Starting the year with provocations from Rebecca Jesson always get be excited for the teaching and learning journey for the year ahead. As part of our Manaiakalani cluster report for 2020, it was very clear what we needed to work on: Reading and Maths.
My 2020 inquiry looked at maths and helped me pick out just a few surface reasons why nearly half my class was failing in maths. Unfortunately, due to covid, we didn't get to unpack this inquiry into any deeper level of understanding due to the limited face to face time, and sharing of equipment when we did return back to school.
This year I would like to have another go at tackling reading. I inquired into reading in 2019 and this was a huge success. The difference then was that I was focussing on the very tip of the tail students, and finding ways to fill in some of the huge gaps very fast. A lot of them simply needed age appropriate texts at a lower reading level.
As CoL members, we are looking to work collaboratively to strengthen our inquiry in terms of what we are trialling and also sharing ideas with a collective rather than on our own. For this I am hoping to work with Kelsey Parrant and maybe one other member looking at students 'stuck' at the reading ages 8 - 9.5. Kelsey being in year 5/6 and my class being year 7/8.
I look forward to our inquiry focus this year.
Talofa Latini,
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to see your inquiry unfold this year. Last year was a bit of a stink year, and yes - the same with me, didn't get to unpack it as much as I would've liked to. Christine T at GTS, also a Year 7/8 teacher has a Literacy focus this year, and I think this provides a great opportunity for some talanoa and unpacking of teaching practice to fully attack the need in your own setting.
See you at CoL PLG