A wonderful day spending time with my own cluster team, networking with the Uru Mānuka cluster and meeting the other facilitators that I haven't actually meet face-to-face (after the hui finished). It was a wonderful day of learning, discussion and building the cluster connection. I really enjoyed myself. In particular, the way the cluster worked together to move the bus forward. I'm am looking forward to what 2021 will bring.
Agenda slides for the day
Pat Snedden
Initiative: digital skills training for adults - more info coming… (excellent!)
Addressing issues of connectivity and devices?
Let’s be transformers
Tell neighbours
“Knock it out of the park”
Woolf Fisher Research - Aaron Wilson
Online Observation Data around Reading + Surveys from students, teachers, leaders and whānau.
2019 - A relentless focus on reading 2020 seems to have had this happen. In the first three years we are seeing students on average starting well, well below but after 1 year of
school we are seeing these students accelerate closer to the national norm. After the first 3 years we start
to seeing a tapering off from Year 4+. Side note: We are TMP02 We need to be looking further ahead to support students to look forward to the higher leverage practices
to help to see the shift in the older years. Junior teachers focus on high leverage practices: Based on this info, this is the feedback from the online observations: The richer snapshot happens when we look at the overall data. The smaller the sample gets the less
stable the pattern is. They’ve done analysis of every text. Most instruction was on shorter texts. Extended texts are film longer than an hour or a text would be longer than 100 pages (novel/biographies) A strong focus on information texts (non-fiction) Less narrative and poems What would be the balance of these? Strong evidence of linked text sets (more prevalent after Year 3) Triangulated from teachers questionnaire Most texts are “pretty white” (white, middle class) Matariki was a major part of the programmes at this time but does raise the questions if there is this type
of focus at other parts of the year. Mirror texts - student can see themselves in the text Window Texts - looking out at other cultures Window texts - reflecting the life of students? Are there universal experiences tho? Lots of NZ texts but they tended representing more Pākeha worlds than POC What opportunities do our students have to window texts into other parts of the non-white world i.e. Africa,
Middle East … Colouring in the White Spaces Anne Milne The levels of the texts the students are encountering in class are around where they should be. (The
bell-shaped curve looks about right) Text difficulty is the interaction between the text itself and the activity Audience or purpose was often missing. It could be teachers are doing this face-to-face. Could this also
transfer over to a quality blog post. Both teachers and students thinking about the audience and purpose
when creating content on the site or for a blog post? New lessons in Cybersmart coming that would
support this. Strong focus on vocab but not a strong focus on literary devices More attention to the structure of text prior to reading helps a lot with understanding. The focus of ideas didn’t go past information of ideas or plot. Metacognition challenge. Challenge - if it isn’t visible to adults who are looking for it, how visible is it to students? Critical literacy and critical thinking needs deliberate planning and focus by teachers in order for this to
happen. It isn’t happening at the moment. What was the highest level of thinking happening on the students blog? Lower level of understanding was
what is happening, however students are more than capable of higher level thinking. Not evidence of planning for discussion Definition of rewindable - do we understand it? Rewindable is often messy and scary. Choice was around order but not choice of text or activity or product or process The data is what the data is. It is open for interpretation for why that is … the year/covid etc BUT the data
is what is the data is. Deficits within the data can be explained by schools (with “our focus was on x or y) but the challenge
(wero) remains. The data is still true Woolf Fisher Sensemaking will unpack data more and will include best practice examples from teachers
sites for each area.
Talking Point Discussion:
- What are we doing well to accelerate student achievement and progress in reading?
- What could we do better?
- In terms of instructional foci, what are we doing well to accelerate student achievement and progress in reading? What could we do better?
- In terms of activities, what are we doing well to accelerate student achievement and progress in reading? What could we do better?
Reflecting on the past
Makore took us through the culturally connected version.
E tuarua a wero: Google MEET Drills at school!
The Challenge/Provocation
“Read like a writer and write like a reader”
Raise the floor and ceiling of our practice
Move to more sustained use of multiple texts
Move to greater reflection of student culture in text (students see their own lives reflected in what they are reading about)
What are we going to do?
Teacher Only Day? Half Day? Share sense making and look where we need to work on our practice
Cross school PLG’s
Set dates 1 per term that PLG’s will meet
Celebration of learning at end of year
Multi modal data base - would be good if we were giving back and sharing on this database
High leverage practices
OLO observations - unpack the data so that our kaiako understand it - when we know better we do better
Take a look at our cluster specific data
Cross pollination between schools
PLG’s across the cluster
Supporting and amplifying the practice of “High-Shift” (Robin Sutton) teachers
Susan Sandretto - critical literacy expert
Readings from the Critical Literacy training Sharon attended.
From TKI - NZ
questioning how knowledge is constructed and used
investigating whether the writer has the authority to speak for a group or position or to tell particular stories
considering how power relationships are established and whether a text includes or excludes particular readers or perspectives
examining the ways in which texts can position a reader.
From Education Counts - NZ
Critical thinking is related to multiliteracies. It is the development of the facility to understand aspects of texts such as agency, motivation, gaps and silences, and political and economic agendas. It is also about purposeful and reflective judgement, involving determining meaning and significance of phenomena, including different kinds of texts. This deliberate critical stance is as important to e-Learning texts as it is to the critique of traditional texts, because it is about higher order thinking skills: Thinking is a Key Competency in NZC.
Take Homes
The Whānu Blogging site includes support for whānau to leave comments on their child's blog.
Plus support commenting in Te Reo, English, Tongan and Samoan. Fakaaue Karen Belt, Amy Tofa and Viena Ripata for their mahi!
2017 Case Studies (for teachers) Nicole read it is good
1. Waikowhai School: Sarah Daly
Stagnant at Level 23 reading, especially ESOL students - using mini digital plays to focus on - inferential, reorganisational, evaluative, reactionary
Set up questions using the different focus with Literal (L), Vocabulary (V), - so chn know what the emphasis of the question is on
Audiobooks and Kahoots
2. Hornby Primary: Alethea Dejong
- how to enable chn to listen to each other in an independent group
Talk Moves and Dimmock Maths
Rubric developed of skills required for effective listening - used a form to use as a self-assessment
3. Redhill School - Tanya Mundy
How can we help students to be better writers?
Genuine context - real experiences - twist to make into narrative
You Tube, NZ School kits, Google Maps
Using different forms of writing- explicit teaching of how to grab the audience attention - examples of language features for students to draw up - using site to share examples
4. Point England - Kiriwai Tapuke
Building Self Management Skills - transition to secondary school
Managing Self - Taha Challenge to build their powers
Survey of year 8 students
Used camp as a practice run for self management - drawing upon Year 9s and peers in Year 8s to add
content to a Google Site with videos and lists e.g gear lists, camp related information, information for parents also
(all info in one place)
Challenge for Year 9 teachers to develop something similar
5. Greymouth High School - Angela Seyb
Focus on Algebra
Algebra needed for students to progress in high level classes
Developed a poster Algebra Big Ideas for year 9 students to refer to see what learning is required
Need to engage students
Tools used - DESMOS as a class tool, resource finder on NZmaths, real hooks proved to work and helped with
student engagement
6. Otaki School - Kerianna Sterling
Creating a resources to support Te Reo - A Waha
Online tool to improve oral language as a Maori medium resource - activities, games, Karakia, Pepeha,
resources and instructions, slides of stories
6. Otaki School - Kerianna Sterling
Creating a resources to support Te Reo - A Waha
Online tool to improve oral language as a Maori medium resource - activities, games, Karakia, Pepeha,
resources and instructions, slides of stories
7. Point England School - Sonali Carter
Developing self regulation skills - Year 2s
Used Google Form to gather information
Used consistent use of language - ENGAGE develops 4 self regulation areas - used Google Site that
includes videos and games to be played 30 mins a day - improved self regulation skills
8. Tamaki Primary - Johanna Gormly
Implementing the ENGAGE programme in school - to develop self regulation and raise student a