Profiling my target group

I have chosen seven students for my target group for this year's inquiry. The group are mixed in ability and year levels. The data I have collected to be my baseline data are their PAT raw score, PAT scale score and their Reading level for Term 1 2021. Looking at the data, these students have some similarities in their data and some big differences in their achievement data for reading. 

My next step in profiling my target group will be to collect student voice. The student voice will collect how they see themselves as readers, what they struggle with in reading and also what they enjoy in reading materials and follow up activities.

I have been observing this group in my class and have identified that two of the boys are very reluctant readers, one of the girls is an ESOL learner and struggles with reading, reading materials at her year level. She is very capable of understanding concepts when unpacked with her. Two of the male students are able readers but have challenges in sitting assessments. These are all factors we will work through with this target group this year. 

My hunches so far are: 

1. My target learners will accelerate in progress if they work on self regulated strategies with the Project Based Learning programme we are now implementing in our class

2. My target learners will accelerate their progress in reading if they have a focus on creating DLOs or create activities which will represent their understanding and how they connect with reading materials

 

What are the impacts of Project Based Learning?

I have heard of Project Based Learning in the past from teaching friends and read some information about what it is. I knew it was implemented in some schools in New Zealand but I did not have a lot of in depth knowledge about it.

When we made the decision to implement Project Based Learning in my class, it was after a discussion what our data has been saying for the past years, gathering student voice and most of all we were looking at trying something new. My biggest worry was, I felt as a teacher I was losing the autonomy of planning learning activities, looking for resources which I believed will benefit my students and using the Learn, Create, Share pedagogy in my classroom. 

However, we are now into the second unit of Project Based Learning in my class and I am learning that although the topics are given from the Project Based Learning programme, I still have a lot of input in the implementation of the learning through the task design. 

Our first unit was following what the Project Based Learning Programme gave us in materials. The second uni of Architecture which we are working on now is following what the programme has given us and also implementing our own learning activities. I feel we are are finding our way and taking more control of how we implement Project Based Learning in the classroom. 

I wanted to learn more about the impacts of Project Based Learning in schools where it has been implemented for many years. A reading was given to me which discussed the impacts of Project Based Learning which I will discuss in this blog post. The article was written by the Buck Institute of Education. It was a collation of studies and analysis of the Project Based Learning. Is it also important to note that this analysis was of school in the United States implementing Project Based Learning. 

What the article discusses:

• Research shows that PBL (Project Based Learning) can promote learning and is more effective than traditional instruction in social Studies, science, mathematics and literacy 

• The demographics of the schools in the study is relevant to our school. We are situated in a low socio economic area

• In social studies, students gained more academic success in PBL than when they were learning Social Studies in a traditional classroom

• The social studies unit focussed on real world challenges and the students learnt about the unit in an extended period of time

• Projected embedded opportunities for collaboration and choice for students

• PBL was more effective than traditional approaches for students with average verbal ability=

• In science, students showed an increased ability to apply information to new situations and draw relationships between concepts

• Students showed significant gains in science between pre tests and post tests

• PBL provided opportunities for integrated learning and using technology in learning 

• In maths, PBL students did not have greater knowledge of maths facts, procedures and rules but were better able to make more use of math in different situations

• In literacy PBL students made significant gains in informational reading but did not in writing

• The analysis highlighted the lack of information and classroom instruction in some classrooms where PBL was implemented

After reading through this article, I reflected on what I had already seen and discussed with my students about PBL. My students like that they have choice in which activities they can do and when they would do the activities. They liked having a deadline they were working towards for their big project hand in. When I read that PBL was more effective than traditional classrooms, I reflected on the fact that as a Manaiakalani school and a one to one classroom, my classroom was not your TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM. Our students learn in a digital classroom where they are able to utilise digital tools to accelerate their learning and also share their learning with a wider audience that would not be possible without the use of digital tools.

I can also understand the point discussed about the lack of classroom instruction as mentioned in the article. With PBL, students work on projects which take five weeks to complete. Each curriculum area has tasks which need to be completed by the end of the five weeks. I feel it is really up to the teacher and how they implement PBL to ensure sufficient classroom instruction and support is given to students. Although PBL provides a lot of opportunities for self directed study, there is still a great need for the teacher to fully participate and support the students in the projects from the planning of the units and projects to the handing in at the due dates. 

Where to from here? I AM THE SILVER BULLET. I will finish this blog post with a saying Dorothy Burt shared with our DFI group this week. We may have all these digital tools and advance technology available to us for the learning of our tamariki, but its effectiveness depends on how we as teachers utilise them for the learning opportunities for our tamariki. With that, PBL gives us the unit topics and support materials but our tasks designs will make the difference in how we implement PBL in my classroom and its effects on our tamariki and their learning. 

NOTE: the implementation of PBL in my classroom this year is a shared collaborative effort between my co-teacher this year, Mrs Raj and I. 

Reference: 

Kingston, S. (2018). Project Based Learning & Student Achievement: What does the Research Tell Us? PBL Evidence Matters. 1(1)-11. http://bie.org/x9JN

The nature and extent of the student challenge

I have been inquiring into reading for two years now and have learnt a lot about the challenges students have with reading. There is always the notion that boys struggle with reading but I have also found that girls struggle with reading too.

I believe some of the challenges students have with reading are as listed below:

Students not connecting with texts 

Through my career I have gone through many trends in teaching reading. From using materials I was told to use when teams planned together, to using materials I thought would benefit my students and dare I say it using materials which were readily available. In other words using materials because they were easy to access at the time I needed them. Text selection in my experience is a process which teachers have to take into consideration when planning learning for students. Successful lessons I have taught in reading have occurred through careful selection of texts by reflecting on the learning needs and interests of students. 

Students not engaging in meaningful conversations about reading materials

I reflect back on the my professional development opportunities I have had and reflect on a saying I have always used a mentor teacher to beginning teachers. "If you don't plan for it, it won't happen". When we plan for meaningful and rich discussions, they will happen in our teaching. If we don't then learning conversations about reading materials will be random opportunities with no real direction towards the goal of the discussion and the lesson. Planning for rich and meaningful discussions about reading materials relies on the teacher having a goal in mind for the lesson and knowing the reading materials well enough to pin point main ideas for discussions. 

Schools need to have strategic plans to raise the achievement of students

A report released by ERO in 2018 identified that strategic and successful schools had a long-term commitment to improvement through deliberate, planned actions to accelerate student progress. Our school motto for this year is He Waka Eke Noa. We are all in this together. The statement by ERO emphasises the importance of strategic planning in schools for accelerated progress for all students. Five capabilities that made a difference in schools’ effectiveness in accelerating student progress were:

1. leadership capability 
2. teaching capability 
3. assessment and evaluative capability of leaders and teachers 
4. leaders’ capability to develop relationships with students, parents, whänau, trustees, school leaders and other teaching professionals 
5. leaders’ and teachers’ capability to design and implement a school curriculum that engaged students

Data collection is valuable in tracking progress and making changes

Early this year I presented our school data to our staff. In that presentation I emphasised the saying that "Numbers tell a story". When we collect up to date and valid data, we can use data to analyse if what we are implementing is making a difference to the students' learning or not. Data is a valuable source of reflection for change. The way we collect data also needs to be reliable. Student voice is valuable but it has to be collected in a way where students are free to say what they feel. I often feel when students are interviewed, they will often say what they think the interviewer wants to hear. That is why I prefer to use Google Form to collect student voice or to collect student voice from a group interview. Summative assessments are also valuable sources of data as well as formative assessment and student work. The blogs I have found have been a reliable source of data collection as it can track what the students have been working on for as long as they have had their blogs.

Teachers are THE SILVER BULLET   

I believe this is the fine line for changes for accelerated progress. The teacher! As a reflective practitioner myself, I know that the most effective tool I can use in my teaching is to utilise my skills, knowledge and passion into changing my own teaching style to cater for the needs of my students. Being educators, we are very fortunate to have many professional development opportunities and within the Manaiakalani cluster we are part of a very strong and progressing Kahui Ako. When we as teachers take hold of what is available to and use them to strengthen our practice, then our students will benefit. However, if we are passive participants in professional development opportunities and not gather new knowledge and skills for our own kete, then we will stay in the same position we are in. The sad cost will be our students and their learning. 

Reference

Keeping children engaged and achieving in reading. ERO. (2018). Retrieved from http://visioneducation.co.nz/welcome/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ERO-Teaching-strategies-that-work-Reading.pdf