... and we're off! MIT15 Update #2

What a week! It's the end of Week 6 and those of you who are teachers will know that means we are now half way through term one. For me that also signifies the conclusion of our visit from the Education Review Office (ERO)! 

When reflecting on the last week I have identified a personal high point of ERO's visit. I know that for many teachers having a visitor in your room is daunting, but when you are part of the Manaiakalani cluster visitors to your learning environment are the norm. I have learned to embrace visits as opportunities to share my classroom practice and celebrate my student's learning successes. Someone was definitely looking after me that day because my observation took place as we were building the foundations of my MIT inquiry! In addition to being asked about the current learning taking place, I was asked to talk about the ways I extend and engage my students. Apart from this being something I am truly passionate about, having an active class site and blog meant I had a wealth of supporting evidence at my fingertips. Many of my learners were spoken to and it was evident from our discussion after the lesson, that all the students spoken to understood what they were doing, why they were doing it and could talk about what they needed to do to get to the next level in Writing. This excited me as I could see that my MIT focus was very much alive in Room 5.

One foot in front of the other:

My next step from Update #1 was to look closely at the content of the comments and see if genuine connections had been made by comparing the comments with the actual work analysed. Unfortunately when I did this my initial euphoria did a very large u-turn. I noticed that there was a significant amount of mismatch between what had been written in the task and what was 'noticed', evident in the comments.

The collaborative success criteria based on content only:

You will have done this correctly if you have:

• Written in past tense
• Listed at three goals you hope to achieve
• Explained what you will need to do to achieve these goals
• Included at least one question

The example above shows that the success criteria was used to help prompt the feedback but it is incorrect. There is no evidence of a question being asked, nor any evidence of how this student hopes to achieve these goals. 

This week saw us peel back and start by developing student content knowledge. I took advantage of the fact we have just done e-asTTle writing samples as that made the task of how to give feedback both purposeful and relevant. I explained that the rubric was what helped teachers find out what level their students were working at and helped them find out what they needed to teach next to help everyone move their work to the next level. This will make an interesting comparison when I compare my marking with theirs!

Again the students were paired with their critical friends. Each pair was given a version of the e-asTTle marking rubric written in 'kidspeak'. The more able student was given the task of noticing what their partner did well as I want my learners to see receiving feedback as a positive part of our learning. The purpose: To identify what level they are at now. 

What we did:

This was a step by step process as we explored the 'Ideas' component. Exemplars were used to show what this might look like at different levels. We then discussed what it was we were looking for and then carried out the task. I found the students to be extremely honest in their evaluations. Interestingly I noticed that the owners of the writing were fully engaged in trying to 'prove' they were at a certain level, and the critical friends were searching for real evidence to support this. Without me saying anything I observed that each pair was looking at the next box on the rubric to identify next steps. Yah! Connections are being made! We then wrote statements following a prompt:

I think I am at level ____ because _____. To move to the next level I need to _____.

I found that proving where they were at was the easy part. We had to reign back the next steps to only one point (per criteria) as there was a little bit too much ambition. I need this to be achievable in reality and not simply look good on paper.

The best part was this is what ERO observed taking place! Way to go Room 5 your learning conversations showed that you know where you are at and what you need to do to move your learning to the next level.

Throughout the week we continued the process exploring each component of the writing rubric.

What's Next?

I need to have the same learning conversations with my more able learners so that they too can identify where they are at and what their next steps are. Once we have done that we will devise a way of making our learning needs visible that everyone is happy with. Not sure what this will look like but I am sure of exactly what is needed in my planning!

First Steps: MIT15 Update #1

I have been fortunate enough to move through to the 2015 teaching year with some students who were in my class in 2014. This has given me 'feedback experts' who have a level of skills and knowledge in one curriculum area and can talk those new to our class this year through the process of giving peer led feedback. We have a new independent reading challenge which is allowing us to build on the familiar. By that I mean strengthening the feedback comments that were developed last year. This has been a very positive process so far. I love hearing the learning conversations that take place as the 'experts' guide my new learners. The exciting part for me is that the buy in and engagement in these tasks is gaining strength as the unfamiliar becomes the familiar. I have set up the program so that everyone has a buddy. This has allowed me to spend time guiding and conferencing each pair at the level they need. For some we have walked slowly through the process, and for others the scaffolding has almost been removed. 

The album below reflects examples of peer lead feedback in Reading, the curriculum area we focused on last year. The next step is to find out if my learner's feedback skills and knowledge in one curriculum area transferrable to another.

By providing this 'peg to hang the new learning on' I leapt into the oblivion and buddied up my class so that each person had a 'critical friend' to give them feedback on their personal writing. I needed to see where my learners were at as far as being able to give feedback in Writing so I simply asked them to work together to see if, when wearing their critical friend glasses, they could use our success criteria to notice where their partner had made a connection. 

The album below reflects examples of peer lead feedback in Writing. This is a snapshot of the initial independent feedback comments. The students were reminded only to use the success criteria to see where their partner had 'got it right'. 

What's Next?

The comments I have included in the album show that I have a great starting point. My next step is to look closely at the content of the comments and see if genuine connections have been made. I will do this by comparing the comments with the actual work analysed.

Creating something that is going to help somebody else learn:

Today the Manaiakalani Innovative Teachers 2015 (MIT15) group met to share the focus of our inquiries. It was inspiring to be a part of this discussion and to have the opportunity share this process with such talented educators.

Stage #1:

I am very passionate about shifting student achievement and know that by empowering my learners with the tools to help them reach those ever changing ‘next levels of learning success’ is one way of achieving this.

Student success in Writing is quantified against a series of levelled national standards and national norms. The achievement levels of our own priority learners are measured against the achievement levels of all New Zealand students at the same year level, and sadly our data continues to reflect noticeable disparities. Last year an assignment for university provided me with an insight to the power that peer led feedback had on shifting student achievement in Reading when it was given and received in real time and context. This year MIT15 is allowing me an opportunity to explore if by drawing on this knowledge, I am able equip my students with some of the metacognitive tools that will allow them to strengthen their own understanding of the language features and structures needed to reach national levels in Writing.

The ‘Comments’ tool in Google Docs, when used as a forum for the learning conversations peer led feedback facilitates, will afford my learners opportunities to learn with and from each other in a safe place, where successes and errors are noticed; and ideas can be suggested, challenged and resolved, as opportunities to 'create something that is going to help somebody else learn' are actively sought.

                                            William Glasser

Stage #2:

I will ask the questions:

• ‘Are the feedback skills and knowledge in one curriculum area transferrable to another?’
• ‘Are all learners able to notice and feedback on the deeper features of their peer’s writing?’
• ‘Is the feedback justified and interactive?’

Shifts in student achievement will not happen simply because the concept of critical friendships is introduced. Attaching a name to something will not cement understanding. To build and strengthen the content knowledge of my priority learners I need to borrow from Dorothy Brown’s idea by providing opportunities for ‘repetition without boring’ so that real connections can be made and understandings strengthened through informed learning discussions.

Sparking Student Interest:

This week saw the start of my MIT inquiry. I selected a group of talented young writers who will become not only my target group, but also our resident Room 5 'experts'. The group challenges will provide opportunities to work independently, collaboratively and with me on writing tasks that will challenge the students to move their writing to the next level. Taking a forensic (really close look) at what their peers have written is what will help each student in their 'critical friend' role to give focused feedback and feed forward. 

Learning from and with each other will help increase our overall understanding of structure and language features as our Room 5 writing programs evolves this year. The students are expected to take risks by trying to incorporate new learning into their independent tasks and when asked justify (say why) this new learning was used when responding to feed back.

Link to MIT student tasks

Shaping Aotearoa

A reminder from Dame Whina Cooper that we are the guardians who take care of the children and so shape Aotearoa New Zealand.

Week 1 Term 1 Reflection:

The first week of this new school year was very different than those of past years as this year I have an extra set of eyes on me. Room 5 have welcomed our fabulous student teacher who will be with us on and off throughout the year as she works towards her final teaching practicum. I have been teaching for over two decades now... shocking when you put a time frame on it! In my mind it seems like only yesterday that I was starting my first class as a beginning teacher, as we were called back then. Over the years experience has taught me what works and what doesn't in the first week of school. The learning I plan for that first week is instinctive and is done in such a way that not only do the students get to know each other and their teacher, but I also get to know what make my learners tick. In saying that I have never had to justify the purpose behind why I do things the way I do. I am sure walking through the door of the classroom as a student teacher on the first day must be a daunting challenge, but in saying that think about this from the perspective of the classroom teacher. Everything you do and say is being observed and analysed. Luckily as 'teachers' we clicked straight away which I'm sure not only put her at ease but also allowed me to breathe out!

So why do I do the things the way I do? It's simple really. To begin laying the foundations needed to build the collaborative learning environment needed to help grow the seeds of knowledge. Everything serves a triple purpose. Its about working smarter.

Purpose 1: To build the collaborative group working skills that allow the students to practise the thinking, sharing, negotiating and decision making skills they need to function successfully as one group as we unpack the skills and values that will help them make the important connections to their learning.

Purpose 2: To use the evidence of this thinking and create wall displays that reflect personal connections to the learning environment. I don't fill the walls alone when the students have left for the day we incorporate this into the lesson so that the ethos of shared decision making is encouraged. I have found by getting the students involved in creating the displays they are genuinely able to talk about what is on the walls and why it is there. An added bonus is that everyone takes ownership of the environment.

Purpose 3: To create a digital record of our learning that is shared on our individual blogs. In the past this would have been done in books as we practised ruling the pages, writing the date and the learning intention and reminding people (who most probably hadn't picked up a pen/pencil for the last six weeks) to write neatly. Sadly the audience for this task would have been limited to the author and myself. Parents and caregivers would only know what we had been learning if they worded their questions about the day cleverly enough to get beyond the typical responses of 'Nothing!' Being a 1:1 digital learning environment means the students and their parents/caregivers are able to access their learning or the record of their learning anytime and anywhere.


The buy in from the students has been amazing. I found myself almost apologising to my class on Thursday afternoon for not doing any art. I was in the middle of praising them for their contributions this week and explaining why it had been so important to establish routines and collaborative working skills when one of the students put up her hand and said, "Its ok Miss, look at our room, it looks great. We did heaps of work and we all practised those skills you were talking about." My heart melted to see the foundations of the very important student/teacher connections were being laid.