This year is going to be a huge learning curve for me as I take on a new role. I am lucky enough to be chosen as the Community of Learning Lead Teacher for Accelerating Literacy and Numeracy across 5 schools of the Eastside of Rotorua, what a mouthful! This involves being out of my class 2 days a week, working with 3 others in a team, working with teachers across the COL (Kahui Ako) and working in tandem with another teacher for the class.
So far my time outside my class has been building relationships with the others in the team, going and meeting and greeting the Principals and Deputies of the schools and reading the computer screen. Currently the team has been working on addressing one of the identified goals for the Eastside in Science. We have unpacked data, been in meetings with Science advisors, MOE support people and read up on what we as a community can access.
I am feeling a little stuck out on a limb as the other 2 teachers are working closely together on Thursdays and Fridays, I work Wednesdays and Thursdays and the current proposal we are working on is giving them direction and an action plan for the coming year. We have needed to work together on this as one of our first readings was on using the Spiral Inquiry model, which states the benefits of working collaboratively and how inquiry is an evolving practice. My Wednesdays have been in isolation but I have been able to guide and generate ideas for the team and the cogs are full steam ahead on Thursdays. I make the effort to discuss what has happened on Fridays and leave my class during our Friday assembly time to refocus with the team. When I am asked how my new job is going, I'm really struggling to verbalise what I am doing and how it relates to my job description. in the 'PIT' not knowing where to next, but knowing I need to make every effort to make it happen for the COL and myself. Although I am waiting still to hear from some of the schools in our COL what they would like to achieve in 2017.
Being part of the team has also given me time to share the PaCT tool with another COL in another region. My understandings of the tool have been developed more as I work closely with another colleague who has 'got it' better than anyone else. She is a machine and is this year stepping up to fill a Team Leader position. I am currently in that uncomfortable space where I am letting go of practices and my own procedures for teaching. The PaCT tool has aspects and domains for Mathematics, Reading and Writing. These aspects have big ideas around them and have been worked out to give the teacher an OTJ of where the students sit in their learning. These big ideas can take time to achieve but are weighted depending on the needs of the student. PaCT is a more holistic approach but needs to be backed up with evidence across your practice.
So back to feeling in the 'PIT' so to speak - as part of our practice this year, is to give ownership of the learning to the children, we are getting the children to design their own timetables and opt in to the learning workshops. This has been hard as I want something concrete and what I know has worked in the past, but it doesn't quite work that way. The children are given an assessment, pretest for statistics (this was an area of identified need from PaCT) and then it is marked with the children, then they decide what they need to work on. As I teacher, then design our programme accordingly, no different you say, the difference is the children decide when they opt in to the teaching sessions and who they work with. I like this as it build confidence in those student who are struggling, and they feel supported. My problem is encouraging those to who aren't motivated learners to be focused and meet deadlines in a timely fashion. I get maths and am feeling confident that the learning is happening in Maths.
So far my time outside my class has been building relationships with the others in the team, going and meeting and greeting the Principals and Deputies of the schools and reading the computer screen. Currently the team has been working on addressing one of the identified goals for the Eastside in Science. We have unpacked data, been in meetings with Science advisors, MOE support people and read up on what we as a community can access.
I am feeling a little stuck out on a limb as the other 2 teachers are working closely together on Thursdays and Fridays, I work Wednesdays and Thursdays and the current proposal we are working on is giving them direction and an action plan for the coming year. We have needed to work together on this as one of our first readings was on using the Spiral Inquiry model, which states the benefits of working collaboratively and how inquiry is an evolving practice. My Wednesdays have been in isolation but I have been able to guide and generate ideas for the team and the cogs are full steam ahead on Thursdays. I make the effort to discuss what has happened on Fridays and leave my class during our Friday assembly time to refocus with the team. When I am asked how my new job is going, I'm really struggling to verbalise what I am doing and how it relates to my job description. in the 'PIT' not knowing where to next, but knowing I need to make every effort to make it happen for the COL and myself. Although I am waiting still to hear from some of the schools in our COL what they would like to achieve in 2017.
Being part of the team has also given me time to share the PaCT tool with another COL in another region. My understandings of the tool have been developed more as I work closely with another colleague who has 'got it' better than anyone else. She is a machine and is this year stepping up to fill a Team Leader position. I am currently in that uncomfortable space where I am letting go of practices and my own procedures for teaching. The PaCT tool has aspects and domains for Mathematics, Reading and Writing. These aspects have big ideas around them and have been worked out to give the teacher an OTJ of where the students sit in their learning. These big ideas can take time to achieve but are weighted depending on the needs of the student. PaCT is a more holistic approach but needs to be backed up with evidence across your practice.
So back to feeling in the 'PIT' so to speak - as part of our practice this year, is to give ownership of the learning to the children, we are getting the children to design their own timetables and opt in to the learning workshops. This has been hard as I want something concrete and what I know has worked in the past, but it doesn't quite work that way. The children are given an assessment, pretest for statistics (this was an area of identified need from PaCT) and then it is marked with the children, then they decide what they need to work on. As I teacher, then design our programme accordingly, no different you say, the difference is the children decide when they opt in to the teaching sessions and who they work with. I like this as it build confidence in those student who are struggling, and they feel supported. My problem is encouraging those to who aren't motivated learners to be focused and meet deadlines in a timely fashion. I get maths and am feeling confident that the learning is happening in Maths.
So initially the plan was to get one area sorted then move onto the next. Writing is going to be a Teacher Action Inquiry focus for our cohort. The way we have begun to challenge the 'norms' is to change to way we use exercise books and enable the children more with devices. The children are working in a creative writing book, a large lecture book and a writing skills and vocab book. PaCT assessments last year in writing came to a crash when through moderation we realised that writing should be assessed across the curriculum and we weren't placing enough emphasis on this. However, we have began to encourage better writing in all books and make the children more aware that writing isn't just in one book. My assessment of writing this week was timely as the children now have their own personal next steps and are opting in for writing, although this will make Monday nights all about the planing. I'm up for that especially if the children can verbalise what they want to learn.
Two down, one to go. Reading - how do we assess reading? Running records is the current practice but is it the best? As I said earlier I am working with another team member in my class with the children, she works the 2 days I am out. Together, we decided that we had 'got' Maths and Writing and this is rumbling along. We decided that we need to have some data to share with the children so we could follow the practice with Reading. Being organised, my off-sider copied the running record sheets and we were up and running. The reading planning was such that we could make use of our teaching time to get our assessment underway.
Our Team Leader then asked us why we were doing running records. When you are questioned it makes you think, freeze, question your judgement and doubt your practice. So in the PIT!!! my next step is to do some professional reading and find out how to get out of the 'pit' and how I can transform my current practice to make learning in Reading better for my children. I know that I will need to ask more questions and work with others to find some solutions.
Learning is about 'falling in head first' and 'getting back up and out'. Time to practice what I preach to my children.
Our Team Leader then asked us why we were doing running records. When you are questioned it makes you think, freeze, question your judgement and doubt your practice. So in the PIT!!! my next step is to do some professional reading and find out how to get out of the 'pit' and how I can transform my current practice to make learning in Reading better for my children. I know that I will need to ask more questions and work with others to find some solutions.
Learning is about 'falling in head first' and 'getting back up and out'. Time to practice what I preach to my children.
