Ulearn Keynote #2 - Michael Fullan

This mornings keynote speaker is Michael Fullan.
Michael Fullan is well known for his ideas about Deep Learning.



He has three key points..
Humans are innately wired to connect, wired to create and wired to help humanity.

From the moment we are born, we connect with our parents and those around us, wether we realise it or not. So how does our school system encourage us in these? Well, mostly, it doesn't.. So how can we change our education system?

Michael believes that to change our system, we need to focus on these three things..
New Pedagogy Partnership -
CONNECTION
CREATIVITY
HELPING HUMANITY








Six key things, called 'the 6 C's', that define what kinds of students we should be producing in the new education system.

Key Competencies in NZC align with these 6 C's.






WHOLE SYSTEM CHANGE STRATEGIES
Negative Alignments
-accountability
-don't obsess with targets/assessments
-system culture (promising success)

Positive Alignments
-focus
-capacity building
-breakthrough leadership - respect and reject the status quo, be an expert and an apprentice at the same time, experiment and commit.


Another thing to consider when you think about changing education, is social media. In todays world social media is everywhere and almost everyone is on it. It is hugely powerful.
-it is ubiquitous
-it weakens hierarchies
-distribution and concentrated connection is the new power.
-the young are the most connected and least committed to the status quo
-humans, especially the young, find helping humanity to be an intrinsic value
-the above conditions cause learners to outrun leaders and researchers
-the job of leaders is to help leaders run better (as students are now running ahead of us)
-the job of education is to produce better citizens for tomorrow, today - it is an agent of change.

In the future, we don't need lots of good leaders. We need good citizens, and the leadership will be embedded in them. 

10 ways to die in deep learning.
1. if you haven't experienced deep or powerful learning yourself
2. if you are unwilling to reimagine the grammar of schooling
3. if you don't respect your students in the present as opposed to the future
4. if you don't give students some choice
5.if you don't live by 'less is more'
6. if you aren't willing to admit you don't know the answer
7. if you don't normalise failure and create opportunities for revision and improvement
8. if you don't help students feel like they belong in class or in your domain
9. if you aren't willing to set the world a little askew.
10. if you don't realise that creating deep learning is a countercultural experiences.

Don't change your ways to fit the framework. Make the framework fit what you want to do.

I found these sketchnote online, which were made for a different conference, but still reflect the key ideas Michael presented today.

Digital Immersion/Annual Hui (Term 3, Week 5)

Today the MDTA's were invited to the Manaiakalani Annual Hui, held at the Panmure Yacht & Boating Club. It was a great day, with lots of different speakers having their bit, all coming together to share the message of the work Manaiakalani has done over the past year. 

First up were the student ambassadors from each of the 12 schools. They each shared part of their learning which demonstrated use of digital affordance, the learn create share pedagogy, amazing teacher creativity or student creativity with their blogs. 

Next up were the Manaiakalani Innovative Teachers, sponsored by the SPARK Foundation. They each shared about the research they have been conducting this year. I created this sketch-note to help myself remember key things that different people presented that I thought were awesome/inspirational;/thought-provoking. 

After morning tea was the team from the Woolf Fisher Research Centre presenting data collected from the 12 Manaiakalani schools and introducing the next set of ideas and goals to work on. Again, I created a sketch-note to record my thought process while they talked.

After this, Russell Burt, prinicipal of Point England School, put things very simply. We know how to move the 'bottom' students to the 'middle', and only some of us are doing that, and now the team from Woolf Fisher had just told us how to get the 'middle' students to the 'top'. Russell's message - JUST DO IT! It is for the benefit of your students. You as a teacher choosing not to do the things we know will work because you don't like them, agree with them, whatever, is to the detriment of your students, so get over it, and do it for your kids.

After lunch, Dorothy talked the crowd through the Manaiakalani Outreach clusters. These are groups of schools around the country which want 'our recipe' for success with low decile low achieving students. Although it is not that simple, these outreach clusters are now on a fast-tracked 3 year programme modelled from the Tamaki cluster so they can accelerate their students as well. 

I created another sketch-note the record snippets of the discussion as it went along.

Overall, it was an awesome day at the annual hui. I learnt a lot about Manaiakalani (when I thought I knew everything... ha!) and definitely got some food for thought to reflect on for my own practice. 

Kia kaha Manaiakalani!

Modelling book magic

One thing I have noticed about myself when teaching is that I often forget to record what the students and I are doing, hence have no evidence of it for either of us to refer back to.

Today during reading I set myself two goals

-1, to read with every student in my class, and 

-2, use the modelling book to record what my students did during this guided reading lesson

For context, we read another story about chess. Last week (some) of these students read a fictional story about two sisters learning to play chess and participating in a tournament in their school. Today,  (some) of us read this story which talks about one school who have chess experts and the people who helped get them there. A different type of writing, a different context and setting about the same theme. 

Using our modelling books..

Before we read, I drew a balloon and students wrote in their predictions based on pictures and the title. This is something we did a lot last term, so we don't want them to forget!

With a couple of my groups, we focused on their reading goal which is "ask questions about the text I have read". This goal is based on their need to really comprehend what they are reading, and being able to ask questions is a good way to show you have understood what you have read and that you have thought about it, not just read it and forgotten it straight away. 

So we had a box where the students wrote questions they had about the text, which they freely wrote independently as we read each page as a group. At the end of each page, we would stop and answer all the questions they had written and ticked them off as we answered them. The students answered each others questions, with me stepping in when they got really stuck.

We also had a 'new words' balloon, where myself or students recorded new words we came across in the text. At the end of each page, we discussed these as well and looked up the definitions.

Overall, each group had a page that roughly looked like this...

It was awesome to have the students so engrossed in their stories, thinking of heaps of questions which led to rich discussion around the text, learning new words and making connections to these. I think I definitely needed to start using modelling books again, as it gives more opportunity for students to share their thinking without the social pressure of interrupting the groups reading to ask a question or define a new word. It provided such rich discussion and we were able to make deep connections (e.g. the characters chess club was called Eastern Knights because a knight is a chess piece, and they lived on the East Coast. Whats the East Coast? *looks up then draws NZ map*...).

After the group meeting, I gave students the chance to go and practice playing a game of chess, which MOST of them were stoked to do! And again (see previous post), they loved having an abstract follow up.

We didn't have enough chess sets for the whole class to use at the same time, so some students started playing online (note - they discovered this themselves, I didn't instruct them to do this!). 

I really enjoyed using modelling books again today during reading and getting such rich results out of my time with the students. When they went off, they were still engrossed in the topic and used the new vocabulary they had just learnt to discuss their strategies as well.
Kia kaha kids!

Connecting reading with real life!

Today for guided reading I chose a story about chess, as a way to support my girls who were interested in it last week. (Read previous blog post here, Read the story I am discussing, here).

In the story, one girl is being taught how to play chess by her 'expert' sister. As we read along, I used real chess pieces to visually support their learning and help them make connections. 

On page 12, (second photo) the main character uses words like 'horse' and 'castle', and her expert sister corrects her with the right words - rook and knight. At this point, I would bring out a rook and knight and we would talk about why Miri would of called them horse/castle, was she really wrong to call it that, what was its 'proper' name etc. This continued throughout the story.. (e.g. pawn, bishop, king). This allowed students to match the word from the story with a physical thing right in front of them, something they could touch and hold and connect with. 

After we read, I pulled out the chess board and the students helped me put out all the pieces in the right places. We split the group in half, forming two teams (one for each side of the chess board). As the story described how the different pieces moved, we practised doing this with the right piece, on the real chessboard so the students could connect the word that described the action, with the real action (e.g. they didn't know what diagonally meant for the bishop, so I showed them). 

Then, we started a real game! I tried my best to stay out of the game, and be an observer. Both of the two groups I did this with showed a real understanding of the 'strategy' the story talks about that you need to play chess, thinking a few moves ahead, remembering the end goal of capturing the king. 

 When the bell went for morning tea, the group was still playing and was sad to leave!

I felt that the students really connected with what they had read, more so than any other story we have read this term, and by having a more abstract kind of follow up activity, they were excited for a change of routine. By the end of it, they had learnt new words and phrases from the book, but had also cemented their understanding of the events in the story by exploring those events themselves!

Kia kaha kids!

Student empowerment through their own E-asttle rubric!

This term as part of our cycle of inquiry, Archana and I have been discussing with our students how they are assessed and what this means for them - trying to make everything explicit.

The biggest example is how we mark E-asttle. 

Within the first two weeks of this term, we had gone through the National Standard illustration for year 4 writing and marked it against the E-asttle rubric with the students helping us. As we went, we explained WHY we would give each section that particular score, and then gave examples of the other scores for comparison. 

For example, if we gave R4, we would then look at exemplars for what R3 and R5 looked like, so students could see the difference.

It really was a PD for them.

Next, Archana and I developed our own version of the rubric for students to use. We had a Tamaki Primary School version, but the language was (in some places) beyond the language use of our young students. 

For example, we changed 

to

We also added where they should be aiming for - note the below, at, above to indicate that if they achieve R4's, they will be writing 'at' the national standard for year 4's. 

There were also minor things we had to change in the language, so there was some familiarity for our students. For example, where the rubric said 'elaboration', we would say 'with detail', as that is the words we have used with them all year, so they are more familiar with it. 

I printed out the rubric, laminated them and put them on ring clips. That way, small groups of students could use one rubric together to evaluate a piece of writing. They wrote a narrative using a picture prompt yesterday. Today, Archana and I again went through a piece of writing (this time, one actually from our class) and explained how we would grade it and why - and what this meant in terms of next steps for this person and wether they were below/at/above national standards. 

I videoed some of the small groups discussing their piece of writing (which belonged to someone within the group)...

Considering it was their first time EVER using the rubric to mark writing 'with their teacher hats on' so to speak, they did a great job! (Some needed teacher support, but it was their first time!) They were very fair, and respectfully would say to the person whose writing it was what they thought of it and gave constructive feedback. 

It was exciting for Archana and myself, as it was just another way that the students reflected the positive and supportive class culture we have worked so hard to build. None of the students teased each other or laughed at the mistakes that person had made, but recognised these as next steps in their learning and some even offered advise on how to achieve those next learning steps. Once they had marked one of the group's writing, they then fought over whose they would do next!

It was a positive step towards the students being aware of what they write and what we are looking for. These things are not surprises or mysteries to students, as they are things we are teaching them all the time (e.g. this term, how to plan using a brainstorm and write in 3 paragraphs). For a lot of the students as they marked, they would realise they had forgotten to use paragraphs, add in a metaphor (etc) and have a Homer Simpson doh! moment. So next time, they will really remember to use what they know and put it all in!

We truly have a fantastic bunch of kids and some very talented writers in our class. It was awesome to see them empowered and taking ownership and control over their own writing, working well in a group, being honest and fair and looking forward to trying again! 

Anne's observation (Term 3)

This morning I had my observation with Anne Sinclair from Manaiakalani. She discussed with myself and Archana during her last visit, that she wanted to see something a bit different.. It seems that every person she went to observe was doing maths or reading! And fair enough too..

So myself and Archana decided to do inquiry on this fine Monday morning, which for this week was Fire Safety. 

You can view the plan here.

My own focus, was trying to include the 'share' part of the Manaiakalanai 'Learn, Create, Share' pedagogy within the learning time frame. I find that a lot of the time, the learn happens, the create begins and is never really finished, so nothing gets shared. Or if it does, it happens on a Friday during Managing Self time, when I am not there..

I also wanted to ensure I had something digital to hook in the students and to use as an example. 

One such example was this rap I included.

The lesson went fine, and I made sure we recorded the students create (the rap/song/poem/poster) they created, and then I shared these using the data projector for the whole class to review.

You can view Anne's written feedback, and our discussion around the PTC's here.
But here are some highlights..

You are really well organised, so not fumbling around for resources, but having everything at your fingertips to get started.

The class went off to their groups without any problems and got onto the task with enthusiasm and interest. I loved the way they talk to each other about what they are doing, which is also clarifying their understanding. They are working well in their groups so good on  you for the work you are doing in fostering this collaborative practice.

With 2 of you in your class you can both move around and really extend their thinking, pushing them to think more deeply. I like the way you probe and prod their responses to get them to think beyond the surface features.

Time permitted you to show the work the learners had done on the screen  and the class were so excited to have their work displayed and heard. By taking shots of the poems, raps and posters meant that their important learning was captured, shared and enjoyed and an indicator of their understanding. It was great to hear/see their understanding through the catchy words in the raps and the poems, which was evidence for formative and summative assessment. The posters also had strong messages and the learners were able to explain the dangers in the home through their visuals.

And here are some short clips of my students sharing their poem/song/raps

Digital Immersion (Term 3, Week 2)

For this weeks Digital Immersion, the MDTA's are joining the other first year teachers within the Manaiakalani teachers at Panmure Bridge School. We first discussed....

Connecting with each other: WWW of Manaiakalani Goals

How can I see the Manaiakalani goals in my school/classroom/teaching?

What is working?

What isn't working?

What do I need help with?

Including Sharing begins with us - how do we Share

Dorothy then asked us, in our school groups, to discuss how we share our personal, social and professional lives, and the boundaries between these.

Screenshot from https://sites.google.com/a/manaiakalani.org/digital-immersion/digital-immersion-plgs-2016/plg-august-2016?pli=1

Our group, mostly made up of first year Tamaki Primary School teachers, discussed that we don't actually know what our school policy is around teachers sharing information publically, or about sharing personal information about themselves.

Teaching as Inquiry Speed Dating

Next we took turns discussing our teaching as inquiry projects throughout the 35 people in attendance today, in a speed-dating type format.

Then we each recorded our reflections on this slideshow. 

(Note that this slideshow belongs to Dorothy Burt)

Learn Content: Woolf Fisher Research on Summer Learning Journey

After morning tea, we discussed the research done into Manaiakalani schools by Rachel Williams. 

There was some stunning results...

She found that the 'summer drop off' was HUGE (the red line) when students did not actively learn or practice their previous learning over the holidays. The blue line was students who participated in Rachel's research, a summer-long activity based around reading, writing and blogging. 

This youtube clip explains it in a very concise way.

This supports the Manaiakalani statement that our students turn up to school at 5 years old, with the knowledge and skills of a 3 year old, and EVERY year, EACH student needs to make one and a half years progress in one school year, in an attempt to catch up.

Implications for sharing in our classes and schools
Dorothy asked us to share our ideas onto a Padlet (below) as to how, why, what we should be sharing with our learners based on the 'summer drop'.
Here is what we came up with...

Created with Padlet

However, if we want students to work independently online, we need to prepare them to do this.

Screenshot from slides owned by Dorothy Burt

Finally, we viewed our own blogs as an avenue of sharing. 

Learn: Exploring Infographics - Building Knowledge
Here is mine

Making a tivaevae

This week is Cook Island Language week! 

To celebrate this, my class learnt about Cook Island Maori words for our family members, and then made our family trees with labels. 

We are also making our very own tivaevae! 

"Tivaevae or tivaivai (Cook Islands Māori: tīvaevae) in the Cook Islands, tifaifai in French Polynesia, is a form of artistic quilting traditionally done by Polynesian women. The word literally means "patches", in reference to the pieces of material sewn together."

First, we looked at a movie made by Te Papa about the origins of tivaevae. Next, we looked at different designs for tivaevae, check out some examples here and here.

I gave the students some examples I had printed out, and gave them instructions to design their own 'patch' for our Room 6 tivaevae. It tells the story of our class - each of us has a unique contribution to make. Even if we used the same pattern or idea, we may colour it differently or use it in a different way to portray ourselves.

Here is my class designing our tivaevae this afternoon -

Will post an update on how it looks when we collate them altogether to make our class quilt!

End of term 2!

The same as last term, I sent my students a survey to find out their thoughts and feelings about their learning this term.

It becomes obvious who really thought about the questions and who just wrote anything. 

You can read their responses here.

For a quick overview, I have taken some screenshots.

For the questions 'what was something Miss Ashley was really good at?', and 'what is something Miss Ashley can get better at?'

Things I was good at - soccer, growth mindsets, helping, reading with the students, helping them with maths and teaching them how to tell the time. 

Things the students think I can better at - learning other languages (this has been a focus this term and I always say "I'm trying, I'm only learning!" when pronouncing other languages). Discussing with Archana, we think the students didn't really understand what this question was asking them, but that's alright.

It was awesome to see most of the students thinking hard about what they have learnt throughout the term. Lots of students learnt doubles, how to group numbers (i.e. 2 lots of 3 is 6, which is early multiplicative thinking), what a half and quarter is, equations with blocks (using physical materials to help him solve problems), skip counting and times tables. Yay!

We have had a real focus this term on making connections between the text and their own lives, using powerful words to describe characters/settings in details, and sounding out unknown words and learning their meaning.

Kiwi-can is an outside provider who comes into the school and teaches students values and some life-skills. A lot of my students remembered learning about integrity, taking ownership of their own actions and being held accountable for their own learning and actions.

I also put in a couple questions to get their thoughts about what they want to learn about next term.

We did a two week unit on plants this term, and myself and Archana want to do the same again next term. I asked the students to vote out of a given list which things they wanted to learn about (green column) and then if they had anything else they wanted to learn about (blue column). 

My students are getting better and better at thinking about their own learning, and they enjoy having their voice heard and being asked what they want to learn - having some of the control back. 

Definitely some food for thought in here!