End of Year Reflections

This is what happened for my students:

Initially doing Math’s using the DMiC approach was really hard for my students. They struggled when working in groups, many of them lacked the confidence, whereas others were so confident that they would dominate the task and the sharing back to the group. Students experienced difficulty with comprehension and interpreting word problems. They had limited language and vocabulary skills to share and express their thinking. Children lacked self-management behaviours and skills. the quiet and reluctant children did not engage with learning content. These barriers led to frustration and disengagement.

Presently:

There has huge shift in behaviour and performance: Children have grown in confidence and can manage themselves, they can work in groups or pairs and complete given tasks. Students are taking turns, asking questions, repeating, re-voicing, explaining their thinking, ask for help from their peers when the need to. These behaviours are visible in other learn areas for eg writing and reading. We have a rich dialogic classroom where there is a high level of engagement.

The evidence that I have for this is:

JAM testing data, Explain Everything activities, My reflections, OTJ’s, Class site, Class blog, Individual blogs and My Professional Inquiry

The things I did was:

I had to change my mindset.as doing Maths this way was new learning for me, Therefore I had to trust myself, not to underestimate my learners abilities and potential as this inevitably limits their learning opportunities.

I worked on setting up social norms and culture of the classroom, modelled how to work with a partner.

I had to teach and show the children how to work collaboratively and share their knowledge.

Build children’s confidence and respect for each other, by encouraging and praising them all the time.

Using their strengths to hook them into learning and planning accordingly. Generate challenging problems and providing opportunities that build on student proficiencies, which enables them to connect to the big mathematical ideas and to anticipate their thinking.

 I am always reflecting on my practice, talking to colleagues, working collaboratively and sharing my inquiry at a staff and cluster wide level.  

Things that I will work on:

I will continue to work collaboratively with teachers to create a bank of DMiC Math’s resources.

Continue to build onto my Math’s wall – as this is excellent resource that is used to record, visualize and assist learning.

As Roberta said ”This is going to be really hard, you’re going to struggle with it, but it’s going to be really great when you’re finished.”

And that’s exactly how I feel, GREAT!


The table below shows JAM testing data for Modules 1 and 2 for both June and December. There is a significant shift and improvement in performance.

   
This graph is a visual representation of data in the table above.
Module 1 means - Addition and Subtraction. (blue coloured )
Module 2A means - Multiplication and Division.(red colour)
Module 2B means - Proportion.(Orange colour)
1 means Stage 1 - Counts One to One.
2 means Stage 2 - Apply counting all strategies using materials.
3 means Stage 3 - Apply counting all strategies by imaging.
4 means Stage 4 - Apply counting on, counting back, skip counting and simple grouping strategies.
5 means Stage 5 - Apply basic addition facts and knowledge of place value and symmetry to combine or partition whole numbers.

 Overall I am so proud of my students and their achievements. The students have significant shift  compared to the testing done in June. It's been a long and tough learning journey for the students and their families who continued to help and support their children get to this point in their learning.

DMiC Term 4

DMiC- Term 4

It’s going to be an exciting term. We had lots happening in Week One. The children were buzzing with excitement from day one. Team One children went on a school trip to the zoo. Prior to the trip, we discussed ‘Rules at the zoo’ and then children were looking at the zoo map tracking the animals, searching for the toilets and finding the rotunda where we were all going to meet up for lunch. This involved lots of conversation and rich vocabulary.

In the bus, on our way to the zoo, the children that I was sitting with were singing nursery rhymes. When they had enough of “The wheels on a bus go round and round” they did not know what to sing next. I looked around and saw some of the children in my class sitting close by. I said to him “ I have a problem for you. Will you help me solve it.

He looked wide-eyed all excited and said: “Yes, yes, so what's the problem?”

The problem is that: “There are 5 seats on the bus and if two children sit on each seat how many children are there altogether?

This sent a ripple effect to other children/parents sitting around us. I saw excitement, engagement, other children trying to listen, children explaining the problem to others, children popping their heads out and counting seats and children, I noticed some children using their fingers, and others just thinking. No classroom with- number charts, maths equipment, paper, and pens. Just us, sitting on a bus.

Everyone was engaged, trying to solve the problem with their buddies sitting next to them.

We could have solved about 3-4 problems before reaching the zoo.

We did more math problems on our way back home. This time it was a request from some children.

We did problems that involved doubling, counting in 2’s 5’s and 10’s.

It’s was a great day at the zoo seeing the animals but what really stood out for me was  doing “DMiC on the bus” 

The holiday drop off.

This affected half the children in my class. Week One was slow and painful. My priority learners struggled in all areas, Reading, Writing, and Maths. I thought that I could do some testing around maths knowledge but then gave up. Some children that have been learning over the holidays were able to continue with the learning from where we left off at the end of Term 3. Others struggled with their learning and behavior(tired, restless, grumpy) and I had to drop back a level.

What I plan to do over the next few weeks.

1.              Do one DMiC lesson a week with everyone.

2.               Have flexible groups and work on number knowledge- number identification, counting on, counting back, doubles, skip counting in 2’s up to 20 and arrays.

3.              When children are not with me they will be doing follow up tasks consolidating on the learning from previous session- this could be on their iPads, in their books/worksheets and playing math’s games.

DMiC Maths-Term 3 End of term reflections

I have a new group of priority learners that I have been working with this term. I have noticed that they are getting better at sharing their ideas when working with their partners. Classroom norms and culture is well established. They ask questions when they don't understand and ask for help. They know that we are here to learn and it's not about getting it right or wrong but having a go and giving it a try.

A few of them can count up to 50 but have many gaps in their number knowledge. They can count on but struggle with counting back and saying the number that comes before. Within the DMiC lessons they can with their partner's support solve simple word problems but when the numbers increase or the word problem changes from addition to subtraction they find it challenging and get restless. 

Next steps for these children: 

Do a quick assessment of what they know in terms of their number knowledge.

Create activities- could be iPad or hands-on follow-up tasks activities where they can practice number knowledge when not with the teacher at a DMiC group lesson.

Lots of practice maybe with a buddy counting on and counting back. Give them a mixture of problems (addition and subtraction) for numbers up to 20 and then increase the numbers slowly.

Digital Fluency Intensive (DFI)-Northland Cohort 2

This morning I am very fortunate to be part of the DFI at Paihia supporting the teachers with iPads. We are here at Paihia school and it is a beautiful sunny day. A nice warm and friendly places with a few familiar faces.

DFI-Northland Cohort 2

The morning started with connecting with each other. Many teachers have been in and out of their classroom wearing many different hats (various roles).
Key points from this discussion:
Blogs and commenting- giving positive feedback, teachers modeling and always using prompts- positive, thoughtful and helpful.
Naming documents and putting in the correct folder.
Working on animation which is going well but wants to link this learning to reading tasks.
Making learning visible by using the new class sites- asking the children what they want or what they think. Tweaking buttons to what students like to make it engaging for their learners.
Blog tracker Year 7 and 8- easy way post and for the teacher to give feedback and for others to leave a comment.
Google sheet assessment for teaching- making it uniform in their department.
Attending digital courses to deepen learning.
Not all children in the class are in a 1-1digital learning environment- making it difficult as every child wants to work/use a device.
Work on sites especially the ones on the old classic sites with all its resources- especially when working in different departments.
Hapara and workspaces are great.
A teacher using powerpoints and digital technologies to explain tasks and then have photocopy worksheets for children to complete those tasks. A teacher expressed their view by saying"It would be great if the student had a Chromebook."

Manaiakalani Innovative teacher Alicia Craig shared her inquiry with us. She also shared with Angela Moala (Pt. England School) work on Multi-Modal learning and talked about all the resources available us.

The principal from Paihia school talked to us about student learning in this school. She talked about learning "anytime, anywhere and anyplace.'
The children here are self-directed learners. They have a choice in selecting their tasks on whats being offered on the timetable. Teachers are available to them to conference with. There are extra resource links on the right-hand side of the timetable.
Children fill out hand in a sheet with links to their work as they finish tasks. Teacher checks and gives feedback and feedforward.
They follow a traffic light system:
Red- Independent learners
Orange-Target learners.
Green- Go and publish and share
This is how they manage the compliance side of learning. Easy for a child to slide under the radar.
Some children do not like choices, therefore, their timetable is managed by teachers.

Hand in sheet Chrissy Smith and Becky's site Te ngahere

We had the opportunity to visit a two-classroom of Year 6, 7, 8 students)
Children were on different tasks.  Some were working in groups and a few preferred working on their own. They confidently shared their learning tasks, blogs. I like the system they use with the traffic lights and how children are empowered to make choices and monitor what they have to achieve with support from the teachers in the hub.

The iPad session went well. There was a lot of content covered in a short time. The teachers were eager to learn and were buzzing with engagement and questions. I will continue to add resources to the folder as I learn in this one to one digital environment.
Thank-you Kerry and the amazing teachers.

Paihia School

DMiC Term 3

It is Term 3 and we have come a long way in our learning. I am so proud of my learners and the progress we have made. For some, their success may not be shown on a graph but it can be seen in terms of their confidence, the value added and personal growth.

What I have noticed: 
- I can complete a group lesson in an hour with priority learners without major interruptions from others. The other half of my class can work independently on tasks as I work with my priority learners. (Group of 8 children)
- Children are getting better at managing themselves when working at a group level and then working with their partners.
-When working with their partners they making sure that they take turns- doing this by themselves. They ask each other questions making sure that they both agree and understand their method of solving the problem 
(drawing, number line, grouping number sentence)
- We solve about 3 problems in one lesson.
-Good sharing when we come together as group.
-Children are explaining, repeating, asking questions, starting to agree and disagree.
- Getting better with our number knowledge and basic facts.
-High level of engagement, children working with partners when doing consolidating activity.
-Children ask to do more maths, ask when we doing maths, Hunter wants to do maths during playtime.
- Very flexible when working with others.

Challenges:
Some children still lack number knowledge. They find it difficult when a given a problem with numbers above 30. A few children read the numbers backward, for example, children say 15 for 51.
Mathematical language concepts: uderstanding the problem, breaking down the vocab within the problem. Teacher taking things for granted- words like each, ate(number 8)
Time is another factor. - Not enough time. 

What next:

Continue working on building number knowledge: number identification 1-100, the number before, the number after, number patterns, doubles and basic facts.

Make changes to my timetable, maybe do maths in the morning. 

How to keep up the high level of engagement and the desire to do more maths during the day (Explain Everything activities)  and  (set up a box with questions) that children can take and do as home learning if they wished to.

It is Term 3 and we have come a long way in our learning. I am so proud of my learners and the progress we have made.

Working together as a group:

                                               

 Here is a video of one of our lessons:

Word problem: There are 4 teddy bears. Each teddy eats 2 cookies. How many cookies got eaten altogether?

Digital Fluency Intensive (DFI): Day 9

 Today was our last day of DFI. The group had mixed feelings as we have grown and bonded well together and now it all comes to an end. We as a group decided to continue connecting with each other through our blogs and hopefully meet up again at another Professional Development session.

Dorothy started the morning by talking about. ubiquitous learning. Ubiquitous learning means learning anytime, anyplace and anywhere It is important to extend our young learners beyond the school hours. Our learners miss out on a lot of learning because when they start school at the age of 5 they come in with limited vocabulary and spoken words. They are behind other learners in their cohort and have to work super hard to catch up to the National Curriculum.  They have to make about one and a half years of progress.
Technology allows our learners to extend their learning. With ubiquitous learning children don't miss out. Technology allows them to access their learning when we not in the room, beyond the normal school hours and makes learning rewindable. (examples of rewindable learning is using Screencastify, using sites to access learning)

                           

           

 Summer Learning Journey:
 Research shows that children do lots of learning during the year but when we get to the Summer holidays there is a big drop. The Summer Learning Journey is a programme that allows children to participate and continues their learning by creating and sharing on their blogs.

Technology is not just a tool. 

It provides opportunities for new ways of learning.

The second part of the day was the Google Level 1 Exam.
I am glad to have sat the exam and as Dorothy and Gerhard said: "Give it a go!" I did not pass but I am not despondent by that (may sit the test again when I have had more time to learn and practice),  Our DFI sessions have been amazing. There has been so much learning, connecting with each other, sharing, reflecting on my practice, thinking of how I will use what I did here with my colleagues and most importantly with my learners. We are learning all the time and as we meet new people and form relationships, we become one big happy family. I will treasure the moments, learning, laughter, funny stories we shared together.  Aroha, dear friends, until we meet again- we will meet again!

Digital Fluency Intensive(DFI) : Day 8

I today's session we talked about the "Google Level 1 Exam". The important thing to remember is time management and just giving it a go as it will be a good opportunity and learning experience

The Cybersmart Curriculum

It is important that when children are given their digital device the teachers scaffold the learners by preparing lessons, supporting children step by step as they work and learn on their device. In primary schools, a Cybersmart lesson for Year1-8 must be delivered weekly. The programme needs to be delivered in a positive approach enabling our learners to make smart decisions and choices when working online. This programme builds values and develops positive citizens. A Cybersmart person is a powerful person. Smart learners leave Smart footprints.
In schools presently teachers focus for:
Term 1-Smarts Learners - care of your device, management, creating folders in the drive.
Term 2 Smart Footprint- talk about being in the right place at the right time online, making the right choices and decisions.
T3-Smart Relationships connecting with people, looking at others bogs. Be positive, thoughtful and helpful.

I really enjoyed the Digital Dig session. I found it interesting and quite challenging.
Some key points I got from this session:
- Working on a Chrome Book and putting myself in the learner's shoes.
-Small device and small screen were quite tricky.
-Learning the keyboard shortcuts - when children use the digital terms it makes it easy to transfer this knowledge no matter what device you give(iPad, Chrome book, iMac) for example, when I work with the juniors I use the terms copy, paste, duplicate, save your project, inspector, delete and so on. I know it's important for children to learn the vocabulary which will make it easier for them as they move up the year levels.

I might grab one of this and practice over the holidays.

We also had an opportunity to use iPads. I was given the opportunity to talk and share about how my learners use their class site to access their learning. We looked at Explain Everything and projects that teachers created within Explain Everything. The group had a chance to complete the activities using various tools, for example: take a photo, copy paste, duplicate, listen to instruction on sound byte and complete task. 

This is my fifth year in a 1:1 iPad class and I am continuing to learn as we create and share. We have a School News Network callled, Pt. England News Network (PENN) where classes share their learning. My children were buzzing with excitement when they watched an animation of a marble run created on Hyperstudio by Ms. King's students(Year 3-4). I observed the children's engagement and told them that we could create a marble run on our iPads. During the last week of Term 2 we created a marble run animation on our iPads. It involved skills (copy, paste, duplicate, add a page, duplicate page). When children recognized the patterns and made the connections they were able to complete the task with support from me/their peers. There was a high level of engagement and we finished the term feeling proud of our achievement. We should not underestimate the ability of our younger learners. We must give them the opportunity to explore and learn.

The create part of our day was to: Create a tutorial on one thing we have learned during the 8 weeks of DFI. I decided to make a make video of how I use the extension, Toby Mini to help with my workflow. With Toby Mini you can organize your browser tabs and access key resources in one-click instead of seven. 

Digital Fluency Intensive (DFI) : Day 7

In today's session we talked about connections and making learning visible.

Dorothy talked about equality and Equity. It is not about each child havin a device or an iPad but it's what we do with it. This message was very meaning to me. When learning is visible it allows all learners to access the content at anyplace, anywhere and anytime.

This means having these set on default

Folders 

Class site

Blogs

Lead the learning visibility through sites.

Hapara teacher dashboard- visibilty into documents

Whanau need to have visibility of leraning through the site Learning outcomes, Assessment Outcomes and WALT (We are learning to)

Sharing learning on their blog

Parental portal -parents have access to children works gets them in to their own childs account.

This is a quote from Stuart McNaughton. It describes the progress of our young children measured longitudinally over three years of national test scores in Writing.

I really enjoyed learning more about Google Keep. I am familiar with Google keep but was good to learn about creating labels and making shopping lists that can be shared with others to make it easier.This was really exciting and the group had lots of fun discovering tips and reminders. Well for me, this is goodbye to paper lists on my fridge.

Google sites:

We had an opportunity to explore teacher's sites, evaluate and set goals for developing our class site.

We are able to connect with ours through our class site and it provides us with an opportunity to share resources and elaborate. It is important that it flows. Gerhard mentioned something most relevant "Three clicks to get to where you need to go"

Each person had a turn to share their site to the Apple T.V and we had to evaluate their site by filling out a Google sheet. This proved to be very useful and I received some good and helpful feedback with some things to work on. It was good to way to receive this feedback and reminds me to always view my site through "Incognito window"- I get to see what my children, whanau (family) and the public see. I enjoyed looking at my colleagues sites especially teachers teaching in higher year levels. Each teacher demonstrated innovation and creativity.

DFI Class Site Critique & Feedback (Responses)

We had a big laugh when Dorothy showed us her Google GPS tile to track basically anything.
-Your child walking home from school
- Children in the shopping malll
-locating lost wallets/keys
-Tracking you luggage when travelling

Always losing your keys and hunting around like crazy!

Tracking a loved ones destination.

Another good day with lots of learning and fun. We have formed good relationships with each other.
Hard to believe that we have only a few sessions left.
Thanks Dorothy and Gerhard for another great session.