write for and who they would like to read their writing. It was interesting to see they only see the classroom teacher as the person who reads their writing. Another finding was their uncertainty about the purpose of writing. This survey identifies what I need to work on with the students. The main focus will be on identifying who their audiences are for their writing and also why they are writing.

Analysing Writing Achievement from 2017

What are factors which affect the writing of students? What accelerates writing achievements? What hinders writing achievements? Below is an analysis I filled out for Writing for the year 2017. I had identified in 2017 that one of the factors which hinders the writing achievement of students is the the reluctance of boys to write. This is one of the rationale for why I have a group which consists of mainly boys. 

Collaboration between the students and teachers is vital in the learning of students in any curriculum area. As we are a Manaiakalani school we are able to use technology to collaborate even when out of the classroom. One of my foci will be the ongoing giving of feedback and feedforward not only for myself but also for the students to each other. 

Teaching as Inquiry approach

This Teaching as Inquiry approach is what I will be using for my inquiry. It is more structured and gives more direction as I am needing support in starting my inquiry. I have selected my student group which is a mixed ability group. The writing abilities of the students are different. In this inquiry my goal is for every student to accelerate in their writing achievement. The group of eight consists of seven boys and one girl. My first task is to collect information about my learners. This will be done in a survey. Knowing the learner is a vital aspect of teaching. Knowing the students' goals and aspirations will influence the teacher to strive for success. 

What I have done so far:

Chosen my target group

Next step:

Gather information about the students.

Embarking on a learning journey.

As a teacher one is always reflective of one's practice. Putting theory into practice and implementing changes after gathering evidence from observations and student work samples. This year our staff are focussing on Writing for our Teaching as Inquiry. We are working with our facilitator Mary Wootton to identify how we can accelerate student writing.

The Manaiakalani process of teaching as inquiry is in the image attached to this post. We will gather evidence, identify trends, hypothesise and use research to justify our actions. We will also use research to conduct professional learning discussions.

As I embark on this journey I am excited and eager inquire into my practice, record and share my findings with my colleagues and students.