Digital Immersion Day #1 (Term 3)

Today, as the first week of Term 3, transitioned into the 'SHARE' part of the Manaiakalani pedagogy. 

We talked a lot about how we share, the purpose of sharing our learning and where/who/how we share. We used padlet to record some ways that we share in our classes.

We discussed having an authentic audience for students. We then looked into creating Sketch-notes as  a form of sharing, so decided to share about sharing. Sketch-noting is a form of visual note-taking, that is more focused on recording key points using text, images and different structures. 

Here is an explanation

And a example I found

From http://seeyourwords.com/new-gallery/

Here is my sketchnote - 

I used the app Explain Everything [EE] on one of my school Ipads, one because I wanted to learn how to use it, and 2 because the school security settings wouldn't let me download any new apps (fair enough!)

I spent a long time just playing around with EE, just learning how to use it, what buttons do what, how to undo mistakes, change colours etc etc. It was a learning curve! 

Here is what I created just as a way to play with EE and organise my thoughts. 

Digital Immersion #20

Today I used my 'wild card' and skipped the Digital Immersion day - to join my class on a trip!

We went to the Pumphouse Theatre in Takapuna to watch the stage show of Badjelly the Witch (based on the book by Spike Milligan).  We chose this trip as our inquiry unit was 'Reading for pleasure, writing for leisure'. 

It was a great show!

Class photo by the lake

My wonderful class walking down to the theatre.

TPS filling up the theatre.

A junior student hugging Lucy the cow!

Meeting the actors!

Archana and myself on the bus ride back.

When we got back, we had lunch and then whole class assembly. As it was Maori language week, we learnt a poi dance/song and made headbands using Maori patterns. 

Check them out!

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!

My observation of Archana's observation

This morning Sue Pine came in for Archana' observation/co-teaching session. As I her co-teacher and always in the class, I was just helping out with the lesson whilst Archana ran it and was discussing everything with Sue.

This was our problem - 

Our students are very used to solving open-ended maths problems by now, as we have been doing them for most of this term. 

While Archana was introducing the problem, I noticed that she

-asked the students to read it themselves first in their heads

-then read it aloud herself

-then ask students "is there anything you don't understand?"

-after discussing, asked "what do we know? (e.g. we know that there is only 60 kids)

The students spent 30 minutes working out different answers in their mixed-ability groups of three.

We came back together and the students gave their different answers (in the middle of this photo).

Archana wrote on the board the way the first student said their answers '10 kids in 6 cars'. Sue quickly pointed out that that would later translate to 10 kids in 6 groups, whereas the 'groups of' should come first, as 'groups of' leads into multiplication, and this will cause problems there.. 

So this is something we as teachers should be careful of..

Archana and Sue talked the students through how to re-word their answers, from written ''6 vehicles and 10 kids in each', then changing it to 'groups of', for example "6 groups of 10 kids equals 60", finally to an equation '6x10=60'.

Sue also spent five-ten minutes trying to get students to understand the difference between 5x12 and 12x5. The students are very new to the concept of reversibility, so only some of them understood the difference here.

Sue then wrote these onto the teaching station (copied from the students answers on the whiteboard).

She asked the students 'what do you notice'? An open-ended question, it encourages students to look for any possible thing they might see, and it lets them know there may be more than one answer as well. 

The students noticed that 6 was double of 3, and 12 was double of 6. Sue then took it further, and pointed out how as one doubled (3, 6, 12), the other 'factor' halved (20, 10, 5). 

Some students did not really understand this concept, however some did which was awesome. 

Sue then drew this diagram - another visual representation of the concept she had extracted from the students responses. 

As she was talking to Archana about how drawing it in a diagram might hook in other students who previously didn't get it (visual learning preferences), one student almost screamed I GET IT NOW!

She didn't understand how they all equaled 60, but once this diagram was drawn, her understandings clicked into place and she got it. (and was delighted about it too!)

Afterwards, Sue and Archana discussed how some of the students approached the problem. One pair of boys, who are below the National Standards tried to find factors of 60 using an array diagram (shown above). We were all quite impressed with these particular boys using this strategy, and highlighted it to the class to remind them there are lots of different ways to solve problems.

Thoughts and Reflections

I liked the way Sue used many different ways to try to explain the mathematical thinking at different levels/points in time, and how each way obviously worked for some learners and not others. Archana and I talked about making this a goal for ourselves in term 3 - trying to use a variety of ways (multiple visual, multiple oral) to explain the mathematical concept. 

I also found the questions Archana asked the students BEFORE they went and solved the problems very helpful. 

-asked the students to read it themselves first in their heads

-then read it aloud herself

-then ask students "is there anything you don't understand?"

-after discussing, asked "what do we know? (e.g. we know that there is only 60 kids)

It took only a few minutes, but gave the opportunity for students to think, ask, answer, pull apart the question before they actually went away to try and solve it. I will be using these in my future practice. 

Sharing the knowledge!

As it nears the end of term 2, it dawned on me that I have not shared anything with my colleagues, from the extensive Digital Immersion I get as an MDTA, that they do not get.

I decided to make a few videos to share with my team, who can chose to watch them or not,

(at least I am putting it out there) :)
I chose to start with Google Forms, as this is the least used Drive tool in my school, which got some exciting new updates this week.

Here are the ones I have made so far

An intro to Google Forms

Even if you are familiar with Google Forms - still watch this video, but just watch 2.40-6.30 to see how to split the form into different avenues of answers

Using Google Forms to create self-marking quizzes

Check out the quiz itself (from a student POV) here


I plan to add to this little series, showing other ways to mark tests, and how to include videos/resources into a form (to then use it as a learning activity rather than a post-test). 

Digital Immersion - day #19

Today the MDTA's spent the morning visiting Manaiakalani schools, observing and seeing how other schools do things. 

I visited Stonefields School and Point England School.

Stonefields School

What was I looking for...

I wanted to focus on the 'create' part of the learn create share pedagogy. This is because I have gotten bored this term of giving students follow ups on their Google Drive - docs, slides etc. I have been feeling that students aren't getting the maximum they could out of their learning, as some of the things they are doing are very individualistic, very one person on one computer no talking allowed, and I want to change up my programme.

What I saw...

At Stonefields, it was breakthrough time and so students were working in groups on a project of their own choice. It was awesome to see them working towards something real - one group was planning their fundraising, aiming to get enough money to buy a defibrillator for the school and community. Another group was designing beanies, gloves and scarves with the school logo on them because they identified that students came to school very cold in the mornings, but aren't allowed to wear non-uniform items. Another group was making a to-scale model of their field, with rugby posts, a cricket pitch and soccer goals on it. That was their proposal for the principal to purchase the posts/goals/build the cricket pitch on the school field which is currently bare. Each group was making a proposal for the school principal to buy/do/support their cause, so they could be empowered to make positive changes in their own community.

It was awesome to see students working towards something real, where they could see real results. They had power in their own school environment, which is rare. They also got to chose what they wanted to do the project on, under the umbrella on 'giving back to the community'. 

At Point England School, I focused on how they use their Chromebook's for learning. The students gave me some of their favourite learning websites, maths games such as maths-whiz, pobble365, and other Chromebook extensions. 

Talking with the team leader, she discussed that the best way to have interesting 'creates' is to use a mixture of Macs, Chromebooks, Ipads and non-digital aspects. She kept saying "Chromebooks are boring" - which in this context, I agree with. Using them by themselves is boring - using different ways, a combination of different products (Macs/Ipads), each for a different purpose etc, that is interesting.

Overall reflections

I was really inspired by the level of choice at Stonefields, within breakthrough and in learning tasks. Students are often given the framework or structure, and given choice in how they approach it. For example, they could chose a book to read (at their reading level) and then use that book to answer generic questions, practice getting the main ideas, summarising etc. They also did things in a real context - making the community a better place, having a reading/writing focus about real topics such as should zoos exist? They had power.

Another thing I want to pursue more is getting and using Ipads for my lower learners, or maybe an suitable app or extension for their Chromebooks that would do the same thing. These particular students (almost a third of my class) can barely read, and do not understand what they can read. This limits them in accessing and using the class site, and using their Google Drives independently, literally because they can't read what they are clicking on. I want to try and source some Ipads to use with these students, in the same way the junior school uses them. My aim would be to improve their reading ability, and their ability to work independently and help each other in a group situations. 

It was very helpful and refreshing to visit other schools, get new ideas and get encouraged to open up my reading programme more as well. 

Digital Immersion - day #18

Today I finished my interview video. It's not perfect, but enjoy!

Meaningful maths learning

Today we focused on maths, as both myself and Archana were in class together (the only day this week). Archana modelled taking a small group using materials, focusing on place value. The students were asked to solve a word problem based around 72x9. They really struggled with this, so Archana bought it back down to 9x7. The aim was for them to use bundles of ice cream sticks (bundles of 10) to get a tidy number, then take away one from each bundle (to get 9). This strategy would allow students to use multiplicative thinking with larger numbers.

Both groups of students we tried this with really struggled, and it became evident that the students did not have a good understanding of their place value. They could say this is tens, this is hundreds, this is thousands (etc), they could not use that knowledge in practice. 

So, we began a whole class place value session using different materials. 

We had cubes, popsicle sticks and round beads to use. The class was split into groups, each group using a different materials. 

We started with showing the number 94. 

Students had to make 9 groups/bundles of 10, then 4 ones (not that we told them that).

Then we moved into hundreds - students had to make 133. This meant they had to make 10 groups/bundles of 10, group those together to make 1 bundle/group of 100, then make 3 groups/bundles of 10, and leave 3 ones out as well (not that we told them that).

We continued on using bigger numbers, once students showed they had some understanding of 10x10=100, groups of ten etc. 

In the end, we got students to show the number 1028, using materials. We had three groups doing this, so we had to beg, borrow and steal materials from other teachers so each group had enough 'things' to make 1028. We used everything we could, and still had one group using felt tips to make one group of 100 as well. 

Making lots of one hundred.

Students in the process of making their 1028 - starting with making bundles of ten, then putting ten lots of ten together to make a lot of one hundred.  

Here is two lots of one hundred (the cubes), four lots of one hundred (in bundles of sticks), three lots of ten and 8 ones. Total number 638.

After each group showed their number, the rest of the class came over and saw what the group had done. We counted the bundles together, and checked they had the right number of each one, hence the right number shown.

Checking how many bundles of 100 this group made. The discussion then went into how many bundles of hundreds would there be in 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 etc.

1028 - 10 bundles of 100, 2 bundles of 10, 8 ones.

Here are ten lots of one hundred, two rows of ten and eight single blocks. Total number 1028.

The students were engaged, motivated and learning for over an hour and a half! It was an awesome lesson, which laid the ground work for the next few weeks of place value based learning. It got them to have some understanding of place value in practice; how many hundreds are in thousands etc.

A major part of this lesson was students trying it for themselves - neither teacher modelled or explained how to make bundles of ten, or that 10 bundles of 10 made 100, or how to lay them out in order from hundreds-tens-ones to make it easier to count them up. They did it themselves, and we facilitated them through the process by leading them with larger numbers. By giving students a chance to try their own thinking, and to learn from each other, they held the power over their learning. When they succeeded, it was to their credit, not because they copied the teachers example. 

And hence, their learning was more meaningful and they will remember it more than if it was very teacher-dictated.

Integration success!

Today Anne Sinclair from Manaiakalani came to observe Archana and I. 

We chose to do an integrated literacy and numeracy lesson around fruit kebabs.

First students watched a video about how to make a fruit kebab. 

Then they had to tell us (the teachers) how to make the fruit kebab - the aim was to speak in full sentences, use text connectives like 'next, first, then, after', and use specific verbs. 

It was hilarious! The kids loved having the control over us and telling us what to do. They started off with things like 'pick it up', 'put it on', etc. So we played along and were silly with them, doing the wrong things, in the wrong order etc. Then Archana and I role played being on the phone to each other, and explaining the process to each other. We used the phone example because students would understand that we can't see each other and can't physically help each other, you can only use words, so you have to be careful and specific about what you say. We followed on with a sequencing activity, then introduced our maths focus, where students had to find out how many pieces of each type of fruit we would need, for the whole class to make a kebab each. 

After Anne left, we also then made real kebabs!

Here is Anne's feedback - 

The class are really responsive to both of you as co-teachers and you have set a really inclusive atmosphere. It is a happy and comfortable classroom, where there is evidence of respect and wanting to learn. After the roll the learners went quickly to their tables and listened/viewed the video through headphones and their chromebooks (as data projector broken). You are very relaxed Ashley and it shows in the way you interact with the learners. You know them well and you and Archana are working as a pair, so they are getting two sets of ideas, two sets of instructions, two sets of explanations, two sets of directions and two sets of feedback and support. I like the way you made the create real and then did a role play with the learners, pretending you did not know how to make a fruit kebab. The pretend conversation on the phone was such a good motivation to make them think more deeply on giving instructions. They were so excited to give you the directions.

Getting them to talk to each other and run through the steps with a partner also consolidated the learning for them and when they explained to you it was fun making the connections with real descriptive words - stab the fruit, grab a stick, what kind of stick, stick on the pointy top, poke it on the pointy top. After the class tried giving the instructions you then gave the class a role play by you and Archana giving an example of using clear instructions. You used a recipe and followed the steps. The children were interested in your role play and they took notice of the process.  

The follow up of the instructions were clear and easy to understand. By asking the class to repeat the steps and adding to their knowledge base in a way that they could both hear and see what it would look like, was helpful to their learning. It was great to see you using drama to reinforce and interest the learners in so many skills and to integrate literacy and maths in such a creative way. I could see how engaged the learners were, but there was one small boy who looked lost so wondered what was going on with him.

Introducing the next task was quickly achieved and you were very well organised and planned so the children could get started.  Setting up the task to involve them immediately in understanding the steps was novel and engaging. They all became involved and really enjoyed the competitive nature of the task.  Ashley by moving around the class and checking in with them you were able to evaluate where the learners were in their understanding and those who were struggling. The learners work well together and by setting time limits you are getting through lot more teaching and learning. It is important to keep the pace and energy of the lesson up, as I noticed a lot of post weekend tired learners (who may also have been hungry, as they were looking at the food longingly).  Mixing the lesson up constantly and trying different approaches also helps with the management of the learning and behaviour and gives urgency in the learning.

When they came back to the mat for the next instruction they were very excited, so be clear as to what you wanted them to do and how to respond. If you give a general instruction you will get a general response so be very explicit in your instructions. Taking the lesson into maths was a great extension and it was real and authentic in the context. Some of the learners had trouble visualising what the numbers were and it took a while to elicit the answer from the whole class.  Good to split the class into smaller groups to do the discussion and this worked well. By getting them to calculate the quantities by drawing or using words or numbers of how many of the ingredients the whole class will need to make the kebabs for each person gave them permission to try different strategies. I liked the way you gave them choice as to the strategies the learners would use to work this out.  It was interesting to watch the thinking and to see the prompts you and Archana used to trigger ideas.

The learners then explained their strategy and it was great to see such in-depth thinking happening, where they had to justify their thinking. I liked the way they were struggling, but keeping on as they came up with new ideas from new information. Giving them the locus of control was an important part of your teaching and the learners responded really well to having the ‘power’. With 2 of you in the class you were able to get through so much more and connect with all the learners, so they experienced success. The different approaches also gave rise to discussion after and the chance for the learners to see more than one way of solving a problem. I like the way you and Archana do reflection-in-action and decide on teaching strategies on the ‘fly’ . So  - perhaps, maybe, shall we, is common language between the 2 of you as you co-teach. Talking aloud helps the students to see it is ok to talk about their learning.

Thank you both for giving me such an interesting morning with authentic use of integration, motivation, ‘create’, role play, instruction, direction, reflection, problem solving, teaching and learning! Kite pai!

Anne Sinclair (Professional Supervisor MDTA)

June 20th, 2016

Digital Immersion - day #17

Today we discussed interviewing ourselves as a reflection on the first 6 months being an MDTA.

We were given prompts to consider - 

• Introduce yourself and your teaching context
• Who are you as a teacher? (Brief description of your beliefs as an educator)
• Why did you apply for the MDTA programme?
• Describe the opportunities that have contributed to your learning so far e.g. enablers, digital immersion, university study, co-teaching, school, being part of a wider community of learning, growing your PLN.
• How are you approaching challenges? (strategies, recommendations, support, collaboration)
• Wrap up with a personal anecdote from your experiences so far this year and what you are looking forward to/next steps

I videoed my interview myself, and began editing the video, but needed footage from my school and of my students.

Whilst filming, I kept getting distracted, annoyed at myself, forgetting what I was saying, stuttering etc, which made editing very annoying! It was a lot harder than I thought it would be to interview yourself. Even writing the script, so I had some rough idea of where I was going, was conflicting and took over an hour.

Here is a bloopers real I made to show just how hard this process was..

Observation Reflections - literacy term 2

Each term we are observed by our Professional Development leaders, one each for maths and literacy. My observation in literacy this term went really well, much better than my term 1 observation.

Here is my feedback -

Things I had improved on from the term 1 observation -

-LI unpacked and referred back to throughout the lesson

-Explaining the purpose of the lesson - why is this important? (Students need to understand this and know it for themselves)

-use of modelling books/student held resources

-less teacher talk, more student 'doing'

-using terminology that students are familiar with (powerful words instead of 'adjectives')

Next steps

-teacher modelling of the writing

-scaffolding through new picture

-Co constructing SC with students

-Different types of planning format for different aims

-Videoing

The harsh realities

As part of our writing programme this term, we get students to write about their lives everyday - we call it "recording a bit of our lives everyday."

The aim for this is for students to realise their own potential, that they can be an author, that what they have to say does matter, their life matters, and that somebody is listening to what they have to say.

Today I asked students to write about their house. 

Firstly, I wrote about mine (with some exaggerations, for effect), and read it to them. I asked them to close their eyes, and picture in their heads what my house looked like (trying to stress the descriptive language). 

After reading, I asked the students to open their eyes and tell me what they saw. Hands flew up. They told me about the pink flowers outside, the shoes by the door, the red couch, the picture of my niece and nephew on the fridge, the pile of clothes on the floor. They got the point of it. They got to mentally walk through the house and see what I saw.

So, it was my turn to see what they see. 

The students went off and began writing about their houses. 

Of course, I knew that they all live in state houses. Of course, I knew that only a small group of my students have their own bedroom. Of course, I knew that only some of them have internet access at home. Of course, I knew that most of their home lives, aren't glamorous, to say the least. 

But the writing they produced got to me a little.. 

"As i walk though the door i could see my blue and green seats.I walk up the stairs and i can see little things on the stairs.I walk im my bedroom and i can see my new shoes under the bed and they were dirty.so i thought i could clean the house."

"As i walk up the 3 steps i find a big pile of shoes in the front of the door. I walk inside my house and i go into the kitchen and i see lots and lots of dishes on the bench. When i go  through the hallway i see 5 rooms and when i go past them i see 2 messy rooms and i see  2 clean rooms i one really big giant room that is clean. I go into my room and i take my bag off and put it on the floor. I go into the kitchen again and i go to get a drink  from the fridge. Then my sister comes home from college then i my parents come home then when they are here we relax." - i.e. she goes home alone and waits for her family to turn up

They mentioned over and over having 'broken' something, having a 'dirty' something, and hardly anyone mentioned coming home and doing homework or doing anything with their siblings and parents. They talked about the rooms in their houses - mostly a lot of rooms, to represent the lots of people that live in the one house. I knew what their homes must be like, but to hear it from them was a lot harder to hear than I thought it would be.

What got to me, was how normal that all was. They talked to each other, compared stories, gave each other ideas (as they have been to each others houses before) and didn't seem to be concerned that they didn't have a bedroom, or that there was ten people living in two or three bedrooms, or that on a weekly basis someone in the class doesn't have lunch because all their families money went on rent that week.

It was a quick and harsh reminder of the home lives my students come from, their normal. 

We talk endlessly of national standards for reading, writing and maths. The students are below the 'norm', we have to push them and put in all these special programmes to get them to 'norm', but the 'norm' is bullshit. 

Archana's site #part 2

Today I sat with Archana and we worked on her site. She had gone away and created a google drawing of what she wanted her homepage to look like. We embedded the drawing, then I showed her three different ways to hyperlink her pages to her buttons. 

1. hyperlinking the text e.g. read my reflective blog

2. hyperlinking the image itself 

3. inserting a text box with no border over top of what you want to hyperlink, and linking to that. 

To do this, we had to also create each page - maths/writing/reading/science. This is also included in the video.

The next things we are going to put into her site are 

-an automatic slideshow above the page buttons

-creating the 'pretty' heading (Archana's teaching titbits)

As you can also see, Archana is getting much more confident using Quicktime to create screencasts. We are both using them as evidence of our professional teaching and learning. 

Digital Immersion - day #16

Today we made screencasts explaining how students access their learning through our class sites. This is a demonstration of Manaiakalani pedagogy and principles. My video shows the 'learn, create and share' pedagogy, and as the site is a public site, all learning is visible to anyone anywhere. 

Click here to explore my syndicate site.

It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, to try and explain everything necessary, without waffling about nothing, without it taking more than 3 minutes (optimum attention span time). I also had to record it four times, as my audio kept dropping out for no reason. 

Responding to critical literacy

This afternoon I attended a presentation run by our deputy principal Michelle, who is currently on study leave. She presented her ideas, thoughts and reflection on a critical literacy paper she has been working on. 

Here is her summary

What got me thinking was the conversations she asked us to have..
a simple question like

"what is culture?"

Other teachers who I was discussing with, who I thought I knew well, were very quick to say "ethnicity". This very quickly showed differences in teaching pedagogies that otherwise wouldn't have been so evident. I personally believe that cultures are the ideas, customs, traditions of a particular group of people in a particular place. You can have an ethnic culture; for example the 'Kiwi' culture, a group of norms held by a group of people. You can have your home culture, school culture, team culture, family culture, ethnic culture etc. Each of those groups may hold slightly different ideas, traditions and customs, hence making it its own culture.

Another thing that got me thinking was this image Michelle showed us

This diagram says that when we normally think of 'culture', we think of the things above water. These are the 'culture is ethnicity' type things - dance, language, art, games, food etc. Very basic level, obvious physical signs that explain or represent that culture. When really, culture involves all the things below the water line as well. And the more I thought about it, the more I realised that the 'below the water' things underpin the 'above the water' things. Notions of modesty, concepts of beauty, ideals governing child raising, courtship practices, and notions of adolescence all underpin the way children dress in their various cultures. This becomes clear as they have 'church' clothes, 'school' clothes and 'home' clothes. And they don't need to be told which clothes to wear to each place. Even as children, they have a very clear understanding of what is acceptable to wear at different locations, wether they realise consciously or not. 

I'm curious.. what does culture mean to you?