Across Schools COL Teacher 2024

 Kia Ora wonderful Manaiakalani educators

This year, I'm excited to continue collaborating with Kahui Ako teachers and sharing my knowledge and skills as an AS COL teacher. I'm particularly passionate about Maths and will be focusing on effective teaching practices in Mathematics across Y1–6. However, I am always happy to support teachers with all of their questions across the curriculum. I can offer:

• Working with you on developing and implementing a balanced classroom programme 
• Developing student agency/ student empowerment. I'm happy to explain the approach we developed at GTS and support implementing it with your class.
• Designing engaging LCS projects (integrated curriculum)
• Unpacking curriculum progressions across the curriculum 
• Planning lessons or units
• Understanding and using various assessments (formative and summative)
• Analysing assessment data and using it for planning
• Selecting the best resources to teach different concepts in Maths
• Co-teaching, observing, feedback and modelling
• Number Talk and the use of various manipulatives and digital tools in maths
• Creating multi-modal sites 
• Support with your movie for the Film Festival

I truly look forward to collaborating with you to create engaging learning opportunities for our tamariki and to help them achieve their full potential.

I'm available to work with teachers during their class and release time. This term, I am part of the MPI (Maths Programme Intensive) pilot program on Thursdays but available every Friday. 

Team Feedback on Maths Programme and Team collaboration this year

This year, I've had the privilege of leading a team of five enthusiastic Y3-6 teachers. It has been an interesting and sometimes challenging experience with a lot of changes: we welcomed some new team members who felt more comfortable teaching literacy than maths. I heard them say, 'I am not a maths person,' multiple times. Furthermore, most of our team had to learn the curriculum for new year levels they hadn't taught before.

Thinking of the wisdom of the famous saying, "Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn," we involved our newbies in team planning. I believed that involvement and shared responsibility would be the keys to transforming their perception of teaching Math.

I have been always available to model, co-teach, observe, explain maths progressions and resources, help with assessments, etc. Two of my team members had never planned for Year 5-6 maths (Level 3). I supported them by initially planning for those stages at the beginning of the year, gradually passing these responsibilities to them as they developed more knowledge and confidence.

Throughout the year, I observed the need for a universal planning template. So, in Term 3, a new universal planning design emerged, simplifying the planning process and enhancing our teaching and providing consistent learning experiences across our classes. You can read about our planning here.

Last week, I collected feedback from my team, seeking their insights and perspectives on our collaboration, teacher capabilities in maths and areas for improvement as we always strive to provide the best for our learners. Some findings are below:

Did collaborative planning help you deepen your knowledge of the maths curriculum and better understand progressions (stages)?

Teacher #1: Yes- I think the strength comes from different perspectives and how everyone approached the planning of the math curriculum. Elena led the team effectively, ensuring each member knew which progression they were planning while always providing support. This helped us grow stronger in planning, understanding the Maths curriculum and progressions, and how to teach Maths effectively.

Teacher #2: Yes, with having to plan all different stages it deepened my knowledge of the progressions as well as the maths curriculum. I was able to look at what my team had planned which allowed me to have access to more resources. As I had come from teaching year 3 & 4 I had never planned stage 6-7 before which at the beginning of the year I found challenging. With Elena's support and using my team's planning, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of what these stages looked like for all different strands etc.

Teacher #3: I think for me personally (as a fairly inexperienced maths teacher), planning my own lessons has allowed me to deepen my understanding of individual stages one at a time. If I was to have planned for all stages at the same time, I would have likely become overwhelmed. I now feel more successful and confident in teaching maths.

Did team planning help you feel more comfortable and confident when teaching maths?

Teacher #1: Yes! I love that I can bounce ideas off from my colleagues and that I can ask for advice in a safe space. 

Teacher #2: I love the evolution of how the planning templates have developed. Elena was mindful to support her team (most of whom were relatively new to teaching) and as such the planning templates helped to scaffold understanding of concepts and delivery. Even for someone with experience like me, I found them so useful! 

Teacher #3: Absolutely. Now I feel so much more confident teaching maths, I really enjoy working with Elena, Team Kea and using our planning format.

Teacher #4:  Yes, it was great to use the same structured format and also have others' planning as an example when completing my own planning. 

What do you like about our collaborative maths planning and the changes that we made this year?

Teacher #1: As a newbie! I love it, it made planning ahead so much easier and you can find planning and tailor it to suit the needs of our kids. 

Teacher #2: At the beginning, when we started teaching from each other's plans, I found that different teachers’ plans varied to some extent and I found different planning layouts confusing. However after Elena suggested the new planning format and explained it to us, I better understood how to plan for a good maths programme. I loved our Term 4 strand planning idea, I found it extremely helpful having the resource bank of plans that we can use and to slot it into our own classroom programs when needed. 

Teacher #3: I love to plan on the slides, it’s interactive and it is visually appealing. It was great to have  same expectations across classes and maths stages. We also often reflect back on what worked well and what didn’t, which helps improve our maths planning and teaching (since we learn from our mistakes).

Teacher #4: I felt like the pressure of planning was reduced by a significant amount. I wasn't spending all weekend finding/ creating resources and lesson plans. Now with our planning, we are able to put more thought into our lessons and explicitly teach. I find that our learners are getting more out of each lesson and the design is easy for them and the teacher to follow. When I had my student teacher in class, she commented on how easy she found our template and how she found it easy to follow other teachers' planning. 

As a team, we also reflected on the implementation of Maths Matrices to empower our students. 

All of us witnessed the positive impact they've had on empowering our students and engaging our students' whanau. This experience has reinforced our commitment to continue using Maths Matrices next year and beyond.

Optimising Maths Programme: a comprehensive Weekly and Daily Planning Approach.

As we're approaching the end of term 3, I'd like to share my team's innovative weekly and daily planning format, designed to make our maths program transparent to all stakeholders: teachers, relievers, students and whanau. Through collaborative efforts with my team, we've refined our approach to create engaging learning experiences that are visible, accessible, rewindable, practical and efficient. Explore our format, complete with built-in formative assessments and easily accessible teaching and  learning resources. Our planning promotes academic growth while enhancing teacher capability and subject knowledge, nurturing student agency and strengthening connections with whanau.

The structure of the weekly and daily planning has been working well for our year 3-6 classes. Students are seen twice a week with a flow of purposeful activities to practice new concepts and maintain their maths knowledge.

Built-in assessments. Using ARBS, ixl.com (but it can be any math program, including StudyLadder, Splash Maths, etc), book tasks and Figure Me Out activities, teachers are collecting rich evidence of student progress and identifying their next steps - built-in formative assessment for learning.

This structure also allows for visible, accessible and rewindable learning. From my own experience, the students who were absent from school used this planning to continue learning and work on the same topics as the students at school. I only had to do a couple of quick workshops to support them when they returned.

Revision and review. This planning helps to review and revisit the topics when students are working independently on their own maths goals (self-reflection and teacher feedback)

Reliever-friendly. Relievers were also able to pick up this plan and continue to teach according to the weekly plan with limited learning interruptions.

Whanau feedback is also positive. Parents have commented that they know exactly what the kids are learning, and, according to some parents, this format has helped them better understand their child's math education (which was an interesting comment).

Planning explained:

Causal Chain - Improving Teacher Practice and Student Outcomes in Mathematics

I've thought through my Causal Chain to identify the specifics of my inquiry and gain a deeper understanding of how I've been supporting teachers and improving student achievement. 

I'm very excited to be part of the Manaiakalani Maths design group. It's been amazing to experience the team's passionate commitment, deep knowledge and inspiring energy. I eagerly anticipate our continued collaboration and the transformation of our ideas into a practical PLD led by the research team - the PLD  that will truly make a difference for our teachers and learners. 

Free Digital Maths Games and Interactive Resources

Recently, I have been updating my collection of purposeful interactive websites for my learners. These websites offer free resources for different maths concept development and practice. Here are a few of my favourites:

Maths Games https://nz.mathgames.com/ is a fantastic free website offering interactive maths activities for primary students. It covers various topics, including number knowledge, strategies and strands. Additionally, the website provides video explanations that help students learn from their mistakes. While Math Games offers a premium option, there are still plenty of valuable resources available at no cost.

Mathantics https://mathantics.com/  is a collection of lessons created specifically for teaching math concepts through animated videos. These videos are visually appealing and easy for our young learners to understand. Not only can students benefit from watching these videos, but teachers can also use them to refresh their own understanding of a topic.

Maths Is Fun https://www.mathsisfun.com/ (Free with a subscription option) is a user-friendly website that offers interactive games, puzzles and explanations of math concepts. These resources can be used as a modelling tool for Number Talks or guided lessons. 

BBC Bitesize  - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z826n39 (free) provides a diverse collection of interactive math games and activities suitable for primary students. While some resources are available for the UK only, the website still offers great content for New Zealand classrooms, including a variety of free basic facts games.

By incorporating these interactive websites into your classroom program, particularly during independent purposeful practice, teachers can effectively enhance students' math skills while keeping them engaged and motivated.

Have fun learning and teaching maths!

Maths in Matariki

Matariki is coming! This special time of the year is not only about cultural celebrations but also offers an incredible opportunity to weave Maths into teaching and learning. From exploring symmetrical patterns in Māori art to analyzing data related to Matariki traditions, we can engage our students in a fun and meaningful learning experience. So, let's embrace the spirit of Matariki and embark on an exciting journey of integrated maths learning together!

Here is a LINK to some wonderful Matariki lessons on nzmaths. It covers levels 1- 4 of the NZC and provides a lot of ideas for cross-strand and integrated units. 

I highly recommend exploring these great resources as they contain excellent lessons and ideas for teaching and learning various maths knowledge and skills in a relevant practical context.

Happy teaching and learning during and about MATARIKI!

https://nzmaths.co.nz/search?keys=Matariki

Manaiakalani TOD

Today, we had great opportunities to connect with many Manaiakalani educators and engage in numerous discussions about effective practices for teaching literacy. With the support of my team, I led a CREATE workshop where our group explored toys from both the past and present. We had a blast learning about different types of toys and then had the opportunity to unleash our creativity by making our very own toys. We had a lot of fun learning, creating and playing this afternoon! 

Please feel free to visit my presentation below, which includes a multimodal site "Toys and Games Then and Now".

Refining my TAI (What, How, Why) - Focus on Design and Assessment for Learning

1. Design for Learning in mathematics involves creating a comprehensive plan or roadmap for teaching and learning mathematics. This design should consider the specific needs of the students and align with the NZC. 

I believe that mapping an effective maths program should include clear learning objectives, a scope and sequence, lesson plans and resources, PLDs for teachers, and monitoring student progress using formative and summative assessments.

2. Assessment for learning (AfL) is a critical aspect of teaching mathematics in primary schools. It involves a process of ongoing evaluation and feedback to help students understand:

• what they have learnt, 
• what they need to improve
• how to achieve their learning goals. 

In the context of mathematics, AfL is particularly important because it allows teachers to identify areas where students are struggling and tailor their teaching to meet individual needs.

I discussed my 2023 inquiry focus with a number of leaders and teachers at my school and was impressed by their responses. I'm ready to embark on a new challenge and thrilled to be doing so with the GTS collaborative team.

Evidence of Improving Teacher practice and Student achievement in Mathematics in GTS

In 2021 I analysed our school data in Maths and raised my concerns with the management. I was thrilled that my voice was heard! This initiative led to a school-wide collaborative inquiry into improving the teaching of mathematics. Last year, we took this inquiry to the next level. After reviewing school Maths Matrices, we focused on two powerful areas: teacher practice and student agency. That meant that we needed to give students both the option to make choices to direct their own learning and the information they needed to make strong choices. Interestingly enough, after unpacking Maths matrices with their students, our teachers began to use these Matrices for their planning. 

Thanks to Johanna's (DP at GTS) data analysis before and after this intervention, we can provide clear evidence of the positive impact of this collaborative approach. 

In her recent Staff presentation, Johanna shared: "The impact of AfL is obvious when you look back on historic ‘normal’ year which is on the left - numbers stayed this same in WB, B, At & Above and compare it to this year on the right where there is a definite shift due to the focus on Assessment for Learning.  Teachers have noticed a difference and students are more engaged.  We still need a lot of work in maths and this will continue in 2023"

I totally agree that collaborative efforts between teachers, school leaders, and students have a significant impact on improving teaching practices and student learning outcomes. 

My 2023 TAI - focus on Mathematics!

Thinking of my 2023 inquiry focus. I observed my team’s new Y3 students and discovered that about 90% of this cohort is working below and well below their expected levels in mathematics. Their PATs confirmed the data I collected during formative assessments. I believe that this is a result of previous years of disrupted learning.  The current Y3 students missed out on timely development of very crucial fundamental skills and knowledge as young students were very hard to reach and keep engaged during lockdowns and hybrid learning. When they returned to school, the main focus was on developing positive attitudes towards school and love of learning. 

PAT Y3 2023 Term 1 data

Some Cool Maths Activities to try with your class

In this post, I'd like to focus on some activities that develop number fluency without blind memorisation and drill. I often refer to Jo Boaler's article 'Fluency Without Fear: Research Evidence on the Best Ways to Learn Math Facts' to remind myself about the importance of engaging maths activities instead of boring memorisation. 

Here are some simple activities that develop number knowledge fluency and mathematical reasoning skills in a fun and engaging way. Kids LOVE them!

Game#1

Activity #2 - Low Floor High Ceiling

Activity #3 - Low Floor High Ceiling 

What is the tallest Robot Monster that you can make using one head, one body and one set of legs? 

What is the shortest one you can make using one head, one body and one set of legs?

How tall would the Robot Monster be that was made from the three bits left over after you had made the tallest and the shortest?

How many Robot Monsters which are all different heights can you make with the nine pieces (all with one head, one body and one set of legs)?https://nrich.maths.org/2404

Activity #4 - Maths language and communication, active learning

I am passionate about improving teacher practice to raise student achievement and engagement in Mathematics!

Recently, I was asked by a few teachers to describe some main elements of Effective Mathematics Instruction. I reflected on my teacher practice and classroom programme, referred to the literature and identified the following main components of Effective mathematics instruction:

• Developing positive norms: growth mindset, mistakes are great, productive struggle etc - developing positive mathematics learner identities.

• Systematic and explicit teaching of new concepts

• Use of different best-suited visual representations (manipulatives and/or digital tools)

• Developing mathematical discourse and reasoning (Number talk using Talk moves, problem-solving)

• Problem-solving in flexible learning environments: groups, mixed-ability, pairs or individual work 

• Teacher and peer feedback 

• Creating opportunities and allowing time for deliberate practice in order to develop students’ ability to transfer their knowledge and skills and be able to apply them in different contexts

• Student agency - teaching students to use choice boards and maths matrices to set up maths goals, self-reflect and practise

• Integrated maths activities, developing creativity in maths

This list might be overwhelming for some teachers, especially if they are at the beginning of their educational journey. Let's start with 3 steps:

1. I suggest beginning with establishing positive norms and developing positive mathematical identities. Why? Because your learners have to feel confident to make mistakes and learn from them - mistakes are part of maths! Here is a great website to teach your students about Growth Mindset: https://ideas.classdojo.com/b/growth-mindset

2. Plan at least 1 hour for learning Maths every day four or five times a week. Maths is better to learn in the 1st or 2nd block; however, you can still do some integrated activities in the afternoon (measurements, tesselations, etc)

3. Use various manipulatives and visual representations to teach mathematics. Use digital tools to make maths visual.

Remember, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”. I wish you all the best on your teaching journey! 

Across Schools Teacher. Welcome to 2023!

Kia Ora, I’m Elena Terekhina, a Year 3-4 teacher at Glen Taylor School. I’m also a Year 3-6 team leader. 

Over the past years, I inquired into different aspects of my own teacher practice and effectively supported colleagues within my school and wider Manaiakalani Kahui Ako in the following areas:

• Maths (developing an effective classroom programme)

• Reading (T-shaped literacy and high-leverage practices)

• Integrated Curriculum and LCS)

• Student critical thinking and cognitive engagement

• Student agency 

• Teacher collaboration 

To see more details about my inquiries, please visit my professional blog.

In 2021, I shared my practice via Class onAir; one of my episodes was used for the Reading Practice Intensive Programme along with my team’s choice board. I always participated in Manaiakalani LCS cluster meetings and ran some workshops.

This year, I’m excited to share my knowledge and skills as an across schools teacher. I’m especially passionate about Maths but can support teachers with all their questions, inquiries and needs by: 

• Developing balanced classroom programmes

• Planning

• Developing student agency

• Designing engaging LCS projects (integrated curriculum)

• Curriculum progressions

• Understanding and using various assessments

• Analysing assessment data and using it for planning

• Selecting the best resources to teach different concepts 

• Co-teaching, observing, giving feedback and modelling

• Number Talk and the use of various manipulatives and digital tools in maths

• Creating multi-modal sites

• Support with your movie for the Film Festival

• 😁😁😁

Please feel free to reach out for support or ask questions. I really look forward to working together to help our students achieve their full potential.

                     Team Site 2023             Class onAir     Team Site 2022 

Team Feedback on Collaboration and Its Impact on Raising Student Achievement in Maths

As part of the evaluation of my 2022 inquiry, I collected teacher voice asking them to reflect on our collaborative journey this year: 

Did collaborative planning help you deepen your MATHS curriculum knowledge and better understand progressions (stages)? 

- Yes, with having to plan all different stages it deepened my knowledge of the progressions as well as the curriculum. I was able to look at what my team had planned which allowed me to have access to more resources. Before we started collaboratively planning I noticed that I was planning too high for stages 2-3, now I understand the level that they are at and can see a big shift in their progress. 

- Definitely! I am an experienced teacher, who knows how to teach. However, as an overseas teacher, I struggled to understand the different stages and especially how to plan for each stage (and how to know when the students should move on to the next stage)....

Did team planning help you feel more comfortable and confident teaching Maths?

- Absolutely. Now I feel so much more confident teaching maths, I really enjoy it. It took me some time to get used to teaching off others' plans. But once we spoke about using the same template that helped a lot more. 

- The best thing about this whole experience was that I never felt judged, criticized or as a failed teacher. I loved that I could bounce ideas off from my colleagues, that I was able to ask for advice in a safe space and that I was mentored. 

Did using different maths manipulatives help you teach and your students learn Maths concepts better?

- Using different math manipulatives and hands-on activities gave my students more of an understanding of different concepts. I will never teach without manipulatives now. It also makes the students more engaged with their learning. I find that my students are actually excited to learn about maths now and really enjoy it! 

- Do you feel that you can scaffold your students' learning? What helped you achieve this?

- Yes, I feel like my students are able to get the correct teaching and guidance to improve in maths. As I have more content knowledge from the collaborative planning I am able to recognise my students' strengths and weaknesses and improve/ build on them. 

- Yes, it is incorporated in our plans. Instead of doing a massive lesson about a new concept, we break it up into smaller chunks and give them time to practice the new skill or concept. Once they are familiar and confident we move on to the next part/phase of the concept. 

What do you like about our collaborative planning and the changes that we made this year? What can be improved next year?

- We often reflect back on what worked well and what didn’t, which improved our planning and teaching (since we learn from our mistakes). Open communication in the team has been KEY (this is extremely important when planning and working together). I have learned so much from my two colleagues. Due to the fact that we have different teaching styles and different personalities, my own teaching practice has improved. I love that we are comfortable to ask each other for advice, that we can support each other and help each other grow. I honestly felt like we shared the load and that I was never alone... He waka eke noa.

- I think now that we have a solid template it will be great to look over these again and reflect on what works well and what doesn't.  Also reflecting and adding different activities to our choice board to keep this interesting. 

Using Choice Boards and Subject Matrices to Boost Student Engagement across the Curriculum

In Term 3, my team looked at the ways to transform the way we learn, offer new experiences and create new opportunities for our students to boost their engagement and improve their learning outcomes. 

As GTS has been exploring the role of student agency, we decided to use our new (or refreshed) learning in our classes and introduced Maths matrices and Choice boards in literacy and maths.

When we take students through the curriculum without involving them, we act as learner managers instead of learner empowerers and we miss the opportunity to let students find their own way.  That's why we tried to involve our students by getting their input on how they’d like to demonstrate what they’ve learned. For example, students work with their buddies to practise one of the areas to achieve what's required. Sharing with them what exactly they need to do in order to move up the levels (or stages) showed us a simple way to channel students' learning. Young people are highly competitive and goal-driven. We enjoyed watching them choosing not just a busy activity during their independent learning time but something that will help them achieve their desired goals.   

John Hattie, author and educational researcher of influences and effect sizes related to student achievement, states student efficacy has a .92 effect size on student learning (Visibile Learning 2019). Student efficacy is the understanding that pupils believe they can achieve a complex goal or outcome.

Targeting student agency, we planned and allowed for student involvement in the creation of our choice boards  - this helped increase their ownership and follow-through.

Monitoring the Effects of Teacher Collaboration in my Team on Learner Outcomes

Identify informal and formal ways you are monitoring the effects of your changed practices/intervention on learner outcomes. Explain the reflections and tweaks you are making along the way.

My Inquiry: Will Teacher Collaboration improve student engagement and raise their achievement?

In my team, we reflected on our collaboration and mid-year results. Have we managed to lift our students' engagement and achievement due to the change we've implemented in our planning? The short answer is yes; however, we also developed a shared understanding of our next steps: bring student agency on board and refine our planning.

Since the beginning of my inquiry, we have developed a habit of ongoing reflections on our practice. It now happens naturally, almost every day when we share what worked well and what needs to be improved. We act faster and are not afraid to give feedback about each others' work. I believe that our professionalism helped us develop a healthy collaborative partnership in our team.

Some tweaks that we did since the beginning of my TAI:

- introduced and unpacked maths matrixes with our learners. This allowed them to take ownership of their independent learning choices. 

- our next step was to provide our students with choices to support their independent meaningful learning. As a result, we designed our maths and literacy choice boards that our students love to use.

- redesigning our planning template to make it easy to use by all stakeholders: team members and our learners. We all now know what to do and when. 

Monitoring the effect: 

- Many of our students developed self-motivation. Many ask for maths homework as they want to improve their results. 

- I let students choose to join different groups to deepen their understanding of current topics (maths) and many of them love having more freedom in their learning. 

- Students across all 3 classes are getting the same consistent programme and are less dependent on individual teachers' knowledge of maths.

- My team appreciates our collaborative approach as it helped them improve their own knowledge of the curriculum. We also bounce ideas from each other, taking and implementing the best of them.

- mid-year Data showed progress and some acceleration in our students' achievements across the syndicate. 

Causal Chain TAI 2022

As identified during my Teacher profiling phase, I decided to focus on improving student achievement and engagement through teacher collaboration.

My own practice - continue to refine my practice (For example, in maths - daily number talk, the use of visualisation and materials, developing fluency and confidence in maths as opposed to memorisation, and practical application of their knowledge.

In my team, we reflected on our collaboration and mid-year results. Have you managed to lift our students' engagement and achievement due to the change we've implemented in our planning? The short answer is yes; however, we developed a shared understanding of our next steps: bring student agency on board and refine our programme. 

School-wide. Support my colleagues to improve their understanding of maths progressions and the effective use of various manipulatives in their classroom programmes by sharing some resources, reviewing school maths matrices, and actively participating and contributing during staff meetings.

Teacher Collaboration will lead to improving Teacher Practice - already visible from our T1-2 work

Collaborative planning - deepens Teachers' subject and pedagogical knowledge - students benefit from consistency/ balanced programme/ content, that in order leads to their increased motivation, engagement and better achievements.

We will employ Student Agency to help students take ownership of their learning: link content to their passions and interests.  When Students set personal goals, the learning becomes theirs. This sense of ownership leads to increased motivation and achievement. We will use the School Matrices with the learners.  ----- Team teachers move from being the deliverer of curriculum to being the co-constructors and experienced learners.

Collaborative teachers reflect on their own practice and are open to colleagues' feedback developing and improving their metacognition and key competencies. At the same time, they model and promote collaboration, metacognition, and personal agency to their learners. 

I believe that this chain will lead to increased teacher and student agency, collaboration, engagement, achievement and success for all syndicate members. 

Plan and conduct a detailed inquiry

Plan and conduct a detailed inquiry into specific aspects of your current teaching that are relevant to the hypotheses you identified in the literature.  

Reality: The latest research is out. In math and reading, students are behind where they would be after a normal year, with the most vulnerable students showing the steepest drops, according to two new reports from the consulting firm McKinsey & Company and the NWEA, a nonprofit organization that provides academic assessments. The students did not just stall early on; the setbacks accumulated over time — and continued even after many students had returned to the classroom this year. Perhaps even more troubling, the students who were most affected by the crisis were already behind their peers before the pandemic, and the added losses have pushed them further back.

What can we do to bring back and retain more students at school and develop (or sometimes ignite) their love of learning? Teachers have to collaborate to address all these needs and use our strengths to engage our tamariki along with accelerating their learning. Covid affected everyone! That's why I believe that teacher collaboration is an extremely powerful approach that can be used to not just benefit our students but support teachers' well-being too.

For teacher collaboration to be effective, we (teachers) should want to participate rather than feel like we must. Like any other skill, collaboration can be improved upon with practice. This is my and, hopefully, my team's experience and reflection on the past two terms of our collaborative work. I look forward to continuing to improve our team's practice to maximise our tamariki successes in all areas of school life and support them to become life-long motivated learners. He waka eke noa!

The focus and plan of my inquiry into teacher and student collaboration to improve learning outcomes and well-being.

• Continue to  develop and refine our shared vision and goals, team culture
• Continue to refine and reflect on our collaborative planning and creation of shared resources
• Create a habit of frequent and consistent team data analysis (formative and summative) to reflect on best practices and plan the next steps.
• Continue to develop trust and positive professional relationships. Like any relationship, collaborative teams take time to build and have the potential to increase in strength and productivity over time. 
• Collaboratively advance our professional knowledge, skills, and beliefs about student learning. 
• Model positive collaborative behaviour to our learners.

Learning about Collaboration from Literature

My hypothesis is that a collaborative approach during group and independent learning activities might increase student engagement and develop a better understanding of topics or concepts and their practical application. 

Research shows that collaborative group work involves students working jointly on the same problem at all times. Within a collaborative group, decisions are shared and the negotiation of roles and relationships constantly evolves. Such a collaborative approach to learning is linked to Vygotskian ideas such as situated cognition, scaffolding, and the zone of proximal development  (Forman & Cazden, 1985).

Interestingly enough, I found proof of my own observations 'that part of the reason students give up on learning is because they find it difficult and think they are alone in their struggle. An important change takes place when students work together and discover that everybody finds some or all of the work difficult. This is a critical moment for students, and one that helps them know that for everyone learning is a process and that obstacles are common.' (LIMITLESS MIND by Jo Boaler)

Jo says that collaboration is vital for learning, brain development, and creating equitable outcomes. I agree with her; however, first of all, it is important to establish interpersonal connections. I noticed that some of my learners are happy working together and they achieve better results than a group that keeps arguing without listening to each other's ideas. Hence, teachers need to spend more time creating positive norms for collaborative groups.

Emily R. Lai (June 2011) in her Pearson Research report states that "Collaborative interactions are characterized by shared goals, symmetry of structure, and a high degree of negotiation, interactivity, and interdependence. Interactions producing elaborated explanations are particularly valuable for improving student learning. Nonresponsive feedback, on the other hand, can be detrimental to student learning in collaborative situations. Collaboration can have powerful effects on student learning, particularly for low-achieving students. However, a number of factors may moderate the impact of collaboration on student learning, including student characteristics, group composition, and task characteristics."

This resonates with me and my own experiences and shows that student collaboration requires a lot of teacher thinking and designing in creating tasks, forming groups and again, setting up class positive norms. Teachers need to carefully consider group composition in terms of gender and ability when using collaborative learning. Simple tasks with one correct solution that can easily be solved by a single, competent group member should not be used in collaborative settings. Even if not all young students will be able to collaborate effectively in their early school years, they will definitely start to develop such important habits required in older classes and in life in general. 

Another important idea I confirmed during my professional reading is that collaboration is not the only powerful approach to learning and/or working together. There are some times when individual and co-operative learning should take place to develop sound knowledge and skills to be able to work collaboratively and achieve better outcomes. 

For example, Nilofer Merchant in her article Eight Dangers of Collaboration (Dec 2011) reveals eight dangers of collaboration. She describes situations when people want to be individually recognised because they are great professionals or situations when collaboration slows down the process and creates conflicts instead of benefiting participants and organisations. Once again, in my opinion, we have to learn to choose the most suitable approach when it comes to a specific situation or task. This relates to students and even more to teachers. 

Create Staff Meeting - Silhouette Art workshop

Each term the Manaiakalani Kahui Ako hosts staff meetings as an opportunity for Manaiakalani teachers to connect with our COL Kaupapa and Pedagogy.

This time, my school hosted the Create Staff Meeting and I enjoyed the opportunity to share my practice with other wonderful and creative Manaiakalanai teachers. I was privileged to be supported by my team as this was the first workshop that we presented together. Well done Team Kea!