TBCS - Craig - Teaching Maths 2020

I have spent time reflecting on last year and what my students were able to achieve in Maths...
While I was happy that all my students made good progress, I still felt that because the topics changed so quickly, that the basic foundational concepts were still not second nature and that there was hesitation and not confidence displayed when given a random problem to solve. While my emphasis was on learning the lessons and not just completing them, it was hard to keep on top of 20 students all doing different things at the same time. There was still a resistance to learning times tables and this also caused a more than acceptable reliance on times tables charts. There were also common concepts that were shown up when helping individuals and in the e-asttle testing. some of these were Rounding - Greater Than, Less Than - Place Values - Words associated with different operations like difference, sum, quotient, product etc...

This Year

I have decided to put more effort into group teaching and to use Maths Buddy more as a supplement.

I made up two Maths groups determined by the levels each student is working at on Maths Buddy.

I have made a list of topics to cover and a spreadsheet to record each student's progress.

I will pretest the group at the start of each topic to find out where each student is in their understanding. I will teach the topic and give time for practice. When a student feels capable and I am confident that they have proved their capability they can carry on with their Maths Buddy lessons. The remaining students will practice further with me until they are confident. My emphasis is knowing the concept and confidence and not in covering a certain number of topics. I am going to focus mainly in Number and go at the speed of the students. I want my students to enjoy Maths, and enjoyment comes from confidence.

I have also renewed my determination that every student will know their times tables as second nature by the end of the year. To do this we have a set of tables that we will focus on every week. They will be chanted and gone over every day and will be tested on Fridays to give weight and importance.

A welcome letter was sent to all families of my students to let them know what is new in the program this year and how they can help and monitor their child (ren)


12 - February
Because of what has come up in Maths Buddy very early on, I have decided to teach Rounding first.
I started this topic as a whole class rather than two groups as everyone seemed to be at the same place with the same struggles.

20 - February
Some students are happy that they understand rounding and are spending time on Maths Buddy. Their knowledge has been put to good use as they have easily passed the Rounding portion of their lessons.

Some students are still struggling to pick up the process being taught to circle - arrow - ask - write - zeros. I am persevering, believing that once they can master it, consecutive concepts and processes will become easier.

• Structuring learning tasks so that all ākonga experience a degree of success, but also ensuring that they are required to stretch themselves to fully succeed.

• Adapting lessons to ensure they address ākonga needs and interests as they arise.

• Holding high, but attainable academic expectations and sharing those expectations with ākonga and their whānau.

• Monitoring of ākonga learning during the implementation of a programme of learning, so that the programme can be adapted where needed to better achieve desired outcomes for ākonga.

• Using feedback from classroom observations to improve learning programmes.

TBCS - Duh Moment - Judy -Anne

I had a bit of a duh moment driving over to school this morning.
Steve and I had been talking about K yesterday in a discussion about why some of our children had moved and some had not. I mentioned a comment I had put in his report about his perfectionism getting in the way, and his ability being higher than his confidence. I had a similar discussion with Mel as she works with him too, and has noticed the same thing.
So my duh moment was thinking about similar children I have taught, J from here and a child years ago at Victory. One of the strategies we used then was to set a timer during writing time. When they got stuck on a word they had a set amount of time ( generally a minute) to make their best attempt at the word then they had to move on.
Time to try this with K!

Reflection:
Sometimes we just forget about things we used to do.
One of the advantages of being in a small school is that we talk with each other a lot, and everybody tends to know about all the children, not just the ones in their own class. It means there are lots of brains trying to come up with solutions.

Next steps:
Set the timer for K when he gets stuck on a word during writing
Continue to work on adding  sounds and words to his kete so his bank of known words continues to grow.



Discussing my practice with colleagues and being open to new ideas.- or maybe retutning to old ones!

TBCS - Craig - Programme Changes 2020

I consulted with my class at the end last year about how the year had gone? What did they like, what did they dislike, and If they would change anything, what would it be?
one overwhelming thing that came forward was the desire to learn more Science. The year fives who were moving up to Room 4 also asked if it could be done when they will be in my room. This happens when MOTEC is on for the Year 7&8s. The class enjoyed the little research I had allowed them to do and wanted to do more. They wanted to range of things we learned to increase and to do more art...


New Year's Resolutions are all the rage at the beginning of the year and no less so as a teacher of a class of young people. We always look at what we do and deliberate over how we can do what we do better. We are of nature never satisfied with what we have done in the past and dream of the effect we will have on our next group of student's progress and desire to continue learning.

One thing I heard over the holidays which I thought was memorable was about new year's resolutions. The person said that most resolutions are wishes. Willpower is enough to get you started, but you need to form habits to continue and to make real change.

In my class this year, I want to change. I want to do better then last year. I want my students to learn more about God's wonderful creation and about how amazingly they have been made. I want them to marvel more at God's power, majesty, and creativeness. I want them to know individually how much God loves them and that they can have a personal relationship with him.

Over the last couple of years, I have made a priority of Bible reading and prayer and encouraged the learning of memory verses that I have chosen to help them. This has gone well and the students have begun to understand God's Word in a deeper way and I want to continue this and go a step further.

This Year

The way to make habits in a classroom is to change the class programme and intentionally give time for subjects that need including and to change the way some things are taught to accomplish the best results.

What I plan to change or include:

• Teach Math in groups so I know each student has the foundations necessary and include Maths Buddy as a secondary teaching tool.

• Teach Science as a subject to increase the student's wonder and knowledge of God and the world around them. 

• Teach Geography as a subject so the students are more aware of the greater world and people groups around them and give them the skills to read and interpret maps.

• Programme time for students to research topics of their choice and interest giving them skills to research, skills to become discerning about what they read, and the desire to continue learning wherever they are.

• Allow time for students to record what they have learned and develop the oral skills and confidence to report back to the class in an interesting manner what they have learned. This will, in turn, allow the further use of digital skills in the form of Powerpoint presentations movies, etc.

Have I bitten off more than I can chew?

Time will tell!

To have Student Agency, the students need to be confident in the basics, excited and enthused about their learning and realise that the more they learn, the more they have to learn. If I can be the spark in this, I will have done my job.

I will report back on each change and reflect on how each is going.

Learning focused culture

• Providing opportunities for ākonga engagement in co-operative learning, and reciprocal teaching. 

Design for Learning

• Adapting lessons to ensure they address ākonga needs and interests as they arise.
• Helping ākonga appreciate the value or importance of what they are learning.
• Providing opportunities for co-operative learning, peer tutoring, reciprocal teaching and inquiry learning to occur.

Teaching

• Undertaking a detailed evaluation of learning programmes and their impact on all ākonga, that takes into account ākonga feedback.

TBCS - Craig - Deliberate Acts of Teaching - Maths

Teaching Maths

Maths is one subject I love to teach. I have seen such pleasing progress in all my students. Most of my students are happy to do their Math lessons, and some will even choose to do it at break times or when they have finished other work. I have had a multi-faceted approach to teaching Maths this year.
This year, I have had students working at all the Grade levels from Year 1 - Year 7


My deliberate acts of teaching have included...

• Testing each student at the beginning of the year to access where they are.
• Each student is placed at the appropriate level for their skills in the Maths Buddy Programme that the School Uses. (Please see my Blogg on Maths Buddy)
• Monitor how each student is doing by roaming the room constantly and encouraging and giving help where needed.
• Monitoring each student through my laptop after hours to identify students who need particular help or groups of students who need help in a particular area and writing them in my weekly planning folder.
• At the beginning of most lessons, students who needed extra help are brought down to a table so I can help them as individuals or in groups as required. They will go back to their individual desks once they are confident and have passed the lesson they were stuck on.
• Setting a minimum achievement rate of 80% or more in any given lesson before allowing a student to move on.
• Year 6 students are to complete a Diagnostic test at the end of each section to ensure all lessons have been learned. If gaps are identified in their learning, they are required to redo those identified lessons again to ensure they are confident before they move on.
• The emphasis I encourage is not on completing a certain about of work or working at a certain speed, but on learning the concepts and being able to confidently use them, especially in Problem Solving situations. 
• I encourage students to redo lessons, even if they have passed them at 80% if they are not completely confident in themselves.
• I place an emphasis on learning times tables which we start every day with.
• I get the students to do warm-up activities of times tables before they go on with their lessons.
• If there are particular lessons that the whole class needs to learn, I will gather the whole class around the board and we will go over them together. These have included... 

                      -  Understanding mathematical words like addends and sums, minuends, subtrahends,                              and differences, etc.
                      -  Greater than and less than
                      -  Rounding
                      -  Telling the time.
                      -  And other issues identified in daily classwork or testing such as e-asttle.

• I try to know where each student is at, and plot their progress on an XL spreadsheet to help me have an overview of the whole class.

Next Steps

Place a bigger emphasis on learning Time Tables and add a Times Tables test at the end of each week to keep the spotlight on our need to know them by rote.

Be more forthright with the expectation that the lessons need to be learned and not just passed. This will include encouraging the students to use a star chart to indicate how confident they are at the end of every lesson, so they can revisit or redo lessons that may have been passed but not confidently grasped.

Make better use of the e-asttle tests that the class sits to identify areas of weakness and get more group work established based on what is identified at the time.

Standard 6
Teach in ways that ensure all learners are making sufficient progress, and monitor the extent and pace of learning, focusing on equity and excellence for all.

Standard 5
Select teaching approaches, resources, and learning and assessment activities based on a thorough knowledge of curriculum content, pedagogy, progressions in learning and the learners.

Standard 4
Manage learning setting to ensure access to learning for all and to maximise learner's physical, social, cultural, and emotional safety.

TBCS - Camp Week - Judy-Anne

Last year, while the seniors were in Christchurch at their leadership camp, Margaret and I decided to have a camp week for those remaining at school.

There were a lot of requests for another one so we had one earlier in the year and decided to run another one while the Year 7 and 8's were on their tramp.

It always sounds like a great idea when we are planning it but the reality is always a lot of hard work and very tired teachers! Four hours fishing should be relaxing but add in 34 children...

So why do it then?

During camp week we are not in the classrooms undertaking reading, writing and maths but there is heaps of learning going on relating to key competencies, learning dispositions
and relationship based learning.

The key competencies underpin everything that happens in teaching and learning. (TKI)

The New Zealand Curriculum identifies five key competencies:

• Thinking
• Relating to others
• Using language, symbols, and texts
• Managing self
• Participating and contributing

The term 'learning dispositions', sometimes called 'habits of mind' or 'dispositions to learning', refer to the way in which learners engage in and relate to the learning process. Learning dispositions affect how students approach learning and therefore the outcomes of their learning.Jun 21, 2017

Te Whariki Strand                                            Learning dispositions as actions

Mana whenua - Belonging                                  Taking an interest 

Mana atua - Well being                                       Being involved

Mana aoturoa - Exploration                                 Persisting with uncertainty and challenge

Mana reo- Communication                                  Expressing ideas and feelings

Mana tangata - Contribution                                Taking responsibility

Relationship Based Learning

Create a family like context for learning by:

Rejecting deficit explanations for learners' learning

Caring for and nurturing the learner, including their language and culture

Voicing and demonstrating high expectations

Ensuring that all learners can learn in a well-managed environment so as to promote learning

Knowing what learners need to learn

Interact within this family -like context in ways we know promote learning by:

Drawing on learners' prior learning

Using fornmative assessment feedback

Using formative assessment feed-forward

Using co-construction processes

Using power sharing strategies

Monitor learners' progress and the impact of the processes of learning by assessing how well learners are able to:

Set goals for their learning (GOALS)

Articulate how they prefer to learn (PEDAGOGY)

Explain how they prefer to organise/be organised in theri learning/learning relationships and interactions (INSTITUTIONS)

Participate in leadership roles and functions (LEADERSHIP)

Include others in the learning context and interactions (SPREAD)

Provide evidence of how well they are progressing and what progress they are making (EVIDENCE)

Take ownership of their own learning (OWNERSHIP)

Monday  - wheels day
Tuesday - visit to Vette's then lunch and the afternoon at school
Wednesday - fishing at the wharf, walk round the estuary
Thursday - day at school, staying for tea, campfire cooking damper
Friday - day at school, Christmas card making, water fight

What we saw was a huge amount of patience and perseverance, children co-operated to build huts and make shows with minimal teacher input. They problem solved independently, generally just asking teachers for supplies, or to watch their performances. They generally worked out their social issues for themselves. They looked after each other, particularly one little girl who spent much of her time with a potential new student. The boys also did a fabulous job of including our new boy. They thought for themselves about what to do within the day, they ate when hungry and visited the toilet when necessary. There weren't many compulsory activites during the week but everyone was expected to walk to the Vettes, go fishing and go on the estuary walk. There were a few grumbles about how long the walk was, but even the smallest managed the whole thing. (Actually they weren't the grumblers!)
Thus they had to think for themselves, play with children they might not generally spend time with, talk with others, relate their favourite part of the day and week, manage their needs and desires to ensure they enjoyed their days, take part and for hopefully provide ideas or leadership with various activities. It was very definitely a week of belonging to our school and sharing with the successes and joy of others. A number of people were very excited for Samuel and Zach when they caught the eel and the fish- I didn't hear anybody wishing it had been them instead. Children looked after their own well being as well as the well being of others, they definitely explored, they talked, they joined in.
There were moments of pure excitement and joy eg catching the eel and the kahawai. These moments were also well captured on film by Caleb, and shared on facebook by Olivia. Teachers have been sharing on See Saw and there will undoubtedly be writing about camp week in classes next week.

Feedback
Some of the highlights for the children were organised by the teachers
eg fishing, trip to Vettes, water fight, treasure hunt, carpentry, art and craft activities
Some were organised by the children eg fashion parade, dance shows
I'm not sure who thought of the eeling. We were at the Vette's and they have been feeding an eel in the pond. Someone obviously suggested trying to catch it so Louise helped them make fishing rods from a stick and a piece of string with a piece of meat from a dog bone tied onto it.
For some the highlight was having some previous students there with them on the last day


Reflection:
There were definitely some things we could have organised earlier eg thinking about toiletting issues for new boy- just made things a bit more frantic and stressful than necessary.
It may be a good idea to check into other fishing spots. The wharf was safe but the water was very fast flowing so not many nibbles even. In reality that may just have been a weather issue and it amy be fine other times- worth checking.

The eeling was a great addition. One boy lost his string in the water. Between a few of them they eventually fished it back. I imagine he will always ensure things are correctly fastened from now on! (he just tied the string onto the stick with a single knot)

Maybe we should have the campfire during the day again next time, the children who do not stay after school miss out on that otherwise. Hopefully getting the fire permit will be easier again now that I have used the new system once.

Kathryn is an awesome helper with art activities and was appreciative of the fact that there was no drama about what time she arrived or whether anything was planned or not. Funnily enough we had both found some very similar models and there are plenty of supplies in the school so it was easy enough to choose one for everyone interested to do and organise materials relatively quickly. It also meant the children could have some choice in the matter.

The children took a few days to get into the swing of things the first time we had a camp week. This time it took most of them a matter of minutes! There was the odd child wandering, rather aimlessly but for the most part they were busy the whole time. I hardly saw some of my boys as they were so busy riding their bikes or scooters, building huts, building in the sandpit...
The water fight was the nicest one I have seen at school. Children could choose whether or not to be involved, there were boundaries they had to remain inside and a safe zone when filling their water pistols. They were all careful of each other - no water deliberately sprayed directly in eyes or in such a way as to deliberately hurt as has happened during previous water fights. May just be the mix of children but hopefully it is also an improved culture of caring and looking out for each other. They all got very wet but had a lovely time- as it should be.


Camp week covers all the bases for catering to the whole person really and is basically what I am aiming for the whole time at school.
 I went to a course last night on Play, Make Create and am about to start an e-course of 6 modules covering the why and how to of Learning Through Play so will continue to build on my knowledge and refine my processes and utilisation of a Learning Through Play philosophy in Room 1.

Next steps:
Plan the next one!
Play, Make, Create research and use
Longworth Education E-modules

• Fostering tuakana/tēina relationships.
• Monitoring ākonga closely to ensure they are treated respectfully and are included in all aspects of school life.
• Seeking ākonga and whānau feedback on these aspects
• Promotion of positive and appropriate relationships with and between ākonga.
• Monitoring of all ākonga closely to ensure they are being included and treated respectfully by their peers.

Modern Learning Environments?

Modern Learning Environments aimed at equitable outcomes and relationship building.

Of those below from https://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/leading-innovative-learning-in-new-zealand-schools-april-2018/appendix-2-oecd-ile-project/

I was able to see this in action. See the photos.

 Some students were involved in cooking, one was asking of staff , selective questions around food allergies, and diet foods. Two were doing the mixing of ingredients, both creating different foods while still similar. A small group was creating a piece of writing for The Mapua Literacy Festival, two were receiving direct assistance from the teacher, and another two were working together to help each other with different topics. In a separate area some were researching their topics, while others were working on their Maths.

All the students were working with and around each other in a way that complimented their own learning.

Next Steps, is to record these types of learning, so that we can share the understanding of the underlying processes that were taking place. We tend to take it for granted.

Outcome: I would like to work with the teachers to help build student awareness and provide us with student voice for these opportunities.

The eight basics of motivation

Students are more motivated to engage in learning when:

1. they perceive stable links between specific actions and achievement
   
2. they feel competent to do what is expected of them
   
3. they value the subject and have a clear sense of purpose
   
4. they perceive the environment as favourable for learning, and
   
5. they experience positive emotions towards learning activities.
   

Students:

6. direct their attention away from learning when they experience negative emotions

7. are more persistent in learning when they can manage their resources and deal with obstacles efficiently

8. free up cognitive resources for learning when they are able to influence the intensity, duration and expression of their emotions.

The seven principles of learning

This project has explored the nature of learning through the perspectives of cognition, emotion and biology, and provided analyses of the implication for different types of application in learning environments. The research was synthesised to create seven transversal ‘principles’ to guide the development of learning environments for the 21st century.

Learners at the centre

The learning environment recognises the learners as its core participants, encourages their active engagement and develops in them an understanding of their own activity as learners.

• Learners are the central players in the environment and therefore activities centre on their cognition and growth.
• Learning activities allow students to construct their learning through engagement and active exploration.
• This calls for a mix of pedagogies, which includes guided and action approaches, as well as co-operative, inquiry based and service learning.
• The environment aims to develop ‘self-regulated learners’, who:

• develop meta-cognitive skills
• monitor, evaluate and optimise the acquisition and use of knowledge
• regulate their emotions and motivations during the learning process
• manage study time well
• set higher specific and personal goals, and are able to monitor them.

The social nature of learning

The learning environment is founded on the social nature of learning and actively encourages well-organised co-operative learning.

• Neuroscience confirms that we learn through social interaction – the organisation of learning should be highly social.
• Co-operative group work, appropriately organised and structured, has demonstrated very clear benefits for achievement as well as for behavioural and affective outcomes. Co-operative methods work for all types for students because, done well, they push learners of all abilities.
• Personal research and self-study are naturally also important, and the opportunities for autonomous learning should grow as students mature.

TBCS - Craig - Reflection on Teaching Math with Math-Buddy

Maths Buddy

Where I come from.

I come from a background of teaching Math from a textbook. I must admit that I loved it and would not hesitate to go back to that way because it ensured I taught the whole syllabus and, with the addition of weekly revision test and the strick focus on learning times tables, my students became very good at Math. It's success spurred me on and I became very confident at teaching Math. Any of my students who left my class to go to another school were considered exceptional at Math in the schools they went to.

It worked because all my students had been taught the same way in year groups and were reasonably similar in ability. Repetition and Revision along with teaching the best way to do something instead of 5 different ways, enabled my students to have confidence in their ability as Mathematicians.

Where I am now. 

I now find myself in a fantastic little Christian School and in a lovely class that has three year levels and abilities ranging from year one to year seven.

My normal approach to teaching Math will not work in this environment.

Fortunately, someone before me has had the foresight to purchase the Mathbuddy programme for the use of all students in the school.

Maths Buddy

Mathbuddy is a New Zealand created, curriculum-based programme that is constantly updated and research-based. It covers students from Year 1 to Year 13, including A Levels. Its strengths lie in the teaching videos for every lesson, the lesson summary available for each lesson, and the access each student has to every grade, not only their own.

Each learning area is broken into sections that have reviews to pretest and post-test. There are also weekly revision tasks that can be assigned. The work completed, progress made, and struggles encountered are easily identified by the teacher's console. You can assign tasks and give time constraints if you choose. A timeline history gives a breakdown of every lesson viewed and attempted with the resultant mark.

The students get instant feedback on whether any given answer is right or wrong and what the correct answer should have been if their answer was incorrect. There is an 80% pass level as standard so if a lesson is not passed, the student can rewatch the video lesson and attempt the lesson again.

Strengths of Maths Buddy

• It meets every student at their point of need. Nowadays, there is a big emphasis on individualised programmes for each student. Under normal textbook conditions in my class that would be almost impossible. I have, at the moment, students working at Year 1, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 levels. Each student is different. Each student works at a different speed and has strengths and weaknesses in different areas. Maths Buddy allows for all of these differences and allows each student to be challenged at their level. It doesn't hold back the progress of more advanced students and conversely, it doesn't push students who struggle beyond what they can handle.

• Every lesson has a clear teaching element which is designed to give the students the tools needed to complete the task. This frees me as the teacher from having to give what would end up being 40-50 lessons every Math period.

• If you are struggling in a particular area you can, at the click of your mouse, jump down a grade and complete the lessons at that level, cementing the groundwork for the lesson you will jump back to. This access to all grades can be a great help.
• It uses lots of real-life examples and 

• It covers the whole curriculum.

• When you finish your grade level, you can move to the next grade level and carry on. You are always learning and progressing.

What does that leave me as a teacher to do

Maths Buddy, just like any textbook or programme is a tool. It is something employed by me as a teacher to reach the goals I have in the area of Math. How you use Maths Buddy is entirely at your discretion. At the end of the day, my job is to teach my students how to understand and apply Math...

I have chosen to get my students to do every lesson in order. They are to watch the video, open the lesson summary in a separate tab, and do the lesson. If they don't pass at 80%, they are to follow the first three steps again. If after two tries, they still have not passed, I will go over the lesson with them and allow them to try again. If this still doesn't work, I will get the student to check in with me for every question before they push enter to go through their workings and resultant answer. When I am not giving individual lessons, I roam the room and check on the progress of each student and lend a word of encouragement or help as needed. I tend to have a good grasp of every student's work.

Through my teacher console, I keep an eye on each student's progress and struggles. I log the students progress in an easy to read XL spreadsheet and write any student's name in my planning book that is having trouble and the area I need to help them with.

Conclusion.

I very much appreciate Maths Buddy. Both my students and I have a positive attitude towards Math. all my students have progressed well over the course of the year. many have made outstanding progress.

Student Voice

Positive

It is fun but sometimes hard. Jak

I like that you don't have to wait till the end until you know the correct answer and score. (Portia)

I like how it has diagnostic tests so you know which ones that you don't know. (Zach)

I like how there is a video so it tells you how to do the lesson. (Chanyn)

It's very educational (Jak)

It makes your brain work (Ella)

I like the way you can choose the background colour and when you get 100%, you get some ribbons and confetti on your screen. (Madelynne)

I like how some of the questions are challenging but when you start learning them, they get easier. (Raphael)

The order of the lessons is helpful like fractions and decimals. (Mercy)

I like it because you can go onto the next year. (Reuben)


Negatives and how to overcome them.


Sometimes it doesn't tell you how to do a question in the video. (Madelynne)
Ask my teacher how to do it.

Occasionally it takes a long time for the questions to load. (Portia)
Reload the programme.

Some questions don't get explained in the video so I don't really understand it. (Raphael)
Ask my teacher or someone next to me.

Design forLearning

• Structuring learning tasks so that all ākonga experience a degree of success, but also ensuring that they are required to stretch themselves to fully succeed.

Learning focused culture

• Effectively incorporating digital media into the learning environment.

TBCS - Routines- Judy-Anne

Sometimes it is easy to take for granted all the great things our children do. It was awesome to arrive in class after break today to find all the children doing their readiing- either reading books or on Lexia. The part that was funniest to me is that on Friday we normally head to the library after break and don't do reading the normal way at all!  Sometimes it is extremely hard to change their routines.

The children have routines, but also choice within those routines (eg could be reading, Lexia, reading games, listening to stories on the ipad)








Next steps:

Continue with strong routines and regular communication about changes to routines.

TBCS - Number Agents Reading Discoveries - Judy-Anne

http://numberagents.blogspot.com/2018/12/reading-my-discoveries-this-year.html

Reflections:
Wow. One to one reading with each child each week.

Next steps:
So much to do with this
Print Literacy Development poster
Look into de codeable texts
Re -read the article
Re think reading planning
Read a chapter book to the class, rather than picture books. Maybe Enid Blyton as some are reading her at home already.
Try one to one method rather than reading groups for Laila and Violet to begin with.

• Undertaking PLD and further professional reading.

• Understanding and using a range of innovative, co-operative and inquiry learning approaches
• Providing opportunities for ākonga engagement in co-operative learning, and reciprocal teaching. 

• Planning with ākonga input.
• Structuring learning tasks so that all ākonga experience a degree of success, but also ensuring that they are required to stretch themselves to fully succeed.

• Monitoring of ākonga learning during the implementation of a programme of learning, so that the programme can be adapted where needed to better achieve desired outcomes for ākonga.
• Use of inquiry to inform planning and teaching.
• Checking to see if planning and delivery of programme is tailored to the strengths, needs and interests of ākonga.
• Using appropriate pedagogies to accelerate progress of ākonga who are achieving below national expectations.

TBCS - New student - Judy-Anne

There is a new entrant in Room 1 and at the beginning he settled into class extremely well and was great with listening and following instructions.
I feel now as though the honeymoon period is over and don’t feel I am doing very well with him.
I have been thinking about what to do about him and came up with some ideas while I was at Sally Clendon’s Literacy course.

Reflections:
It is quite difficult with one child starting in class by themselves. There is nobody else his age and they are all little and not always great at including new people. (egocentric)

Next steps:
.Find out his interests a bit more - things were a bit different with his transition so this wasn't really done as well as usual. We do know that he likes blocks!
. Let him play with the blocks outside so it doesn’t matter so much if he wants to knock them down while others are working
. Get a better supply of books just for him
. Print some books from Tar Heel reader for him
. Let him play more
. Make sure the others are including him
. Set up activities so that it is a good thing to be teamed up with him

The funniest thing about this is that on the first day back after the course I organised for this child to use one of the magnetic mazes for handwriting, not expecting him to do his handwriting in his book- but he used his book and handed it in like everyone else.
I had got him a big pile of library books, and made some sheets for him to practise writing his name and make his name with plasticine, pipe cleaners and magnetic letters. He sat at the table, read a book, put it in a pile of books he had read, then read another and another. He stayed at his desk rather than wandering the classroom as he had been doing.  He did a fantastic job of tracing his name- even other children couldn't believe how neatly he had written.
He had other children asking if they could come and read some of his books and use his plasticine too.
He sat beautifully when I called him over for memory verse testing and informed me that he had been tricking me when he was wandering around and bothering others in the class.

I told the class that I was so pleased with him that they could all have some free time. They were very pleased with him and he asked if he could go back and do his work, so went back to reading books. He did eventually change this to making a huge block tower.

I gave him a certificate for his fantastic work.

Day 2 and he is still working really well and very keen to be doing his work.

We haven't even got onto trying some of the items on my list yet!

• Involvement in appropriate PLD.
• Discussing my practice with colleagues and being open to new ideas.

• Personalising learning and making it meaningful for individual ākonga.
• Engaging appropriately with ākonga so they know their perspectives are listened to and considered.

• Engagement with subject associations, PLCs, local experts and community organisations.
• Identification of next steps and goals for ākonga.

Improving Long Term Memory, Margaret 2019

Reflection:
One student in particular in Room 4 seems to struggle getting things into his long term memory though many also seem to struggle to follow instructions so I did a little research to see what I could do differently.  Mostly I found strategies that I have been using but sometimes tend to forget when time is limited or you are trying to do spontaneous activites which have not been pre prepared.  In particular this is for maths which has a focus on getting things into students long term memory by repetition and mastery of concepts instead of answering a few questions right then moving on.  This however does not seem to be working for David.  One of the suggestions is have students write out their steps as they can see their method in another form and the act of writing it down helps to consolidate. 

Next Steps:
As MathsBuddy is all online David may need encouraging to write his answers and working out instead of doing it in his head even if he can.  Check to see if this along with some of the other strategies suggested make any difference when it comes time to take diagnostic test.  Possibly find another way to check his understadning rather than diagnostics as he seems to also have a mental block about these.  Paper test, oral test?? Test at all??

1. Give directions in multiple formats

Students benefit from being given directions in both visual and verbal formats. In addition, their understanding and memorizing of instructions could be checked by encouraging them to repeat the directions given and explain the meaning of these directions. Examples of what needs to be done are also often helpful for enhancing memory of directions.

2. Teach students to over-learn material

Students should be taught the necessity of "over-learning" new information. Often they practice only until they are able to perform one error-free repetition of the material. However, several error-free repetitions are needed to solidify the information.

3. Teach students to use visual images and other memory strategies

Another memory strategy that makes use of a cue is one called word substitution. The substitute word system can be used for information that is hard to visualize, for example, for the word occipital or parietal. These words can be converted into words that sound familiar that can be visualized. The word occipital can be converted to exhibit hall (because it sounds like exhibit hall). The student can then make a visual image of walking into an art museum and seeing a big painting of a brain with big bulging eyes (occipital is the region of the brain that controls vision). With this system, the vocabulary word the student is trying to remember actually becomes the cue for the visual image that then cues the definition of the word.

4. Give teacher-prepared handouts prior to class lectures

Class lectures and series of oral directions should be reinforced by teacher-prepared handouts. The handouts for class lectures could consist of a brief outline or a partially completed graphic organizer that the student would complete during the lecture. Having this information both enables students to identify the salient information that is given during the lectures and to correctly organize the information in their notes. Both of these activities enhance memory of the information as well. The use of Post-Its to jot information down on is helpful for remembering directions.

5. Teach students to be active readers

To enhance short-term memory registration and/or working memory when reading, students should underline, highlight, or jot key words down in the margin when reading chapters. They can then go back and read what is underlined, highlighted, or written in the margins. To consolidate this information in long-term memory, they can make outlines or use graphic organizers. Research has shown that the use of graphic organizers increases academic achievement for all students.

6. Write down steps in math problems

Students who have a weakness in working memory should not rely on mental computations when solving math problems. For example, if they are performing long division problems, they should write down every step including carrying numbers. When solving word problems, they should always have a scratch piece of paper handy and write down the steps in their calculations. This will help prevent them from losing their place and forgetting what they are doing.

7. Provide retrieval practice for students

Research has shown that long-term memory is enhanced when students engage in retrieval practice. Taking a test is a retrieval practice, i.e., the act of recalling information that has been studied from long-term memory. Thus, it can be very helpful for students to take practice tests. When teachers are reviewing information prior to tests and exams, they could ask the students questions or have the students make up questions for everyone to answer rather than just retelling students the to-be-learned information. Also, if students are required or encouraged to make up their own tests and take them, it will give their parents and/or teachers information about whether they know the most important information or are instead focused on details that are less important.

8. Help students develop cues when storing information

According to the memory research, information is easier retrieved when it is stored using a cue and that cue should be present at the time the information is being retrieved. For example, the acronym HOMES can be used to represent the names of the Great Lakes — Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior. The acronym is a cue that is used when the information is being learned, and recalling the cue when taking a test will help the student recall the information.

9. Prime the memory prior to teaching/learning

Cues that prepare students for the task to be presented are helpful. This is often referred to as priming the memory. For instance, when a reading comprehension task is given, students will get an idea of what is expected by discussing the vocabulary and the overall topic beforehand. This will allow them to focus on the salient information and engage in more effective depth of processing. Advance organizers also serve this purpose. For older students, Clif Notes for pieces of literature are often helpful aids for priming the memory.

10. Review material before going to sleep

It should be helpful for students to review material right before going to sleep at night. Research has shown that information studied this way is better remembered. Any other task that is performed after reviewing and prior to sleeping (such as getting a snack, brushing teeth, listening to music) interferes with consolidation of information in memory.

From
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/10-strategies-enhance-students-memory


Link to Teaching Standard


-  Develop learning focused relationships with learners, enabling them to be active participants in the process of learning, sharing ownership and responsibility for learning.

Questions I might ask myself

• Do I understand effective pedagogy as described in the NZC?
• What are ways that I can successfully engage ākonga?
• Strategies
•  Discussing my practice with colleagues and being open to new ideas.
• Understanding and using a range of innovative, co-operative and inquiry learning approaches.

TBCS - Helping Each Other Out - Judy-Anne

One of the girls from Room 4 was looking particularly unhappy yesterday so I suggested to Steve she might need some Room 1 time. (Knowing that there has been a big change in their home life lately and Mum is currently sick)
She came down soon after cross country training and stayed on the sidelines a little. Then she was quite happy to come over and make her own Mothers Day card. She went out to break quite happily, stayed with her class during the next session for her times tables work and writing then joined us again after lunch. She did a lovely job of supporting the Room 1 children with their playing and chatted nicely about who she could talk to about what is currently upsetting her. She has already spoken to an outside provider and decided she is quite happy to talk with Steve. Hopefully they have done that today when Steve had some time available.

This is quite a long winded way of saying that we all tend to have an idea of when things are going a bit pear shaped for our students, even when they are not students in our class. No-one ever needs to feel that they have to deal with difficulties by themselves.

Hopefully this increases her well being because she knows more people are there for her but also increases our well being as we know we have others there to support us too.


Standard 4- Learning-focused culture
Manage the learning setting to ensure access to learning for all and to maximise learners’ physical, social, cultural and emotional safety.

• Fostering tuakana/tēina relationships.

Mihi Assessment: Margaret 9 April 2019

Appraisal Documentation

Margaret PCT Course 20 March 2019

Effective Classroom Management
Do:

Consistent Routines/orderly

Teaching of Devotions – Character Traits focus each term

Individual learning spaces plus tables in the middle if students wish to work together.

THINK Chart on the wall

Free time – choosing if work is completed

Engaging work – students have their own goals to work toward/self motivated/laptops

Modelling

explicit teaching

have expectations

build relationships

Be:

Approachable

Available

Culturally responsive/aware

A learner

 Be mindful of your influence

Know

Know the learners / where they are at

The subject

School systems

The school community

The Curriculum

IEPs

Page 31 of the Curriculum (Creating effective Pedagogy)

Standards for the Teaching Profession
Discussions on ways to link standards and recording evidence

To Get
Mentor Teacher Registration number

I and M
- Observations (minimum of 2-3 per year) with a focus each time - could be any teacher
Get Video from Vicky
Discussions on observation with mentor with my voice in there/Actions
Record meeting with teacher
Evidence of reflective practice 
PLD - LINK to classroom practice(see in planning)
Written feedback on  progress to meeting standards

Sharing with other teachers (resources)
 

Year 7/8 Gail Loan Writing

Flippity - teams, small groups

Maths Games

Dymock - maths

You cubed - maths

Maths Shed

Maths is Fun

www.maukiteako.co.nz

Join code:  primary

Maori History

Primary Te Takanga o te Wa

Next steps/Reflections
Discussing the DOs, Be's, Know made me feel quite confident that I am meeting these already in the classroom in the way I am doing things.  Especially in the area of positive relationships.  Talking to other teachers on the course, I realise how lucky I am to be in a school that has such a focus on relationships and developing those character traits through our devotions and special character.  Many schools are told there is to absolutely no religious content at all or even have specific character focus lessons/starting the day with a karakia/prayer or even discussions around touchy subjects.  Recent events such as fires, graphic videos and Christchurch are discussed at home only so to be able to talk openly and pray as a class makes such a difference to the feel of the school.  To have such a focus on this to the point if students are not in the space to learn then we have the time to deal with individuals as needed.

Next steps also for me include being more consistent in recording evidence especially conversations with Judy-Anne and Steve.