What is there for students who aren't succeeding in the classroom environment?

As a school, our staff take ownership of the learners who come through our gates.  We have a strong school culture where every person that enters our whare is 'someone' and they will leave here a 'better someone' when they move on.  In my many years of teaching, never have I been more aware of and indeed more concerned for those students in classrooms who aren't succeeding in their learning environments.  We work in an antiquated education system which was created 150 years ago with the prime objective of teaching children to read the word of god, and has developed into one that is heavily focused on academia.  If students have talents in other areas, they are to pursue it at their own leisure...there is no give in the three Rs of reading, writing and arithmetic.  I work in an elearning school, our students work in a digital environment.  We've seen a huge increase in engagement and our students achievement has grown pleasingly since we started our digital journey.  It's wonderful to be riding the wave of technology and be part of the that educational paradigm shift moving away from the old antiquated system of books and pencils.

But...it is still a system based heavily on academia and those who succeed - win!...and those that don't - lose.   How do we prepare these students who are not academic for success in life, if they told that they are failing at such a young age?  How do we give them success at school, no matter their grades or national standards?  How can we ensure they leave our school, confident, life long learners who will contribute positively to what ever community they are in?
We have a small group of boys who are struggling in their learning.  They have wonderful teachers who work with them, analysing their progress, identifying goals and designing education plans to meet their needs.  The boys as they are getting that much older, recognise that they aren't where they want to be in their learning.  In some instances, they have developed a closed/fixed mindset where they are not willing to try, instead using the dreaded 'can't' word right from the get go.  In some instances, they have started to act out inside and outside of school, making poor choices and finding trouble.  In some instances, they are beginning to develop a belief that they aren't 'brainy' or good enough.
So what of these students?
Over the past few weeks, we've been working with a group of professionals - SWIS, RTLB, MOE at developing a programme that builds these boys up - it's taylor made for them.  There is no name for this programme yet, but it involves a three pronged approach to work on the Hauora of each student -

1. Mana potential - an already established approach working with students to develop their minds through identifying values, places and people that matter.  This particular component will be aimed at student learning how to control their emotions, recognise triggers and develop strategies for dealing with conflict.
2. Mind sets - working at developing positive mind sets by tapping into areas of potential and success.  These include outdoor education, visual arts, music and drama.  Positive minds feed a positive attitude and students will learn about communication and leadership through activities which build self esteem and confidence.
3. Life Skills and Social Action: students will have opportunity to meet and speak with mentors who will offer guidance and advice.  Mentors will also work with students carrying out social actions which may include - helping the elderly, doing lawns, working with children with special needs, cleaning reserves, planting trees...Where ever they see a social need that they can help with. 

So, while we are still in the planning stages, we have a vision.  It's a starting place, and we are excited about what could be ahead for this programme.   The outcomes we hope will contribute toward developing students who are confident and are positive, contributing members of society.
Will keep you posted!!!

Student Lead Whanau Conferences (Parent/Teacher interviews)

This week we had 'whanau conferences' and many of our classes held student lead conferences.  Being digitally immersed makes the sharing of student work ubiquitous, so the conferences gives students the opportunity to explain their learning and progress to their families.   Prior to conferences, teachers work with students developing presentations to share their goals in core subject areas and to give students the process the conferences will take.   Below is a great little clip I discovered on Youtube, made by a teacher giving her students guidance on how they can prepare for their conferences.

Teachers guide the conferences more as a facilitator, ensuring that conferences are all about the learning - not on behaviour which, should there need to be parental communication, would take place at other arranged times. 
It was timely also, that I came across an excerpt from “Deeper Learning How Eight Innovative Public Schools Are Transforming Education in the Twenty-First Century,” by Monica R. Martinez and Dennis McGrath on a website which discusses student led conferences.   What spoke to me loudest in this article was the message that "As kids learn to advocate for themselves in this way, they discover how to let their parents know more specifically how to support them."  I was able to make connections with this through my own personal experience of parent interviews with my 14 year old son.  It was the first time we had actually attended the conferences with him, and all teacher's said the same thing...very capable, but does not apply himself. In the first 3 interviews, for English, Maths and Science, the teachers spoke consistently with no real opportunity for our son to contribute.  We asked a few questions, points were made towards our son, but he was not asked to contribute any further other than yes or no directed questions.  It was our son's Social Studies teacher who asked him how he felt he was going in class.  This opened a space where our son had to take ownership of his learning.  He explained to us what he did well, what he knew he could do better and what he needed to do as next steps in his learning.  I felt that this empowered him and encouraged him to do better.  His very next class project, he earned an 'excellence' grade.  This grade, in turn gave him something to aspire to and, we have noted, he is beginning to work harder towards.  His teacher encouraged him to watch the news, discuss world events and give his opinions to us at home - a great piece of advice for us as parents to use to assist in his learning.

Martinez and McGrath describe schools who practice this level of student voice as "Schools built on deeper learning principles".  We have just started on this path of reporting.  I would like us to develop this even further with having student voice in mid and end of year report writing...exciting next steps in our own development!!!

Kid President's Pep Talk to Teachers and Students!

I've begun collecting clips that we can use to open staff meetings, something to motivate teachers into participating and contributing during the meeting.  I want to find clips that inspire, motivate, have a relevant message and can generate discussion.  I love this little guy.  His message is one I think every students hopes their teacher hears...I know looking back, I wish my teachers had of heard this message!                             

Multiplicative Thinking - PLD meeting notes

Today's PLD for maths focused on Mulitplicative Thinking.  It was hands on learning, beginning with a puzzle of the key progressions of mult/div.  Starting from emergent, teachers had to arrange stages with number problems and explanations. 

It was really pleasing to see the content knowledge come out and the key questions being asked by teachers to Sue regarding identifying whether students are at certain levels using OTJs.  Teachers were reflecting on previous lessons and problems they have used and discussed where students strategies fitted on the progressions we'd just laid out.

Discussion moved to proportional thinking...WOW!  The example that Sue started with was 54x27...she then talked about thirding the problem e.g: 6x9 (54) + 3x9 (27) = 9(3+6)x9=81....and 12x33 go to doubling and halving e.g: 4x99=400-4=396....and then 14x6 doubled and halved is 7x12=84.  And these are examples of how proportional thinkers think!  I'm going to make a conscious effort to try a few of these...my mind was buzzing.

Students need to construct and coordinate three aspects of multiplicative situations:

• Groups of equal size
• The number of groups
• The total amount

Set language before symbols and then use things like arrays and games to develop understanding. Use materials to give students visual representation of what a strategy looks like.  E.g modelling skip counting by putting counter in cups - 1 cup has 2, another has 2 which make four, another has 2 which makes six...2, 4, 6, 8 etc.  You could introduce pairs to connect to counting in two and groups of two.  When putting materials in groups think about ways to define a group e.g: ladies birds on a leaf, or sheep in a pen etc.  It's important to for students to see groups in array so that they can see for example 6 groups of 5, but also 5 groups of 6.

Good maths story books are 'One Hundred Hungry Ants" by Elinor J Pinczes, and "Pete the Cat"...these can also be accessed on Youtube.

We looked at solving the problem:  A farmer has 8 paddocks and 296 sheep.  How many sheep will go evenly into each paddock.  We looked at:

• Rounding and Compensating  320 / 8 = 40  40 - (24 / 8) =   40 - 3 = 37
• Place Value   240 / 8 = 30  56 / 8 = 7   30+7=37
• Proportional adjustment   296 / 8 =    148 / 4 =    74 / 2 = 37
• Reversibility   8 x 30 = 240   8 x 7 = 56

Growth Mindset in the Classroom

Recently I've been spending some time reading and learning about the idea of Mindsets. This idea is not something new, but Carol Dweck has put into writing what many have thought about and indeed understood for a long time. How we think determines our own successes and failures.   I've experienced mindsets as a sportsperson, lived positive thinking and visualization on the court and the sports field, and have made connections between these experiences and the classroom. But, Carol Dweck has added clarity and direction to how we can effectively use this in an educational sense. It's an addon to what teachers have always pushed in their classrooms...for students to BELIEVE in themselves.  In reading about mindsets, I came across Matt Bromley's blog.  He has created a number of INFO graphics relating to mindsets in the classroom...these are great and I would definitely use them in the classroom to enhance my programme and build my students understanding of how their mind works and how they can grow their thinking!  It's crushing to listen to students who give up before they begin, who believe they have nothing and can offer nothing.  As teachers it's our role to show them that they are someone, as Rita Pierson explained of her students..."You are somebody. You were somebody when you got here, and you will be an even better somebody when leave here!"  So...bring on Growth Mindsets and lets watch our students be a active, motivated, positive members of our society!

In the old days.....

I often try to compare what paper work was like when I first started this journey...to what the expectations are of today.

When I first started in this career, we hand wrote reports on carbon paper and if you made an error, you had to re-write the whole report.  My LTP consisted of a term overview, and sometimes up to 20 pages of curriculum area planning (this was never checked!).  Then of course there was the good old weekly planning book, with pages divided up into 5 periods which were for reading, writing, maths and topic (science/social studies) with a smattering of the arts and regular PE/Sport.  We did spelling tests and running records and pre and post tests for maths and topic studies.  For summative testing we used the good ol' PATs which are still used to this day.  We created and used our own tick sheets indicating student achievement, objectives broken down to specific skills based on the outcomes we wanted at the conclusion of the lesson/unit/term.  Practically all of our 'assessment' was done through rich tasks, in the classroom lesson action.  I had an anecdotal notebook, which I divided up into student names and wrote in as I taught group lessons, or spotted something during whole class teaching, or noticed something while I was marking work.
I didn't have any professional peers observe me teach, nor was I modeled for.  PD consisted mostly of day courses, usually on my own, and chosen by me around what caught my eye in the course folder or was mentioned in staff meetings.  My LTP overview was checked each term and, my weekly planning was checked maybe once a term.
When planning for the week ahead, I tried to set nights aside during the week (usually on a Wednesday and Thursday) to plan the following weeks reading and maths lessons...and then I'd complete the rest of the planning on a Sunday for a couple of hours.  If I didn't get the reading and maths planning done during the week, my Sunday planning would go anywhere from 3-5 hours.  I don't consider that my planning was just me sitting down writing in my weekly planning book - it including making the resources I wanted to use during the following weeks lessons.  To guide all of this was the NZ Curriculum, which consisted of a number of different documents/books covering each curriculum area.  They were very specific and 'full', it was difficult to fit it all in.
Teaching back then was simpler because it didn't include the accountability that is required these days.  But I worked hard!  On top of all that planning was the marking, monitoring and anecdotal notes.
These days, we have computers.  Reports are typed, and if an error is made we just delete it and fix it on the spot and this generally happens before we print.  Long Term Planning consists of a yearly overview, a term overview, an integrated unit plan (collaboratively developed in teams) and data analysis.  Weekly planning is done online and consists of an overview and detailed whole class and group lesson plans which include learning intentions, success criteria, key learning ideas, key questions, lesson sequences and underlying 'thinking' the teacher wishes students to achieve.  This planning then threads into the 'class site' which is the students access to their learning.
People generally type 100 times faster than they write, so one bonus is that creating planning is a lot easier - but we tend to do more of it (not keep it simple).  There is a lot available on line, so making resources using pen/felt and paper isn't needed as much.   Planning is checked regularly by lead teachers and critiqued.
Assessment consists of Easttle (reading/writing/maths), running records, GLOSS, JAM,  PATs and STAR.  We try to spread these out, but some tests obviously take longer than others and each test is expected to be analysed to inform teaching.  To add to this is 'student voice' which includes self assessment from the students, and student reflections.   To guide all of this we have the NZ Curriculum, which includes the wonderful Key Competencies, and over the past 5 years...National Standards.  Mixed in with this are other documents like the ELLPs.

The main difference I see in today's teaching world, compared to yesteryear, is the accountability.  Teachers are held to account a lot more today than they ever were 20 even 10 years ago.  The magnifying glass constantly hovers, leaving teachers feeling stressed and tired at the mountain of paperwork expected of them.  I also think this leaves student feeling stressed and tired at the overwhelming curriculum that they are expected to cover in one year.  Students are pressured by parents, teachers and their peers to reach every expectation.  Gone are the days children came to school to read and write, develop social skills through play.  Now, it's all about striving to reach that next level!  As teachers, we have to remember - kids won't learn if they don't like it, and they will learn if they're having fun.  We just need to find the balance and understand that classroom teaching is the job that NEVER ends...there's always something to be done!  So, prioritise, think smart, and keep things as simple as possible at every level.  Work SMARTER, not HARDER!

Rita Pierson: Every kid needs a champion

This particular TedTalk is one I've gone back to a number of times...it's reminds me "Why" I'm in this profession.  It's the relationships that should be at the forefront of what we do - not just with the children we teach but with the colleagues we teach with.  As the old saying goes...it takes a village to raise a child...it takes a whole school to educate a child!  As teachers it's important that we support each other, collaborate with each other...and yes...like each other.  The strong, collaborative environment and the relationships I have with staff and students is what I get out of bed for each day.  I am a very lucky teacher!