Collecting evidence of student progress

From our last PLG, Aaron discussed the importance of gathering evidence for the progress of students. I created this reading test for my students. The text is from our class novel. All students in the class participated in the test. The results show the progress of a lot of students in understanding and responding to texts. However, there are also some students who omitted a lot questions in the test. These teacher designed tests will be ongoing in my practice. It is a good measuring point for my reflections regarding my inquiry. 

25 July PLG learnings

Today we had another rich PLG with our COL peers, Manaiakalani leaders and the Woolf Fisher researchers. Below are some of the ideas I collected during the presentations. It was also a wonderful opportunity to connect with other COL leaders and discuss their inquiries as well as sharing my inquiry with them.

From the convenor, we look at data collated over the years and celebrated the success our students are making compared to other clusters. Russell has also given us some home learning for the next PLG to share one key practice which has an effect on reading for our year level. This really falls into my area of focus because my inquiry is in accelerating the progress of students in reading.

From Aaron and Hana of the Woolf Fisher research team we looked at monitoring and identifying changes in practice. This is an aspect of my inquiry I have been constantly reflecting on. What changes have I done to my teaching practice? What is working and what is not?

Aaron also emphasised the importance of monitoring our practice and progress throughout the year and not waiting until end of year assessment to assess if our inquiries have shifted progress or not.

Difference between inquiry and reflection
Inquiry - evidence based
Reflection - based on feelings

Back to the importance of monitoring. How do we monitor student progress?
Formal checkpoints - deliberately plan mini assessments of the students
Teacher design tests
Checkpoints

We must think about the micro shifts we expect of our learners.

The value of student voice in our practice. Through reflection and listening to student voice, we can really make changes and modifications to our practice.

Those are only some of the ideas I collected today. There is always a wealth of knowledge at our PLG and I am privileged to be part of this wonderful journey of learning with my colleagues.

Exposure to different texts at different times

On constant reflection of my intervention I have observed changes in the quality of discussion from my students. In group discussions the students are taking more leadership and ownership of their discussions. There is also the encouragement and positive praise for the effort of other group members.

We  have been doing stock takes of our learning and have identified the shift in the texts we read and when we are exposed to reading texts. Today we as a class reflected on our journey in reading so far. We reflected on the daily opportunities for us to read during:

• Current events reading
• Novel reading
• SSR 
• Guided reading
• Inquiry learning 
• Reading at home

With the variety of opportunities the students have to read, it is building on their confidence in reading and also showing in their responses to texts and discussions. 

Reaching out to whanau

The change of attitude to reading for most of my students is evident. Not only my focus group but also within the whole class. I am now starting to reach out to whanau to support parents and caregivers on how they can encourage my students to be readers at home. 

With the netbooks going home, the students are able to continue their learning by using the class site and also access information for research using the internet. There are always opportunities to read and learn using the netbooks. I am also encouraging the students to ensure they have a novel they are reading consistently. This is working for most of the students. 

Through conversations with one parent, she expressed her child is not engaged in reading at home. She would often fall asleep when asked to read. We brainstormed some ways to encourage her child t read at home.

- go to the local library

- borrow books which are of interest to the child 

- ask the child to share if the book is exciting or boring and why

- be consistent with encouraging the child to read

- for a parent be a reader too, model to your child

The parent left the conversation feeling determined to help her child foster a love of reading and also herself as a parent. 

My inquiry is not just to shift achievement but to shift the mindset of reluctant readers and all students to enjoy reading. 

PLG reflection

Reading through the PLG slides from the 30th of May, I have reflected on the convernor's korero and inserted a slide from his slides.

Reflection on core teaching practices when reading to learn. 
In my reading programmes the reading materials are integrated with the topic of study for the term. At Glenbrae School we have a theme for the year and through this theme we identify topics for the students to learn during the year. This year our theme is Resilience. The reading materials are always linked to the topic of study.

It is important to integrate learning materials so students are able to make connections between their reading and learning in different subject areas. Purpose for reading is very important and is always discussed and emphasised in our reading discussions.

Acquisition of language which is number eight in the convenor's core teaching practices has also been a focus of mine and has been discussed in my previous blog posts. This year, I have been focussing a lot on the acquisition of vocabulary through the guidance of Jannie van Hees. Students have been making a lot of progress in their acquisition and understanding of vocabulary. This is evident through our discussions, their response activities as well as their writing.

The eight core practices listed in the inserted slide are all very important aspects of teaching. I will also be using this slide to collaborate reading teaching practices with my colleagues.

Toolkits - Making a magazine cover using google draw.

I had a great time today in Lenva's toolkit. Today Lenva showed us how to use a google drawing to make a magazine cover. The google drawing part I was confident with but today I was introduced to Pixlr. In 30 minutes I created this cover using photos from my class of 2018. Of course if I had more time I could have made more adjustments but for now this is a great start. I can not wait to show my create work to my students and have them make their own magazine covers. Thank you very much Lenva for the inspiration.

Designing and implementing my intervention was a major focus in Term 1. This drawing illustrates what I have implemented in my teaching practice/reading programme so far. I have been reflecting on the improvements I can make and I have identified a need to look into my Learn, Create, Share pedagogy. We are fortunate in Manaiakalani as our students are equipped with tools which they can use to accelerate and access learning resources and materials which other students can not with the use of a device. Our students also have many opportunities to create work which they can use to teach others in the world about their learning.

This term, I will start accessing help from my colleagues not only within school but across the Manaiakalani cluster. In my team, I will start observing the teaching of reading and have professional discussions with my team about how we can improve the Learn, Create, Share kaupapa of Manaiakalani within our practice.