Casual chain for my inquiry

This is the casual chain I have created for my inquiry so far. I have identified the area I will focus on for my inquiry and also the actions I will implement for this inquiry.

 

The big focus of my inquiry is to build the self efficacy of my students so they are able to make judgements about their ability to achieve a task or tasks. 

I have chosen to focus on the Manaiakalani Community of Learning, Achievement Challenge 4. To increase the achievement of Years 7-10 in reading, writing and maths. Through this inquiry, the goal is for these target learners to increase their achievement in reading, writing and maths. 

With the Project Based Learning approach we have implemented in my class this year, I have noticed a lot of my target learners, struggle with the self efficacy to pursue a task. Giving up or saying "I can't do it" was becoming a common trend. After observations of my students, gathering student voice, marking the first two projects and giving feedback, I realised my target learners had very low self efficacy. They were threatened by the complexity of the tasks and did not attempt the tasks at all. 

There are other aspects I thought about when I was thinking about my 2021 inquiry. Were the instructions explicit enough? Did I provide enough scaffolding materials to help my learners carry on with the tasks when they were not in class with me? The answer to some of these questions were NO! While I thought all the students were able to understand the task requirements, my target learners needed more unpacking and more explicit instructions in chunks to be able to manage the tasks and see themselves successfully completing the tasks. 

In my inquiry this year, I will build a framework within my practice which focusses on building the self efficacy of my learners. 

The outcomes as stated above are what I hope my students will achieve through my inquiry in building their self efficacy. 

The intervention design incorporates actions which will be taken by myself, the target learners, their peers and their whanau. I am focussing on a lot of collaboration from all the contributors towards this inquiry with an immense emphasis on my role as the teacher. 

I also wondered what could be done earlier in a child's education to help build their self efficacy but for now I will implement my inquiry and see how this can be translated to our other classes in our school. There are other aspects which are yet to be added to this casual chain such as my deliberate acts of teaching and how student progress will be documented and regularly recorded. 

Analysing my own practice

I have been reflecting a lot about Project Based Learning and how this has been going for my class. It is a different way of teaching from what we have been doing at Glenbrae School but I always believe changes can bring new learning and challenges for the better. 

I have collected student voice from my target group and learnt that they do like the Project Based Learning approach. 

I came across The 'big six' - catalytic digital teaching capabilities through my readings. 

1. Ambitious outcomes for all
2. Eyes on text
3. Language and vocabulary development (KC - language, texts and symbols)
4. High level discussions (KC - participating and contributing)
5. Transforming and transference of knowledge through creation
6. Making thinking visible (KC - thinking)

In planning our current project of Great Books I looked at The 'big six' - catalytic digital teaching capabilities and tried to plan activities which encompass all these capabilities. I reflected on how I can better implement the Project Based Learning approach to cater for how we learn in Manaiakalani schools.

The Great Books unit is a unit I have looked forward to planning because of my passion for literacy. We chose the book Refugee by Alan Gratz because a few years ago, this book was a great novel which I read to my class and it just really engaged my learners. There are so many learning opportunities present in the story and using The 'big six' - catalytic digital teaching capabilities will ensure my learners will gain so much more from their learning activities. 

Below are the slides with the learning activities I have planned for English, Health & P.E and also Social Sciences. I have planned these activities with a focus on The 'big six' - catalytic digital teaching capabilities.

Great Books English Slides

Great Book Social Sciences Slides

Great Books The Arts Slides 

Great Books Health & PE Slides

Coaching as part of the DFI team

 It was only last year that I got the opportunity to be a participant of the DFI programme. I thoroughly enjoyed reinforcing what I had learnt throughout the years I have been in the Manaiakalani cluster but most of all reflecting and being grateful for where I am in my career because of the many professional development opportunities and being part of a great vision for the tamariki in our area.

Back track a little bit, I became a teacher because I wanted to empower our Maori and Pasifika students in education. I have always been passionate about education in my family, church and wanted to spread this passion to my community. When I graduated, I first applied to be a teacher in Mangere. Although I had a good chance of getting the vacancy, I made a decision not to go through with the application process but instead applied for a job in Panmure. Little did I know then, it was the start of a career of empowering myself, meeting highly professional and passionate educators and also being a part of a team who have a vision to empower tamariki in their learning. To learn locally and think globally. 

Through Manaiakalani, I have been an MDTA mentor teacher working with a beginning teacher at the time who is also very passionate about education and a very effective teacher. I have been a CoL within school leader and now a CoL across school leader. 

This year, for the past two terms, I have been coaching in the DFI team and also working with teachers in my school on my second day of release. For me, it is a wonderful feeling to share what I know and learn with other teachers about teaching in this digital age. We have so many tools available to us but how we utilise these tools to be effective and safe for our tamariki is a very vital part of our learning. 

I don't need to remind teachers about last year when we had to go into our first four week lockdown. Some teachers shared their frustrations and anxieties on social media because they did not have the tools to connect with their students during this time. It was not the case for Manaiakalani schools. We were set up ready to go on the first day of the lockdown. 

Through the DFI journey, I worked with many teachers who are dedicated to implement and utilise digital learning in their classrooms. They are all at different levels of their learning journey but the willingness to learn was there. It is always great to see when teachers are keen to learn and implement what they learn in their practice because I know that is how we are empowering our learners in this digital age. 

I strongly advocate for teachers to do the DFI course. It will be an empowering experience which will enable teachers to be more effective in their teaching practice.