PL reflection on EOY results

The 5 students who were chosen to be the Priority Learners for my Inquiry focus group on Maths have made significant improvement in their basic facts knowledge since Term 2. The results are as follows: Child A: Term 2 JAM to Term 4 JAM went from Early Year 2 to Late Yr 2, Child B: Term 2 JAM to Term 4 JAM went from Late Yr 1 to Late Yr 2, Child C: Term 2 JAM to Term 4 went from Late Yr 1 to Late Yr 2, Child D: Term 2 JAM to Term 4 JAM went from Late Yr 1 to Late Yr 2 and finally Child E: Term 2 JAM to Term 4 JAM went from Late Yr 1 to Late Yr 2. This means that 4/5 students progressed a year level in their maths learning since the beginning of this year. I am really proud of these children's achievments and their overall progress. They have gained confidence in maths and learnt new strategies to work out maths problems such as addition, subtraction, place value, equal sharing, fractions, skip counting and number knowledge. This was due to a combination of basic facts practice (having a solid foundation) and weekly practical activities using resources and working in pairs to learn about different maths topics in each term of the year.

Term 3 Inquiry - follow up

This term has been busy filled with filming for Film Festival, however I am teaching and learning Yr 2 level maths topics to try and fill in the gaps (based on JAM test results from Term 2). Topics covered over this 10 week term have been; identifying geometrical shapes, systematical counting, skip counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. The children have covered Place Value, Multiplication and Division, Equal Groups and Arrays, and Measurement. We have used resources and equipment along the way to seal concrete foundations and to cater for our kinaesthetic learners and those chosen Priority Learners as well. This has been a successful way to teach and learn maths skills using a hands on practical approach. The children really enjoyed measuring different objects using plastic rulers, looking closely at the numbers from 0-30 in centimetres. They also enjoyed comparing heights of who is the tallest and who is the shortest in our class!

Team 2 Immersion movie!

The Team Two teachers got together in the July school holidays and made a movie about our Inquiry topic for Term 3 - Karawhiua (Give it heaps!). We had lots of fun filming training sessions in preparation for the school Cross Country. Which athlete or student would you most likely emulate? Special thanks to Ms Squires for putting it all togther and finding archive footage to add in to make it look authentic!

Term 2 Inquiry - Interpret Data

Testing is underway in preparation for Term 2 reports. I have completed the Junior Assessment in Maths tests on each of my Priority Learners and gained some insight and new information on these children as a whole and as individuals. Out of the 5 children tested, 2 of them scored 4's for Add/Sub and Mult/Div sections of the JAM and they are both girls. This means that they are confidently finding answers to addition and subtraction equations by imaging and have learnt some strategies to use when solving problems. They are on track according to expected levels of learning in this curriculum area. The other three children scored 2-3's for Add/Sub and Mult/Div questions on the JAM. This means that they are still learning basic facts and how to add and subtract using materials. There are some other gaps which I recognise such as not being confident in skip counting in 2s or counting backwards in the correct sequence which will hinder their abililty with learning new skills for multiplication and division maths problems. I aim to focus on teaching these skills to them in a small group situation before the end of this term. For the two girls who are already confident with addition and subtraction, they will be extendend by learning 2's, 5s and 10 times tables before the end of the term and learn how to add on using place value of numbers. These two girls are at the expected level of learning in Maths for this stage of the year in comparison to their peers. However, they have a few gaps which I will focus on teaching them in a small group and give them some homework to practice (such as skip counting backwards in the correct sequence and knowing how to read 3 digit numbers).

Term 2 Create PD

Panmure Bridge school hosted the Manaiakalani cluster schools for our Professional Development introduction to Artificial Intelligence with guest speaker Craig Hansen. It was an opportunity to discover a plethora of AI sites relating to the latest technology in education, planning and using the lesson plans to cater for your students age level. These included; Diffit, Teachaid, ChatGPT, Eduaide and Magic School! Then we attended two workshops based on AI. My first one was using ChatGPT to find a Play dough recipe and use this with a group of young children and the second one was

How to animate a Poem

by Charlotte Walker. I particularly enjoyed using my iPad to create an animated poem on an Explain Everything format. This is what I am going to use with my Year 2/3 class to extend their language and literacy skills.

Term 1: Inquiry focus for 2024

This year my Inquiry focus curriculum area is Maths. I am currently teaching a class of 20 children in Year 2 and 6 of these are Year 3s with lower cognitive ability. My goal is to specifically to observe a group of children who need to learn how to solve maths problems such as adddition and subtraction basic facts, counting on, identifying numbers to 100 and counting forwards and backwards in sequence. They will be given a range of teaching resources to help them such as counters, number lines, coloured teddybears and hundreds boards to help them as a visual aide. I have formed this draft inquiry question: How can a strong number knowledge and number sense focus in basic facts support these children to achieve progress in Maths over the course of this year? I have chosen a small group of 5 children to work with, so I can teach them new strategeties to use and they may learn how to be more independent in finding answers. These children are encouraged to practice basic facts equations usinf the Xtramaths site and in addition the Maths seeds follow up acitivities on their iPads. They will be using a range of printed worksheets and follow up EEs (Explain Everything) activities on their iPads to consolidate their learning of maths strategies. My aim is that these children will be learning 2 x tables once they have mastered skip counting in 2s in the correct sequence. At the beginning of Term 2 I will be doing an individual JAM test on each child in my classroom to guage their knowldege and understanding this far.

MIT: Alumni Hui 2024

I feel so priviledged to have attended this gathering of talented teachers led by Matt and Dorothy at the MIT Hui held in Christchurch, hosted by KPMG! We were introduced to a Design Thinking concept that encouraged us to investigate a problem based on our current teaching practice. I was buddied up with Kariene and we focused on "Structured Literacy in the Early Years" (BSLA). We had to identify multiple problems and then do a deep dive and hone in using Crazy 8's to create possible solutions and how we can implement them? Kariene and I identified that although the BSLA program is valuable to our tamariki, time constraints are a factor in ensuring the success of setting up and completing individual assessments (prior to establishing reading groups). This needs to be done at the start of the teaching year or at the end of a 10 week teaching block and takes time to complete a whole class of learners (e.g. 20 -24 students in Year 1,2 or 3). I learnt that working with another teacher who has had a similar experience enabled us to bounce ideas off each other, compare and reflect on our own teaching practice. we identified what is working well and what needs to change. We are going to request more release time to carry out assessments which take time to analyse and then upload onto the BSLA site. Thank you so much to Justine for your kind hospitality, making us feel welcome in your space and providing delicious kai throughout the day. Nga mihi nui, Sonali Carter.

BSLA review

After 40 weeks of teaching the Better Start Literacy Approach (BSLA) to the children in my class, all of the children have been tested. Out of the whole class of 20 children, the reading group who are considered as the most capable readers 4 of them have reached the top reading level called Rakau. As part of the assessment schedule they were tested at the end of the year and came out with top results ranging from 100%, 99%, 98% and 92%. Considering the fact that all of these children are ESOL and they have accumulated so many more words to their vocabulary, it is a great credit to them. They have read a range of books that they can relate to, learnt the characters names and Te Reo Maori phrases. The teaching strategies have introduced a new focus sound each week that is found in the words of the book they are reading. They learn a new morpheme such as -ing, -ed, -ll (double consonant) and have learnt how to sound out a word phonetically. I am so proud of their achievements. One of these students has received a top academic award for this year out of 60 Year 2 students. It is interesting to note that all of these children have had homework reading support from their own families at home, which has proved to be successful. In comparison to a small number of children who have had minimal input from their parents and/or significant absences from school throughout this year. In conclusion I feel that a consistent approach of teaching and learning at school and home is required in order for the BSLA reading program to be successful.

Year 2 Unicorns!

On behalf of Mrs Moon, Mrs Shirley and myself, I would like to congratulate the Year 2 netball team for winning all of their 12 games this season. We are so proud of you, as many of you were first time players that consisted of 6 girls and 2 boys. We love the fact that you became an awesome team, working together and coming to weekly training, learning new skills. You scored 119 goals and only had 9 goals scored against! Well, we are looking forward to seeing you all return in 2024...

T3 BSLA writing progress

BSLA making progress in Literacy

This group of children have been learning how to spell cvc words found in the book they are reading. They are also practising segmentation of words and phonic awareness by sounding out each letter. Each book has some Maori kupu in it as well. They are introduced to the focus sounds for each week. Students are looking closely at blends and double vowel sounds from this book. This is a good opportunity to identify correct letter formation from each child writing on their whiteboard.

BSLA - Literacy skills

As per the recommendation, I have been reading one quality storybook a week with my class. Throughout the book, I read the explanantions of new words in each sentence which need highlighting. I have noticed that by the end of the week, the children have learnt new words to add to their vocabulary as well as Te Reo Maori words and their meanings. I encourage the children to think about the characters in the story, name them if possible and write down their ideas using a whiteboard marker and pens. Each contribution is acknowledged with verbal praise and encouragement. This helps students with their story writing ideas and writing full sentences, rather than stand alone words. I brainstorm ideas on the mat, using the whiteboard and draw a mind map with the title in the middle. This is a whole class learning opportunity with role modelling of sounding out unknown words. I may gift them some of the new vocabulary words if they are tricky? This technique promotes cognitive skills and uses a peer scaffolded approach to learning together and helping each other. I have noticed an improvement in the top writing group, adding more detail. They are writing more, and starting to use a sequence of events to recall what happened.

Research Reflection PD

On our teacher only day we were asked to look at the data from the Reading, Writing and Maths results from students at our school compared to those in the Manaiakalani cluster. The findings were interesting, particularly because the period of time that the assessment took place was through the Covid epidemic which has affected all school students learning in a plethora of ways. In our small groups we looked at gender, ethnicity and year groups that were tested at different times of the year over a period of one year (Term 1 of 2022 - Term 1 of 2023). We took a deep dive into what student groups had made progress, acceleration, showed a shift or those that had gaps and why we thought was the case? We recorded a PMI for each subject ares or Reading, Writing and Maths. Then we broke into Quality Learning Circles to discuss what effective strategies we are currently using and share ideas with teaching colleagues. Here is a snapshot of our time spent together with a range of reading techniques used.

In the afternoon I went to a fun, interactive Create workshop led by the wonderful junior teachers from Glen Taylor school and their session was called "Mad Little Scientists" and this was divided into three areas of the Living World, The Material World and The Physical World. We broke into three groups and did a hands on Create activity which promotes young children's fine motor skills, creativity, cognitive development and language accumulation. They use provocations to promote student interest and then provide a range of activities for them to participate in. Overall, this was a positive and valuable experience of teaching and learning within our education cluster. I found it helpful and will endeavour to use some of these ideas in my own teaching practice. Special thanks to Georgie Hamilton for presenting the research, and Fiona Grant for collating this professional development Inquiry to us and the Manaiakalani team for their statistical analysis and research of our testing data. "Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results", (John Dewey).

Literacy debate

I recently watched an episode of "Paddy Gower has Issues" (a new series on TV3) and Laura Tupou was looking at the current debate amongst the New Zealand teaching professsion about Balanced Literacy versus Structured Literacy. She interviewed primary schools who are using the new Structured literacy programs to teach young children how to read such as introducing the Better Start Literacy Approach developed in New Zealand through the University of Canterbury or Little Learners Love Literacy from Australia and spoke to the students about what they like best about the program? She also spoke with teachers and principals about this new initiative (BSLA) which is supported by the Ministry of Education. Then she interviewed Rebecca Jesson from the University of Auckland who teaches Reading recovery to students who need it and also trains teachers in this pedagogy. She advocates that teachers should continue to use both methods of teaching, so a combination of teaching phonics and reading recovery to enhance a child's ability to learn to read. She highlights the need for both teaching methods to be taught implicitly so that "children learn to read by reading AND by being taught explicitly" (R.Jesson, 2023). As found in her blogpost - https://www.learningcircle.co.nz/blog/reading-recovery-refresh-unpacking-and-and-approach? We all know the importance of Oral language and how much children need to engage in their interest in books and love of literacy. It is our job as teachers to provide the framework, scaffolding, resources and support for the children in our classrooms to foster positive literacy experiences, especially in the early years of their schooling. Support from whanau is also part of the process in order for Maori and Pasifika (ESOL) students to progress in reading. The research shows that these two groups are not achieving where they should be in literacy. Is there a Nature vs Nurture arguement at play as to why some children learn to read with ease and others struggle? I am passionate about teaching the children in my care to have the confidence to overcome potential obstacles they may face in reading. Be it a language deficit, poor attendance, not having enough conversations in their home environment? These children need as much support as we can give them when they come to school to learn to read...

BSLA - T2 reflection

I have now got 5 reading groups in my class using the BSLA program. This includes all 20 children. There are 4 groups on Kakano and one group on Tupu. They read the same book for 4 days of the week and take it home for homework. There has been lots of focus work on phonics, cvc words, and noticing word endings using blends and diagraphs. These children have been practising daily word work using writing cvc words on whiteboards and wooden letter blocks to make and break cvc words and sound out the letter sounds using the correct pronounciation of the vowel and consonant sounds.

Fia Fia 2023!

I was so proud of the all the training and practices that this group of students did in a short space of time in preparation for our whole school Fia Fia night at the end of Term 1! Even though there were only 3 children from Indian heritage it was great to see other children from different cultures participating and having fun. Team Bollywood all learned the dance moves of this song called "Kudi Nu Nachne De" and looked amazing in their traditional costumes and accessories!

My Professional Learning journey!

Welcome back to my professional development Inquiry practice for 2023 which is based on Literacy. I am enrolled online to study with the University of Canterbury to implement the Better Start for Literacy Approach (BSLA) to my Year 2 learners. This is a structured literacy program that focuses on providing support to children for reading and writing and oral language in their formative years of school. There is a strong pedagogy of phonic awareness, decoding, reading for meaning, word recognition and language accumulation for our tamariki. Parents and whanau are encouraged to support the follow up reading activities at home. Assessment is carried out by classroom teachers every 10 weeks to monitor the students progress and there is an expectation that we will see Maori and Pacific learners achieve positive gains in literacy skills at a faster rate than previously experienced. You are able to view a sample of the learning outcomes and resources on the BSLA site: https://www.betterstartapproach.com/

Inquiry focus summary for 2022

What did my students learn about from being a part of the Class OnAir program in Rm 24? They learnt a range of hands-on practical Science experiments. Throughout this year they have worked collaboratively in pairs or small group which has encouraged key competencies such as sharing and turn taking skills. Each child's vocabulary has increased with the acuumculation of English language to their individual word bank. They have had sensory experiences and a range of interactive activities to support their wellbeing and cognitive development. This year has been a huge learning curve for these students in partiuclar who have learn and grown so much from the start of this year until now. Although, at times it has been challenging coping with the tail end of the Covid pandemic, with issues such as attendance and completing homework reading (overall it has been a successful outcome). I feel the children have benfitted from working closer with me as their teacher, (with small group work opportunities), role modelling and promoting Scientific Investigations as an Inquiry as well as positive learning outcomes.

PES Artworks Expo!

Rm 24 really enjoyed looking at all the amazing artwork displayed in the hall as part of our Inquiry for this term. We recognised some different styles of art such as photography, digital prints, clay, masks, self portraits. Plus we had our very own plasiticine bead necklaces displayed on the light board! Well done for all your hard mahi everyone!

Cross Country!

Everyone tried their best at the Cross Country course and got to the finish line. We were allowed parent spectators for support this year! Congratulations to Serena, Aroha and Gano for the girls and Micheal, Corey and Stephen for the boys first, second and third place getters. Even if you didn't win, you still gave it a go and that is what matters. All your 6 weeks of training made a difference. Kapai mahi tamariki ma, from Mrs Carter.