We had a great online meet today with other secondary teachers in Manaiakalani with a focus on reading. I made a record of the discussion questions and my responses. In some cases, I have changed my thinking as I reflected on the discussion.
Describe what was happening for the group of learners you selected, their strengths and needs. Discuss evidence you have e.g. anecdotal observation, learners’ blogs, data, student voice, conversations with whānau and previous teachers
My group of learners is the Y10 Literacy target group - students reading or writing below curriculum level 5. These are divided into A group (those curriculum level 3 or below) and B group (those at CL4). About one-third of my Y10 class is in at least one of these groups. One obstacle is that most of the students have low confidence in their ability and are so used to 'failure' that they are very risk-averse.
Summarise the student learning challenge you planned to focus on in 2021. Talk about why this is important for your school/kura i.e. what difference will this make for your learners/school?
The challenge is to accelerate the progress of these learners. The underlying challenge is to engage the students and get them motivated and hopefully actually enjoying reading and writing.
Your hunch - describe what you can change or do differently in order to improve learning experiences and outcomes for students. The simplest way is to say - if….. then…..
e.g. “If I encourage my students to write for real reasons, then they will be motivated to write.”
If I can enable these student to experience success in reading/writing, then they are likely be more motivated to learn and try their best.
Learning - Describe how you have acquired new knowledge and skills to make changes in your practice e.g. PLD, readings/research, ideas from your colleagues
I completed the DFI course last term. Also, I engage in ongoing PD via school, twitter and Manaiakalani. I also want to look into the Manaiakalani research in more depth.
Taking action - describe what you are planning to do (or have done) differently.
Have you planned to regularly monitor the impact of what you are doing differently? e.g. surveying learners/whānau, Smiley Face Chart from e-asTTle, something you are already using to assess e.g. Running Record, doesn’t have to be quantitative.
Is there a take out from this session that could work for you?
With the next unit I teach with my year 10s (film study) I want to build in some reading activities with a range of related texts, looking at some of the issues raised in the film such as virtual reality, gaming addiction, escapism online v real life, etc. In terms of monitoring the impact, the reality is that it will be mostly formative feedback and observation, until we do our end of year Asttle and PAT tests.
