Words have Power - By Jannie the Tuatara

Quantities of Quality Text

Having Jannie PD sessions can sometimes be daunting because she challenges us as teachers to think critically about our practice, about our actions, words, and at times shuts down some of the things we actually think are really really good for our students. BUT what she does in return is she prompts us to critically analyse what we say and do, why, and talks about being explicit about what we say in class with our learners.

Jannie's first task was getting us to talk about capabilities: Knowledge, vocabulary, language structure, thinking and meaning making capabilities. How is this looking in our classes? This led onto the types of texts we have in class, going back to quantities of quality text. That 'text' being not just written text but also oral spoken text. From this conversation came talk about "talk accompanied books" and what kind of mileage this gets in our classrooms. Not just reading the text with your group but also talking and having discussions along the way. This way the 'uptake' from the learner would be higher.

One part I really enjoyed of Jannie's presentation was her "SAY MORE. TELL MORE DEATIL" part.

Rather than saying "that's interesting" but instead "because you added more detail, I now know what you mean".  

Jannie also spoke a lot about "optimising learning conditions" for both teachers and the learner. To consciously provide language ready for the uptake. At the same time leaners need to focus and notice.

Preliminary findings

As we come to the end of Term 1, I've started collecting some baseline data and evidence of the nature or extent of the student challenge. My previous post shared the tools and approaches I'd planned to use so here are my preliminary findings.

1. HFW Test - This test was conducted 1-1 and consisted of 77 words from Magenta reading level to Orange (Level 15). Students simply read each word going across the page. I tried to note down just like running records their attempts and self-corrections during the test. Here is what the test looks like.

Here are the test results of all 8 students.

A few of the students felt very frustrated as they recognised some of the words as words they've read before but on its own, they couldn't pinpoint what the actual word was. The showed me that they knew the patterns or sentence structures used in the texts they read that they were not paying attention to the actual letters forming the word, but rather "oh 'where' is normally the start of the sentence when they are looking for something". They only look as far as the first letter, then start guessing all the words they know that start with that letter.

2. Student Voice Survey - I conducted this as a group as they needed a lot of help to understand the questions as well as someone to record their answers. This also helped as they were giving each other ideas which they wouldn't be able to get on their own. Here are their responses.

I could tell by their excitement and rush to tell me more, that they felt quite important being asked what they thought of their reading lessons. I need to remember to do this more often so they can see the value of their learning and teachers actually wanting their input into how they learn in reading and writing time.

3. Weekly Reflections and Observations - This was normally jotted down onto whatever piece of paper I had lying around then put into my diary for a later date. So far I have a diary full of reflections based on just this group alone. Here is a summary of my reflections in term 1.

Tools, Measures and Approaches

Describe the tools/measures/approaches you plan to use to get a more detailed and accurate profile of students’ learning in relation to that challenge. Justify why you chose these approaches and tools. 

Kahui Ako Achievement Challenge 5: Improve the achievement of students with special needs in the learning areas of English/ key competency using symbols, languages and texts.

My inquiry problem/ challenge: Students who are 'stuck' in their learning 2-3 years behind where they should be at for Year 7 and 8 getting ready for College.

One of the reasons why I chose this challenge, was because this particular group of students had not made much - if any - shift in their reading age for the last 2 years. A look back at their records is shared in my blog post about 'Why I've selected this challenge'

To measure how much 'new knowledge' students are learning or picking up, I plan to use the following tools and approaches:

- HFW Test (High Frequency Word Test): This test has sight words up to reading level 15 or Orange. This is a great indicator for students who recognise words they are reading daily. Very quick test to administer.

- Student Voice Survey: This would be very informative for my teaching so I'd know whether students like/enjoy the task they are given. Are instructions easy to follow? Do they feel like they get enough 'teacher time' in class. This could reinforce or change the way I teach for sure!

- Running Records: The 'ideal' aim is to improve their reading ages to enable students to cope with the academic workload required of them in College. Because PAT test don't give us behavioural/ learning difficulties related to reading, a running record every 4 or so weeks would be more informative for both students and myself.

- Weekly Reflections/observations: Completing this straight after reading sessions would be useful in moving forward with this target group of learners. - Seek help/advice/ideas from CoL across schools teachers: I have already had a meeting with Clarelle Caruthers who has helped me with iPads and how to set up my site so it's easier for this group of learners to access and navigate. I've also made an appointment with Donna Ryan for the holidays to set up a plan of attack how I can better assess and cater for this group of target students.

Why is it catalytic?

Explain why you judge this to be the most important and catalytic issue of learning for this group of learners this year (In chemistry, a catalytic substance is one which increases the rate of reaction, but it also offers an alternate path for the reaction to follow).

My previous post shared anecdotal notes and levels from past years for my target students. I feel this gives insight into how 'stuck' these students have been throughout their years up to Years 7 & 8. This chart is a quick summary of where they are now in Term 1 of 2019.

Reading mileage and vocabulary acquisition through the scaffolding of different strategies such as the TESOL strategies. This is what I judge to be the most catalytic issue of learning for this group of students. There are 3 Y8 students and 5 Y7 students.

I believe that unlocking this catalytic issue would open learners capabilities towards accessing the wider curriculum. It would also set them up towards coping with learning in high school.

Why I've selected this challenge

Describe how and why you have selected this challenge of student learning. Locate your inquiry in the context of patterns of student learning in Manaiakalani overall.

My inquiry has been selected from the Woolf Fisher research findings shared with our Manaiakalani Cluster in February of this year.

The above is our cluster data for the PAT Reading Mean Scale Score by Year levels and ethnicity. The 4th and 5th box relate to my Year 7 & 8 students and more specifically the Maori and Pasifika students who are my target group. (Yellow and light blue line)

A closer inspection would be this graph looking at our Pt England School data for reading.

To help me get to know my learners better, and get a picture of just how much (or little) progress they've made throughout their schooling years here at Pt England, I took a look through their black folders. Here are some of the things I found of interest and may help me in understanding exactly what in their learning these students are "stuck" with.

Of these 8 students, 3 are off to College next year. THIS is why I've selected this challenge. What can I do to help these students cope with the work load, general learning, and expectations of College. What skills, strategies can they take with them to help them be independent learners?

CoL Teaching Inquiry 2019

I am very excited to be one of the Within schools CoL Teachers for 2019. 

This is the Manaiakalani Teaching as Inquiry Framework which I will be following with regular updates throughout the year.

Over the last few weeks, I have been observing my students and getting to know them better. I am doing this in the hopes of identifying a group of students who are really 'stuck' with learning and need extra support to get them moving (at hopefully an accelerated speed). Students who are operating 3 or more years behind where they should be. This is crucial for our students as we prepare them for high school and NZQA qualifications. 

I will be labelling my posts as I update my inquiry throughout the year to make the content easy to access.

Labels:

LEvidence, LScan, LTrend, LHypothesise, LResearch, LReflect,

 CPlan, CTry, CInnovate, CImplement, CReflect,

SPublish, SCoteach, SModel, SGuide, SFback, SReflect

Label Key:

LEvidence	Learn - Gather Evidence	CPlan	Create - Make a plan	SPublish	Share - Publish
LScan	Learn - Scan	CTry	Create - Try new things	SCoteach	Share - Co-teach
LTrend	Learn - Identify Trends	CInnovate	Create - Innovate	SModel	Share - Model
LHypothesise	Learn - Hypothesise	CImplement	Create - Implement	SGuide	Share - Guide
LResearch	Learn - Research	CReflect	Create - Reflect	SFback	Share - Feedback
LReflect	Learn - Reflect			SReflect	Share - Reflect

2019 - Inquiry into Reading

Inquiry Question: How can I utilise TESOL strategies in a Learn, Create, Share setting for Year 7 & 8 students reading below the reading age of 8 years old.

Achievement Challenge: Improve the achievement of students with additional needs in the learning areas of English/key competency using language symbols and texts.

Why this line of inquiry? I've chosen to take this line of inquiry based on Woolf Fisher research. Research showed that especially in Year 7 & 8, reading tended to move further and further away from the national norm. This was particularly true for Pasifika students.

Why TESOL? TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. The make-up of my 'target group' in my literacy is class are 8 students who are reading below the reading age of 8 years old. This group has 5 student's whose English is their second language. 4 Tongans and 1 Samoan. The group also has 3 students (2 Tongan and 1 Samoan) with learning difficulties or some sort and cognitively struggle to read simple texts.

Starting point/Hunches: TESOL strategies are purposely set up for students so their learning is repeated over and over again, and in the process, scaffolded so eventually they'll be able to say or write and read on their own. So I think if I apply and use TESOL style strategies and activities on students who are ESOL learners, students who are not speakers of another language would still benefit because they need the same repetition and scaffolding second language learners need.
This balances and encourages receptive and productive forms of learning. Making learning rewindable will be of great benefit to this particular group. This means the work they have completed is there on the site for them to access again at a later date.