Saturday, 10 October 2015
Flexible Groupings
Maths with Cindy - (14 August) Flexible groupings and Talk Moves
http://nzmaths.co.nz/mathematics-inquiry-communities
This term Cindy and I are co teaching.
We will review it after 2 weeks to see how we are going. We have thrown away ability grouping and instead are using mixed ability problem solving groups.
I want to GLOSS test some of these learners to see if there is any change. They appear to be thinking more and I am surprised at what they are capable of. I am still not convinced the lower kids are being fully immersed in what is happening in their problem solving group.
Talk Moves
Maths with Cindy - (14 August) Flexible groupings and Talk Moves
http://nzmaths.co.nz/mathematics-inquiry-communities
https://vimeo.com/115243231
After watching this and reading the article I created an outline in kids speak of what I was expecting in group problem solving. We revisited this often in Term 1 and 2 and the kids did become better at listening to each other. There was an expectation that all children in the group contributed and questioned each other if they weren’t sure.
The kids were given problem solving books to use as a group and the groups were set up with a range of abilities.
Will a focus on student discourse improve the mathematics achievement of lower achieving students?
Will a focus on student discourse improve the mathematics achievement of lower achieving students?
Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities
This exemplar describes how two teachers worked to develop classroom learning communities in which students learned to engage with the teacher and each other in mathematical inquiry, reasoning, and argumentation.2 It traces significant changes in teacher knowledge and pedagogy and in student behaviour and mathematical practices through a collaborative, school-based, professional learning process
After watching this and reading the article I created an outline in kids speak of what I was expecting in group problem solving. We revisited this often in Term 1 and 2 and the kids did become better at listening to each other. There was an expectation that all children in the group contributed and questioned each other if they weren’t sure.
The kids were given problem solving books to use as a group and the groups were set up with a range of abilities.
This term Cindy and I are co teaching.
We will review it after 2 weeks to see how we are going. We have thrown away ability grouping and instead are using mixed ability problem solving groups.
I want to GLOSS test some of these learners to see if there is any change. They appear to be thinking more and I am surprised at what they are capable of. I am still not convinced the lower kids are being fully immersed in what is happening in their problem solving group.
Maths with Cindy - (14 August) Flexible groupings and Talk Moves
Reading: The Mathematics of Hope: Moving from performance Learning in Mathematics Classrooms Jo Boaler, Professor of Mathematics Education, Stanford University
The reading promotes the idea that students need to see mathematics as a subject of learning, not performing and that is ok to make mistakes.We should be viewing these mistakes as learning achievements rather than learning failures. When students make mistakes in maths their brain grows! It also promotes the idea of removing fixed student groupings and replace them with flexible groupings that recognise that students have different strengths at different times.
It is week 8 and I have GLOSS tested a few students in the AT RISK group. They have shown some positive movement, which is pleasing, but I have started to wonder if there are other ways in which we could be co teaching. I think the planning on Docs is great. We can both see what each other is planning to teach. I like the taking turns to teach knowledge. I think we are both learning off each other. What I am wondering is if we are both taking the same approach each day, what happens to the other parts of Maths that is not being taught or practiced. This week I have set my group up with Khan academy because there is no where else in the day to do this. They are totally engaged and even Keegan who is disillusioned by the thought of Maths is having success and earning badges. He is amazed when he reaches Mastery in a maths area. I wonder when the kids get time to learn their basic facts and practice their Maths skills and knowledge through Maths games, if we are both teaching through problem solving every day.
If I wasn’t co teaching in Maths, these activities would naturally happen because I would be with the problem solving group.
Moving from Performance Learning
Reading: The Mathematics of Hope: Moving from performance Learning in Mathematics Classrooms Jo Boaler, Professor of Mathematics Education, Stanford University
The reading promotes the idea that students need to see mathematics as a subject of learning, not performing and that is ok to make mistakes.We should be viewing these mistakes as learning achievements rather than learning failures. When students make mistakes in maths their brain grows! It also promotes the idea of removing fixed student groupings and replace them with flexible groupings that recognise that students have different strengths at different times.
It is week 8 and I have GLOSS tested a few students in the AT RISK group. They have shown some positive movement, which is pleasing, but I have started to wonder if there are other ways in which we could be co teaching. I think the planning on Docs is great. We can both see what each other is planning to teach. I like the taking turns to teach knowledge. I think we are both learning off each other. What I am wondering is if we are both taking the same approach each day, what happens to the other parts of Maths that is not being taught or practiced. This week I have set my group up with Khan academy because there is no where else in the day to do this. They are totally engaged and even Keegan who is disillusioned by the thought of Maths is having success and earning badges. He is amazed when he reaches Mastery in a maths area. I wonder when the kids get time to learn their basic facts and practice their Maths skills and knowledge through Maths games, if we are both teaching through problem solving every day.
If I wasn’t co teaching in Maths, these activities would naturally happen because I would be with the problem solving group.
Flexible Groupings
Maths with Cindy - (14 August) Flexible groupings and Talk Moves
http://nzmaths.co.nz/mathematics-inquiry-communitiesCo teaching in Maths
This term Cindy and I are co teaching.
We will review it after 2 weeks to see how we are going. We have thrown away ability grouping and instead are using mixed ability problem solving groups.
I want to GLOSS test some of these learners to see if there is any change. They appear to be thinking more and I am surprised at what they are capable of. I am still not convinced the lower kids are being fully immersed in what is happening in their problem solving group.
Improving Student Conversations
Will a focus on student discourse improve the mathematics achievement of lower achieving students?
Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities
This exemplar describes how two teachers worked to develop classroom learning communities in which students learned to engage with the teacher and each other in mathematical inquiry, reasoning, and argumentation.2 It traces significant changes in teacher knowledge and pedagogy and in student behaviour and mathematical practices through a collaborative, school-based, professional learning process
After watching this and reading the article I created an outline in kids speak of what I was expecting in group problem solving. We revisited this often in Term 1 and 2 and the kids did become better at listening to each other. There was an expectation that all children in the group contributed and questioned each other if they weren’t sure.
The kids were given problem solving books to use as a group and the groups were set up with a range of abilities.
Neighbourhood Coach
Neighbourhood Coach
There have been a couple of incidents where I have had to practice having those “important “ conversations with my colleagues. I am getting better at it I think. I am finding the right time and remaining calm so the discussion can come to some resolution. I am not happy about the tone and aggressiveness of one member in our team. I am using Google Docs as a way to allow him to consider others viewpoints. If the tone continues I know I will need to have a conversation with him.
Writing
WRITING
We are going to split our learners 3 ways - to start at the beginning of Week 6.
Megan will take AT Risk learners and those learners who are at Level 2 but need pushing to get writing completed.
? will take Level 2 children who can write independently.
? will take EL3 children and some Level 2 children who are progressing towards Level 3
Why?
To see increased engagement, targeted teaching, with greater learning outcomes. We want to give all children a chance to progress.
Will review at the end of the term.
ICT
ICT
I set up all Kauri learners with a Weebly website in Term 2. Some classes got more teaching than others due to technology issues. At least 5 learners in each class have their own blog and know how to blog, so they are able to set other learners up with a blog. It is really dependent on teachers allowing children time to do this.
I am still waiting patiently for the go ahead to go to ULearn 2015. I put together a proposal with Emma about why we should go, but as yet no cigar!
It is so frustrating only having 4 netbooks, because Google Classroom would set the learners up so well to get on with their learning at their pace.
A Letter to Lead Team
A Letter to Lead Team
Hi everyone,
I have been reflecting on the learners in my class and have struggled with the whole concept of having my learners leave to go somewhere else for their learning.
I thought I would share my journey with them so far this year,
In Term 1, seven At Risk learners left my room 4 days a week for about 45 minutes,This happened at 3 different times of the day, which meant these children would miss out on 2 writing sessions, and a reading session.Unfortunately these AT Risk Maths learners are also At Risk Writers and Readers.
On top of this in Term 1 Jess had these same learners for reading support on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays during my writing sessions, These At Risk Writers would get no writing, but have my maths lesson, Cindy's maths lesson, my reading lesson and Jess's reading lesson.
I appreciated their help with these learners, but because the kids were timetabled at different times on different days it was impossible for me to create a balanced timetable without going insane. Often I would have just finished motivating the whole class, when Cindy's group would start coming back. I would have to do the same motivation...again! There are huge gaps in their writing book where writing didn't happen.
As a classroom teacher, I value the extra help these learners get, but it ends up not really extra, because they end up missing out on another curriculum area where they are also At Risk. What would have worked better for me and my class of learners was for Cindy to come into my class at the same time every day, to work with these learners at Maths time. Cindy is such a good Maths teacher I could have learned from her as well.
If someone has another solution to this dilemma, please share, because I need to do better for my learners.
As a result of this Term 3 looks to be an exciting change with Cindy coming in to my room which means we can experiment with co teaching.I have set up a Google Doc for our planning. we are setting it up initially as a 2 week cycle. We will review it after 2 weeks. The idea is that we will have 2 groups, but we will both work with 1 of those groups.
Reading
Reading
My reading was humming at the end of Term 2. The kids were engaged. Towards the end of the term I introduced Daily 5 Literacy. The kids really responded to this and I noticed a big difference in self management. Before school the kids got themselves organised with all they needed for the session. It was only introduced, but I can see that in Term 3 it will free me up to teach small groups and have time to conference individuals.
Writing
Writing
I have set the book up differently, by just using the 1 book. Have the brainstorming on the first page with the model text glued on top and the writing on the other side. It is easier for the kids to manage just one book. I can see progress in many of the learners. I have had targetted teaching of the At Risk kids which seems to have made a difference. The rest of the class I have a group who are thinking about DADWAVERS which is an acronym for what needs to be included in their writing.
Classroom Furniture
Classroom furniture has been rearranged in a bid to make the teaching and learning more cohesive. The library doesn’t lend itself to a great teaching space for 1 teacher, because of the walls. The new TV has arrived so I am back up using technology to support my teaching.
ICT in Class Support
Ict in class support and ICT extension started today. I was in Room 3 first I had previously set up each learner with a Weebly account so I knew they wouldn’t be wasting time doing this themselves. Very tricky with large class numbers. I had set up the learning tasks and supporting resources using Google Classroom. We talked about cyber safety and I showed them a Youtube clip about Little Red Riding Hood. The learners created an avatar using Face Your Manga and this is now saved in their folder in students data, ready for putting on their weebly.
Next time I visit Room 3 it will be to get them to log into their weebly using their school email as the username and 2015room3 as the password. Ict Extension went well. The learners were really keen to get a weebly up and running. They have an assignment which they can be working on over the next couple of weeks, including Face Your Manga, Graffit creator. I have emailed Paul for new email addresses for some of them.
2015:
- Teacher Only Day (27th of January):
- Great to Greatness Presentation:
- Meredith Akuhata-Brown (Presenter)
- Syndicate & Curriculum Teams Session (3rd of February):
- The Power of the Positive Phone Call professional reading: https://docs.google.com/a/mangapapa.school.nz/file/d/0Bx-TtwCF3z4IY0wyYS1XTDd0aTg/edit
- Behaviour Management SDF (School Development Focus) Session (10th of February):
- Chris Moore (Facilitator)
- Learning Neighbourhood Collaborative Learning Session One (9th of February):
- Trust Actions professional reading: https://docs.google.com/a/mangapapa.school.nz/file/d/0Bx-TtwCF3z4IaUZGQzJHVUJOV3c/edit
- Learning Neighbourhood Collaborative Learning Session Two
(23th of February):
Cindy sharing some maths ideas for our AT RISK learners next learning steps
- Learning Neighbourhood Collaborative Learning Session Three
(13th of March)
: Shared and discussed our Year 5 covenant. Had discussions about whanau engagement/picnic and set date for neighbourhood walk
- Learning Neighbourhood Collaborative Learning Session Four
(27th of March)
Trust engenders trust reading
PMI reflection of our neighbourhood so far
Janine shared ARBS and easttle websites
- Tamariki Houmaru Child Protection (28 of April)
Danny Kirk (Facilitator)
Came in to talk about policy and procedures of identifying child abuse. He discussed the process for us if we have concerns.
- Writing SDF (12 May)
- How to motivate your writers using different types of writing
- Neighbourhood Coaches Session with Maryanne Baxter (May 25)
- Writing SDF (2 June)
Feedback/Feedforward/Editing.. Looked at writing exemplar guidelines. Reviewed writing and editing guidelines for what they look, sound and feel like
- Rick Whalley (3rd June)
2015 Facilitator
Mangapapa Development Plan
- Life Education Intro (21 July)
School Reporting (11 & 18 August)
- Maori Achieving Success as Maori (25 August)
Facilitator : Todd Sheridan
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