Teacher Inquiry Blog Post 5

This week we presented our teacher inquiry to our staff. 

My questions was :

"What impact on reading comprehension will implementing the RPI strategies have on my learners when Time Point 2 PAT and running record data is collected and compared with Time Point 1 data in T4?"

When comparing my time point 1 data to my time point 2 data, I can see there has been an overall improvement in each students' comprehension in PM Running Record data. However, when looking at their PAT results, 1/5 showed improvement, 2/5 did not progress and 1/5 showed backwards shift. This is interesting as their individual running record showed an improvement in all of the students. This could be due to my learners being more confident in conversation. This is something I can look at for next time.

Overall the presentation went well, I enjoyed listening to and sharing my own experiences with the RPI programme this year. It was interesting to hear other colleagues' teacher inquiries for the year and I was able to take in some ideas to trial in my own.

Teacher Inquiry Blog Post 4

As part of RPI we started to include different create tasks. I previously would stick to posters and Google Draw, however I started to add videos, animations, AI creations, advertisements, fact sheets and more. I have been giving my learners more agency over how they want to present their work. This has skyrocketed engagement for my learners. They are thriving with the option to choose their work presentation. Below are a few examples from one week of work.

Another create activity we did was working on collaboration games. I found our learners struggled when it came to listening to others. As a way to combat that in reading, we did a listening game. The goal of the same was to draw exactly what your partner described and compare the two drawings. They were back to back to ensure they couldn't see what the other was describing. This was not only fun but taught them to listen to each small detail others said.

What didn't work? The RPI programme brought the Teachers Workbook for us to trial. I tried it out for a few weeks to keep track of my learners work, progress, planning, etc. However, I didn't find it effective for my teaching. It was a lot of extra work that was placed in my other paperwork. For example, the guided reading was all on my site in the group slides. I found the learners were getting too confused with all the links. So I adapted a few things that were already in place. I also changed the way my slides were set out, it included a few tasks to do before the guided reading lesson. 

Teacher Inquiry Blog Post 3

This year I focused on implementing my RPI course into my reading programme.

I have managed to complete my RPI and continue to improve my understanding of an effective reading programme. This has been evident in my learners self efficacy especially. They have become more confident in their learning and are understanding more about comprehension. By using a specific guided reading format (example) my learners are getting word work, comprehension, prior knowledge and follow up tasks in one place. I have found that my learners are able to be more independent and start their work prior to coming to the session. This has helped with pre-loading knowledge and collaboration. Learners have been able to comment on the guided reading format and learn from each other. I included them commenting on the one document as opposed to having their own copy. This enabled them to collaborate more.

I found that occasionally my learners were becoming overwhelmed with a lot of activities in each lesson. This wasn't working for my learners so I made the change to use my original guided reading and adapt it to included all of the needed adjustments. By cutting this down to small simple tasks, my learners were a lot more successful in their work.

I have also started doing more small create tasks instead of one large one at the end. As well as doing different create tasks using a variety of apps. This has brought up engagement with activities and many of my learners have been completing more tasks.

Successes:

• Sharing my progress on my blog
• Sharing our findings at a staff meeting - effective create tools
• Seeing confidence and self efficacy improve in my learners
• Looking over the google form results based on my learners thought around reading

Changes to practise

• Continue to develop my reading skills
• Adapt and make changes to my weekly programme such as including more word work in each lesson
• Taking advantage of many smaller create tasks as oppose to one large create at the end of the week
• Giving more student agency in their reading programme

Link to RPI blog posts

Teacher Inquiry - Blog Post 2

 

Below is my causal chain for my 2023 teacher inquiry. This has helped me map out the steps I need to take in order to implement my teacher inquiry. I am able to see the process and work backwards to understand the essential interventions and goals to see if I have achieved my implementation at the end.

As a senior team we each talked about our causal chain and we were able to help one another with ideas. I felt as if this was very beneficial as we each have strengths in different areas and we could collaborate with our colleagues. It was also valuable to be able to share our teacher inquiry with each other.

My causal chain is fluid, it will change over time as I progress into my teacher inquiry more.

RPI Day 5 - Planning a Reading Programme

Class Site

Our students should be able to access their learning at any time and to work at their own pace is essential. Manaiakalani calls for class sites to be open to everyone and make learning accessible for our learners. 

The way a class site is set out is important as it allows learners and their family to access learning from anywhere. It is simple and to the point, which allows everyone to use the site to learn at their own pace.

Planning a Reading Programme

Timetabling

The ideal time to to do literacy is 90 minutes per day.

Timetables can include the following: Tumble/taskboard/rotation, Daily 5, must dos/can dos, independent learning tasks, long task that lasts a week + smaller ones. 

Independent tasks that can be used are Epic Books, Read Theory, Sunshine online and Sunshine Classics. We use Read Theory in LS1 as a way to prepare our learners for PAT tests and to build mileage and comprehension with texts. I've found this very helpful as learners are able to work at their own level and the tasks help with their comprehension of the text.

Linking Reading and Writing

We started a follow-up called "great beginnings" which explored the mood and atmosphere in a piece of writing. We were given a list of things to come up with and a template. Using the template we inserted our ideas. This is my piece:

The beach was silent that dawn. The only sound was the lone wave crashing against the harsh sand. The rustic piece of driftwood was stagnant and untouched by the human hand. Soft wind enfolded the driftwood like a wisp blanket. Dylan was making his way down to the shoreline. "I wonder if he'll be there again?"

I enjoyed this task as it was both simple yet effective. 

Reflection:

I enjoyed today's lesson as there are so many take aways that can be used on the classroom. The task I especially liked was the mood and atmosphere task. This was so simple yet effective and brought all of the senses into it. My learners need to improve on elaboration and adding more detail to their work and a simple task like this does that. Giving them an example will be ideal to model the expected outcome.

 

I also found the  independent apps such as Epic and Literacy Planet very interesting as I have never explored these in detail. I will be adding Literacy Planet to my timetable as a way to engage learners more. 

I found the ideas for independent tasks interesting such as Daily 5. I mildly implemented this into my class a few years ago but I believe it could help my learners this year too. By developing and adjusting tasks, this will hopefully suit my learners more effectively. I am going to trial this as apart of my reading tumble.

I have had a large amount of take aways today such as ideas for my tumble, extra activity tracking sheets, new apps and tasks. I am looking forward to implementing these into my reading routines.

Teacher Inquiry 2023

This year I chose to focus on reading. I decided this because I am in the Reading Programme Intensive and thought this would tie in well with my implementation of the RPI programme. 

My question is:

"What impact on reading comprehension will implementing the RPI strategies have on my learners when Time Point 2 PAT and running record data is collected and compared with Time Point 1 data in T4?"

Below are my introductory slides to my teacher inquiry and includes my time point 1 data. 

Video Observation

Today I was observed by Robyn. She came in to see the progress of extended discussion within my practice. We used a camera to video the discussion from start to finish.

I started off by stating the expectations and procedures for the group discussion. The students showed their knowledge with this and were able to recite their expectations. They could also explain what to do when using the cards in the middle (I need time to think and because). My students were able to continue their extended discussion when I moved away which showed that it is becoming embedded in my practice. They were also using the "I need time to think" card which allows them time to think about an answer. And they were showing their engagement with listening once using this card to gain ideas from other members of the group.

After my observation we watched the video and broke down each part (I wrote my observations below). This shows the power of a video observation as we were able to break it down bit by bit and find the successes and next steps. A huge part of this observation was celebrating my success in extended discussion. 

I have achieved my goal (as below) for this year surrounding extended discussion.

"Will implementing extended discussion in reading help learners comprehend what they are reading?"

I asked Robyn if she would come back and observe in Term 4 to see my improvement and to further my practice. We have set a goal to continue extended discussion and remove/repurpose my most confident student's skills in a new role.

Observation - Point of View and Extended Discussion

I observed Robyn teach a lesson on the poem "Charge of the Light Brigade". This was a great opportunity so I could see the progression of extended discussion in LS1 as I observed when it was introduced in Term 2. Extended discussion is clearly embedded in the classroom practice. All students were on task and contributed to the learning discussions.  

Robyn started off by introducing the poem and placing these on each table. She read through it and gave a thorough explanation of the events as they happened throughout the poem. She gave them the history behind the poem and allowed them time to use their own prior knowledge to make sense of the new learning.

The learners used multiple scaffolds throughout the lesson and it was evident just how much they are referred back to in every aspect. 

Here are the notes I took while observing.

Share Staff Meeting

Manaiakalani organised a 'Share' meeting for all of schools to share their teacher inquiry for the year. This was a great opportunity to connect with other colleagues and see what they were focusing on for the year. We were placed in groups according to our subject focus. This meant I was with other teachers who were targeting their reading practice. 

This meeting went very well and there was a lot of support and ideas shared by other teachers. We were able to bounce ideas off of one another and share our experiences in our reading practice. Greg and I were the only ones in our group that decided to incorporate extended discussion in our practice. 

Below are the notes I wrote before attending the meeting.

Teacher Inquiry Blog Post 3

This year I added Extended Discussion into my practice. I did this through the use of Extended Discussion job cards. These meant the learners were able to take certain roles in the discussions to ensure it was student led. These cards included the leader, questioner, answerer, disagreer and repeater. Each learner had a role. Below are the description cards for each role. They have prompts on the cards which many of the learners revert back to when they need help. 

Another card that has been included in extended discussion was the "because" and "I need time to think" cards. These have been great when prompting the students expand on their ideas and to give them time to listen and form their own idea. "I need time to think" has been great for those who take longer to process and lack confidence. It allows them time to listen to others and agree with their idea or state their own opinion. They responded brilliantly to this and often remind me I need to get the help cards if I forget.

In each group we discussed our expectations before we started our extended discussion. If needed, we included the "talking pen" or "talking ball". This meant the learners were able to listen to each other and showed each other respect. This was an addition after noticing that some groups were not focused on the speaker.

The learners have loved using Extended Discussion in their reading. Often changing their roles and trying new ones. This has built more confidence with my learners, especially those how struggle to hold discussions with their peers. 

As I have been away for four weeks, the learners used their initiative to use the extended discussion cards while I have been absent. This has been great as they have been able to run part of their own guided reading sessions during this time. We have building up to this throughout the past term, so to hear they have been able to do this better is amazing.

One thing that didn't work or the learners found difficult was the role of the disagreer. They were trying to disagree with everything said by the other learners which didn't work most of the time. It just didn't make sense. In order to help this, I have now placed it in the middle of the group to use when they deem appropriate. There is no one person with this designated job. So far this has helped.

I will be  adding a written version of their expectations and laminating this. Hopefully this will help combat the talking amongst themselves during the group discussions.

So far I have thoroughly enjoyed this inquiry and have learnt so much in my own practice. I look forward to seeing the progress of the learners throughout.

Teacher Inquiry 2022

Manaiakalani are focusing on Extended Discussion this year. This is due to the data showing a gap within this aspect of literacy. As a syndicate we decided to also focus on this as our Teacher Inquiry for 2022.

My question is:

"Will implementing extended discussion in reading help learners comprehend what they are reading? "

The reason for this focus is due to Manaiakalani's push on literacy, specifically extended discussion. As a class, I have noticed comprehension in reading is lacking. While testing students on their reading, most were able to read the text very well but didn't understand the comprehension questions. I believe that if they converse amongst each other that this will help them understand what they are reading. Learners will be able to be open about their understanding of the questions and with no teacher intervention, this means they can bounce ideas off one another.

Below are my introductory slides to my Teacher Inquiry, this includes the time point 1 data.

Data Analysis - Manaiakalani

Assessment Data link

Manaiakalani had a Data Analysis staff meeting. These meetings are in place to share the group data collected by Manaiakalani. These graphs are broken into each individual school and shows the gaps within our area and group of schools.

As a group we were shown how to view these graphs via EdPotential. This gives us access to our individual school data and the cluster data. It was very interesting to see the results due to the recent Covid Lockdowns.

Below are the cluster results from the PAT reading data and Panmure Bridge PAT reading results based on year.

At the start of the meeting we were given a colour and a number. These would later be used to determine our group. We had to find specific data based on the Manaiakalani data using EdPotential. As a group we did well and were able to get through majority of our group tasks. These tasks were then placed on the group Jamboard that included our questions to go through. 

Overall it was an interesting meeting that displayed the data within the cluster. The competition at the end was a fun aspect included to ensure we could use EdPotential. 

Extended Discussion - Senior Syndicate Meeting

As a syndicate we had a meeting dedicated to extended discussion. This is due to being the focus for our Teacher Inquiry. Here are the slides from this meeting. Robyn ran this discussion and gave us an example and background information about extended discussion.

When it comes to extended discussion there is a foundation for these discussions. This includes whanaungatanga, discussion scaffolds, thought provoking questions/statements, timetable and learner reflection.

Whanaungatanga includes creating a set of rules and boundaries for these discussions. This will allow learners to feel comfortable when sharing their opinion and encourage positive interactions even with disagreements. 

Using thought provoking questions encourages each learner to think and use their own prior knowledge to answer the question. These can be opinion based and will allow for appropriate disagreements to take place.

Putting this into practice allowed us to understand how it can work in a group. We started off with reading a passage (Humpty Dumpty). After this we were prompted with a question using one of the following to start us off: who, what, when, where, why and how.

This question was then answered by someone and passed onto the next person using "what do you think ..." This included everyone in the conversation and allowed everyone to voice their opinion. The leader then asked another question and the discussion continued. The aim of this was to continue the conversation and not use close ended question (yes or no answers only).

Seeing this in action helped me understand how to implement this into my reading groups and the tools needed to do this.

Extended Discussion Observation

As a part of my Beginning Teacher programme I asked to observe Robyn in extended discussion. This was to further my understanding with extended discussion as I will be implementing this in my own class with my reading groups.

Watching this in an action allowed me to better understand what was needed to bring it into my own groups. As a way of differentiation between my class and Robyn's I will be developing extended discussion job cards which will include prompts to help guide and scaffold my learners better.

Here are the notes from my observation on Robyn.

Teacher Inquiry 2022

This year Panmure Bridge's Teacher Inquiry is based around "establishing foundations to go forward with formal learning". Due to covid, education in the past year has been very different and focusing on getting back to routines and formal learning is very important.

In order to engage my students I have been doing a lot more physical activities, shared full class learning and I have been more flexible with my timetable. While being flexible I have also made sure to come up with a daily routine. This enables those student's to slot into the routine easily especially when they are coming back from isolation/absence. 

When doing independent activities I ensure to place the students who need more help in a focus group on the mat with myself. This keeps them on task and allows them to ask more questions. While doing this, I designate "student experts" to help those others doing independent work. This builds their confidence and brings in the Tuakana-Teina model. 

Those who are not at school can follow the slides for the week and continue with the work. I have also added multiple online links via our Room 5 Class Site. These are easy to follow and don't require any previous teaching. 

This year I have had to adapt my program to fit the current circumstances. We have had students coming and going throughout the term and this has meant the program has needed adaptions. Sticking to a constant routine has helped those students when coming back to school as they are aware of what the day has planned. The timetable is also placed on the class site which allows students to follow it and know what to expect each day.

Here is a link to my "Home Learning" page on my class site

Teacher Inquiry

Due to lockdown I have made the decision to tie off my Teacher Inquiry. I have done this as I believe reconnecting with my students is more important after such a crazy and uncertain term. When we get back to school my main goal will be taking my classroom back and building those relationships with my students. I will be continuing to practise using learning intentions in all of my teaching and consistently revert back to these. 

Here is a summary of my Teacher Inquiry so far:

Introducing my Teacher Inquiry

As a school our inquiry is based around talk moves and vocabulary in maths. However I am focusing solely on implementing learning intentions into my teaching practise, specifically in maths.

This year my inquiry question is:

"Will understanding the learning intentions help my students use maths vocabulary, when talking about their learning?"

The reason for this focus is so that the learners understand the purpose and are able to specifically target the goal for the lesson. This will also mean I am able to better understand the reason I am teaching them and I can focus on what is needing to be taught during that lesson.

With the help of our school COL I was able to complete a backwards map. This breaks down the entire process from what the outcome will look like to the inquiry focus.

Link to Causal Chain

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