Paul Ashman

Paul Ashman came to class to model a science lesson. This involved describing using size, shape, colour, touch and comparisons to others. This is an example of developing the nature of science strand- specifically the understanding about science and investigating capabilities. Lots of questioning and curiosity from this lesson.

Professional Readings

This is the space for my log of the readings I am doing for the profession of teaching.

Junior School Waiata

As a way of honouring the Treaty of Waitangi, and incorporating Te Reo into the Junior School at Eskdale, we have begun singing different waiata during our weekly singing session which happen for all 6 junior school classes (yr 1-4) on a Wednesday afternoon after lunch. The purpose was to increase the number of waiata known to use in future powhiri, and to increase the students knowledge of Te Reo. I play the guitar and lead this as part of my leadership role, and offering my skills in a collaborative way.

The waiata we sing include:

Tūtira mai ngā iwi,
tātou tātou e
Tūtira mai ngā iwi,
tātou tātou e
Whai-a te marama-tanga,
me te aroha - e ngā iwi!
Ki-a ko tapa tahi,
Ki-a ko-tahi rā 

                                                                       Tātou tātou e 

Tihei mauri ora

Tihei mauri ora

Ngä iwi o te motu e

Tü ake, karangatia

Tü ake, manaakitia

Ngä iwi, kia ora rä

Ngä iwi, kia ora rä

Utaina mai ngā waka
Ngā waka o te motu
Tōia mai rā ki uta
Ki te takoranga.
A hiki 'nuku, hiki e
Hiki rangi, runga e
Tēnā, tēnā rā
koutou katoa.

Classroom Blog

This is our class blog. This has been set up as a way of connecting our learning to the students' family and wider community. It is in its infancy but we have a range of content that enables parents to view some amazing learning, comment and congratulate their child on their work, and map out the learning journey of the students in Kotare. We use an app called 'easy blogger junior" which lets the students upload content easily, and in a range of different ways e.g. video, picture, audio. We also have a QR code and a tiny URL for the parents and families to find us. The biggest challenge to this is getting a regular blog post routine going, and getting parents to comment on a regular basis or visit the page as they are often unsure of what they need to do. The students enjoy sharing their work, and they are motivated about their learning when doing so.

Assessment folder example 1#

This is one example of how I track my students learning through assessment. The purpose of this assessment is to track the students progress in learning their high frequency colour words, and it informs me and the student simultaneously what words they have acquired, what words they are still learning- which then feed into my writing and guided reading planning. As you can see each testing is colour coded and dated as well as a final talley number as a way of highlighting the success for yhe student in a tangible way eg " you know 15 words now, last time you only new 11". This is effective beyond just the data it gives as it acts as a motivating tool and highlights the importance of mastering all the words for reading fluency.

Spelling Reflective Tool

This spelling Reflective Tool is constructed from the first two lists of the essential word lists. This is used to enhance the students spelling knowledge and to create fluency in writing and reading. The major teaching component is to teach students the skill of memorizing content for quick recall.

18/8/2016

This is an example of our writing reflection tool that we use to set goals, and for the students to refer to as a visual representation of the initial 'non-negotiables' of writing according to the Literacy Progression and Curriculum exemplars. The students reflect on this independently, as a whole class discussion at the beginning and/or end of a lesson, and as part of teacher conferencing and writing groups. It is the glue and guide of our writing program, and I am currently looking at developing a next stage one as a sequential reflective tool to show a progression of skills and knowledge and writing.

This is the second version of this as the first one needed to be more specific.

As part of my role as DP and junior syndicate team leader, I facilitate the meetings and create the agenda and minutes for the team. My focus is to move away from admin and 'stuff', to teaching and learning and things that support effective teaching and learning programmes.

Here is an example of my syndicate minutes from Term 2, 2016

Eskdale Team A Meeting Notes
Sharing (resources, lesson ideas)	·        Inquiry Sharing RTC 12. use critical inquiry and problem-solving effectively in their professional practice ·        Mike and Justin to share this week. Inquiry to be shared visually on the projector and discussed- Mike share about oral language needs of target students- ideas collaborated with Team A include hearing sound focus, talking in sentences, slowing down speech, modelling adult language and consulting with parents about this. ·        From inquiry meeting- Tui and Kotare intend to run an evening for parents on how to read at home with their child, aim for the end of term 2- Jo and Debbie indicated they would like to take part and week 8 Tuesday the 21st has been penciled in. (Catherine and Justin still to be filled in with this) ·        Everyone liked Debbie’s ‘Laser eyes’ strategy for encouraging active listening.
Matters arising (from last meeting or Staff meeting)	·        As discussed teachers are to get and return all sports gear from the PE shed, also having one student per class to be in charge of retrieving gear left in the playground. ·        Ensure the relievers have a class list on hand (hard copy). Team A will have a coloured paper copy pinned in an obvious place for the reliever. ·        For our Matariki trips the office will need details of the transport list etc- there is a spare seat donated by Plunket in Trish’s room. More info is needed about the details of the museum visit. ·        No reading or spelling ages to be mentioned in reports, just how they are tracking in terms of curriculum levels. ·        Also ensure we all have the students ages sorted to comment at the correct level, e.g. working at, on track to be working at etc
Planning, Inquiry & Curriculum	·        Writing moderation.- Not done as two staff were away but we will do this next week on Tuesday. Each staff member to bring 3 students’ writing books to the meeting- one low ability, middle and high ability to student. Also literacy progressions, writing matrix, and/or curriculum to help level the students moving into reports. ·        Science- what has everyone been doing lately? Any feedback on the rubric use/ strengths/ weaknesses? The team felt the Life bus sessions ate into the science last week so everyone has been incorporating the science into other curriculums e.g. observations as a reading activity, science experiments for writing. The rubrics will be used for self-assessment in some classes.
Students of concern Behaviour/ learning	·        Kourosh in Kotare- can be a wanderer. If you see him can you engage in him and send him on his way- particularly during class and the end of break times. Teachers have noticed him already and had conversations, Jo will inform a couple of her students to help move him back to class if need be. ·        Team A teachers to talk to their class about toilet etiquette and not playing in the toilets. ·        Kowan and Rory mentioned for behaviour but are being monitored by their teachers and well sorted.
Other business	·        Reports- we need buddies to check grammar, spelling and punctuation. Mike- Emma, Jo-Debbie, Catherine-Justin ·        ICT- Heather appear-in conference. These have been done by half the team with the other half being done this week. ·        Digi awards- discussion had about possible ideas- theme needs to be clarified.

2013 Inquiry and Home-School Partnerships

In 2013 as acting Principal of Waimarama School one of my roles as lead learner was to lead my staff into inquiry for accelerated learning outcomes for our students. Having attended the first time principals conference and listening to the Principal of Sylvia Park speak about this model and line of inquiry, it resonated with me about engaging all stakeholders to support the needs of students. My staff and I implemeneted this, in our own way to suit our context, and it was effective in terms of building community buy-in, accelerating learning for some of the target students, and having inquiry and teaching and learning drive what we did as practitioners. Some of the most useful tools that were developed in this time are still at play in my current classroom. 

Background behind it:

Mutukaroa is underpinned by the findings of the Best Evidence Synthesis The Complexity of Community and Family Influences in Children’s Achievement in New Zealand. These findings identify which practices have a positive impact in improving learner outcomes.

Mutukaroa builds on research that shows that:

• educationally powerful partnerships change what happens in classrooms
• deliberately nurtured school–whānau relationships help learners achieve success
• ongoing cycles of inquiry, focused on building partnerships, promote student learning in and outside of school.

Mutukaroa sets out to explore and implement a personalised approach that would develop honest, robust, and rigorous relationships with parents and whānau. The principle intentions of Mutukaroa are to grow relationships based on trust, build understanding, invite a two-way knowledge exchange, and encourage parents and whānau to participate actively in their child’s learning. 

The investment objectives for participating schools include:

• accelerated learning progress and achievement for new entrants
• whānau and learners are well informed and equipped to contribute to accelerated learning outcomes for new entrants
• parents and whānau are engaged in the achievement data of their children
• parents and whānau become more influential in their children’s learning
• teachers are more confident and capable to more effectively relate to and interact with diverse families.

What data is used to inform decisions? 

• National Standards/Ngā Whanaketanga Rumaki Māori results
• Public Achievement Information (PAI)
• Regional and local information (decile, roll, ethnicity, leadership)
• School charters (produced annually)
• Annual reports and Analysis of variance
• Education Review Office Report(s)

How we set out to deliver it in our own context:

1) Make a meeting

Informally approach and discuss what we we intend to do in terms of creating learning goals and shared understanding of next steps for learning for reading. Offer options and times to meet as well as different venues- accommodating whanau needs.

2) At the meeting

When discussing the data- highlight and discuss the key findings of each piece of data (triangulate with evidence) and create a shared understanding of where the next steps are (in simple terms to create meaningful conversation).

Key Question

How can we support the learning at home and at school to ensure the goals are met? (Action plan)

Bring along teaching as inquiry for each student.

 At the end clarify and check for what the understanding of the goal is.-recap

Goals are agreed upon and recorded on goal sheet at the time of/ evidence process explained-model demonstrated

Specific as!- Nitty gritty

3) After the meeting

-Learning goals dictate everything that is done in reading at school.

Homework for that child only supports that goal/ homework reflecting exactly what is done in class.

-Evidence is constantly sourced and negotiated with the student- keeping the main thing the main thing

4) During the process

Work teaching as inquiry- developing skills in- reflective tools, student voice, and collaborate for learning strategies, tools and activities.

Constantly looking for high impact, engaging, best practice activities. (Based on professional research)

Time Frame

- Met and set goals (step 1/2) by the end of the week.

Next weeks homework to reflect the learning goals

After stage 2 chat about the meetings- what worked what didnt

2 weeks time chat to parents/whanau if not before

Constantly-reflect on teaching as Inquiry/ look at best practice (staff meetings driven)

Target Students for the Inquiry (2 classes yr 1-6):

Angus

Started at level 18.  Now at level 24 94.9% accuracy.  

Needs to be reading Part 2 Journals.  

Lifted his letter and word sounding out from 7.11 yrs - to 9.05-9.11yrs (BURT)

Still developing self monitoring and vowel sounds/double vowel sounds, prefixes and suffixes

Aim to be at level 25/26 for the national standards

Cayden

Started at Level 14.  Now on level 15 92%.  Needs to be at Part 2 Journals

Burt sight word test went from 6.08 yrs to 7.11-8.05 yrs. 

Beginning to independently sound out words. 

Focussing on digraphs, moving into blends and long and short vowel sounds. 

Still need to test. 

Level 23/24 for the national standards

Tiwai

Started at Level 9-now at level 14 - up five levels.  He is aiming to be at least level 20.

RTLB put us onto reading mileage programme with teacher aid e to develop his confidence.  

General reading mileage is needed for Tiwai. 

Self confidence and  enjoyment of reading is improving.

He has been focusing on Digraphs and now is learning long and short vowel sounds.  

His self correcting has increased almost 90%.

Level 22 for national standards

Te Amohanga

Was level 3 and instructional 4, is now level 7 so has moved 4 levels since the inquiry began.

Still aiming to be at level 14-16 by the end of the year.

Still has 2 early words to go.

Has now learned all the diagraphs, is now onto blends- short vowels and long vowel sounds to follow.

4 letters from alphabet sounds- has got those now.

Bringing his letter knowledge into his knowledge- more independent and confident writer.

Aim for level 17

Merena

Started at level and is now level 5, is aiming to be at level 9-14 by the end of the year.

Sounding out a word using the first letter sound- which was her goal.

Has learned 7 more early words.

Is re-reading for meaning-positive strategy.

Aim for level 14

Wiki

Was level 12, and is now 16 and is at the national standards.

Vowel sound goal learned which was a major gap.

Focused on reading her own writing-teacher

Next step is to ensure she is is self-monitoring before graduating out of the inquiry.

Level 18 for the national standards

Zanoriko

Was level 2, now level 3. Needs to be level 14 by the end of the year.

Has missed many days which is impacting his progress.

One to one matching- observational

Early words- has got 3 more since early June

15  more letters-sound out 7 more- testing soon.

Letter sound knowledge to be worked on. 

Will put him onto reading mileage program with teacher aide.

Goal-sound out using first letter sound.

Aim for level 14

Zeppelin 

6 years old

Level 1

2 Early words

Alphabet sound

Recommending to RTLB

Aim for level 3

Elijah

Level 3 (RTLB aim level 5) should be at level 18 by end of the year

Has been on RTLB roll/ IEP recently came off funding

24 early words with 11 to be learned

Low retention

Oral language gaps makes comprehension difficult.

12 letter recognition/sounds to be learned

Aim for level 5

Shiloh Mackie

- L 2/3 needs to be at 8

-Year 1

-Alphabet testing and another running record

-Early word exposure needs to be lifted

-phonic knowledge- letter id/sound

Aim for level 8

Billy Bell 

-L 2/3 needs to be at 8

-Year 1

-Alphabet testing and another running record

-Early word exposure needs to be lifted

-phonic knowledge- letter id/sound

Level 8 for the national standards

Wiki Gillies

-Year 4

-Level 24 needs to be level 26

-phonic knowledge gaps

-Not attending to the whole word letter sound

-Fluency and expression need to be worked on.

Level 26 for the national standards.

Examples of change of practice through inquiry:

Cayden, Angus, Chapera and Wiki-  neglecting syntactic cues (structure)

Activities to help this

Reference- Chris Brough- University of Waikato Lecturer

1.  close reading worksheets- options and then no options.
2. Oral close-teacher reading out sentences with missing words- child contributes the word
3. Leave it out- cover up the last word and read, then read again uncovered-experiment with covering different words in a sentence.
4. Role reversal- students make up sentences that have structural errors for a buddy to fix up.

Action-this week

-each day do one of the activities with each of the students and look for student feedback about how it helped them read. x4

-create the posters and have them displayed and explicitly taught throughout the week.

-needs to be our school wide model for graphaphonic cues.

Reading Rockets

This is an example of a reflective learning tool in action in my class. This tool is a visual reference for my students to see what they are focusing on in reading, the high frequency words they need to know, as well as where they are heading next in their learning. My students are always looking at this tool, and yhe live it when we make a big deal about moving on to the next level, or mastering all or some words for the colours.

This is on a wall in our classroom.