2021 Teacher Inquiry Evaluation

This year I set out to find out if a focus on oral language in maths would accelerate student confidence and capability to use spoken and written maths vocabulary and language.

In order to be able to do something, you need to have access to the tools you need and the understanding of how to use them. This is no different in a classroom. The challenge for my students this year was to make accelerated shift in Maths by being able to talk about their learning in thinking groups, explain it on their blogs and create comment threads that invite others to respond by talking/writing about their learning in maths. This was something I quickly realised that I had to unpack fully, as my initial analysis of my target group’s thinking group conversation showed that my students were not able to access the content vocabulary they needed to be able to have a rich learning conversation. The quieter students chose to remain silent which resulted in the more confident students filling the void with ideas that lacked detail eg: “I did this and then I moved that number…”. They did try to initiate a discussion however, “What did you do?” was the only question I heard being asked. Simply put, my students were not able to talk in depth about their learning.

Being silent is not an option if acceleration is to take place so I realised quickly that I needed to model the language of explanation eg: “I saw that the question was asking me to… so I knew I needed to think about…” or “Groups of means… so I…”; and support the use of questions that encourage justification, eg: “How do you know it works?”, “So what happens if you…”, “What about if you say…does that still work”, “So if we…”  if I wanted rich learning conversations to become the norm.

Summarise evidence about key changes in teaching and other factors that influence student learning.

When asked specific questions eg; “What is this question asking us to do with the numbers?” or “How did you find your answer?” The learned go-to was to remain silent, however being silent is not an option if acceleration is to take place. My initial thinking was that a lack of comprehension remained one of our biggest obstacles. After listening and observing from a distance I realised my students were just not confident when using maths vocabulary as the connections between the words and the strategies had not been made. 

I began breaking down the barriers by:

• Introducing the Talk Moves framework into our maths program so that the discussion stems could become the norm within our learning time. This didn’t work for us because we simply did not use or connect to the words in the stems in. Our solution was to repurpose the Talk Moves idea by co-constructing and implementing a framework that we could connect to because it used our own words. We called it LS2 Moves.

• Modelling the language and supported the use of questions which lead to justification like “How do you know it works?”, “So what happens if you…”, “What about if you say…does that still work”, “So if we…”. 

• Unpacking Jo Boaler’s positive classroom norms.

• Stepping my students through the Talk Moves framework by explaining each component and giving individual students different roles within the group.

• Explaining the purpose behind having a learning conversation.

• Actively planning for talking about and reflecting on our learning in each lesson.

• Actively planning time in class, for students to create blog posts, comment on each other's blogs and respond to comments on their own blogs. This allowed me to see where connections to the learning content were strong, and where the gaps in knowledge were evident.

• Acknowledging individual success in talk time regardless of how big or small that success was.

• Setting the expectation that during our talk time, everybody in the group needed to participate actively.

• Modelling how to bring someone into a conversation in a way that wasn’t seen as ‘scary’.

Summarise evidence about key shifts in the problem of student learning:

Due to the impact of lockdown the shifts in my student’s learning this year are based on OTJs and observations. I collected detailed baseline data in Term 1 and student voice in Term 1 and 2, but am unable to make any time point 1/time point 2 comparative shift analysis this year as lockdown forced me to draw a line under my original inquiry. I literally lost contact with half of my focus group. Due to the length of time we had been learning from home, as a school we decided not to formally assess our students at the end of the year. Because of both these reasons I can not make accurate measures in academic shifts this year. I have additionally chosen not to use the three student voice comparisons I did manage to get as this does not paint a true picture of the change in my learner’s perspectives on maths. 

Write an overall evaluation of your intervention in terms of the causal chain you had theorised. To what extent was the intervention successful in changing factors such as teaching? To what extent were those changes in teaching effective in changing patterns of student learning?

In all assessments our students are required to read and respond to questions. Often our students are not literate in their own language so the gaps that emerge when questions are written in English are getting wider, thus causing bigger disconnects in the learning. This year I want to implement the strategy of Talk Moves in Maths. Talk Moves is a strategy that promotes classroom conversations centred on maths that helps to improve students' understanding of mathematical concepts. It is a framework to prompt the discussion, and will allow me to capitalise on the learning I got from my inquiry in 2020 by providing authentic opportunities to use this 'talk' within blog posts and blog comments to help strengthen connections.

What I had begun to notice in class was that there was a stronger connection to the maths language used in written questions. The evidence I have for this I have taken from my observations in class lessons (T1/2), GLOSS testing (T2) and online collaborations (T3/4). 

I noticed that my target group approached a written question by immediately looking at what the question was asking. (eg: This says XXX had 3 times as many XXX… that means we need to times it). By doing this, the talk then moved quickly to which strategy would help them solve this in the most efficient way. On this occasion I saw this group all solve the problem using their preferred multiplication strategy, then share their ideas with the group. Student G83 then took on the leadership role, cast our LS2 Moves framework to the TV and asked everyone to share their strategy. What was interesting to see was that without a teacher involved the discussion flowed much better. Possibly because these students feel less pressure when talking in front of their familiar group of peers. Acceptance of all contributions was the key to the success on this occasion, with student B82 taking on the role of affirming each response.

During GLoSS testing all these students repeated the question I had asked aloud, then set to work to find the answer. What impressed me here was no one ‘worked it out in my head’ - the usual go-to when they don’t have the words to explain what they did. There were calculation errors but the foundations for the Y8 students were much stronger than I remember in the previous year. What I wasn’t expecting was all these students asked questions for clarification when their connections to the strategy they had chosen weren’t as strong. I asked each person what they felt they needed help with and got quite specific responses (eg: I want to learn more words that mean addition… I think I need more help with XXX strategy… I need to learn my times tables so I can use them to help me with the bigger numbers… I need to practise my place value…) 

The online environment was completely different. The talk just stopped. This meant I had to think carefully about how I could keep the thinking going. I did this through skill drill challenges, which for some reason got huge buy in,  by basing our maths questions around popular topics/themes and by introducing the idea of ‘find the error, fix the error, explain the error’. My thinking here was that if I couldn’t hear the talk I could still read it. My students shared with me that they collaborated on the maths tasks so behind the scenes talk was happening, but most importantly they remained connected as a group.

Write a reflection on your own professional learning through this inquiry cycle.

This year’s inquiry into my own practice as a teacher has highlighted the importance of being creative and making adaptations that work for the tamariki in front of me. One size definitely does not fit all and in our case using Talk Moves did not work. Rather than discarding the idea of using a talking framework, I asked my students why they felt this wasn’t working. We came up with the theory that we simply didn’t speak this way, so we worked together to co-construct a framework we felt would work for us. A week later LS2 Moves had evolved and had become visible in our learning environment.

We were on a roll when lockdown happened this all changed. I have summarised my own learning in my Bursts in Bubbles presentation which can be read and/or watched here. My journey this year reminded me you need to continually think outside the box. You need to adapt and try, then try again. If something doesn’t work, look for the why then find a how.... then repeat.

Bursts in Bubbles 2021

This year due to Covid restrictions our Bursts 'and' Bubbles became Bursts 'in' Bubbles, an online opportunity for the Manaiakalani COL teachers to share their 2021 inquiries into their own practice. You can watch the presentations here.

Inquiry Focus Question

Will a focus on oral language in maths accelerate student confidence and capability to use spoken and written maths vocabulary and language?

The ability to use Maths is a communication tool to describe relationships and connections becomes compromised when maths language and literacy skills are not in place.

I noticed that my maths assessment results did not align with what I was seeing in the classroom. Formative maths assessments require students to read and respond to written questions, or to derive an answer and explain their thinking. The disconnect gap continues to widen when our tamariki do not have the comprehension and language skills in place that allow them to talk about their maths using maths words.

I used the evidence and data from the PAT Maths, IKAN, GLoSS and Running Record assessments, student voice and baseline observations to build a rich picture of my students’ learning.

During the profiling phase I noticed my target students sat silently in maths time, listening carefully and nodding their heads in agreement to avoid looking lost in the learning. Not having the words meant they became visibly anxious when asked to share their ideas. Collecting student voice each term allowed me to see maths through their eyes and helped to inform the changes I was making to my own practise.

Profiling of my own teaching after capturing and analysing the words spoken my baseline lesson gave me a valuable insight to the words and scaffolds I use. I use a wide variety, and a good balance of deliberate acts of teaching. However, I also realised that by stepping in with scaffolds too early meant the students who were less confident with sharing, weren't given a true opportunity to take a risk and share their thinking. The lesson captured was an honest one. I did not do anything I don't normally do, because someone was observing me as I wanted real and purposeful feedback and evidence.

The changes I made in my teaching were to consciously allow longer periods of wait time and to find activities that allowed us to use the maths words in context. We introduced the Talk Moves framework, but did not connect to these question stems. When I asked my students why, they pointed out that we don’t actually speak this way. That was true so we adapted the original framework and made our own version called LS2 Moves.

The literature that helped me make informed changes are summarised on my blog. These readings reminded me that Talk is not an add-on... it is a critical component of the lesson... that allows students to explore ideas and use evidence to build and critique academic arguments. It promotes the transfer of knowledge, and skills with learning to talk and learning through talk being of equal importance.

The easiest thing for me to change was actively planning time for talk to take place, time for scaffolding the talk and time to let my students respond in their own time.

Overall I would rate the changes in student learning as a work in progress. When lockdown sent us back to teaching online, the talk literally stopped. I lost contact with half of my target group and the students I did see, did not have the confidence to share their thinking in an online environment.

The most important learning I made in regard to increasing student confidence and capabilities when using spoken and written maths vocabulary and language was that you need to be creative.

Some learnings that would be relevant to other teachers are that you need to think outside the box. You need to adapt and try, then try again. If something doesn’t work, look for the why then find a how.

Qu 3: Building an accurate profile of students' learning - tools, measures and approaches...

Describe the tools/measures/approaches you plan to use to get a more detailed and accurate profile of students’ learning in relation to that challenge. Justify why you chose these approaches and tools.

My challenge this year is to strengthen the language and learning in maths that our students need to be able to actively participate in Talk Moves, so this can be harnessed and replicated in blog posts and comments. 

Link to causal chain

In all assessments our students are required to read and respond to questions. Often our students are not literate in their own language so the gaps that emerge when questions are written in english are getting wider, thus causing bigger disconnects in the learning. This year I want to implement the strategy of Talk Moves in Maths. Talk Moves is a strategy that promotes classroom conversations centred on maths that helps to improve students' understanding of mathematical concepts. It is a framework to prompt the discussion, and will allow me to capitalise on the learning I got from my inquiry in 2020 by providing authentic opportunities to use this 'talk' within blog posts and blog comments to help strengthen connections.

The tools/measures/approaches:

Planning changes:

My first step will be to introduce the Talk Moves framework into our maths program so that the discussion stems become the norm within our learning time. Being silent is not an option if acceleration is to take place so I need to model the language and support the use of questions which lead to justification like ‘How do you know it works?’, ‘So what happens if you...’, ‘What about if you say…does that still work’, ‘So if we...' 

Additionally I need to continue to actively plan time in class, for students to create blog posts, comment on each others blogs and respond to comments on their own blogs. This will help me to see where connections to the learning content are strong, and where gaps in knowledge are evident.

Instructional lessons:

I need to create opportunities for my learners to focus, notice and use the words that help us make sense of the learning, and not only model this, but also prompt the use of these words by providing opportunities for explaining strategy choice and use in groups within the lessons.

I need to use Jo Boaler's strategy of setting up positive norms in my classroom. Actively strengthening the growth mindset in my students might help to break down some of the barriers that stop them taking risks when solving maths problems or sharing their thinking.

Provide visible scaffold frameworks and rubrics to support the talk moves process that are used across the school. 

Observation:

After speaking to Kiri Kirkpatrick (MET) about the best way to gather baseline evidence she suggested I measure the amount of teacher talk compared with student talk in a maths lesson. To help me get an accurate picture, I have asked Kiri to observe me at time point one and time point two. Having the same observer will be a huge benefit as the continuity will be in place.

PAT/IKAN/GLoSS Assessments:

Analysing these results gives me a clear picture of what my students can do and where our knowledge gaps are. I use these results to inform my planning and identify shifts in achievement. I need to look closely at the language of questioning and the content specific language that is used in these assessments to ensure my instructional language aligns. I do not want my choice of vocabulary to be a reason that any student loses their connection to the learning.

Student Voice:

Gathering student voice is a vital part of teaching. It gives us a clear picture of where our students are at, what our tamariki are thinking and what we need to do to allow our learners to make their individual connections to the learning. I need to ask my learners what the barriers are that stops them commenting on blogs, replying to blog comments and contributing their thinking to class and small group discussions. It is only by identifying these barriers that I can devise a plan to help break them down. This is not a time for me to assume and act, it is a time for me to listen then act on the information I have heard.

Peer to peer talk:

Peer to peer talk continues to be huge part of our learning time as it provides authentic opportunities for new words to be used in context. I can see that buddying my learners up they can talk through a blog post then collaboratively decide the appropriate feedback and feed forward through dialogic discussion before leaving their individual comments.

This will also provide the opportunity for my learners to buddy up and talk through comments received before responding.

To do this effectively I will need to:

• Strengthen my own knowledge to the strategy of Talk Moves with professional readings
• Strengthen my own knowledge of the growth mindset process 
• Teach my students how to use Talk Moves 
• Teach my students what growth mindset looks like
• Co-construct group norms so there is a shared understanding of the expectations
• Provide lessons that allow for this to take place
• Monitor, observe and listen to my students as they are sharing and/or recording their thinking in their groups 
• Consider the times different students need for processing when grouping my students
• Gather accurate time point one and time point two data for comparison.

Q2: What is it that we want our students to learn?

As a school we are unified in the fact we want to strengthen our students' oral language skills, for many of us, it is so our students are able to confidently talk about their learning and understanding in maths. This not only deepens their understanding but also strengthens their connections. Strong connections allow for confidence to be increased and with an increased confidence comes the ability to ask questions. By using content specific language in context our students paint a much clearer picture for us of where they are at. These pictures also help us to see where misconceptions and disconnects are hiding. It is this detail that not only informs our practice but shows us when we need to make changes. 

Our data shows that across each class there is a huge disparity between the students who have made the connections they need to allow them to operate at a higher and more challenging level, and those for who the gap widens each year. It must feel incredibly disempowering to keep trying and not reap the rewards of success that mastery of a concept brings. Talk Moves is something every student can do and is something where every student regardless of achievement level will begin to feel success. 

Transferring this learning talk to blog commenting is going to afford our learners a further opportunity to revisit their learning in context. The Covid 19 lockdowns of 2020, and more recently, of 2021 meant all our learning abruptly shifted to the online platform. There was a lot less opportunity to have that 1:1 teacher time that our lower ability learners need in order to help them feel supported when taking risks in new learning. Talk Moves will not only provide a well rehearsed pattern of conversation within a google meet, but in addition will allow our students to continue learning as they maintain the all important connections with their peers via their blogs.

As I mentioned in my previous post, we realised that if we were expecting the comments to be specific, the learning behind the blog post content needed to be equally as specific. By linking the language we want our learners to use to the Talk Moves process, we are providing an authentic opportunity for our learners to practise using the language we are hoping to see within both a blog post and a blog comment. By having the opportunity to practise we are removing the unknown and affording our learners the rich opportunity to learn both from and with each other in context. 

As teachers not all the adaptations we make work but by carrying out continued inquiry we are able to continually reflect, adapt and try. The ideas we try that are not successful are often referred to as mistakes. However it is by sharing these ‘mistakes’ along with our successes that others have the opportunity to learn the most from us. Something that may or may not have worked for one teacher, might just be the key that unlocks the door another teacher is trying to open.

Q1: Brainstorming Student Inquiry Foci...

At Panmure Bridge School our shared aim for 2021 is to carry out visible and rich teacher inquiries to help us meet one of our school’s strategic goals of 1 ½ times accelerated shift in Maths. 

Currently our inquiries fit under the wider umbrella of Achievement Challenge 6, to lift the achievement in maths for all students years 1-13, in our case years 1-8. Throughout 2020 our school wide professional development focus was Maths. This year we began the year with a teacher only day on maths that allowed us to top up our own knowledge ketes and strengthen our own connections to this curriculum area. Consolidation is the key to success here as it allows us to take the learning from 2020 and give it a place of value in 2021.

One area we can all implement as we embark on our 2021 learning journey with our students, regardless of level, is the strategy of Talk Moves. Talk Moves is a strategy that promotes classroom conversations centred on maths that helps to improve students' understanding of mathematical concepts. Talk Moves is a framework to prompt the discussion. Frameworks was the one thing most of us identified as being the most powerful tool towards helping increase student achievement. These frameworks or prompts were not generic, they were class specific, created by the teacher to help meet the learning needs of the students in front of them. The idea of frameworks or prompts was the most common tool teachers at PBS wanted to carry forward in 2021. I’m excited to see how each teacher adapts the Talk Moves framework for their class. As a teacher of Year 7 and 8 students I know that I can definitely learn from the work done by the teachers in the class levels below mine, as they can learn from me. Often a word that makes no sense to one person can be the word that unlocks the learning for another.

Last year we all encouraged our learners to use and apply their learning, and the language and vocabulary linked to that learning, by leaving purposeful comments on each other's blogs to promote authentic dialogic interactions. The differentiation came in the form of individual peer to peer comments in the senior school, and class to class comments in the junior school. Doing this allowed us all to peek into the learning going on in each room. 

At the end of the 2020 school year I had a check in chat with each teacher. Once again we were all on the same page with our reflections identifying that changes in practice not only gave us opportunities to develop a strong cybersmart program, but also encouraged us to think critically about the learning and language behind each lesson. In the senior school we realised that if we were expecting the comments to be specific, the learning behind the blog post content needed to be equally as specific. Rather than moving on and leaving this rich learning behind, as a school we have decided to focus our teacher inquiries around how the language and learning need to actively participate in Talk Moves can be harnessed and replicated in blog comments. 

Data from the SLJ shows that the value we placed on blog commenting helped our students to connect to the learning shared online by their Manaiakalani, and their wider outreach school peers in a meaningful and purposeful way. Dialogic conversations were not the exception, they were the norm. With this evidence and the evidence we have from our 2020 learning journey, we have chosen to capitalise on this momentum and continue to strengthen what we began last year. The power for us as a school is how each teacher puts their own spin on it.

One size definitely does not fit all in this case. What I am excited about as the in-school COL teacher for Panmure Bridge School is finding out how each teacher approaches this challenge. We all agree that we want to use Talk Moves in Maths to help us meet our school’s strategic goal of 1 ½ times accelerated shift in that curriculum area. The changes we identify that we now need to make to our practice is where the learning will come from.  It takes a village and each member of our PBS village who willingly shares their practice, ideas and inquiry journeys allow us to strengthen our own teaching and learning skills. 

For us, it is the opportunity to consolidate our learning from 2020 that we hope will be the key to our success.