The place of Pebbles

During 2016 I developed "Progress Pebbles" to help me understand the progressions and make the children's learning more cognitively portable for me.

The pebbles are also a fantastic tool for assessment - where they are now, and next steps. At the moment I have taken the maths pebbles we used last year and split them into the different maths learning areas and have tried to cover from stage 1 through to stage 5. The reason for this is that students will get an immediate taste of success (when the colour in lots of red pebbles) and they will be able to see the progress that is expected of them during the year (regardless of ethnicity).

Here are this years maths pebbles.

RTC 9 - Diversity

When thinking about diversity in the classroom it is very easy to get caught up with a narrow vision of the cultural diversity when RTC9 actually talks about the "varied strengths, interests and needs of individuals."

With this in mind, what do I do to ensure I meet RTC9?




Here is CS talking about Maths

During Tinkering Time some students talked about the mechanisms we built last year and wanted to make a seesaw.


Also during Tinkering Time some students started using the Jenga blocks as Dominos - the thinking about how to get round a corner and off a bench was amazing!

Diversity in the Habitat

I had a page set up to show how I respond to the diversity of the students...but I think I accidentally deleted it!

So here are links to the IEP and IBPs created during 2016 to help support the individual needs of some of my mentor group;

SU IEP Term 3

SU IEP Term 2

DL IEP

NC IEP

PQ IBP

TN IEP

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!! 

Teaming and Learning Through Play

Claire came to a team meeting when we were discussing LTP and heard the conflict in the team about the traditional curriculum and practices versus LTP which I believe helps develop the whole child.

The meeting was a positive one in that we are all transparent about our views and I am proud of myself for speaking up about a teaching and learning practice that I am beginning to value more and more.

Part of the frustration is about the perception of “Play” - that it is a free for all with no planning or structure. At the moment I’m still unclear on the “best practice” (if there is one!) on the how of LTP but I know the thinking that goes on behind my Tinkering Time plan and I’m trying to make it clear in terms of Why, How and What for each learning area / station.

So what? What can I do?

Slow down for a start, I have to remember that the team have not been on the same journey as I have and that this is an ideal time for me to practise my 3Ps and lead.

Communicate the thinking and planning behind Tinkering Time, to get buy in and understanding from the team, and just as importantly, their ideas.

Do the thinking, then collectively put the plan into action

Have been thinking about other names and one thought I had was to start calling it “Developmentally Appropriate Learning” but then it occurred to me that all learning should be developmentally appropriate!! Back to the drawing board.

Mentoring with Claire

Claire and I discussed what i’ve been focusing on so far this term. There have been 3 key things that we’ve been working on as a team and, in a slightly different way, me as an individual. They are; relationships, routines, expectations.

Relationships

• I’m very lucky this year that I have a learning relationship with almost all the children - from either last year in Pounamu or the year before in Kimi Ākau, and in my mentor group I have 19 of my 27 from last year. 

• Although this does come with it’s own challenges - letting go of what you know to give a fresh start, plus not falling back into the behavioural habits of previous years. 

• Also, finding the energy to do this with a certain child who I will have been with for 10 terms come the end of the year!

• My relationship with the team is what I have to work on and I know I need to slow down in terms of what I want to achieve and make sure that my vision aligns with that of the team. 

• I found that last year I had a really clear role in the team (that of chief sheet maker! and data queen) but this year I haven’t found my feet yet. 

• What I have to keep reminding myself (and reading my old blog posts is good for this) is that my first 2 terms in Kimi Ākau I was like this too. It was only after the team had been together for a while that I found the courage to speak up, do things and find my niche. Perhaps I just need to SLOW DOWN!!

Routines

• We are setting up clear routines for the children and are scaffolding them where they need more support - like Buddy reading.
• As a team I have discovered some of the routines that come from last year, that aren’t really formal, but are kind of expected! 
• At the end of each day we seem to have a debrief about the day - the why behind this (I think) is to talk about any happenings that we all need to know about, and to make sure the next day is sorted. 
• Although this communication doesn’t always happen as i’ve talked to a parent without knowing the full story. Perhaps we need to be clear on the purpose of this debrief so each team member has a clear picture of what is happening with children in their mentor group.

Expectations

• We have clear expectations for the children and we all seem to be on the same page. This is essential in the teaming environment so the children don’t play one off against another - each child basically has 4 extra parents (loco parentis!).
• We put together our teaming BPP at the beginning of term and so it is probably about time we re-visit it to make sure we are all fulfilling the agreement.

Here is the BPP

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!!

First few weeks in Pounamu

What an amazing few weeks.

I feel truely privileged to be learning with many of the same children as last year and to be learning from new mentors.

It was daunting at first - being the addition to an already established team, but they have been very welcoming and supportive.

At the end of last year, these were some of my concerns;

• The other team members are an established team so worried I won’t fit in
• May view me as just “blue”
• May view me as having little to offer as still a BT
• Not sure the team will value my input as much as current team
• Pushing me completely out of my comfort zone with new team and new level of children
• Lack of knowledge of this curriculum level
• Lots of relationships to build - something I find hard

and here are the positive thoughts I had about my concerns;

• Should look at this as a challenge
• Bring lots of experience @ playbased learning
• Can introduce how we have used pebbles in RWM
• Can introduce and use more SOLO
• Data collection and analysis
• They will value my strengths
• Already worked with Rachel with II team, she knows me
• Good practice for my red side
• Great to learn from new people

Happy to say that my concerns haven't materialised. I still have lots of work to do and my mantra is still SLOW DOWN!

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!

My Yellow Side

In a brief chat with Claire about the Maths Whizz cards I suggested that we make a website / blog that teaches students / mentors / families how to use the cards. Each team could create a series of videos and then the learning will become much more powerful!

I then wanted to get started straight away!!

3Ps of Leadership

An evening with Nigel Latta

FOS arranged for Nigel Latta to come and do his "Politically Incorrect Guide to Parenting" talk in the hall. Having read all (well, most) his books about parenting it was great hearing his down to earth take on parenting and education too. He was an amazing entertainer and had us all crying with laughter!! He also made some really good observations and told us all some information about learning that was based on evidence.

The points that I took most notice of were;

• At age 5 - 80% of a child's cognitive ability (intelligence) came from parental input,  and only 20% from their genes. This just shows how important parental support is for those children new to school. 
• At age 7 - 60% of a child's cognitive ability came from parental input,  and 40% from their genes - so parental input is still very important.
• Nigel's golden rule, " Don't make their problem your problem." Love this, and I'm using it everyday! 
• Nigel talked about having a Growth Mindset and made a really good point that bought together lots of ideas for me "If you can't do something you're either not trying hard enough or using the wrong strategy."

He also said that if there is a picture of a brain  on some research or commentary then people are likely to believe it without question!

Rats and Beetles (research done on rats and beetles was applied to humans!)

A fantastic evening!

Maths Observation

During my release in week 2 I observed Maths for 15 minutes. My takeouts are;

Where	Observations	Next step
Time Station	Needs explicit teaching	As I want to be free to check in with children I need to flip the learning and record the “lesson” for children to watch
	Children aren’t reading the instructions on the worksheets	As above, make it really clear
	All worksheet based	Put in some games
Star Wars	All seem to be engaged	Great!
	Not actually doing the learning tasks	Needs explicit teaching
	Add  / Sub too hard for Red Squares (although I have said take numbers between 1 and 10!)	Limit the activities and model how to do them
Tote-trays	Lots of time taken to choose a sheet	Limit the choice - give 2 to do
	No-one choosing the games	Need to teach them how to play
General	Folders are good for storing learning but easily lost	Clearly label folders on both sides and label / colour boxes so easily distinguishable

There are also some children who need a lot of support, either learning or behaviour, so my aim is to set something in place for these children.

This was done very quickly but clearly there are things I need to do to enable me to be able to take a step back as an eagle.

A more relaxed me

Muireann commented to me today that I seem happier and more relaxed. This is great news! I am definitely feeling positive about this term and my current mantra of SLOW DOWN must be working! Even though it is term 4 there is nothing that has to be accomplished by the children, so no pressure to make sure they are "at" a certain level. Any pressure to do this is coming from within so I'm letting go. There is still plenty to achieve in terms of finishing CL comments, writing general comments, meeting parents, planning for the 9-3....but I will 

Term 3, 2016 Reflection

Going into term 3 I was very apprehensive about the number of students Eve and I would have between us and I was below the line, blaming and thinking dark thoughts! Had a 1 to 1 scheduled with Ben for the end of term which actually happened at the beginning of term 3 which was just as well!

The 2 week break gave me a chance to put things into perspective and bring myself to be back above the line - accepting of the situation and thinking creatively on how to manage things.

One of my biggest concerns was managing NW between the 2 of us and supporting Eve as much as I could. I still feel he needs extra support which we simply can’t give given the fact that there are 53 other children who need us.

Working my way through CL comments was another area of concern - just the sheer numbers, and to start with it was a daunting task - 108 comments to write in 9 weeks! Getting to know what 27 children could do, what their next steps were and how I could best support them was (and still is) a challenge.

Highlights and lowlights from term 3;

• 5 weeks of teaching maths and eagling writing then swapping
• This worked and we are carrying on this term. 5 weeks is a good length of time to start and finish some learning
• Amount of time teaching maths has been great but being an Eagle has been hard - felt like I was pulled in too many directions
• After a chat with Claire we decided to use the environment more wisely so Owling of Maths has moved to the more closed in Theatre and the Eagling is now in one area - the bay and gallery.
• 2 weeks in to term 4 and it is working much better
• As a team we have 2 weeks of teaching reading then 2 weeks of town time
• This also works will as it means you need on put your energy into one thing which should result in a better outcome!
• At concept time Eve and I worked together
• Working with just one other was great
• Our planning wasn’t great though so our outcomes weren’t always clear
• I took over towards the end when I had the “brilliant” idea of role plays to demonstrate understandings and then filming on the green screen (far more work than anticipated!)
• While the structure of reading was great had some high needs (DL) which meant I always felt rushed and under pressure when doing guided reading. I don’t think I did the best I could have for the children.
• Taking this into account for term 4 we are in a much better place as Jill is taking our able readers and so I feel comfortable that their needs are being met
• Have also tried reading a new book every-other day which I am really enjoying as reading can now be fun again as we talk about the story and words and meaning and can have more emphasis on strategies
• At the end of the term there was a frantic rush to JAM the children
• I didn’t get all children done as I ran out of time
• Having talked to Claire since she has pointed out that JAM is just a snapshot in time of what a child can do and will have changed already so to not stress about doing the others!
• Instead I will focus on making sure pebbles are upto date
• CL comments were as hard as I thought they would be! This was partially caused by my desire to including everything in the comment.
• I’ve learnt not to do this, and focus on one highlight!

Something I read over the holidays was a book by Biz Stone one of the founders of Twitter and in it he says that constraints make you more creative. So my (and Eve’s) challenge is to use the constraints we have and be creative in our solutions.

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