End of Term 1 - Inquiry reflection

Yesterdays staff meeting was really useful as we got to share and listen to each other reflect on our inquiry so far this term. Our talking points were to share what worked, what didn't work, and what changes will we make or where to next.


My presentation I shared with my group looked at how my focus question kept changing slightly as the term progressed as I realised my question could be answered with a yes or no. 

What I wanted to find out was by providing class time for number knowledge practice, will students be able to pick up strategies faster, and therefore accelerating their learning.

As my students carried this out in their rotations throughout the term I took note of what worked and what lessons didn't work. I had to ensure I had materials on hand for my lower groups to manipulate and record their learning as they talked about it. Scrap paper was also essential as students needed to map out their thinking when it came to fractions by drawing fractions using pictures and numbers and trying out different ways. 

Our main focus for number knowledge according to our IKAN data was our fractions and place values. So we conducted a post test to see if my priority students made any improvement from February. 

Data Analysis:
Fractions - Out of the 6 students (3 boys & 3 girls)

• 2 boys & 2 girls moved up a stage

• 1 boy & 1 girl stayed the same

• 4 students on stage 5, 2 on stage 4

Place Value - 

• 1 boy & 2 girls shifted up 1 stage

• 2 boys & 1 girl stayed the same

• most stuck at stage 5 for place value knowledge

• 4 students on stage 5, 2 on stage 4

Conclusion: Although I still had some students who stayed the same, I know for a fact from the way they talk about their learning that students have a much clearer understanding about what fractions and place value are and their knowledge around whole numbers and decimals has improved. 

The last slide of my presentation has more of my observations. One interesting point I did note was how we discussed place value in class - talking about place value columns and houses, but how they are presented to them on the IKAN test is slightly different. So we will aim to change the way we present these to students so they are using the same language and questions as testing situations.