Summary of evidence

 The following are a few comparisons of the pre and post intervention data collected throughout this year. 

1. PAT & GLOSS data - Overall Teacher Judgements (OTJ)

The following show the actual results of all 8 target students. During my Bursts and Bubbles presentation, I had made a quick OTJ based of data made available. Upon reflection and further analysis, I realised I was too generous in my judgement and need to remedy this OTJ before reports are published. 

My initial report was that 3 students made accelerated shifts (1 made 2 years progress, 2 made 1.5 years) 3 made 1 years progress and and 2 made 6 months progress. 

The correct OTJ summary:

• 3 made accelerated shifts - all 3 made 1.5 years progress
• 2 made 1 year progress
• 3 made 6 months progress

Students A, B and E made accelerated shifts, which was the ultimate goal for this inquiry. 

Students D and H made 1 year progress. Still a good shift.

Students C, F and G made 6 months progress this year. Not ideal, but along with many contributing factors, I am still happy they've made progress.

My OTJ was based on a collection of data points. Their book work, online work, Maths Whizz progressions/achievement percentage, as well as our standardised testing of PAT, and Gloss testing. This was great to see students achieve what they set out and practiced in class, but also seeing some students who's testing did not always reflect a lot of their work completed in class. This required a good balancing act as well as some input from my team to ensure we all made the same judgements across our team.

2. Student Voice Survey

This was an End of Term 3 survey I wanted to try and capture students thoughts before the holidays. The main idea behind the survey was to get student voice about what I set out to change - Warm up games and using materials. Here are the results of the student voice survey. 

To check out what the student voice survey looked like at the start of the year, check out my blog post about Student Profiling.

Bursts and Bubbles 2024

 Last Thursday we came together for a final showdown of our inquiry in what we call 'Bursts & Bubbles'. A fun and quick way to present in 3mins what the top points of our inquiry this year was. 

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to our fellow CoL members present their hard work and listening to their success stories. A lot of us still have data yet to come, but the journey and outcomes we have so far have all been very positives. 

Thank you to Panmure Bridge and our Manaiakalani team for being awesome hosts. Thank you also to our videographers and photographers for capturing this presentation. Here is my 3minute presentation. 

Monitoring and recording - Part 2

 

Monitoring and Recording - Part 1

 This week is one of our check-point weeks where we gather information, evidence, and reflect on what we have to show what we were aiming for at the start of our inquiry.

This is what I have so far. I've used my hunches as a starting point and back-tracked to find the evidence that would support what I'd initially set out to do. What I've discovered is that I need to ensure that I gather more concrete evidence as I teach. Take a snapshot of the group I'm working with, as well as student work or independent work they are doing.

Here are some 'before' the intervention, and 'after' shots I have so far.

Professional Readings

 1. Using Concrete Manipulatives in Mathematical Instruction

Using manipulatives has been my main hunch as to why a lot of my students are 'stuck' at the Year 5-6 level. Manipulatives in the education scene is defined as "physical objects that are used as teaching tools to engage students in the hands-on learning of mathematics". We've all read about the different variations to an approach to teaching mathematics, this reading talks about the Concrete, Representational, Abstract (CRA instruction as a process for teaching and learning mathematical concepts. CRA instruction allows students to make associations from one stage of the process to the next. My takeaway from this reading was to re-affirm my hunch and that no matter what level my students were operating at, we still needed to take things back to the manipulatives levels when teaching any new mathematical concepts.

2. What do culturally diverse children in New Zealand value most for their mathematics learning?

I decided to take up this reading after being able to experience using the DMIC (Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities) approach and how it was rolling out in our schools. With our school being predominantly Maori and Pasifika, I believed this to be good paper to help support my understandings for what would be most helpful for our learners. 

This reading focused on student values, and that when values are acknowledged in the mathematics classroom, there are significant benefits. It was also useful to read this as it was using a Year 7/8 class in NZ.

Hypothesis/Hunches

One of our PD sessions was a really helpful talanoa within our smaller groups. We got to share 3 hunches we had with the group. Our group was then able to contribute ideas or add onto what they thought our hunches would lead to.

We used a template/talking frame like this - 

How to formulate? The simplest way is to use this form: if...then…

“If I encourage my students to write for real reasons, then they will be motivated to write.”

“If I focus on extending their 'on-task' behaviour with strategies to manage themselves then they will improve their writing.”

“An emphasis on behavioural and cognitive engagement as well as teaching social skills will enhance my students’ ability to focus and increase their writing skills.”

Using this talking/thinking frame, were my 3 hunches:

1. If I use materials then students will be able to image sets of numbers. 

2. If I use more warm-ups/games at the start of lessons it will hook students into the learning.

3. If I mix up between book work, slides, and hands on activities, then students can grasp concepts better.

One suggestion from my group was: If I alternate doable create tasks then students would be able to demonstrate their learnt skill.

I am very thankful to my group for prompting new thoughts and ideas to trial in class and also encouraging us in our inquiry process.

Student Profiling

As a continuation of my inquiry breakdown - This blog post will be covering who my target students are. 

I have 8 students whom I have chosen as my target group for this particular inquiry. They are made up of 2 Year 8s and 6 Year 7s. 5 females and 3 males. 

The following slides outline parts of my Student Profile I have covered thus far. The first slide are my baseline data or preliminary findings which I will explain in more detail later on in my inquiry. The next slides are made up of a student survey which I conducted on the whole class through a Google form. My last slide are my own observations on what behaviours I've noticed during small group and class time around the subject of maths.