Evaluation of 2020 Intervention

2021 CoL Interview

 Col Interview Questions

What achievement challenge are you considering as an area of focus in 2021 and why? Include in your WHY both evidence and your own passion/expertise

I have decided to continue working on Reading. As I teach both classes Reading, I have the opportunity to further trial strategies that will benefit a wider audience. Also, I chose Reading as I feel I will get more ‘bang for my buck’ as improved literacy skills will have a positive impact on Mathematics, especially word problems. 

What learnings from the 2017 - 2020 CoL teacher inquiries have informed or inspired your thinking.

I have been very grateful for the assistance of Dr Jannie. Dr Jannie has continued to support me in using chunking and deep-diving. My 2020 learning will always be part of my pedagogy. 

I have also been inspired by reading Poto’s blog. I loved how she found creative ways to reach her students during lockdown and it made me want to do more. 

How would your work support Manaiakalani pedagogy and  kaupapa?

Learn: strategies to achieve Tuakana teina

Create: Children use the strategies that they learned in order to produce someting e.g. DLO

Share: Blog/ Share on screen/ ako

Which elements of the extensive Manaiakalani research findings inform or challenge you as you think about this?

WFR showed reading was an area for improvement across the cluster.  HLP (high leverage practices). Using authentic texts to encourage deeper discussions. Using a range of strategies to promote critical thinking e.g. including three-level guide/ questioning/agency/ literature circles (collaboration to encourage student agency)

How would you like to be supported in 2021 as you undertake this inquiry?

Continued support of management and the BOT. Sharing during syndicate and whole-staff meetings. COL meeting support

CoL across school person to touch base with me, to verify and support

DFI offered to teachers who have previously completed it. Learn new Google innovations* in order to keep up with the latest developments.

How would you plan to support your colleagues in your school with THEIR inquiries and/or teaching in the area you are exploring?

Continue support collaborative PLD/ sharing expertise and what works in the classrooms/ syndicate and whole staff PLD. 

Blogpost #1: Inquiry Stocktake

Reflection: What worked for me?

• Having support and guidance from Dr van Hees.

• Having supportive colleagues who were also available to act as 'sounding boards'.

• Using various sources of data to inform my practice.

Challenges

• Impressing upon students to the importance of attending school regularly and not to stay away for frivolous reasons.

• Consistently reflecting on my practice.

• Understanding why there was such a huge gap between vocabulary PAT scores and comprehension PAT scores- One would assume that if you have good vocabulary knowledge it will lead to better comprehension.

Additional Support I'd Like

• Working with Dr van Hees to have a thorough understanding of the theoretical ideas underpinning her practice.

What I aim to learn about Inquiry this year

• Ensuring my blog entries are clear and unambiguous - making sure my actions can be replicated.

Monitoring Success

The most difficult part of my inquiry is learning new things - it's human nature to want to continue using what we know because we are comfortable with it and we've refined it! It is extremely hard to take on board new learning because new learning inevitably comes with mistakes and sometimes failure. 

One of the biggest challenges I  encountered was not having as much to show at the end of a lesson as much of the work was done during the lesson- my lessons had become more interactive. I had become so accustomed to having several pieces of work to show that the work had been covered, but in hindsight I can see that I was more concerned with quantity rather than real quality. 

I can see that deep diving and chunking has made a difference to most students in my class, but I will only have the data to back up my observations and anecdotal notes once we do our end of year PAT tests.

 

Observation by Dr van Hees- Changes in Practice

Dr van Hees had modelled a reading lesson in my class in Term 2 and I have been using the strategies that she showed me. I had an observation today, as I wanted to be sure that I was doing it correctly.

The students enjoyed the reading using chunking, and are almost able to  do chunk independently. I used a whole-class text with lots of scaffolding of vocabulary. Vocabulary needs to be taught explicitly, even though most vocabulary learning occurs incidentally, through engagement with spoken language and reading. The number one requirement for vocabulary learning is large amounts of of language input at the right level for the learners.  Research by Farkas and Beron (2004) shows that the vocabulary gap between high and low socioeconomic learners is established by about the age of 5 and is persistent unless there is a determined effort to support a very rapid gain of vocabulary knowledge for learners who have lower levels of vocabulary knowledge at an early schooling age. - excerpt from 'What every primary school teacher should know about vocabulary' by Jannie van Hees and Paul Nation.

Some feedback from students about doing whole-class reading, using chunking and deep-diving:

Sam: "This is so much better than doing vocabulary maps. Vocabulary maps are boring and it takes long to complete."
Sau: " No-one feels dumb 'cause we're all doing the same story."
Lathaniel:  "Spending lots of time on vocabulary makes it stick."