Embedding Oral Language Across the Cirrculum

What?

As part of an optional PD we were given a chance to take part in a PD session with the gurus of Literacy – Sheena Cameron and Louise Dempsey. They spoke about the imporatnace of building an oral language filled classroom, where children are encouraged to talk to each other, share their opinions and make statemnet on whethter or not they agree or disagrre with the topic, or others points of view.  They discussed how the evidence of a good oral language programme can facilitate good written language skils.

We were given a variety of ways to incorporate oral language into our literacy programme – through questioning during reading, using ‘talk moves’ and making more opportunities within your learning programme for ‘Think-Pair-Share.  There were  slides showing ideas for using ice blocks sticks to prompt children to repsond to the questions so that you know that they are becoming more ‘active listeners’. By encouarged to be more active when listening will in turn, create more engagement. Some ideas to do this are – Think Pair Share (with a buddy), Think Pair Square ( 2 sets of buddies) or Think Pair Record (using a form of recording the other person’s ideas – graphic organiser, video, Seesaw photo and comment/caption). I also liked the idea of their question tools – photocopied sliders with question prompts, using open and closed question starters.

So What?

The benefits as tracked by Sheena Cameron and Louise Dempsey with their work in some South Auckland schools, were that the children came to school using one word answers and that by encouraging them to speak in whole sentences, the writing improved.  I could see in the video that many of the children were of Asian, Pacifica and mostly Maori descent, I can appreciate that for ESOL children and for children with background where the language may be somewhat poor, there would be a greater need for the children to speak in whole sentences. 

In one of the videos, a teacher had used a ‘no-hands’ policy, where children could say their point of view but there was no hands up waiting for turns, the children needed to wait for a brek in the conversation and speak. There were time when 2 children started at the same time, and one would stop. There was very little ‘Teacher- Talk”, one class the teacher did interject to pose another point of view and to get others to contribute. It was amazing that the same children weren’t always speaking, was this because it was rehearsed for the video, being a small class of 20, or because the teacher has really worked on creating a classroom culture where speaking and active listening is the norm?

What next?

One thing that I have changed already is that I have stuck stickers on the ends of my ice block sticks so I turn them now instead of taking them out.  After Louise mentioned that one teacher had done that because when the children had been asked about the use of the iceblocks sticks, they said that if the their name had been called then they didn’t need to listen. Another tip that I took was, to use buddy time for my warm ups for maths, whereas before I would call out the question and the children would manipulate the digit cards, now they work with a buddy to improve their number knowledge. It has given me more time to rove and check-in with those who need help.

Also I need to create a classroom culture of more active listeners. To do this I need to make more opportunities for the children to ‘talk’ and ‘share’. I liked the ideas of using moreThink Pair Share (with a buddy), Think Pair Square (2 sets of buddies) or Think Pair Record (using a form of recording the other person’s ideas – graphic organiser, note taking,, video, Seesaw photo and comment/caption).  The sharing part needs to be a bigger focus to create active listeners by telling the children that they need to be listening to what is said as they will sharing their ‘buddies’ ideas.   Using Seesaw and videos such as a news cast on the views of the group – not their own views. I am thinking that I could use this as a platform to create pieces of writing to persuade later in the term to work with our universal theme of conflict.

Another tip - Try One Thing for One Month in One Subject. So let’s see what happens...

Week 32 - Key change in Reflective Practice

Look back and reflect, so you can move forward.

Initially, I was reluctant to give up 4 hours of my precious time to Mindlab for the first 16 weeks and the November start was also a time when I was still on crutches due to a ruptured Achilles tendon that I had done in September.  I travelled by mobility scooter for the first 5 weeks at least. I had signed up with 2 colleagues from school and we are all from different levels of the school, experience and roles – a deputy principal,  a team leader and a recently graduated teacher - a mixed bunch.

Overall, I enjoyed the first 16 weeks of the course particularly the face to face with like minded people and having time to collaborate with them each week. I enjoyed the hands on activities, the laughs, frustrations and celebrations. I enjoyed being able to learn about and try new apps and online web2 tools and trialing some of these in my classroom. I am still on this journey and am looking forward to our schools next couple of terms,  where my team and myself are planning and exploring the universal theme of conflict through games and gaming for our cohort. The self directed part of the course I found very rich and relevant, by having a very clever colleague to work with, who willingly shared ideas and suggested possible changes in my practice and that of my team made this thought provoking to say the least. He has become a great friend and mentor and has helped me navigate through some challenges in my professional life for which I am forever grateful.

An eye-opener for me was the discovery of all the different types of leadership styles and how these can be manipulated through the context, content and the people involved. At one stage, I was put on the spot by my DP, who asked what ‘leadership style’ is needed to get teachers on board regarding the new play-based learning another team leader was trying to make happen with her team. I think I amazed myself with my quick response and my reasons for stating them. Leadership isn’t something that I believe has a label, as teachers were are all leaders of learning and that we all will take on roles on leading the learning with children, colleagues and the wider community, especially with advent of the five potentially disruptive emerging trends.

What is in store for our students in the future? Technology is the way of the future yet adults still view it differently than that of our children. Currently many of our kids are more than happy to use technology for entertainment, much to the dismay of those parents who have forked out for new devices and still want to know what is the learning. Technology is a tool,  I’m sure when we changed from ‘chalk and talk’ the lament was the same – How will they learn? How will it prepare them for the future? It really is scary to think we are teaching students and preparing them for jobs that don't even exist yet or do exist yet struggle to find employees to fill the roles. We, as educators need to be flexible in our approach, be open to up-skilling, be a‘guide on the side’ (King, 1993) and enjoy the ride.

Osterman and Kottkamp’s (1993) states the contrast between the traditional approach resulting in knowledge acquisition versus reflective practice model leading to change in behaviours via self-awareness.  Being reflective practitioner as all teachers are, I  have come to realise since beginning Mindlab  that this has been mostly in my own head. I am now more conscious of when taking part in any PD or reading professional literature, observing another colleague teach or even a post on Facebook that grabs my attention - how important it is for me to record my reflections of my own practice and what I can take from these experiences. There have been times recently that have been able to share my reflections for the benefit of others, I am quite proud of how far I have come with this change in my practice which can only help with the new Our Code, Our Standards (Education Council, 2018) that my school is working on to guide our appraisal process this year.

So, what next? Having more time to invest in my family and my school team, without the bounds of study will be helpful in order to create more work-life balance. Without my patient husband who has been my rock and listened to me wane on and on about Mindlab, I wouldn’t have been able to start on this journey, never mind complete it.  Although Mindlab has peaked my curiosity on what I need to take on as far as my own personal growth. I am very grateful to my colleagues who have I have worked with, supported my thoughts and encouraged me on my learning journey…it is only the beginning.

References

Bolstad, R. & MacDonald,J.(2016). An analysis of participant blogs supplemented by teacher interviews. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research.

King, A. (1993). From sage on the stage to guide on the side. College teaching, 41(1), 30-35. Retrieved from: https://faculty.washington.edu/kate1/ewExternalFiles/SageOnTheStage.pdf

Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993). Reflective Practice for Educators.California.Corwin Press, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.itslifejimbutn otasweknowit.org.uk/files

Ministry of Education (2017). Our code, our standards. Retrieved fromhttps://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/our-code-our-standards

Week 31 - INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURAL RESPONSIVENESS

What?

My understanding of indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness is that we have come along way in my 28 years of teaching but there is still a need for continued improvement of our practice as educators. Being of European heritage, I am embarrassed by the racial discrimination of my forefathers and early settlers, who wanted to create a place like home, and brought their Euro-centric vision to our shores and gave in to racism and 'haves' and the 'have nots'. Although we are becoming more aware of this there is still ignorance and discrimination in our society.

Before the signing of the Treaty, the Māori conflicts with European settlers of New Zealand, caused huge gaps in the understanding of each other’s cultures. Recently, New Zealand has worked overtime to  undo wrong doings and build respect, grow understanding and listen to the Indigenous Māori and Pacific Island people of our land. This began with better understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi to make New Zealand a bi-cultural nation.

The teaching profession has embraced this and states in Our Code, Our Standards (Education Council, 2018) that we will maintain public trust and confidence in the teaching profession by demonstrating a commitment to tangata whenuatanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership in the learning environment.

So what?

Using Milne’s presentation (CORE Education, 2017) outlines the stages of culturally sustaining practice to reflect on where our school is at - we can identify that although we are currently exploring ways to deepen our cultural responsiveness  as educators.  We need to continue to explore ways to assist our Māori children to learn as Māori and encourage them to become experts to lead the learning in our classrooms.  Our school is a school with a developing identity. Our school by sheer number is the primary school that educates the highest number of Māori students on the east side in Rotorua, Our Learning at Lynmore Cirrculum (Lynmore, 2017) states that -

We believe that Māori deserve education success as Māori through:

• realising each students potential

• identifying rich opportunities for success

• providing a responsive education to all learners

• collaborating and co-constructing

• celebrating indigeneity and distinctiveness

It is also important for all of our students, including our Māori students, to

appreciate the significance of tangata whenua by becoming increasingly familiar with tikanga. This develops a cultural understanding for our non-Māori students and support Māori students by further strengthening their identities.

 Milne’s action continuum placed our school when I began to work there 5 years ago in the blue box, which was mainly due to the high decile and being on the “white’ side of town. With a massive change of staff and a willingness to be more  culturally responsive, by being educated with marae stays, courses in Te Reo and the Māori culture, and the employment of a kaiawhina, as well as the local kaumatua now having a position on our BOT, which have all been instigated by our management team, our school is working toward the green box… but we still have a long way to go and it will be a continuing process to get there.

What next?

To continue to move along Milne's continuum we must ensure that we continue to challenge our perspectives and address what we can to be more culturally response. We will work to achieve this at our school by:

·      Caring for all our learners and staff vast cultural backgrounds and make an effort to know about their cultures. 

·      Use expertise for our learning experiences from our vast cultural community

·      Allow our learners to draw on their own experiences

·  Continue to engage with family and whanau and the wider community through our Seesaw and encourage whanau feedback

·      Use constant and timely feedback and feedforward for all learners formally and informally. 

·      Expect and celebrate success of all learners, including staff. 

References 

Anderson, M., Doyle, J., Parkinson, A., & Te Kiri, C. Culturally responsive pedagogy and assessment in primary science classrooms: Whakamana tamariki.

Bucher, R. (2008). Building cultural intelligence (CQ): Nine Megaskills. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.

Education Council New Zealand / Matatū Aotearoa (2017). Our Code Our Standards: Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Education.

Edtalks.(2012, September 23). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. [video file].Retrieved fromhttps://vimeo.com/49992994

Lynmore Primary School – Policies and Procedures Manual (updated March 2018)

Milne, B.A. (2013). Colouring in the white spaces: Reclaiming cultural identity in whitestream schools. (Doctoral Thesis, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10289/7868

Week 30 - Contemporary trends in New Zealand or internationally.

In this post I will discuss the impact of global trends on education and the influence of perspective of national and international audiences on teaching practice. 

I will analyse, critique and evaluate the impact of digital learning as the global trend I am currently faced with daily in my classroom and the impact it poses for my practice in light of different audiences, using Rolfe’s model of reflection. ‘Trends in education’ refers to medium to long term, observable changes that occur in philosophy, policy and/or practice that impact on education (Visser and Gagnon, 2005; Karataş et al, 2016 and Wilson 2012).

What?

The impact of digital learning is a trend that capitivates my attention as it has been the theme for me throughout my Mindlab journey. Especially how as educators, we need to embrace “digital natives’ in ways that they connect with by make the learning more rich and relevant.  As well as being mindful of this trend, it plays into my discoveries and actions as part of my Teacher Inquiry on flipped learning, by using technology more thoughtfully for instructional purposes to allows me to  stretch learners’ thinking (Daggert, 2014) in order to support their growth as life long learners in an ever growing digital environment.

So What?

The trend towards Digital Learning is seen in the table (Digital Technology in Schools, 2017), below which reveals that between 1995 and 2017 the average number of school owned computers per student has increased from 18:1 to 2:1 students in primary schools and from 10:1 to 3:1 students in secondary school. This demonstrates a huge trend in students having greater access to computers, especially when we consider these statistics do not take into account students who have their own devices.

This data shows that students have far more access to digital technology than before and that we as educators in both sectors must be open minded in our approach to careful planning to use the technology effectively. This has become more apparent in my use of technology within my class as part of a flipped model.

As my Mindlab journey has progressed, I have used Google classroom as part of the ‘flipped learning’ and used the in class time for more ‘active learning’ using collaboration and leveraging the teacher-student relationship. Due to this I have had more ‘buy-in’ from parents for children to have their own devices as they can see learning happening inside and outside the classroom. The parents can also see that their child’s device is being used for learning and often children are sharing more learning through digital technology than they did before.

Now What?

I am very conscious that there still needs to be a balance of  some of the traditional delivery of lessons but being part of Mindlab, has allowed me to embrace digital learning and I have become more willing to disrupt my traditional delivery systems by flipping the learning and using a more blended approach. It is important for New Zealand educators and educators around the world to keep on being upskilled with current technology, create a culture of life-long learners (by role modelling), be open to change and use technology to create platforms for learning because this is what we need to do to educate our students.

As my Mindlab journey has progressed, I can clearly see the limitations and barriers that could impact on the Digital Technology trend across New Zealand and other countries, this is the upskilling and the willingness to upskill that allows educators to become more proficient with digital technology themselves. Currently at my school, there only 5 teachers who have been on the Mindlab course, it has been encouraged by management but it has been viewed by some as too much extra work and has put a few, who could have been persuaded, off. It is on teachers as part of their own professional development with the publication of Our Code, Our Standard, they need to be more up to speed in developing the culture that can support the student’s learning , especially in this digital world.

References

Daggett, B. (2014). Addressing Current and Future Challenges in Education. Retrieved from http://www.leadered.com/pdf/2014 MSC_AddressingCurrentandFutureChallenges.pdf

Karataş, S., et al. (2016). A Trend Analysis of Mobile Learning. In D. Parsons (Ed.) Mobile and Blended Learning Innovations for Improved Learning Outcomes (276). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Visser, L., & Gagnon, K. (2005). Defining “Trends” and “Issues” in Distance Education. Conversation with Donald Paul Ely Y. Visser, L. Visser, M. Simonson & R. Amirault (Eds. de la serie), Trends and Issues in Distance Education. International Perspectives, pp.83-89.

Research New Zealand. (2017). Digital Technologies in school 2016-2017. Retrieved from https://2020.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Digital-Technologies-in-Schools-2016-17-04-05-2017-FINAL.pdf

Wilson, B. (2012). Trends and issues facing distance education. In L. Visser, Y. Visser M., R. Amirault & M. Simonson (2nd Ed.) Trends and Issues in Distance Education. International Perspectives (pp.39-54). North Carolina: Information Age Publishing, Inc.pp. 248-