Sunday 20 November 2016

What's maths got to do with it?

Is Numeracy Project really doing its job for us?



Current New Zealand research and results is showing evidence of students not achieving to their best ability.

Is it the Numeracy Project, our pedagogy or content knowledge that needs addressing?

How can we give the teachers more resources to select from and what are the foundation skills our teachers must be addressed?

Are we aligning in our practices across the school?

Prime Maths - could it be an alternative?

Dr Lester Flockton thinks so. He is currently doing research in Christchurch schools which is published on Scholastic website.

I was most concerned about how teachers implement when produced with a text book for every child. However, text books are designed for conversations between two children and teacher.

The lesson format is no different from Numeracy;
- concrete using concrete materials
- pictorial concepts are modeled by pictures representing concrete objects previously used
- abstract using only numbers, symbols, and mental thinking

Planning formats are all done. It includes resources and page numbers for the teacher. Available digitally.
Lestor Flockton has aligned to each curriculum level, ICAN, JAM and Gloss testing.


So;
My next steps;
Shared understanding of what is effective teaching looks like
Criteria of what is needed to raise student achievement
Understanding what teachers know about progressions and content knowledge.
What would support them more?

While these are my next steps,  the move away from Numeracy project, I believe is up to the interpretation of pedagogy and knowing your students, progressions and how students learn.

I guess for me it's finding the way teachers learn best in a curriculum area that may or may not be a comfort zone.

Sunday 30 October 2016

What are math leaders doing? Some important conversations.





What is acceleration? 
- more than expected amount of progress in set amount of time. 
- increase of work and attitude ethic 
-identifying blocks in learning that has held them back in the first place
- gathering data to assist in a new approach to support the ownership of the learning.
- change mindset for success due to low self esteem
- key prior knowledge is pre taught to prepare
- connected to class learning to keep them in the loop and identify where they are at in relation to their peers
-understanding larger concepts rather than parts of each stage
- teachers taking the time to look and listen for the blocks
-targeted actions
 teachers having an explicit moral commitment to excellence and equity 
-students are feeling challenged yet supported


What does it look like in your school?



What's the big deal about math vocabulary?
is required for enabling classroom discussions 
content specific vocabulary 
reading is not enough to build vocab

Strategies to develop language 
planned for direct and explicit teaching
Share your rich vocabulary. Deliberately using more challenging words in classroom discussions. 

Think Boards with; 
word, definition, pictorial representation, everyday language 


TIP - term, information, picture 
word - definition - example 

clines for measurement, time, weight, etc
discourse cards - could be great for parents at home as well!!

Updates to nzmaths... 
- problem solving section has been revised
- planning sheets revamped
-more modules added to e-ako
(these would be great for parent workshops) 


Questions for the team

How do we track children - individual / whole school
What questions do you have?

ILE / MLE 
What is working well?
What is providing challenges?
What are the opportunities?

Coverage fitting everything in?
ICT how are you using it in maths? 

So what does a balanced classroom look like?
Check out page 12 in the pink Getting started book. 

Our pink books have rich math tasks. Drop off the end part of the questions and let the children do the thinking. 









Thursday 27 October 2016

Have you heard of the Spread the Love Project?


Emotions matter in our classroom. 
Words matter.
Check out the smiles and the happy tears!

Tuesday 13 September 2016

What are literacy leaders doing?

TKI has a new portal full of examples for Accelerated Lift in Literacy - CHECK IT OUT 

Literacy Online 

U kite ako tu tanga ai āpopo.

Excel in teaching so our learners will excel in the future


The power of a quote to start dialogue about the role of leadership 

The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. Ralph Nader

Trues leadership lies in guiding others to success, in ensuring that everyone is performing at their, doing the work they are pledged to do and doing it well. Bill Owens 

A leader is a person you will follow to a place you would not go by yourself. Joel Barker.


Classroom Observations
Timperley (2013) 

Routine Experts  
Teachers transmit content and skills to students and give them opportunities to respond to that knowledge and practise these skills

Adaptive Experts 
Teachers who focus on 
  • promoting valued outcomes for each learner
  • continual learning professional 
  • promoting outcomes for each learner
  • know each learner 
  • find content or way of teaching them that will help them
  • ongoing inquiry to advance how their student outcomes
  • adapt their teaching for every learner
  • acquire more sophisticated knowledge of the learner and their learning

Start with the WHY; Great leaders inspire everyone to take action
Why? 
Protocols
Feedback

Why do we moderate? 
Tasks get more complex over time 
How consistent are we in our understanding of the literacy progressions? 
Do we align with National Standards?
Our OTJ's need to be defendable and justifiable 

PACT tool has a literacy exemplars that are awesome



Think Big
Think Real World
Think broad context about literacy


Tuesday 23 August 2016

How do I get them spelling correctly?

Strategies to improve proof reading and spelling 

- Explicit teaching and modelling of the process

- Daily expectations to form letters correctly and spell high frequency words correctly reinforcing visual memory

- Stand up and turn around - now you are a reader

- Practise class pronunciation of words to develop correct sounds

- Visual aids

- Cut up sentences to discuss parts of a sentence

- reread yesterdays writing

- Use models - children's own writing examples around the room, quality published pieces of text

- Word Search (lower case only, horizontal only to develop good visual recognition)

- Sound boxes

- Proof reading in a structured way - 1st punctuation, 2nd meaning

- Dictation - Read whole sentence, children repeats then writes. Proof read.

- Make it multi sensory!!!!


Wednesday 3 August 2016

What does a Literacy Leader do?

Literacy Leaders

The people that we lead have....
- diverse perspectives
- make assumptions



This is a mum who sold the last shovel at a hardware store during a snow storm. 


The Ladder of Inference Creates Bad Judgements


Question your assumptions and conclusions
Seek contrary data 

How do the roles within our school with dual roles

Collaborative Activities 
Buy, Sell and Exchange - 6 statements each then meet with a buddy to reduce to 6 then meet with four then eight. At the end 8 people 6 statements. (What is the role of Literacy Leader?)

What do we think a Literacy Leader does?
Rich dialogue and Conversations 
- provide provocations to challenge current beliefs respectfully and reach new depths of understanding

Quality PD
 - content knowledge (what)
- pedagogy of learners (how) 
- moral purpose (why)
- current curriculum knowledge
- developed from needs analysis and analysed school wide data
- meeting student and teacher needs to raise student achievement

Be a Learner 
- grow, inspire, develop in and out of school
- online
- professional development
- conversations with colleagues
- build a team around you to support the journey 

Support and guide 
- open to learning relationships
- humour
- interpersonal skills
- children at the heart of all that we do
- effective communication - celebration or difficult conversation

Multiple perspectives 
- awareness of up to date approaches
- understanding of neuroscience of how children learn new information
- respectful of journey of teacher

Systems 
- growing capabilities 
- assessment and tracking and monitoring for student achievement 
- support that is appropriate and timely
- distributive leadership

A Literacy Leader has very strong focus on.....  
- focus on student outcomes
- leaders as learners
- leaders of learning - what is worth doing and what is not. Being able to say NO
- collaborative relationships with fellow teachers and collaboration encouraged

Robinson's Leadership Dimensions
  • establishing goals and expectations
  • strategic resourcing
  • planning, coordinating, evaluating, teaching and the curriculum
  • promoting and participating in teacher learning and development
  • ensuring a supportive learning environment
How Great Leaders Inspire


We believe - 
each and every child deserves the opportunity to become empowered in their own learning journey to success. 

Leadership Strategy 
Put together a portfolio of readings relevant to school / teacher needs
invite staff to flick through and choose a reading to read over the holidays On the first week back we will have wine and cheese and have discussions around what you found out and how it will impact your classroom practice.  

Connecting whanau to our learning 
Invite parents to write a brag letter about their child. 

Protocols of Observations
Have a clear procedure for observation visits
1. Pre-visit conversations 'the why'
2. Sharing and the conversation that happens afterwards
DO NOT ask - How do you think that lesson went? 
3. Remember this is a sample - one piece of evidence. You need a series of evidence to know what is going on. Formally and informally.
What else would you add to this? 

Having protocols around observational practice keeps personal being in tact. 
It is the actions and outcomes as a result of these actions that we are interested in. 

Feedback - 3 types
What we appreciate

To improve practice

To address an issue or concern








Resources 
Joan Dalton - Learning Talk 
Ontario Capacity Series 





Wednesday 27 July 2016

How can I improve my understanding of the Number Framework?

The value of number sense, place value, roll over numbers,
The Number Framework Book is the most vital resource we can refer back to. Having a broad range of the whole range.
1. Know the stage number but more importantly the name. (It tells you what the students are doing)

When we solve a problem in real life we have to solve it on our understanding of what we know and interpret from the situation.

When posing problems in maths we ask questions that keep it open - ie: not a specific question of how many or a final question and letting our children make sense of the problems


The difference between stage 6 and 7
The strategies you have applied to whole numbers in stage 6 are the same in stage 7. However they are now being applied to decimals, integers, fractions,
This will highlight any knowledge gaps of place value very quickly and takes time to correctly teach to catch them up.

Pose a problem at stage 4 but scaffold them through to stage six. The strategies build on each other. Don't hold them at a stage until they are completed. Move them through.
KEY IDEAS 
The key ideas are really important - when children struggle they have not grasped these key ideas.

Some vital key ideas we ned to be aware of;
Stage 1
convince them them 7 is 7
Stage 2-3 
7 can be split and rearranged in different ways through loads of experiences This is the beginning of place value understanding
Stage 4
Objects can be counted by creating bundles of 10. Students must develop a solid understanding of Place Value.
Stage 5
Our number system is based on 10.
Stage 6 
The equals sign means balance
Stage 7
10 tens make 100 and 10 hundreds make 1000
Decimal fractions arise out of division.

Next steps
Look, as a team over the progressions of place value
Review visual pathways to ensure these new key ideas have been included accurately.
Are we posing the right problems to develop these key ideas?
If we are wanting children to part whole what equipment will we want them to use.

What are children doing to solve problems at each level?
Level 1
From stage 1 - 4 children count to solve problems
Level 2
From stage 5 - children partitioning around ten to solve problems
Level
From stage 6 - children are solving problems by flexibly using with whole numbers and choosing wisely in their choice of strategy
Level 4
From stage 7 - flexibly using strategies to solve problems wisely in not whole number problems

Allow students to solve problems their way - select student to share their solution they will then see the diverse ways of solving a problem and discussing the most efficient and why.


The Five Practices
Anticipate 
What stages are they at and where do I want to take them

What different materials might children use?
What we might we want to know? see the range of stages we are working with
Sharing and Reflection 
Who shares and in what order
struggling children need to articulate their thinking
What was the best equipment to best represent the opportunity for teaching next step

Literature with math content