REPORT WRITING....just love this time of year!

We are nearing the end of term2 2014 and it's report writing time.  I've spent the past week looking over reports for teachers before they are handed over to our Principal for one last perusal and they get signed off.
I'm always amazed at how professional our staff is here.  Most reports reflect an absolutely thorough knowledge of the students in our school.  The directive was that all reports must pass through 3 sets of eyes before they are handed to the Principal, to minimize errors on printing.  Most staff have followed this lead and been very supportive of each other in ensuring that this directive has been followed.  It has been A LOT of work for all involved, but the professionalism is such on our team, that no-one wants to send home a report with any errors in it...be it grammatical, spelling, formatting or just plain typos.
So...now to problematise an issue around our report writing.  We seem to face the same issues each year with frantic writing, printing issues, proof reading faux pas and formatting problems.  Why does this have to happen when we think we have stringent guidelines and tight procedures in place to combat these issues?  Teachers work under pressure pretty much the whole time they are in the classroom.  There is no down time, and reports are an added pressure to an already packed schedule.  I did consider whether report writing has gone to a whole new level, but it hasn't...it's always been this way.  So what can we do to better minimalise the stresses - errors, repeats and reprints? 

This year, our school has switched to eTAP, a new school management system that we hope will minimalise the chance of errors in report writing.  In term 4 we will be introducing the new report writing model, and are hoping that the new format and digital application will make report writing much more efficient but just as effective as our current system.  As a staff, we will need to get together to create a bank of comments that can be used as drop downs for teachers to choose and insert to improve on efficiency and minimise mistakes.  The format should be firm and not move with every insert added.  All should lead to a less stressful, more productive cycle for reporting to parents.

The arguments raised in producing reports in a 'drop down' type manner are mainly: loss of differentiation, less personal comments, corner cutting...but I beg to differ.  Parents in general want to know where their kids are 'at' in their learning.  They want to know how they measure up in the system and National Standards in many ways panders to that need.  Parents also appreciate a brief outline of how their kids social skills are developing.  I think reports created from a collection of statements relating to curriculum progressions are acceptable.  Parents often don't want the technical jargon that some teachers add to reports, complicating the messages with curriculum specific language.  As long as the report comments are accurate and clear to the individual, and the report itself is personalised particularly through the general comment, I believe this is one way to ensure that reports are created with accuracy and efficiency.  Fingers crossed, our new applications deliver on the promises and expectations we have!

Kids Loving their Learning

Our students always manage to bring a smile to my face, and everyday they produce something to share that I often just don't expect.  Today was one out of the box, when I hear the story of a group of students who regularly do their homework at night...all the while chatting together on line.  On this particular night, one of them came up the idea of creating a song using their spelling words.  So together they came up with this hilarious rendition of 'Earth, Wind and Fire's' "Remember"...I loved it!

....What about the Others?

Tonight I attended the "Walter Kirby" music concert at my sons high school.  It is a music awards show where students share their learning, playing in a competitive environment where winners receive awards which are handed out at end of year award ceremonies. 

There was upwards of 30 participants, both soloists and groups.  Soloists sang and either played an instrument (piano or guitar) or were accompanied by a musician.  Solo musicians were many and varied, playing piano, cello, flute, trumpet, saxophone to name a few.  The music was wide ranging from operatic to modern day and the boys who contributed were between 11 and 18 years of age.

I was struck by the talent that these boys displayed.  They performed with confidence and aplomb.  I could see the look of pleasure each one had as he left the stage, soaking up the adrenalin and the applause from an enthusiastic audience.  As I was enjoying the show and after my son and his ukelele group had performed (an impressive rendition of 'Hoki Mai' accompanied by a pianist), I slipped on my educator hat and began to ruminate over the value of extra curricular activities over and above the 'core subject' areas. 

As I watched the achievements of the students tonight I had to question our systems focus on literacy, numeracy and the sciences.  What would our society be like if we gave equal recognition and importance to the arts and sports?  How successful would our system be if we identified student's strengths and developed them in those areas?  I wonder how classrooms would look if students were taught completely to their area of strength...that's not say they don't learn to read, write and do maths, but that the value of these subjects are equal to their area of strength. 

Often at primary level, we only see glimpses of talent in the children we teach.  We identify students who have strengths in reading, writing and maths, and we develop their strengths within the programme, giving them differentiated advanced rich tasks to develop their cognitive engagement.  We acknowledge the talents of children in sport and the arts through one off sports tournaments, one off music performances and visual art work given through integrated units.  It's up to parents to feed their students talents...to develop them by enrolling them in after school activities that cost more money that in some families is hard to find.  The students who are from families who have difficulty making ends meet, are the ones who tend to slip between the cracks...their talents left behind, forgotten, potential not met in a lifetime.  What a waste.

Reflecting on "Reflective Practice for Teachers" using Smyth's Reflective Framework.

             When I first started this course and participated in the ‘on campus’ day, I left the workshop feeling a little uneasy about the content and direction this paper was taking me.  Discussion throughout the day was around lenses and gazes, either/or/AND and these were things that I’ve never really delved into in my role as a teacher.  Call me old fashioned, call me a conformist, but I’ve always just followed the leader in my job as a teacher.  Taught what the curriculum says, in a way the specialists preach it always with the goal of raising student achievement. 

I’ve never been asked to question things and I love what I do and enjoy new learning, so am one of those people that jumps in boots and all and gives it a go.  That’s not to say I don’t recognise when things don’t work, and that’s not to say I’ve never bent things to fit the mould of the students I teach - that’s probably as deep as reflection of my practice ever went.  As part of our school practice, we write a weekly reflection attached to our planning.  My reflections were usually a recount of things that happened in the classroom during the week.  A brief overview of things that worked and things that didn’t in my programme and how I might change them next time, children’s behaviours and how I might address them, and any special events that may have happened in the school.   The most significant part of the learning I have gained since being on this course is without a doubt, the depth of my reflection now.  The importance of ‘critical reflection’ in what, how and why I do things in my own practice and the effects it has on those I work with is so much more magnified in my thoughts, more so now than it ever has.  

            On this learning journey I have come to understand that reflection is about contemplation.  It’s about growing as an educator through understanding where we come from and how our past so inextricably influences and impacts every decision we make - tied to this is having the ability to examine how our culture, beliefs, values and assumptions impact on our ‘espoused theory’ versus our ‘theory in use’ (Argyris & Schon, 1974).  I have discovered throughout this course, that this new learning has opened my mind to the assumptions I make as a manager within the school I work.  I am stopping myself from ‘waiting for my turn to talk’ to ‘listening’ to others thoughts and opinions - all the while reflecting on my thought patterns and contemplating theirs.  Throughout this course whilst carrying out the readings and especially throughout dialogue (both online and ‘on campus’ days), I have developed a deeper understanding of the depth and breadth of reflection.  The breadth of reflection I’m referring to here is the lenses, gazes, stances, spaces, ‘isms’  we have examined, read about and discussed since the beginning.  Most of these I have never consciously considered before in my role as an educator.   Smyth’s framework for reflection gave me a pathway to opening up my consciousness to reflection, it added clarity to the mixed up thoughts, opinions and grey matter that our initial discussions had stirred up.  

            One of the first readings of the semester, John Smyth’s (2011) ‘Teachers as intellectuals in Neoliberal times’, was my first foray into questioning where my ideas on teaching and learning come from and the socially construed nature of these ideas.  I have never questioned the political, social and moral imperatives that influence my teaching and having put these under more of a microscope, I have come to realise that questioning, examining and critiquing these things leads to a transformation or a more fluid liminal space that allows growth and change.  Being in this liminal space is something that requires work and effort, as I have to consciously stop myself to re-examine why I’m thinking the way I am, it’s still new to me and there is no automaticity in my actions yet. 

Bronfenbrenner’s (1994) ecological systems theory encouraged me to contemplate my own upbringing and the microsystems and mesosystems that moulded and shaped me into the person I am today, I now see more clearly how and why these form expectations and presumptions in my role as a manager.  I never realised how narrow my views were around how and why I taught my classes the way I did.  I have always considered where the students I work with have come from.  A large part of best practice is ‘knowing the learner’, and I’ve always considered myself strong in this area - having taught in the Pacific Islands I could make a connection with the many of the students and families I work with.  Now I have a new understanding of the influences of the ‘exosystems’ that function within our families and the direct effect they have on the school I work in.  It was through this reading that I realised schools weren’t as insular as I had taken for granted they were.  I was forced into looking at a much bigger picture than I’d ever considered before.  There is so much more to the school context than what is in and immediately surrounds it.  The idea of governmentality was enlightening for me.  I realised how much of a conformist I really am and how important it is for me to ‘find my power’ through advocacy, open mindedness and autonomy.  This particular stance became real to me through the problematised issue I researched and reflected on for assignment one – Manaiakalni: The Hook from Heaven. Keeping it Human.

Kincheloe (1991) opened my mind to the idea that the pursuit of excellence could be crushed by the search for efficiency.  As a school manager, this led me to confront the bureaucratic element of my job hindering the creative autonomy of the teachers I lead.  My awareness of hierarchies in the workplace lead me to examine our own environment and the structure of management in our school.  In the article, Kincheloe encourages teachers to become ‘researchers’ and to explore what that means for teachers.  I believe that we are heading down this path in my workplace, but that teachers are at different places on this researchers spectrum.  Recently, an advent of my learning from this course, we have extended our weekly reflections to ‘professional reflections blogs’.  During a teacher only day, we had a session on Smyth’s framework for reflection. 

The session was introduced with a quote - "Reflective practice is a deliberate pause to assume an open perspective, to allow for higher-level thinking processes.  Practitioners use these processes for examining beliefs, goals, and practices, to gain new or deeper understandings that lead to actions that improve learning for students (York-Barr)”.  Teachers were given an opportunity to discuss what this quote means and how important reflection is to best practice.  Now, every teacher on our staff has a reflections blog, and many dove straight into blogging the night after our session.  Smyth’s framework will be a pathway for our teachers to grow in their reflective practice and the power knowledge of themselves and their critical pedagogy.  This course has given me the confidence to talk about reflection with knowledge and understanding around how beneficial it is, not just to professional but to personal growth and development as well. 

The idea of ‘living pedagogically’ struck a chord with me.  In reading ‘Burgeo and Back’ (A.Clark, 2012),  I was taken with the idea of being conscious of the learning opportunities that take place around me outside of the workplace.  The idea that tending to ones inner life as an educator is connected to ones success as a teacher in the classroom resonated with me.  I began to wonder if I live pedagogically and I came to the conclusion that while I sometimes am attentive to interactions such as those noted in Burgeo, I don’t often remember or retell the experience, which has been identified as the most important thing.  Being aware of this, has only made me more attentive to opportunities to recognise pedagogy and to recall and verbalise the interaction. Having a professional reflections blog gives me a platform to do this and is something I have already put into use...living pedagogically is new learning I am now living.

The discourse that took place on line in opening up (unpacking to deconstruct) and complexifying ideas was totally enlightening.  Being able to participate in and follow discussions, while carrying out the readings was empowering.  It was almost like connecting the dots.  Kit’s discussion around ‘Synergy’ was completely mind boggling to me initially.  How can we use synergy in an educational system?  Our system is black and white, synergy gives nothing to measure or sign post!  Whilst the idea of synergy and subjective epistemology is very abstract to my thinking, through the discourse which took place, I was able to reflect on my understanding of the idea of ‘either/or….AND’.  It was in part through this line of discussion that I gained a whole new level of thinking around the traditional ideology of our education system versus a more abstract system.  Who controls the big picture and how does change this?

I found that each conference linked to another, just as Kit’s linked up to Molly’s questions around Maori education and where it fits in our education system.  Why are we trying to make people fit the system?  Shouldn’t we be shaping a system to fit the people?  Why can’t Maori just be Maori? The idea’s around synergy and subject epistemology fit with this topic.   This conference really reflected the idea of ‘tensions’ and the never ending arguments that surround this issue. 

How can Maori be Maori when many students don’t know what being Maori is?  When I looked through the microscope lens, I realised that although I am part Maori, I truly don’t know what being Maori is.  I was definitely brought up in pakeha culture, so I was then confronted with what do I know about being Maori and what could I bring to this conference – not just as an educator, but as a Maori/Pakeha? 

This assignment is a personal narrative of my learning and as Diti Hill (2011) suggests it has given me the opportunity to think deeply about the theories/ideas that flow into my practice in a connected, personally meaningful and storied way.   I was able to draw on the literature and connect and confront my own beliefs and assumptions.  I found this a little scary because it did reveal some things that I didn’t know about myself, but also gave me insight into the hows and whys of me - that was both enlightening and empowering.  I think there has been quite a bit of self-transformation taking place on this journey, and the tools that this course has given me has opened up a refreshingly new and exciting path through ‘critical reflection’ that will benefit my practice as a teacher and manager in a school. 

            Argyris, C. Schon, D. (1974).  Theory in Practice: Increasing Professional Effectiveness.  Jossey-Bass Publishers.

            Bronfenbrenner, U. (1994).  Ecological models of human development. International Encyclopedia of Education. Vol, 3. 2nd Ed. Oxford:Elsevier.

            Clarke, A. (2012).  Burgeo and back! or Living pedagogically: Catching oneself in the act of being attentive to pedagogy. In A. Cohen, M. Porath, A. Clarke, H. Bai, C. Leggo & K. Meyer (Eds.), Speaking of teaching... :Inclinations, inspiration, and innerworkings (pp. 55-62). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

            Kincheloe, J. (1991).  Teachers as Researchers: Qualitative inquiry as a path to empowerment. Chapter 2. Routledge

            Hill, D. (2011). Theory as a Story: An invitation to engage with the ideas the nourish practice. The first years: Nga Tau Tuatahi. New Zealand Journal of Infant and Toddler Education. Vol.13, Issue 1.

Smyth, J. (2011). Critical Pedagogy for Social Justice. Teachers as intellectuals in neoliberal times.  Bloomsbury Academic.

           

York-Barr, J. (2001). Reflective Practice according to York-Barr et.al. Retrieved from ppt Reflective Practice. HTML -  http://www.specialed.ccsu.edu/nicoll-senft/A%20Brief%20Introduction%20to%20Reflective%20Practice.ppt.

TOD - Strengthening a Strong Staff

Our Teacher Only Day saw the expertise of our staff sharing, discussing and clarifying our understanding of: Running Records, Learn/Create/Share in Reading, Reading Data Analysis, Dialogic Practice and Professional Reflection.  The day was crammed full of new learning for some, clarifying for others and consolidation for many.

Sally led a session on the application and analysis of effective running records.  Discussion flowed around clarification of seen/unseen text, reading to learn and learning to read, administration, RRec versus Probe, senior/junior similarities and differences, teacher judgements and a simulated test.  For my own learning, I felt affirmed around my understanding of the administration of running records in relation to probes.  One area of debate was the suitability of Probe testing for our students, particularly around texts that many of them found difficult to connect with due to language difficulties.  It was agreed that all text must be seen, but not necessarily in guided instruction - to ensure testing of comprehension isn't compromised.  Before students begin tests, teachers can ask students to explain/recount what the story/article is about and also ask if there are any words they didn't know the meaning to e.g names of characters, specific nouns such as 'quilt' - teachers must use their prerogative here to judge whether answers may interfere with comprehension testing. 

Following our running record session, we went into unpacking what learn/create/share looked like in reading in our classrooms.  Each syndicate brainstormed their approaches and shared their ideas with the whole group. In sharing with each other, we could see the progressions across the school of the learn/create/share ethos.

After morning tea, we began a session on 'Dialogic Practice'.  If you look through this blog page, you will see a post that gives a bit of an explanation around what it is.  Kyla lead this session with her and I sharing our new learning of dialogic practice from the Manaiakalani Lead Teachers meeting we attended 3 weeks ago.  During this session we talked about what dialogic pracitice looks like, made comparisons between monologic and dialogic  teaching practice and how we can enhance cognitive thinking and engagement through it.  Towards the end of the session, we shared a clip of an expert teacher in a guided reading situation and identified what dialogic and monologic teaching took place.  Teachers got a clearer picture in differentiating between the two and understanding become clearer as discourse took place.

The final session of the day was around our 'Professional Reflections Blogs'.  Rhonda shared ideas for what and how we use the blogs and discussion centered around what reflections should contain.  Teachers were directed towards John Smyth's framework for reflection.  This framework is an excellent pathway to describing, confronting and reconstructing thinking around the tensions of a problematised topic or idea.  Teacher's were then given time to create their own professional blog and we discussed regularities of posts and expectations.

Our TOD as always showed the professionalism and commitment of the staff at TPS.  Our teachers are true LEARNERS, passionate about their subjects, enthusiastic to share and generate a genuine sense of  value and respect for each other.  I am a very proud member of a very professional group of people. 

National Standards - Moderation - How do we know if we're right?

Since the introduction of National Standards we as a school have undergone PLD, and many a staff meeting and informal conversation, trying to get a united understanding of moderation.  In my opinion, we have made great gains in our understanding of how moderation works and I've watched that understanding grow since its inception in 2010.

My concerns around moderation sit in the 'individual understanding' on a national scale and this is a concern that I'm sure all teachers/managers have.  While there are exemplars, progressions, ELLPs and illustrations of the standards themselves, how can we be sure our judgements are accurate?  How do teacher's remain objective in their opinions and decisions around individual students?  I believe that the answer to these questions lie in the collaborative efforts of teachers and managers to gain a global understanding together - through PLD, discussions and plenty of sharing.  It's imperative that everyone use the resources available, knowing them inside out - back to front, in order to have an understanding that ties all curriculum strands together.

At Tamaki we carry out whole day syndicate data discussions each term, using these discussions as an opportunity to share students progress and make comparisons across the school.  Within syndicates, teachers take ownership of all students...not just those in their own classes.  This means teachers sharing data, comparing progressions and reaching a joint understanding of what learning levels look like across the school.  This year we have created a rubric for writing in students speak (collated as a staff) and students use the rubric from years 1 to 8.  Our next steps from the development of the rubric is to collate exemplars of our students work at each level to illustrate the progressions of the rubric.  After assessment, teachers moderate GLOSS and writing to check judgements and talk through their decisions, debating in a non-threatening environment where all that matters is getting a joint understanding of progressions.  When teachers create OTJs, we gather in syndicates to share samples of work at levels to ensure there is a joint understanding of what the levels 'look' like across the classes.

So while we work hard to have a joint understanding as a staff - and this is ongoing as understanding still varies due to experience and the introduction of new staff members - how do we know if we've got it right on a National scale?  The Tamaki cluster have writing moderation at the beginning and end of the year to check joint understanding of judgements based on the the easttle writing rubric.  These moderation sessions have been successful and as a cluster we've seen accuracy and agreement grow through a collective understanding over time.  These sessions are carried out by school management, and I believe these would be even more effective if we involved more teachers at these sessions as PLD for staff.  As a cluster, we don't collaborate in the development of OTJs understanding.  I think this is an aspect of assessment that needs to be addressed to encourage transparency between schools.  Of course some schools would be hesitant to share their data to this scale, but I believe that this type of collaboration would be beneficial to making National Standards work.  After all...the alternative of Standardised Testing is hardly the path we want to go down.

So if we can come to an understanding in making National Standards work there should be more done to unite teachers, encourage collaboration and provide a platform of trust (not fear) in assessment judgements.  I could keep going into what National Standards identifies as expected levels of achievement and whether these levels are fair and equal to all students...but that's a whole other post!!!  Not exactly comparing APPLES to APPLES...