Teaching as Inquiry 2025...

Click here to see how I align my inquiry with the Manaiakalani framework.

“Recognising and spreading sophisticated pedagogical practice across our community so that students learn in better and more powerful ways...”

The Manaiakalani Community of Learning is working together on this task using the expertise existing in of our community of learning. 

Labels:

LEvidence, LScan, LTrend, LHypothesise, LResearch, LReflect,

CPlan, CTry, CInnovate, CImplement, CReflect,

SPublish, SCoteach, SModel, SGuide, SFback, SReflect

Engage, Empower, Inspire... Setting Group Norms

Setting group norms at the beginning of the year is one of the most crucial parts of a successful guided reading lesson, in my opinion. Students struggle to work effectively in a group if they don't know how to interact with their group or why they actually need to do this. 

This year I made a huge change and rather than doing this group by group I chose to take on the challenge of doing this as whole class lessons with all my learners sitting in their reading groups. The first lesson was an extremely structured step by step lesson with lots of teacher guidance. What I noticed is having the opportunity to look at how other groups were interacting helped strengthen the confidence of all the groups, regardless of ability.

I selected a text that linked explicitly to our inquiry topic which meant everyone was able to make an immediate connection to it. We began with a multimodal dive into the front loading texts. The first one, a short 3 minute video, was unpacked with me having the locus of control. This meant I was able to model and guide every step of the process. What I noticed was I had an immediate buy-in. It was evident that I knew the content and was able to respond to questions asked without referring to the texts. 

We kept it simple and during the first viewing simply just watched it. I then asked each group leader to ask everyone in the group to share something they found interesting. When we watched it a second time every student had a vivid and access to the group note taking paper. The challenge this time was to write down any words that were interesting, new or unknown. I made it clear this wasn't a spelling or handwriting lesson so encouraged the words to be recorded the way they sounded if the correct spelling was unknown. Following this challenge the leaders were once again asked to ask everyone in the group to share a word and say why that word had been recorded. The final independent challenge for this text was to watch the video again, this time in groups not on the TV, and record any facts that were deemed important or interesting. Once this had been completed (short time limits were given) the leaders were asked to get the talk going with the final group challenge being to share what has been written then co-construct 5 questions they may have about the text. What was happening here was a gradual shift in the locus of control.

With all our vocabulary, facts and questions recorded we moved onto the balcony for a very loud speed dating style activity. The noise level and laughter that came as a direct result of the speed of the partner changes everyone enjoyed the opportunity to move and to share their new learning. 

                                                        

Having stretched our legs and made the most of the opportunity to learn with and from each other we used the same process to unpack the next set of short texts. This time I gave both written and spoken instructions and let the groups take control and work at their own paces. We Have a set of group norm cards which were displayed and unpacked as we went along so everyone knew their role. As always in LS2 their are no passengers in group challenges. In my favour was the fact that two weeks before we had been on camp where both individual and group challenges were the order of the day.

Day 2 saw a small blip in the flow as we changed leaders. I let each group select their leader each time. The message given was that at this time of the year we are all learning how to lead and how to be a member of a group so supporting each other was the order of the day. Groups were encouraged to use the group norm cards in their group boxes to help guide them. During this time I moved around the room while Dianne (my buddy teacher), worked closely with our group who find reading a challenge. We persevered and with guidance found success in the lesson. What impressed me was the richness of the talk that was taking place.

Fast forward a week and the norms set in place last week were alive and kicking! What I observed was that the groups had naturally reverted to those they saw as leaders and with that 'security' in place for learning, confidently took on the additional roles that are needed to be filled if groups are to work together collaboratively and productively. 

We are definitely still at early days but my big message to myself is take time to set things up because the wheel turns when everyone understands the 'why' behind the challenge.

Student Inquiry Foci 2025...

With all our school starting or strengthening our structured literacy journeys this year, I have decided to focus on where the create aspect of the Manaiakalani pedagogy fits in and how we harnessing the digital to explore the create aspect of structured literacy. As I write this our Y4-8 team are yet to begin this journey so my hope is by voicing my hunch, we might avoid overlooking opportunities to create as we navigate our new learning.

I have been a part of the Manaiakalani cluster for many years and know the power the create component in learning has towards helping us achieve the 1.5x accelerated shift we need to ensure our learners are set up for success as they move through their individual learning journeys. 'Creative skills help students become better problem solvers, communicators and collaborators.' (Manaiakalani).

Sourced from Manaiakalani Pedagogy for DFI DLO

Students learn by actively constructing knowledge, not just absorbing it. This involves breaking down, rearranging, selecting, and demonstrating their understanding, so that  “...whatever was in their mind, whatever they could visualise, whatever they could see they created...” - Elwyn Richardson. 

The Apple curriculum supports this thinking and states 'After 40 years working alongside educators, we've seen — and research has shown — that creative thinking leads to deeper student engagement. And when students are more engaged, they take more ownership of their learning. Creative skills help students become better problem solvers, communicators and collaborators. They explore more and experiment more. They tell richer stories and find their own unique voices. They stretch their imaginations and make connections they might not otherwise make — and they carry these skills through everything they do in school. And beyond.' Why Creativity Matters - Apple Curriculum. 

The challenge of student learning is to demonstrate their understanding of a concept by creating something with the knowledge that they have unpacked and internalised. If the create process is overlooked where will we find ways to facilitate discussion and reflection? I can't imagine any student being inspired by. If students are not inspired to learn, then following a preset lesson to the letter will result in a structurally embedded underachievement issue that will see us lose the interest of those readers we have worked so hard historically to capture.

If I look back at my own time at school, with the exception of one year, I can not recall anything in reading lessons other than sitting in a circle reading a text round robin style then being sent back to my desk to answer questions in silence to demonstrate that I had gained meaning from what I had read. There were no opportunities to learn from others, no opportunities for collaboration and no opportunities to talk about the text, let alone creating anything with the information I had found. Sadly this was reading until I was about 9 years old, something I viewed as just a thing we did at school. The one year that stands out saw us being asked to draw characters in a particular scene, make information posters and redesign book covers. That was the year I saw reading at school as fun.

It is because of the very reason just mentioned, that I feel this is the the most important and catalytic issue of learning for our learners this year. I don't want to be introducing and unpacking a text verbally through preset comprehension strategies. I don't want to be the teacher who asks my students to summarise a text on a graphic organiser then leave it there. I want to be the teacher who asks a provocation and encourages talk and creativity. I want my learners to show me their connections to the aspects of the text we are unpacking using the plethora of digital tools available to us. Defaulting to substitution in response to a structured learning process does not, in my opinion, open the opportunities to 'empower my students with creative learning opportunities to help accelerate achievement'.