Maths observation - TAI

Last week my team leader came in during maths time for an observation. The learning intention of the lesson was to order decimals to two d.p, and be able to put them on a numberline, knowing the difference between a tenth and a hundredth. The focus for my observation was around reflection at the end of the lesson. It is important to me that my class are reflecting on their learning, making links to the learning intention/goal. I also expect them to be able to identify if they're struggling and specifically what part of the learning they need to work on. I am using the resource given by the maths advisors and find that it works really well. 

What is not going so well is the written reflection. We often forget, so the interval bell will ring and we would have missed our reflecting time completely. Also, written reflections are still often about task completion, rather than actual learning. I think the next step in remedying this would be to get the kids to use the same reflection prompts that we use for verbal reflection, in their written reflections. Also need to set a timer each day! 

I've noticed in Riley and Ben, a real sense of ownership over their learning and they are spending their independent time on RELEVANT activities. They have even been bringing their evidence to me without my asking. The real proof if this is working will be when I see this learning demonstrated in a different context, totally independently. 

So overall, happy with the things I'm trying. I just need to be really consistent and ensure reflection is done well.

Lesson observation sheet from T.A.

The Treaty of Waitangi and Future Focussed Education

19/5/17

Below are my notes from a P.D session I attended at Havelock North High School on May 19th 2017, about the Treaty of Waitangi and its place in the future of education. I was reassured to hear that much of what the speakers recommended is what is already starting to happen at HNI and in my own classroom. There were a few key things that really made me think… those were:

We need to adapt what we view ‘success’ as. Why does it have to only be about academics, why not empathy? Respect? Mana? (gifts that many Maori children are blessed with) Could this mean a different way of reporting to parents? How would this work around National standards? Are we really seeing the WHOLE student and celebrating all the other areas they are succeeding in?

Notes:

What’s the Treaty got to do with it?

Te Titiri o Waitangi - Future Focussed Education

How do the three articles of the Treaty look in our future focussed schools?

Biculturalism is a byproduct or outcome of the political relationship between Maori and the British crown.

What does our future look like?

• Estimated that up to 80% of the current workforce will be automated.
• Active seekers of knowledge - relevant, right now, just in time
• Skills based competencies, creativity, emotional intelligence, problem solvers
• Not passive consumers - beyond the 3R’s - don’t just come to school to be ‘filled up’

Article 1 - Honorable Governance

Te Tiriti formed with the future in mind - how do we tie what we alerady have here in NZ with the new future focussed skills - how does this look in education?

• Shared leadership models - some schools trying flattened models, distributed leadership
• Universal Design for Learning - how the kids are able to create their own path to their learning
• Communication that is totally transparent - anyone who is a stakeholder should be in the n
• Honorable Governance should mean that in any school we should see that you are in Aotearoa - two cultures being equitably represented in all areas of a school

Article 2 - Maori authority, Maori autonomy, Rangatiratanga

• Maori didn’t see themselves as a collective group ‘Maori’ until colonisation. Before that they only thought of themselves as Hapu - all very different
• You can be who you are
• Asserting their Rangatiratara (Mana) giving students agency, choice, options to choose their own way of learning, place to learn
• Passion projects - learning models where kids get to learn about themselves,follow their unique interests
• What is the stuff we can’t leave to chance (the explicit stuff) leave the rest to Passion
• Students having opportunities to be in a teaching role - this is ako, especially when the teacher is in a learner role
• Talking to whanau - what works for you? School go TO whanau, rather than always inviting them into school. Letting go of the control. Whanau may feel vulnerable/uncomfortable when visiting the school, similar to a Pakeha person visiting a marae
• How many decisions do we really make with our kids at school?
• Maori students achieving educational success as Maori - value placed on being Maori

Article 3 - Citizenship, equity, same rights as British

• Maori can still retain their ways of being
• Equitable access to everything, regardless of who you are
• Re-think what success looks like, redefine what we communicate to our whanau as success
• Does it always have to be about reading, writing and maths - what about all the other ways of being successful?
• Equitable representation of both cultures is not happening in staff
• Te reo Maori is for everyone - it is everyone’s responsibility to keep it alive
• Needs to be integrated - Te reo having Mana and status
• Maori giftedness - are these kids being celebrated? E.g. manaakitangata an ethos of care
• Equitable presences of Maori and non-Maori, books, language, signs
• Te reo - valued, seen, shared - no matter who you are
• ‘Everyday I walk in your world. Only when you walk in mine will we have achieved biculturalism’

Article 4 - The spoken promise (talked about)

• Protecting the spiritual beliefs and practices of Maori

Class Survey

I am thrilled with the results of this survey. It shows I have increased the amount of Te Reo I use which was a goal of mine from last year. I have taken note of the children who have mentioned the work being too easy as this is something I'm very conscious of, especially as I have so many high achievers this year. It is helpful to get this feedback nice and early so I can make some changes. It would be nice to know who the anomalies are in some cases so I could really make a difference for those kids.

How restorative am I? Reflection - Term 1

How Restorative Am I?

Take a moment to reflect on how, in your role, you deal with students when an incident or issue has arisen. Answer the questions below, shading the boxes according to this scale:

1 = not often

2= usually

3 = always

1. Do I remain calm during the conversation? 1 2 3

2. Do I really listen, without interrupting? 1 2 3

3. Does the student understand why they are having this conversation? 1 2 3

4. Would the student feel I am a good listener? 1 2 3

5. Do we explore how the school values apply to the issue? 1 2 3

6. Does the student understand the harm they’ve caused, who has been affected, and how? 1 2 3

7. Do I talk about how the incident affects me? 1 2 3

8. Do I take responsibility for any part I might have played when things went wrong, acknowledge it, and apologise? 1 2 3

9. If the student apologises to me, do I accept the apology respectfully? 1 2 3

10. Do I collaborate with the student to formulate a plan? 1 2 3

11. Have I, at any stage, asked someone I trust to observe my practice and give me honest feedback? 1 2 3

12. Do I try to handle most issues or incidents myself? 1 2 3

13. Do I seek support when issues get tricky for me? 1 2 3

14. Do I follow the school’s systems when looking for more support? 1 2 3

15. Is the relationship with the student repaired? 1 2 3

Look through your results and use them to identify where you could further strengthen your communication skills and restorative approach.

My RP goal/s moving forward could be;

1) Refer back to the school values more when dealing with behaviour/learning issues

2) Make a point to discuss WHO is affected by an issue (including me) and how to restore those relationships.

Te Reo classroom labels

Maths TAI 2016

Maths Workspace

To give my students choice and more opportunities to drive their own maths learning, I use workspaces. These are set-up to work alongside the maths workshops as the place to go to practise skills and do evidence tasks when they think they have mastered a learning intention. The workspace has a range of different activities for different learner's tastes - games, tutorial videos, rich tasks, practise activities from workbooks etc.

Speaking te reo informally in class

This term I have made an effort to increase the amount of te reo I speak to the students, outside of Te Reo language learning time. These have been small but frequent pieces of language. We learn the phrase of the week, I am using te reo for praise and things like page numbers of journal stories (turn to wharangi rua tekau ma toru). We have also learned a te reo chanting game and sometimes listen to Maori waiata while working.

The students are quite used to me using te reo in these small ways. It is a start but I would like to improve my own language knowledge so I can say more in class and with more confidence.

Maths Formal Observation and reflection

I feel that I have made good progress with using the 5 talk moves and it has become a normal part of maths that the students expect. I find myself using the moves without really knowing I am - telling me that it is starting to become a way of 'being' - more than just something I 'do'. The talk is still largely led by myself and I am making an effort to direct the students' talk back to each other and less back to me in the 'ping pong' style. I use lots of think, pair, share but I don't yet think the students are thinking deeply about each others' responses which is something that Jody picked up on in this Observation. I agree that my next step is having the students discussing more freely and having them lead it. Jody and discussed how this might be a challenge. We thought about explicitly teaching them to lead a discussion through modelling and 'role play' and using prompt cards. Deb also introduced me to the idea of a 'fishbowl', where half the group sit down and solve a problem and the other half observe on the outside and then ask questions for clarification. When I tried this, the questioning was very basic - only 'how did you work that out' etc, then there was little to no challenging or further questioning once they heard the explanation. This is something I would really like to work on as it is totally student to student conversation.

Tracking sheet in beginning stage

Data tracking of target students

Reflecting on my Maths Video

Maths through Art

Demonstrating reflection, rotation, translation and symmetry through art. Opportunity for students to use their visual/creative abilities to explore mathematical concepts.