Joanna Wilcox 2016 Inquiry

BIG IDEA:

This year I intend to explore the notion that knowing the learner, teaching in an explicit fashion, targeting future focused thinking skills

and promoting self-managing learners will help raise levels of achievement in all learners but especially my target group of Maori

and Pasifika children.

Rationale 1: Current trend in education whereby:

● Schools should now be focusing on Future Focused Learning. Our world has changed. Our children will need thinking skills to navigate this change.

● Knowledge can come to you anywhere, such as streaming media - we don’t need bricks and mortar to achieve this.

● Big changes that have been driven by changing technology including the change from film cameras to digital cameras, the move from dvd’s to digital files, the decrease in hard-copy newspaper readership in favour of online news and the decline of home landline telephones in favour of cellular phones and smartphones.

Refer: Tony Wagner - Harvard Professor of Innovation - Future Focused Learning

Sugata Mitra TED Talk 2013 - The Future of Learning. The revolution in learning from the Victorian model of teaching to the modern day.

Why did I choose these ideas to study?

Rationale 2: Future Focused Learning:● Economist intelligence, survey of options/problem-solving is needed in order to

create

● Schools need to promote higher-level thinking/entrepreneurial thinking not knowledge-based regurgitation

● The Learner needs to know why they are learning and how to learn-AFOL

● Time to explore - Children need to spend time solving a problem. Problem solving should now be priority learning

Rationale 3: Knowledge is a commodity● Affordance - this is an architectural term, and a great model of thinking to explore

● Creativity - Is not just art, but higher-order thinking

Refer: Julie Atkin - Vision and Values Document

● Connections to community are vital (imperative to know social/cultural backgrounds of the learner)

● Ensure authentic learning is based on the individual (know your learner)

● Promote Ako - where children teach each other

● Allow for exploration of their thinking/creativity - trial of Must-do’s/Can do’s

Rationale 4: Effective Pedagogy - ‘What is good teaching?’ - John Hattie

Refer: John Hattie - What is good teaching?

Refer: John Hattie: Why are so many of our teachers and schools so successful?

● Activate the other ‘30’ teachers (other children) and move away from the teacher as the only source of knowledge

● Peer tutoring is particularly effective with Maaori and Pasifika children

● Specific and direct instruction is also particularly effective with Maaori and Pasifika

● Practicing/revising/refining thinking is encouraged

● The most powerful teachers reflect on their own teaching and learning - “Now What?”

Rationale 5: Strategies To Promote Higher-Order Thinking/Improve Results of Target Children

● ‘Snowballing’ = Pause, Paraphrase, Probe - inquire, clarify

● Power of Languages/Empower other children as teachers e.g. When a child speaks, say to another: ‘What are some of your ideas? What do you think of that?’ This encourages thinking about thinking which is metacognition.

● Implement - ‘Turn and Tell Your Buddy..’

● Implement - ‘Learning Buddies’ where children learn from each other

● Implement - ‘TAPS’ = Think-Aloud-Problem-Solving

● Implement - Specific Rubrics for skill building

Rationale 5: Strategies To Promote Higher-Order Thinking/Improve Results of Target Children (contd)

● Have very clear W.A.L.Ts and Success Criteria for each lesson and skill

● Encourage multi-solution problem solving

● Use graphic organisers like: PMI charts to promote thinking.

● Questioning - Promote Children asking other children questions not just teacher-student interactions. Teach specific questioning phrases.

● Promote expanding memory - play matching and recognition games, also ‘KIMs Game’ and use B.Brann building block cards to promote improved memory and cognitive skills.

Refer: David Sousa ‘Make learning memorable and fun’

What will my target children need?

According to research, my target children will progress further with very explicit, clear teaching.

They will need a good understanding of:

● Why we are at school?● What is learning?● What does a good learner look like? Sound like? Do?● What are learning intentions?● What does WALT mean?● How will we know we have done this?● What will we do next?● How could we make it better?● Clear steps to learning and a knowledge of where to next?

What will I need?

I will need:

● A good understanding of the target children , their families and their backgrounds

● To explicitly teach behaviours around learning buddies and oral feedback with buddies

● To teach and model what a question is and how to ask a question and wait for an answer

● To link learning clearly to personal experiences and don’t teach isolated lessons e.g., use the same word for the reader in oral language and in writing and in cut up sentences and playdough activity

● To repeat, revisit and link learning to previous days● To give ample opportunity for thinking, exploring, practising and changing

I will approach this by trialling the following each term

Term 1

● Afol - Why are we here? What is a learner? How do we help each other to learn? How do I learn?

○ Rubrics○ Skills, steps/rockets for learning

● Managing impulsivity (Art Coster)● Perseverance (Art Coster)

http://assessment.tki.org.nz/Assessment-in-the-classroom/Assessment-for-learning-in-practice/Clarity-about-the-learning

I will approach this by trialling the following each term

Term 2

● Learning buddies● What is a question? How do I ask questions?● Think, pair, share● Wait time● Future focussed problem solving. What is the problem? How can we solve it?● Can do’s and must do’s● Is there more than one answer? The first answer is not the only answer● Discovery time (go into Term 3 also)

I will approach this by trialling the following each term

Term 3

● Think alouds - with teacher modelling thinking skills● Memory Games - Kim’s game/Barbara Brann building blocks for metacognition● PMI charts● Independent routines● Owl/frog● Discovery time/Barbara Brann

Term 1

Action I took (contd):● We discussed rubrics at the start of every literacy lesson. See photos “what do

good readers do”. “Good writers - checklists x 2” ● These individual rubrics were also included in every child’s ABC book and sent

home● A fair amount of time was spent clearly and explicitly reviewing our photos,

rubrics and daily WALT● I also took photos of children who were showing great practise/explicit actions

in literacy. These were displayed. See photos of Dan, Sophie, Isileli

Who is Targeted?

My target children are:

● Isileli Mamatuki (Tongan - low reading and writing)● Kaiva Etuati (Samoan - low reading and writing)● Arjun Bal (Samoan/Maori - low reading and writing)● Jayden Herewini (Maori - low reading and writing)● Piripi Hawkins (Maori - low reading and writing)

Term 1

Goal 1:To find out about the backgrounds and whanau/aiga/famili of my target students

Action I took:● Personal phone calls to introduce myself● Face to face meetings● 1 home visit (I left with a bag of potatoes!)● “Getting to know you” sheet sent home in cartoon form which was funky,

accessible and easy to read (see evidence criteria)● Mihi and opportunity to share whakapapa given (Piripi returned with several A3

sheets of his lineage)● Photographs of each child taken Greetings from their special country added

and displayed with map

Term 1

Photograph of maps here:

Term 1

Gallery wall:The back wall of the classroom is devoted to display each child’s personal choice of work and art. They added family photos, art, maps, feathers, rosary beads, tickets from family outings, catalogue flyers of favourite toys, etc.

Term 1

Reflection:The families and children were proud to share their whakapapa. Some parents did a project with their child and put significant effort into presenting them, which was a pleasant surprise.

The gallery wall has been a huge hit and most successful. I have been able to see different personalities and backgrounds and personalities emerging. I love how little plastic bags of shells, feathers, rosary beads and a Niuean necklace found their way to our wall. I plan to use this all year.

With the rigorous individual testing and the whanau contact, I now feel I have a great platform to work from. I feel confident that I “know my learner”

Term 1

Goal 2:To discus AFOL - Why are we here? What is a learner? How do I learn? How do we help each other to learn?

Action I took:● We explored and discussed the questions above drama and role play and I took

photos of what Room 8 thought great learning was. These were displayed● We made a variety of bugs and worked out “what bugs us when we are trying

to learn?”● We learned about what a WALT is● I shared the reading rocket (see photo) to show where we need to be at 6

years old● Each child had an individual rocket in their ABC books with highlighted next

steps for them (depending on where they were on the ready to read colour wheel)

I will approach this by trialling the following each term

Term 4● Self-managing learners● How to blog (personal goal)● Involving the students in their own learning/constantly checking in on making

connections to prior learning/always asking why are we learning this?● Thinking dispositions/what do good learners use?● Tying all Inquiry together and evaluating success

Term 1Reflection:I proved that formative type assessment, explicit goal setting rubrics and plenty of Learning conversations with questions like “What do you think you are learning?” and “How will you know you have learnt it?” does shift learners.

As well as the hard copy evidence of “good readers” poster and “good writers” poster all strategies tried gave very clear, methodical steps to learning .I felt my target group could easily articulate what good readers do and show me the photos of this. It was useful to begin each group session with looking at these pictorial steps.

However due to the nature and personalities in our class, I felt I needed to introduce:

a) A plenary system like the OWLS to check understandingb) Managing impulsivity/perseverance from Art Coster

We also modelled and role played often, eg: I would stop the class often, to highlight children who were showing perseverance etc. I was trying to target Isileli, Kingston and Kaiva who did not persist with a task.

Term 2

Goal:To promote self-managing learners by shifting the reliance on the teacher to the other “26 teachers in the room” (i.e their peers)

Action I took:● I introduced “learning buddies” which we changed every 3 weeks● We modelled lots of scaffolded speech (even how to sit -knee to knee” and

“eye to eye” and how to look a the speaker. We modelled how to say something and then wait for their buddy to have their turn

● I introduced and reinforced learning and language like “WALT”, “success criteria”, “feedback”, and “rubrics”.

● We practised sitting knee to knee and eye to eye and asking a simple question with wait time for answers (in other contexts) e.g., What did you have for breakfast? How do you spell your name? What do you do after school?

Term 2

Action I took (contd):● Photos of listening buddies were used and displayed● We moved to encouraging student-generated questioning e.g., What did you

like about your book?● I gave lots of encouragement to students finding their own answers● I talked about learning buddies at the start of every lesson when I explained

“Must do’s” and “Can do’s” (read further for elaboration)● I stopped the class and had buddies ‘reply and role play’ their actions. If I

noticed buddies discussing their learning, we unpacked why that was good● Next, I refered learning buddies to our pictorial rubrics (from Term 1) e.g., What

do good readers do?, writing checklists and maths rockets● I encouraged learning buddies to discuss what their next learning step was

* Refer to: Reading on the theory - Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development “there is

more effective learning with support of others”.

Term 2

Reflection:I tried hard to focus on promoting self-regulated learners and how our learning buddies could help us just as much as a teacher.

I needed to be aware of social, emotional, cultural and academic needs, so I decided to match learning buddies myself, rather than let the children choose.

Learning about ‘what is a question’ was tricky at first for some children who just wanted to ‘tell’.

Having a learning buddy dramatically reduced the number of interruptions in small group workChildren felt empowered and enjoyed walking around with their rubrics and checklists. They loved discussing where they were up to and giving their partner a tick.

I felt it improved my target children’s sense of self worth in that it motivated them to stay on task more as they knew what they were doing and why.

Term 2

Reflection (contd):The children enjoyed buddy reading and requested to do it.

Having our peers monitor and check in on our rubrics motivated my target children (and the whole class) to stay on task. The questioning helped the buddy to dig deeper and explain why they were doing something.

It was empowering for the children and rewarding for me to see 5 year olds be so explicit and aware of their learning steps.

Term 2

Second action: Must do’s and can do’s● These were introduced as pictures after a brainstorm about what might help us

practise our learning. ● The pictures were then also colour-coded with coloured spots to further show

what was a must do and what was a can do● Children could then clearly discuss with their buddy what their must and can

do’s were for each subject including reading, writing and maths

Term 2

Reflection:● Giving choices and letting children regulate how long they spent doing must

do’s before they could do can do’s was a refreshing change from me constantly monitoring and moving groups around a taskboard. There were natural consequences if it took too long!

● Also it gave more opportunities for interaction and mixing of ability groups. Eg: a reader from Red group might easily find themselves at the play dough table with someone much more capable from the Orange group.

● I could also allow for children who wanted to spend time and explore an activity at length.

● There was also an element of accountability eg: A buddy would quickly make sure you had done your “must dos” if they found you on the last ipad available! Refer photograph Must do/Can do

● I think 5 year olds SHOULD be encouraged to have a choice in their learning activities.

Term 2

Third Action: GoalTo explore “What is a problem?”

Action I took:● We discussed the question and role played some scenarios together so that the

problem of a ‘problem’ was understood Example 1: We all went on a mimed walk around the room with our lunch boxes. A big bear came. We got scared. Our lunchbox dropped. “Oh no, we had a problem because our yoghurt spilled out.”Example 2: We were reading our reader. We turned the page. “Oh no, we had a problem. There was a big hard word.”

● Once the concept of a problem was understood, we discussed solutions. We talked about how there is not just one way to solve a problem, there are hundreds.

Term 2

Action I took (contd):● Learning partners/buddies were encouraged to come up with solutions. We

celebrated diversity of answers.

Good thinkers chart

Term 2

Reflection:● The language of being a problem solver is now firmly engrained. I stopped the

class at every opportunity to share if people had solved a problem.● I modelled problem solving e.g., “Etap wouldn’t open for morning roll. Should I

throw the laptop on the ground? Should I get grumpy?” Then I asked the children for solutions. The solutions were wonderful and varied.

● My aim was to support my target children and shift them out of the “I can’t do it” mindset. The goal was to help them see that problems are normal, and hard for everyone, but we don’t give up. We look for solutions.

● I also wanted to give a voice and a speech structure to those who needed the opportunity to say “This learning is hard, I have a problem.”

● It has been a successful shift in mindset. A side effect has been to give a voice to others who find it difficult e.g., Sam who is autistic.

Term 3

Goal 1:To target future focussed thinking skills.

Action I took:● I explored Discovery time and what it is. “Discovery time is a hands-on activity-

based programme that puts children in control of their own learning. The teacher sets the scene but the students decide on the action”*Refer: Discovery time: Developing key competencies through activity based

learningwww.discoverytime.co.nz

● I set up an activity space and used the key competencies as WALTSSee photo - We are learning to try hard to do things for ourselves

● I explained the key competency and linked it to Art Coster’s Thinking Dispositions

● We then made sure there was sharing time at the end to say “This is what I did today”...”I tried hard because…”

Term 3

Reflection:Discovery time is a useful option for ensuring the student is at the centre of their learning. It was good to link it back to the key competencies and Thinking Dispositions. However I would have liked more time to investigate this and see how other schools do discovery time. I think that would have been valuable. I would like to buy the book “Discovery Time” - with CD for $48.00 by Brenda Martin and Gay Hay.

The process of discovery time did support my theory that children learn best when they are in control and have a high interest in what they are learning. If they are interested, they are more likely to ask questions, be more creative, persevere for longer and take learning to a different level. There is a much greater emphasis on student-directed learning.

I also liked how it naturally led to “Have you had any problems?”...“How did you do that?”...”Where did that idea come from?”...and it consolidated our “What is a problem” work in Term 2.

Term 3

Reflection (contd):I came a bit unstuck as to how marry up this wonderful process with shifting achievement in my target children. I will need to discuss this with Judith but I can see how the process empowered the learner. Isileli, Arjun and Jayden were great problem solvers. I can also see how this process will support the child for self-directed learning.

I am wanting to explore how to use this process with literacy? Can it be connected to must and can do’s? It does have natural links to improving oral language and I like the links it has to “Te Whaariki” and the open-ended experiences initiated by the spontaneous creative activity.

I also appreciate the solid theoretical base behind discovery time. Refer: “Boys need more time to play” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmHWjCL_inc

Discovery time is a useful option for ensuring the student is at the centre of their learning. It was good to link it back to the key competencies and Thinking Dispositions. However I would have liked more time to investigate this and see how other schools do discovery time. I think that would have been valuable. I would like to buy the book “Discovery Time” - with CD for $48.00 by Brenda Martin and Gay Hay.

The process of discovery time did support my theory that children learn best when they are in control and have a high interest in what they are learning. If they are interested, they are more likely to ask questions, be more creative, persevere for longer and take learning to a different level. There is a much greater emphasis on student-directed learning.

I also liked how it naturally led to “Have you had any problems?”...“How did you do that?”...”Where did that idea come from?”...and it consolidated our “What is a problem” work in Term 2.

Giving choices and letting children regulate how long they spent doing must do’s before they could do can do’s was a refreshing change from constantly monitoring and moving groups around a taskboard. There were natural consequences if it took too long!

Term 3

Reflection (contd):Refer: Dockett Sue - Australia https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/inform

Art Coster - “Assessment Strategies for Self-Directed Learning [Sage Publications]

In conclusion, I want to continue to explore this by:

a) Viewing planning sheets for discovery time and viewing possible activitiesb) Viewing other schools in actionc) Exploring how this could be used to support literacy enhancements

This enquiry remains open!

Term 3

Goal 2:To strengthen memory pathways for my target children.

Action I took:● To explore and research “a child’s working memory”. How do we hold on to

and work with information stored?” Children use working memory to learn and follow directions

● Is it possible to ‘boost’ s child’s working memory in daily life?● I researched and implemented some fun activities that worked on visualisation

skills. I encourages children to create a picture in their minds of what they had just read. I encouraged mental pictures. We called this “thinking bubbles on our mind’s T.V.

● Next we progressed to writing basic sight words in colours and get the child to visualise the letter and the colour on their “mind’s T.V.”

● We learnt some key words in this fashion. We practised key words at the start of a group reading session using this technique.

Refer:https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/learning-at-home/homework-study-skills/8-working-memory-boosters

Term 3

Reflection:Practising ‘active reading’ and visualising was very effective and it helped with reading comprehension. Learning key sight words by coloured letters ‘imaged’ on our mind’s T.V. was an effective strategy that supported my target students.

I want to further explore some memory enhancers. My ideas include making it multi sensory (we already make play dough words, but what else could we do?). Could we continue to make connections with rhymes and mnemonics or cultural themes?

Currently, I use elements like b.e.c.a.u.s.e. (big elephants can always use small elephants). Maybe this could be cultural or be a song?

Term 4

Goal 1:To bring all of these enquiry strands together with my body of evidence and research of current pedagogy.

Goal 2:Did these enquiries enhance and raise the achievement in all learners but especially Maori and Pacifica?

Goal 3:Are the learners self-managing?

Term 3

Actions:● To peruse and reflect on my research. I have researched current trends in

education and have provided a body of evidence that relates to the registered teaching criteria 1-12 in support of these inquiry

● I investigated future focussed learning by trialling explicit teaching models, implementing AFOL strategies. Most importantly, I have tried to promote self-managing learners.

● I have looked closely a “Strategies to promote higher order thinking” by John Hattie

Term 3

Results:● Arjun Bal: Emergent at Term 1, Orange at Term 4 (up 16 levels). Standards

exceeded.● Jayden Herewini: Emergent at Term 1, Green at Term 4 (up 14 levels). Standards

exceeded.● Isileli Mamatuki: Emergent at Term 1, Yellow at Term 4. He is currently on Reading

Recovery and is being investigated for memory issues and possible dyslexia. Isileli also has other learning difficulties

● Piripi Hawkins: Emergent at Term 1, Green at Term 4 (up 14 levels)● Kaiva and Etuati relocated schools

Term 3

Conclusion:Yes! Using pictorial rubrics, higher order thinking dispositions, explicitly teaching how to solve problems, what to do if we are stuck, empowering the student as a self-managing learner…

...has ALL contributed to success with my target group of learners.

Joanna Wilcox2016