Online Learning - what does it look like and my findings

Level 4 Lockdown - it was such a shock once again for us teachers. We are not meant to teach online. Thinking of words like, emotions, well-being, hugs, social interactions, playtime, one on one time with students, routine and stability. In a class these are crucial - a safe environment for children. I can I change my practice and thinking to do everything I am doing in my physical class in my virtual class.

Being a teacher, the first thoughts that rushed through my head when I hear the word Lockdown is what about the children who won’t have the means to connect for a variety of reasons such as, parent disengagement, frequency of attending the meets, the level I have to teaching, what do I teach, engaging activities, poor internet quality and no support on how to access all learning online. Can I keep the momentum we have established in the classroom and follow our routines?

Thinking that we couln't interact with students this way 30 years ago!! We are truly blessed to have devices to connect with each other. Teach and still engage our learners through different kinds of media online reaching all aspects of our daily routine which includes, dancing, listening and learning new songs, new languages, writing using a virtual white board, maths still using a variety of materials and students are able to access objects to count with, and reading as well through apps. School and learning can continue!! At least for those who can connect!! Luckily our children are born more tech orientated, they adapted to the “new” way of learning very easily!! Unfortunately the engagement is not always trackable online, what are they really doing?

What and how have I been providing optimum opportunities for learning:

• Not making it too teacher directed
• Setting up slides where the students can continue learning independently
• Really making an effort to ask how they are doing
• Creating opportunities where we can use a lot of oral language
• Guided drawings which helps with fine motor skills
• Asking how they are and telling me what they have been up to
• Continue teaching as if still in class

I would love to bring some more ideas into my sessions - these came up after I have watched some observations done by GTS teachers:

• Show and tell - all little ones enjoy showing their toys. I want to make this a more frequent activity because even the shy students, who is still getting used to the idea to talk online, will gain more confidence talking about, for instance, their own toy
• Refer back to our vision and values more often - through the simple etiquette of behaviour when you are on an online call
• Using more of the ideas that they want to learn about - and let them create some of the content
• Making our own digital class big book - using pictures from the guided drawings and sentences that we have written and making it into a book. Book creator
• Play games online like kahoot. I want to find a game similar to Pictionary for 5 year olds online version
• Giving out more certificates or rewards at the end of the week to celebrate to the ones that tried to make their learning happen. Celebrate their successes more often to encourage other students
• I have to lead by my example and always be positive and keep going no matter what

I looked at 2 different readings :

1. Why are some kids thriving through online learning - and how can I assist those who are not to do better - https://www.edutopia.org/article/why-are-some-kids-thriving-during-remote-learning. We are all facing challenges as soon as we are emerged in online learning but

• There are less distractions many of our students are faced with at school. Not many friends that wants to talk to - you can get straight into learning and finish the job
• Many reserved students has been actively participating during the online lessons and giving answers because they don’t feel the threat like being in a class environment
• Learners that are not very social at school is thriving because they are in their own safe environment where they can feel confident, my next step is figuring out how I will accommodate these learners back into a classroom with all those barriers - creating a safe breakout space
• Learning at their own pace without the pressures of time in the class - many of my learners often struggle to complete activities within a time limit - they now have the opportunity to complete them in their own time. Something to consider when we are back in the classroom, My thoughts are around setting up the class more like an explore room with set activities which students can go to when they have finished working with the teacher during guided groups. This might take time to set up because they need to be able to complete activities independently, with this I also see the opportunity of more oral language that will be used and gaining confidence in their learning
• An important factor for me as a teacher is that I can see my learners do get more sleep now. They can sleep a bit later in the morning and it is not a rush to get everybody ready and out of the house at 8am. Much calmer and relaxed environment has a tremendous impact on learning

1. Reason why students are not so engaged- https://childmind.org/article/5-reasons-students-arent-engaging-in-distance-learning/

• Where most learners have a safe and calm environment to work in some learners’ situation changed dramatically and a lot more stressors e.g. no income, food, violence due to situations, unstable family life
• With these factors is it very stressful to work or attend online classes due to no devices available, no internet, no support. We can only try to do all we can as a school to offer support with all these factors. Messaging and keeping contact is so important, our learners are our first priority, keeping their well-being in mind

16 August 2021 Tohatoha Manaiakalani Share Google Meet - all NZ clusters

Tohatoha Manaiakalani Share Google Meet

Meeting Type

Tohatoha Manaiakalani Share Google Meet

As a CoL within school teacher of the Manaiakalani cluster we registered and met with teachers around the country and had a korero via google meet about our chosen inquiry topic. My topic was about the students that shows difficult learning behaviours and how I can assist those students in my class.

Motivation

We had a few guiding prompts to korero around, what is going on in our class, what skills/tasks/activities are working well/what our hunches are/what our next steps for our inquiries are. All the teachers on this call has the same issues on how to aid those students which need that bit extra support. Currently we are lucky enough to have some teacher assistant support to help those students. Our ultimate goals would be to have a TA in all Junior classes where the demand is so high already with the younger students, it would be great to have just another hand in the class.

We were three teachers from the same school and also the same team. We had one teacher from a school in Northland. She explained that they do have a TA full time just because some children are funded by ORS. Their team has decided to look more deeply into having weekly provocations and using the guided group time to teach a more structured literacy program. This was very helpful to us because we are looking into that journey ourselves. I am excited to see what will happen if I do a fully structured language program with a target group using decodable texts.

Through specifically set up provocations students have the opportunity to explore their surroundings using different materials and the oral language will be developed by peers or by teacher prompting. While these students are exploring the activities, the teachers, have the opportunity to delf a little deeper into ability groupings as well as Tuakana- Teina especially with the New Entrants working with the Year 1 and 2 students as well as our buddy classes of Year5/6 students.

We discussed the opportunity to go to Incredible Years Program and how this will aid both us teachers and the parents on how to assist students with behaviour problems.

How will it help me?

Incredible Years has started and I have already gain some ideas and feel confident on how to assist the behaviour problems in the class. Working closely with RTLB to individualise the student's plan.

With the structured literacy program I feel I will be able to lift the data around reading because we focus on teaching phonics first and not just using memory to recognise words.

#7 The Ripple effect

 

The Ripple effect in my teaching practice

I have read and realised over the past couple of weeks, especially with the impact I am having with my new entrants that the words and actions I choose with my students today can have far-reaching implications. How far can my ripples go? As teachers, we make micro-decisions in our classrooms constantly. We’re always analysing and trying to do what’s right for our students.

In a short period of time, we might think …

• Is she having a hard day? Maybe she needs a pat on the back and some encouragement.
• He is not focussed and very needy today. Maybe I can work with him one on one.
• I overheard her saying she is not a good reader. Maybe I can give her a book about something she enjoys.

We often forget the decision we made no matter how small but the impact of them can last a lifetime.

They’re like the ripples in a pond. When you throw a rock in calm water, the ripples cascade outward and change the water for a long time. Think about the ripples you’re creating with your students. They might reach further than you think. Ripple effect resource

My teacher inquiry is: 

How will I change my practice to ensure that a 5 yo student starting school with limited foundational skills will progress and succeed in Level 1 of NZC

As identified these as my focus aspects:

• Planning should be done from both NZC and Te Whāriki also looking at the Key Competencies 
• Professional readings and research
• Differentiated learning needs to happen to assist the students that has little or no foundational skills, cross class teaching - filter students into ability grouping for Phonics to start off with
• Focussing how to incorporate fine motor skills into rotation groups
• Adding more time to our program to really focus on the main curriculum areas by teaching LCS on a Friday in collaboration with Room 1, setting up provocations and giving opportunity for students to develop oral language and fine motor skills
• Making little books with their own sentences - it will be rewindable
• Getting parents involved in the process, before they enrol and then during the first term that they have started
• Parents survey
• Kindergarten/ECE teacher surveys
• Primary school teacher surveys
• Assessments on students done in first/second week when they start school
• Mid term tamariki korero - getting parents involved and give them more say on what and why their children are according to their peers and after 6 weeks at school and beyond

In my own practice

I will focus more how to integrate activities across the curriculum and make sure that my lessons include DAT leading up to our LCS on Fridays

Observations outside of GTS: Johanna to set up Jo Gormly(Term 2) and Natalie Wrack(Term 3)

Excited to do the Incredible Years PD - this will aid in students with behaviour challenges

Supporting other teachers

Conversations about maths curriculum teaching, and writing(Year1/2 classes making use of the opportunity to have ability groups in both Phonics and Writing) will assess how it is going Term 3.

How can the teachers incorporate fine motor skills into their program for the students that still lack some of the foundational skills

What I would like my students to focus on is 

• Be confident that they have mastered all foundational skills, once they have mastered these they would be ready for the next step

• Fill the gaps before they start school - parent and ECE involvement

• Their goals and know why they have goals

• The importance of using oral language when they talk to each other

• To learn through play and fill the gap

End Goal 

• Parents and kindergarten/ECE teachers are involved in the transition process to make it as smooth as possible. All parties are on board where we are heading and know what the expectations are before students start primary school. If we could fill the gaps of the foundational skills before they start school it would have a ripple effect into the start of their school journey and this will an amazing effect in the rest of their schooling.

#6 Manaiakalani Create meeting

This week Aimee Litchfield and I hosted a Creativity Empowers Learning Meeting at Stonefield School. We had an amazing team of teachers that joined us. Our focus was to show how to integrate all learning areas by being creative through construction. We had a provocation(phonics: letter "f") to start off with and then gave the teachers some freedom to explore and create something that starts with the letter "f". 

These teachers were so productive and we were inspired by their creativity. Please have a look at our slide.

#5 The nature and extent of the student challenge within the transition phase from Early childhood into primary school

Term 1 is behind us and it is always good to reflect on what you have done to reach your goal to ensure that you can pick up new and improved methods.

My tools that I have used to measure my students performances and why they are not progressing is taken from: 

• The Manaiakalani data - where we can clearly see that our students are well behind, although they are progressing in line with their peers, the national expectation and this is troublesome and there should be an urgency to find ways to assist these students to fill those foundational gaps
• School entry and six year net data - writing vocabulary, CAP, letter ID and oral language. this data has shown that students has little or very limited alphabet knowledge, some are able to write only a few letters of their name and sometimes still scribbling. Their oral language is also not very advanced - only answering in short incorrect sentences
• In collaboration with Jill Watson(RTLB) and Vaughan Spurdle(RTLB) which developed the Ready Steady program, the results after the assessment gave us evidence of which areas the children need the support the most and really getting into filling the gaps before they are ready for formal learning 

When looking at all the above you can clearly see that most students starting primary school is in fact not ready for formal learning. I am looking at ways how I can make the transition less stressful for parents as well as the children who need to adapt to a new environment and adapting to the more structured learning environment which most are not ready for because they did not have all the foundational skills learned and mastered yet.

Ideas to incorporate into my lesson plans as well as working with the ECE and parents of new students:

• Dianne(RTLB) assisting all junior teachers by modelling(and teachers observing) how to work with students with higher needs - her expertise will aid us how to fill the gaps
• ENGAGE games - this will help students to manage themselves
• Authentic learning experiences as mentioned in previous blog - getting rich oral language form what they know and making connections with prior knowledge
• Do ample research into the Better Start Literacy Approach - some target students has shown progress 
• Collaboration with kindergarten and ECE teachers to find a way we can work together and find ways to make the gaps less when they start school
• Morning paepae to make it more culturally responsive to all learners in class - also incorporating other languages and cultures

My vision of how I see what can happen:

• Making a video about students and school to put on website - new parents can get a view of the school
• Make booklet for students coming to us - will make it less new because they have seen the school through pictures
• Continue with kindy visits with students from our school - older students in their uniform, such a hit with the little ones
• Survey to parents - how did they feel with the transition. Already had positive feedback and enrolment because the parents knew what was happening and what was offered to them. The parents was particularly excited about the way we are introducing Te Reo in the class with little exposures throughout the day - make it easy and part of the routine

#4 Project-based learning and the benefits

Five-Year-Olds Pilot Their Own Project-Based Learning

Student-driven class activities, enhanced by technology, launch kindergarteners on a journey of lifelong learning.

Edutopia

Given what we know how we learn, what makes project based learning work?

"Through many studies it showed that students who engage in authentic and inquiry based learning do just as well in standardised assessments and even do better in real tasks of critical thinking and problem solving, which will make an even bigger difference for them in the long run in school and in life." says Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond( President and CEO of The Learning Policy Institute)

My team and I are constantly developing new strategies to be able to aid our tamariki in their learning. When we see a that they have an interest - we will follow that and give them the provocation to learn more and extend their oral language as well.

"There are many aspects of what goes on in a well-designed project that deepen understanding, that open up the brain for learning, and also create connections that will allow that learning to be transferred to new situations."

What we know is that curiosity wakes up the brain. Through authentic learning experiences, language experiences and provocations we create an engaging learning environment where the students can learn and make connections into the wider world. Learning will then become more motivating and enjoyable.

"When a student is deeply engaged in a project, their brain is awake and alert, because they are engaged and they are interested. That engaged brain operates on connections, connecting what we know to what we are now learning. Connecting what we experience today to what we experienced yesterday."

We know that we learn in social relationships with other much more effectively, more than what we learn from one-way communication. While being engaged in authentic learning experiences, students will use their oral language and learn from each other. Most project based learning is collaborative. Students learn effectively how to collaborate, as well as look at each other to find ideas. 

She also says "Project-based learning also has the opportunity for kids to enter in different places. Different pathways into the problem will allow kids to find a way to hook in from their own knowledge and experience base. It will also give multiple ways for the group to understand the problem, as they share those with each other. And so that really enables a classroom that is of necessity full of variation, to take advantage of that diversity, rather than trying to sort of avoid it, or stomp it out, as we would have to do if we were trying to do a standardised curriculum."

I am excited to continue my journey to explore new authentic ways to aid students in their own learning journey. I am building very important relationships with the ECE centres and learning from their teachers how to do project-based learning/authentic learning experiences and how to bring that into primary school classes.

 

#3 Speed dating with other CoL teachers in our Manaiakalani cluster

 When talkative, inquisitive and inspired teachers come together and have an afternoon of....

Speed dating(a formalised matchmaking process which has the purpose of encouraging eligible people to meet large numbers of new potential partners in a very short period of time)

you can only imagine what buzz there was in that room!!!

Based on data and hands on experience I formulated my inquiry to see where and with which targets students I can try to make a difference in their learning journey. What can some of the problems be that led to my inquiry - why did I choose this and how am I going to make a difference? 

BECAUSE OUR CHILDREN ARE AT THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING WE DO. THEY ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE.

As you have seen I am focussing on the 4-5 year old students and helping to find ways to fill the gaps to make the transition from ECE to primary school a bit smoother.

By chance, when the speed dating session started, I reached out to Jo Gormly - I have been following her journey very closely and was inspired when she led a workshop around Bee bots and teaching Digital Technologies, also I wanted to "date" Silivia Toloke, Natasha Olsen and Sharon Elliot. All three of them are with Sommerville Special School. I have visited a satellite school of Sommerville last year and was impressed how they manage and cater for students with individual needs! When I sat down with Jo, on the seats just behind us was my other daters. Luck and meant to be. As we explained our inquiry, they all felt that my inquiry was a very important and sometimes often overlooked focus. I would definitely follow up on our brief conversations and visit some more satellite campuses and learn of ways to help the little 5 year olds adjust better in the more structured environment to meet their individual needs!!

I believe that this is such an important part for all students who is starting their learning journey. I know what I am doing right, NOW what can I do more!!

Teache

rs working together to identify common challenges, analyse relevant data, and test out instructional approaches

Teachers working together to identify common challenges, analyse relevant data, and test out instructional approaches