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. 

Back to the drawing board

I have been looking deeply into my practice and identifying trends in my teaching and the learning of my students. After gathering data from the first student voice survey, I was thinking my main focus will be on feedback and feedforward. Through implementing this feedback and feedforward system through commenting on student work, oral discussions, peer assessments and communicating with students through emails, I realised there was something more that I could do. The feedback and feedforward was happening in class regardless. The student voice collected emphasised to me that through Project Based Learning, some of the students felt I was spending less time with them in discussions and giving feedback. That I have now addressed through a more focussed approach to giving feedback and feedforward to students. 

Throughout, this time of the students working through their projects, I have always been keeping a closer eye on students who were not completing their tasks unless being monitored or given consequences if they were not to complete their tasks. I also noticed some students really struggled to manage their time and their work. The big projects is too much for them to unpack and plan around. They needed a lot of support to be scaffolded in how to complete each task. 

Could building self efficacy in students be my inquiry focus?

Through marking of the first projects the students completed, I noticed a trend in work the students handed in. Some did not complete every aspect of the task, some did not attempt some of the tasks and some students missed out on tasks altogether. 

In class, I would encourage the students to work through their tasks, give them support my verbal and written feedback but still, I was not receiving the work I was hoping the students would hand in. I believe the students did not have the belief in themselves or the motivation and determination to carry out their tasks until completion. Thus making self efficacy a very important focus for me in teaching using the Project Based Learning programme. 

What is self efficacy in students?

According to Pajares (2002), 'Self-efficacious students exert extra effort, persevere with difficult tasks longer and show resilience by bouncing back from difficult learning situations. Students with high self-efficacy regard problems as challenges, set goals and are committed to them, attribute failure to lack of effort or as yet unlearned skills or content, and increase their efforts in order to overcome failure'. After reading the article by Pajares, I knew this is what I want to focus on because these are the goals I have for my students. To be able to persevere when tasks are hard, set goals, bounce back from difficult learning situations and be committed to their learning. 

I am wanting to find strategies which I will implement into my practice which will foster and build self efficacy among my students. I am thinking of incorporating strategies I find in readings about self efficacy to design a learning framework in my practice which will build student self efficacy. 

Inquiry question: Will a self efficacy framework designed for my learners, build their self confidence in their abilities and enable them to have more self efficacy to persevere in difficult learning situations?

In Parajes (2002), there are some strategies mentioned to build the self efficacy of students. I will now gather more readings about building self efficacy and reflect on what I know about my students. I will from there start to build the self efficacy framework which I will implement in my practice. 

Reference: Pajares, F. (2002). Self-efficacy beliefs in academic contexts: An outline. Retrieved from https://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/efftalk.html

Digging into my current practice

 Who better to hear from than the recipients of the learning?

I have collected student voice from my target group by using google form. The questions were based on what I wanted to learn from them in how they have experienced how we learnt in literacy with a focus in reading before we started Project Based Learning in our class.  I also included questions about how they see themselves as readers and if they are encouraged by their whanau to read at home. 

Hypothesising

Before collecting student voice, I had hypothesised that giving more opportunities to be creative in their learning through their projects would accelerate student engagement and accelerate student achievement in reading. However, after reading the responses from students, I am now rethinking that oral literacy with a focus on teacher and student learning conversations around feedback and feedforward would be my focus for this inquiry. 

In a previous blog post, I shared an analysis of the impact of Project Based Learning which was conducted in the USA. A common theme which arose from this analysis was the limited interaction between the students and the teacher with regards to the learning. I strongly believe that teacher and student interactions and korero is vital to the learning of students. 

My hypothesis

"If I have planned learning conversations with students with a focus on feedback and feedforward, will this improve their ability to discuss their learning and accelerate their achievement in reading?"

The big BUT at this time. I have to do some more reading around learning conversations around students with a focus on literature from New Zealand. As my students are mainly Maori and Pasifika, I want to learn more about how to facilitate RICH learning discussions with my students. Why I am thinking this is because if I am focussing on feedback and feedforward, will the conversations be around me just talking and the student listening? I would like the conversations to be around what the student identifies as their needs and how I can give feedback and feedforward to scaffold them in addressing their learning needs. 

There are so many other aspects which I will incorporate into my inquiry this year but learning discussions will be my main focus in my deliberate acts of teaching (DAT).

Other aspects of my teaching as inquiry

Using the BIG SIX - catalytic digital teaching capabilities 

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

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