Miracle Worker by Taylor Mali

I'm a Teacher...That's what I do! 

Classroom Walkthroughs

Today I carried out a few classroom walkthroughs.  Classroom walkthroughs are opportunities for school leaders to get a feel for how things are going in individual classes in a snap shot.  They are a systematic and efficient way to gather data on instructional practices throughout the school.
Prior to visits, Rhonda (our Principal) decided what specific areas we were going to be looking at across the school and a template for the observations was created.  I spent 15 minutes in each room of one syndicate.  Having the identified focus areas, it was easy to settle straight in and begin logging what I was seeing. 
The first area of focus was classroom environments.  What I straight away recognised was that each room had text rich environments.  There were similar threads of displays across the syndicate with word walls, literacy cycles, maths stages and expectations, learning levels and culturally responsive work on all the walls.  All environments were warm and reflected a classroom culture of learning.  I did make note in some rooms, that student input could be increased, as it's important to show student voice to give chidlren a sense of ownership of the space they are in.

The second area of focus was engagement.  In each room, I was thrilled to see genuine engagement of students working in a variety of situations.  There were groups working with their teacher, others working with TAs, some working with a buddy and some independently.  In the classes carrying out math activities, there was student discourse around problem solving and teachers carrying out guided math lessons with developing student led lessons.  There is still some way to go in some rooms around student led learning, but there is evidence of progress made on this front, by teachers as well as students. 
The final area of focus was around digital learning and this was the obvious first default for learning and recording across the syndicate.  Students could show me the class site where they access their activities and shared their learning confidently with me.  They could explain what they are learning, how the activity ties to their recent learning, the purpose behind what they are learning and what their next learning steps are.  Each class reflects a fully digital learning environment, but the devices were obviously used as 'tools' in the learning.  There was still a definite sense of learner centered learning happening in the rooms. 
Walkthroughs are a valuable tool to school leaders and something recommended as a way for school leaders to give teachers feedback for reflection on their practice.  There are number of interesting articles around 'walkthroughs', google it for more information.

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!