No longer a BT

Over the holidays I got my full registration - I'm a real teacher now!!

So a dilemma, do I carry on with this blog or start a new one? I think I need to start a new one. Having "Journey" in the title now makes me think there is an end point - which there was as a BT, but there isn't as a fully registered teacher. The reason I blog is to record my reflections and that needs to be ongoing, continuous, and like steps - building on ideas, thoughts and sparks.

With that in mind I am going to create a new blog - taking over some of my current pages. What I call this blog is still a mystery!

Joining the dots

After further mentoring from Claire when she shared an epiphany she had with me I can see more clearly what I need to do to support the team on the journey we need to go on together.

• The team need to link the ideas about the practise of Learning Through Play to what they know.
• This discussion led me to create the BPP below as one of the reasons I value LTP so much is that it gives choice. 
• This led me back to the beliefs the II team developed last year - in particular the Interest and Motivation one.
• I need to go back to where they are so we can travel together on this journey - rather than trying to pull them along
• This might mean going back along the same path we took in Kimi Akau with learning stations, rotations, structured groups, use of lanyards

• The team need to be more involved, whilst I can do lots of the thinking I shouldn't be doing all the doing!
• This will also be great for me to develop more leadership skills as to get buy in from everyone I need to have a clear vision (which leads nicely into another blog post on Kaizen 2017!)
• To have a clear vision I am going to have to "Do my own thinking" - a phrase from last years thoughts from Ben (that is on our t-shirts from Christmas!)
• Part of this thinking is going to be around the how of LTP and linking really explicitly to the NZC - levels 1 and 2. This should also give real clarity and purpose which is important for the team.

A note to self - I had these thoughts whilst riding part of the rail trail over the weekend. I had time to think through my ideas and synthesise what it means and the actions I need to take. Need to do more of this!! 

Command and Control

Something I said during the professional development we had in January came to mind the other day - Command and control; If we don’t want to be treated like that, why should we expect it of the kids?

This also applies to me trying to lead the team down the LTP path, they need to be involved to see the scope, potential and benefits and so that they feel involved too. We all (humans) respond much better if we are involved in the decisions rather than having them thrust upon us (although at this stage in my teaching career if someone said “xx is a good idea” and sold it to me I would probably run with it to find out for myself!)

This has sparked some deeper thinking over this past weekend - and the development of why I value Learning through Play.

Watch this space!!

Term 4 2016 reflection - better late than never!

• Communicating Learning
• Was feeling good from about week 8 onwards as had finished CL comments! As we move forward with this I believe it will become more manageable to communicate more regularly and meaningfully, rather than the pressure to “get them done.”
• General comments:
• Some were really hard and I felt that I still didn’t know my children even after nearly 4 terms together (2 with some)
• Some we really easy too - the vocal or stand out (+ve and -ve!) kids
• Goal setting I found to be good, so I obviously knew my kids better than I gave myself credit for as all parents agreed with the goals set.
• Once the GC and CL were finished I felt I could actually focus my energy on teaching and designing meaningful learning! - A thought for going forward - how to have the balance despite the workload?
• EOY conferences were all very positive - funny how some kids react - some went hyper, whilst others were the opposite - note for self, next year prepare the kids more!

• Direct Acts of Teaching (DAT)
• Doing DAT in a 5 week rotation - 5 weeks of Maths and 5 weeks of writing worked really well as it was a decent amount of time to design meaningful learning and understand the kids needs.
• When I was writing eagle I designed learning for the whole group rather than stations (that could be tailored to needs) as I found this more manageable. Evelyn suggested a more play based learning approach but I couldn’t as lots of other stuff was happening and I wanted to have control. I would also have wanted to make sure the kids who couldn’t manage themselves were sorted having everyone do the same thing was just easier - perhaps this was an experience in Universal Learning Design!
• The last 5 weeks when I was Maths Owl, not much actual teaching happened with all the interruptions of end of term!

• Maths
• Love Muireann’s idea of having term 4 as a term of Maths strand whereby you link the knowledge and strategies learnt to other areas of maths.
• Wished we had used the pebbles more - as they are a great way of making learning intentions really visible.
• Perhaps an inquiry next year - use the pebbles (Maths first) as a CL tool - whenever a child achieves a pebble you post it as a comment. Might make comments more manageable and “real” and then would also help with my focus too.
• Team
• Working as a 2 was much easier than a 4 as we could both be more adaptable to kids needs and make changes more quickly - I did have to learn to let go which was a good thing!
• Sad to be leaving current team as we “fit” together and trust one another.
• Will be exciting keeping the same kids and watching them grow.
• Nervous about joining an already established team and starting again - respect, trust etc - I need to make sure I speak up!
• In the old team I did contribute by doing lots of admin type tasks which I enjoy so I hope i’ll still have that opportunity.
• In the new team I would like to;
• Look at playbased learning - will share the Pounamu 2016 BPP as a starting point
• Use pebbles more
• Keep up with our monitoring learning
• Introduce SOLO
• Ensure consistency
• Leadership
• From a leadership point of view as I am already quite comfortable with the management side of running a team I need to develop the skills to lead adults and find ways to grow team members. 
• Perhaps in the short term I will ask to lead an area (play-based learning?)

• Coming up next year also have the Cyclone conference with Evelyn to prepare for - busy times ahead!!

Writing Inquiry 2016, final analysis

This was quite a large goal to choose to focus on - following my chosen 3 and using the learnings to help all.

I did loose focus in the middle, and this was due to other pressures which clearly tells me this turned out to not be a priority for me.

I have definitely learnt from this inquiry though. Firstly, the scale of this inquiry was too big. I would have been better to choose one element of the writing process to look at which would have given me a better focus. Secondly, it has shown me the rate of change in these children. Child 1 is still not writing clearly, but he has made massive progress. Child 2 has also made incredible progress, and child 3 came in at a higher level than the other 2 and so her progress isn't as obvious.

This also links to the progressions as to get from level 1.3 to 2.1 is a big jump.

Kaizen, change for the better

What a powerful way to review the year. I felt good going into it and great coming out!

We had a big conversation about my Red side (or absence of it) and Muireann rightly pointed out that the HBDI isn’t a deficit model and shouldn’t be used like it is - Red is simply not a preference for me however I do have some strong Red elements;

Relationships - with the community, students, parents, mentors

Knowing Self - i’m very reflective and acutely aware of my strengths and preferences and my weaknesses and I do strive to overcome them.

Links and connections - I am comfortable in this situation because I have already formed links and connections and don’t need to manufacture them! I am quite an ambivert - an introvert in that meeting new people where I have no connections isn’t something I enjoy, and an extrovert when I am comfortable with people I know. I still revert to being an introvert as I need my time and space to recharge.

Growing the People side of my 3Ps there are several things I will aim to do next year;

Ask more questions,

Listen to understand,

Ask for coaching in terms of questions to ask,

Slow down!

Another of my goals is around asking for help. I need to start realising when I need help (not sure how to do this yet!) and then asking for help before I hit the ice-berg, rather than waiting until i’m sinking! One reason that came out of the discussion about this is my desire to have control and ownership.

Using creating Maths resources as an example, I felt that if I created them then I would know what there was and how to use them and it that it was just as fast for me to do this rather than explain what I was trying to do and then figure out what someone else had done. What I need to do is have the courage to let it go, let go of the control because others ideas and input are of equal (and sometimes greater) value to what i’m aiming for. Perhaps this will be my goal next year.

At the end of the meeting it was lovely to get feedback from Muireann;

• I have continually grown throughout the year, learning myself and becoming more comfortable with the how of teaching.
• Muireann appreciated my professionalism and my enthusiasm - going beyond what was necessary.
•  In the case of play based learning really supporting the vision we have with “proof”  and detailed “why” which I have gained from extra reading.

Quite sad at the end of the meeting as it has been indicated that I won’t be in the same team next year, although as I’m writing this...who knows!

How?

The How (Principles) of the BPP have been the one I find hardest to understand - probably because I don’t usually give it much thought. I’ve become better at thinking about the Why and starting there but it is always simpler to go to the What.

Having done some more reading about the How, I need to think about it as “the way we do this”, ask myself the question, “How will I do it?” and use verbs and actions in my answer.

For example;

B (Why) - I believe that for Maths to be learnt effectively it needs to be hands on, with an authentic, problem solving element.

P (How) - I will provide problems to be solved and materials to be used

P (What) - Lessons will use frog flips, tens frames, counters, stories

This was written quickly as a way of consolidating my thoughts!!

Came across this too;

Clarity of Why

Discipline of How

Consistency of What

At our Smackdown Sharon also said she struggles with the "how" and she used the school values and a BPP she showed. I thought this was brilliant and linking it to my thoughts above;

I will use a Growth Mindset

I will Collaborate

I will be Curious

I will Think

I will be Joyful

and they can be further extended and split screened too.

HBDI App

Wow, this has changed the way I see myself (well, a little bit anyway!!) As Muireann was saying about it not being a deficit model the app gives you the details of what your preferences are, even in the quadrants that aren’t a preference!! I was so inspired by this that I chose it as my Smackdown item for the PD session in week 7.

The app tells you your characteristics in each 4 quadrant and also how you communicate, solve problems and make decisions. The great “So What?” part of this app is it tells you what you overlook and as I agree with most, I know what to work on!

The writing in bold are my selected characteristics, Italics are maybes and the others weren't selected. Looking at this, "Musical" isn't selected at all and yet I love music and play (or use to play!) the Piano, Flute, Recorder and Ukulele. Perhaps it indicates that I don't value that part of me as much as something else, or perhaps because it's not something I do everyday or think about all the time I don't value Music as much as I think I do...hmm, time to start my personal goal of re-learning the Piano!

This sums me up nicely! I know I tend to get to the point and miss the "personal touch" so it has highlighted something for me to work on!

Definitely me! Analysing the problem, looking at the facts, organising and missing feelings. However, I do value team processes and new ideas I just might not be the initiator.

I do forget to look at the overall picture and think that this is one area I will improve in as I strive to become a leader within the school. I know I can be future focused, I just have to make sure I don't get bogged down in all the facts and details that I love so much!

PD with Julia on our Learning Environments

A couple of the key things Julia said;

• Looking at the spaces we work in - 16% impact on learning comes from the space so it’s important we get it right.
• Need to link spaces to a purpose and then explicitly teach this - we did this at the start of the year and then haven’t really gone back to it - i.e. the Gallery was a quiet space, the Newsroom was a space for collaborating etc.
• Need to think about the effectiveness of the space for the children, not for us.
• Universal design of learning to cater for noise and needs
• 3 areas to evaluate
• Sufficiency - enough  “stuff”
• Efficiency - do you have what you need when you need it
• Effectiveness - does the physical environment support and enhance learning
• Learning v Teaching Centres;
• Knowing why, knowing how, knowing how to find out

Review of goals

Reviewed the goal I set in week 2 with Muireann and we went through the why, what and how:

The goal was:

My next steps to review are whether or not it is working by questioning the children mentioned above and so look at all of Kevin Knights prompts which are:

Goal setting

I seem to have a lot of goals and so I have put them in one place with the aim of making sure all my smaller, weekly goals that I set with Claire, are feeding into the bigger picture.
So far, so good, but more by luck than judgement!

Teaming

A chat with Muireann over the holidays sparked some more thought about teaming and what it means. She asked if there was anything concerning or frustrating me and there was!

During the end of last term I felt somewhat stranded by some of my team and believed that I was left to do the bulk of the planning and direct teaching for some learning areas. I do own some of the actions that led to this situation as I know I find it hard to let go, and even harder to ask for help. With hindsight I should have insisted upon planning together instead of expecting collaboration via a planning doc, and I should have spoken up. I was very much in Pipeline 1, whereas I should have stepped into Pipeline 2.

Using our teaming BPP I should have held the team members accountable for their actions.

My goal (again!) is to speak up when I'm not happy about something and to also speak up when something is going well. Pipeline 2 is not only about holding each other accountable when something is going as expected but also when the good stuff is happening. We don't praise each other enough.

This also links to other areas of PD we've talked about in the past - that of being above or below the line. I am determined to be an above-the-line, pipeline 2 (when needed) team member.

Just posted this and then watched a video Muireann recommended - about above and below the line with this graphic in it. Sums up perfectly how I felt at the end of the term (below the line) and how I'm feeling now (above the line)!

from www.concious.is

My beliefs around learning Maths

Following on from Sharon's sharing I have been wondering about my beliefs about Maths teaching and learning. So far these are my beliefs (perhaps most will end up to be practices!!);

• hands on manipulation of materials helps their learning
• playing games (having fun) helps consolidate ideas
• following from this - winning boosts confidence
• worksheets have a place - as an assessment / progress checkin
• unless practising writing numbers, worksheets don't help learning (unless used as above!)
• to make self-directed at maths time
  • need to teach learning tasks
  • have tasks that are levelled correctly
  • encourage use of GM
• Juniors need lots of short, sharp DAT then consolidation time
• For SDL, mixed ability good - maybe buddy blues with reds
• Physical movement helps memorise numbers
• Need engagement - students having clear expectations

SOLO version of Collaboration and Self-Regulation

At the end of the workshop we had time to work with others on anything based on the 6 skills so Rachel and I put Collaboration and Self-Regulation into SOLO, just to see!

21st Century Design for Learning Rubrics

The research that has been done around the 6 skills our learners need to have have also been put into rubrics. The aim of the rubric isn't to necessarily get the highest score but to be aware of what you and your learners need to do in order to improve in these 6 areas.

Collaboration

Skilled Communication 

Real World Problem Solving and Innovation

 Self regulation

Use of ICT for learning 

Knowledge Construction

21st Century Learning Design Workshop

Another great day of thinking what skills our learners need to have to equip them for their futures.

Microsoft did some research and found that there are 6 capabilities that our children need to have in order for them to be successful in the 21st Century.

These are;

Knowledge Construction
which is all about learning knowledge and understandings you can apply later, learning skills to enable you to do new things

Use of ICT for learning 

This overlays knowledge construction - use ICT to construct knowledge and then use the skills developed above, need to analyse, compare and contrast, and then create an ICT product - create for an authentic audience (i.e. an email). Thoughts from the group where that the rubric could be changed so it is less "pass/fail". Overlaps all others but can go back to it. Juniors to share their learning - rubric misses lots of steps as building knowledge hard, but can share successfully using ICT.

Self regulation

This is more about group than self, give time, not just the finished product, more about the learning process and giving the skills to enable success and reflect in the middle to look at the rubric. Peer feedback - teach the skill.

Real World Problem Solving and Innovation

No given solution, use of actual data, authentic - has to matter to them, innovate - must carry out solution or communicate so someone else can. Link to SOLO from identify - what we need to know, what we do know, how can we solve it, what tools are needed to generate, up to apply, imagine and reflect.

Skilled Communication

Multi-modal - using a range of different ways to communicate - from writing to oral, performing etc. Look at the info and the audience and make sure they are related - content and method.

Collaboration is the 6th one and in pairs we had to unpack that a bit more. 

What does collaboration mean to you? 
Interdependent with/on each other (to rely on each other) 
Communication  
Understanding, trust and empathy 
Helping each other getting out of pit- helping solve problems 
Building each others capacity 
Flexible to each others styles / needs 
Questioning 

How will students need to collaborate in the future? 
COMMUNICATION- What , How, Why 
Digitally 
Verbally & orally 
Creatively  
Honestly

Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

Reading chapter 4 of Clarity in the Classroom has made me reflect on how I craft LIs and SC and the realisation that I have often made the mistake Michael Absolum talks about. When coming up with the success criteria, I frequently repeat the LI but change a verb or add “will be able to….” Absolum says that we are often too focused on the specific skills rather than thinking about why we want students to learn whatever it is.

We need to be aiming for clarification - looking at not only what, but why and how and then checking in to find out how we are doing.

For example I am currently working with a group of students who need to add full stops to their writing. I would usually have my LI as “putting full stops in the correct place” with the SC  of “has full stops in the correct place”. This doesn’t actually help students. What I need to have as a LI is a "why" - a “bigger picture” concept. So for full stops my LI might be “to break up writing into ideas so it is easy to read” with the SC being “we will have full stops in the right place”. This lets the students know why they need to learn what I am trying to teach them, which in turn will hopefully motivate and engage them.

My lightbulb moment for this group was taking the LI back to the “bigger picture” concept which then opens up lots of different avenues for teaching - the "how". Rather than persevering with the actual skill and highlighting each piece of work where there should be full stops, I need to look more globally at full stops, by linking reading and writing, I think it will make the use of full stops really explicit as they have seen, used and heard many examples and we model the use of full stops everyday, multiple times a day.

Once full stops have been conquered we can move onto commas and have fun with phrases like - eats shoots and leaves, time to eat Grandma!

SOLO, Pebbles and Clarity in the Classroom

I think this is going to be a post I keep coming back to as it feels like the cloud is lifting - all be it slowly, and that my thoughts are becoming clearer.

A few different streams of thought and PD are slowly coming together - Clarity in the Classroom, Pebbles and SOLO.

My takeouts from the Clarity in the Classroom readings so far, are around making it clear what a child is suppose to be learning, and the benefits this will have in building a learning focused relationship. This links to our pebbles (especially in maths) as the children know which pebbles they have and so know their next steps and so what they are learning - although we need to be more explicit with this. On another level we could start to link in SOLO which is all about making the learning intentions clear for all and the progress - how to get deeper learning by building on existing learning.

One element that is not always clear in all my lessons are my expectation of what they will learn, so if I don’t know this (or it’s not clear) then how are they suppose to know what they are learning? This might also explain why some children don’t push themselves - while they know their next steps there is no expectation that they will be working on them.

Lots of work to do here and I've made a start;

Big Step 3 - Relationships

Writing with my mentor group

I have seen amazing growth and progress in a number of writers and it is heart-warming to see. Several writers I had thought of as quite reluctant are now asking to write everyday. Pinpointing why is hard as i’m not one to sell myself and i’m sure there is lots of things at play, however I do believe that the relationships I have built with my mentor group, and the trust that there is, is paying off. These children know I want the best for and from them and as we celebrate success (in a fairly whoop whoop low key way) they want to do their best. They are moving from writing and reading for me to doing it for themselves - finding their voices and giving them an audience - knowing that we (all mentors) want to read their stories. The level of enthusiasm is quite exhausting but well worth it to see the joy on their faces. Must share this joy with their families, just incase they haven’t!

Innovation Incubators

Being part of the II team is a phenomenal experience. It is great to be able to have the time to sit back and actually think about and analyse our daily practice as mentors. What should we be focusing on? – and this links to our PD around Clarity in the Classroom  too.  Helping to draft statements that our school will use to guide our thinking and learning about what happens in the habitats is quite a responsibility. It is great to be able to help marry the theoretical perspective to the reality of day to day and what this might look like for us all.

Watch this space for more details.....