TAI - Critical Thinking and Mixed-ability grouping in Reading - #19

Class on Air - Episode 9: Critical thinking and mixed-ability

The Learning Intention for this lesson was to think critically about the text and the topic; actively participate in a sense-making conversation by discussing different points of view, supporting our thinking by evidence from the text, other sources of information and our prior knowledge.

I often work with mixed-ability groups as I believe that holding high expectations for my learners and creating an equitable learning environment empower them to be successful. The way I structured the lesson encouraged a lot of discussions, but also argumentation and provocations.

TAI during Lockdown - Supporting other Teachers - #18

I was impressed with how our teachers took on board the latest PLDs and conversations about Maths in our classes and continued to improve their practice during the lockdown.

To support other teachers, I compiled and shared a number of digital resources. I keep getting positive feedback about this collection as it's easy to use for online learning at all levels. I hope you might find it useful too. 

Below is a number of great resources and online tools for teaching Maths in-class and especially online. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need support.

Steve Wyborney's Blog - Numerous pptx like Splat, Subitising, Estimations, Cube conversations, Hundred Board etc

Learning at Home - weekly plans 

Place Value 3 digit number representation - interactive

Problem Solving - all levels and strands

Problems and solutions for students

Picture books with mathematical content - all NZC levels with activities. Most of the picture books can be found on youtube.

My TAI during Lockdown - #17

Do any of your intervention plans work via distance learning?

The work that has been done before lockdown proved to be successful and effective. The teachers got a better understanding of the importance of explicitly teaching maths with a big focus on number knowledge, place value and use of materials to illustrate the abstract maths concepts. 

I observed some of the video lessons that our teachers recorded during the lockdown and was pleased to see that the teachers took on board our maths PLDs and conversations and they are using physical and virtual materials to support their students' learning. 

I was thrilled to report such success to the management and the whole school staff. I truly believe that our pre-lockdown work empowered our teachers to be effective during distance learning. Well done team!

Self-evaluation for Improvement - Taking Actions - TAI#16

How do I prioritise taking action?  Now that I am clear on what problem or issue I am trying to solve, what do I need to do and why?

As explained earlier, my inquiry was extended to the whole school. I initiated a number of conversations with the school leaders and I'm pleased that I was heard. We collectively recognised that we have a problem and we decided to address it at the school level.

What has been done:

- set up the expectations about teaching maths using the right resources 

- organised a PD about using manipulatives and visuals to teach place value at different levels

- did an audit of the class resources, re-distributed them according to the levels and needs. I'm placing an order to top up our materials.

- modelled number talk using ten frames to a BT.

- published Class OnAir episodes about number talk and choral counting

How big is the change that I've initiated? 

I believe this is a big change and it will help improve not only my teaching practice but help other GTS teachers to make a difference in their students' outcomes in maths.

Collaborative Sense Making #15

In considering the collected data, both quantitative and qualitative and the conversations that I had with the school management,  I became confident that I had enough information to support other teachers in my school with their maths programmes.

Reflected on the data and our needs, we decided that Maths requires our urgent attention.  I was really excited to see the openness of my colleagues to learn, try new things and improve practice.

Now it's time to act!

Causal Chain #14

As identified during my Teacher profiling phase, I have to focus on two aspects: 

• my own practice - continue to refine my practice (mathematical discourse, the use of visualisation and materials and critical thinking in maths)
• supporting my colleagues to improve their understanding of maths progressions and the effective use of various manipulatives in their classroom programmes.

In my own teaching, I promote metacognitive strategy use (e.g. mental strategies in numeracy) by implementing Number talk, choral counting and problem-solving in maths that require a lot of thinking, and Integrated learning that allows my students to apply their new knowledge in real-life situations.

I continue to focus on critical thinking (across the curriculum, not just in maths) making sure that my programme includes a lot of questioning, information analysis, compare and contrast tasks, and Learn-Create-Share projects.

As a result of my consistent use of discourse and visual representations in maths, my students have shown progress in their learning that is supported by T2 data.

Supporting other GTS teachers - what’s been done so far:

Conversation with year 1/2 and 3/4 team about maths curriculum teaching

Ordered and distributed the books to support year 1-8 teachers - NZ Curriculum books and explained the connection to the NZ maths website for planning and teaching/learning

Organised a number of syndicates and school-wide PDs to develop a better understanding of manipulative for teaching various concepts.

Modelled a couple of maths lessons for a BT

Recorded and published four episodes of my own classroom maths lessons to support other teachers

Observation Feedback from the ALIM facilitator and Class onAir supervisor - #13

Over the past months, I had a number of observations.

Rebecca Bishop, our external ALiM facilitator observed my group session. The feedback was highly positive and specific. The main points were: Talk Moves, use of manipulatives to support students' understanding, gradual release, allowing for the productive struggle, making students realise their misconceptions by guided questioning, positive learning environment. 

I also published 4 episodes of my maths lessons on Manaiakalani Class OnAir and received feedback from Anne Sinclair:

'Great lesson Elena and very clearly students were engaged. I liked the way the students had a ‘go' at explaining their strategies and ’talked aloud’ their thinking. The lesson was well paced with spaces for students to contribute and their ideas be confirmed on the whiteboard. The focus on making them our real, everyday norm with ' tidy’ maths answers also helped with the understandings. Your reflection explained the source of their engagement - 'As all of the students were able to think-pair-share, repeat or revoice, add on and agree or disagree with the answers of their peers, I know that they were actively engaged and used their critical thinking’. It was great to see the balance between student and teach talk and time spent on the mat. You made a very relevant point of the importance and value of different ways students see mathematicsand the different pathways they create.'

'...You have a positive approach to teaching and learning and your understanding of the curriculum and engaging the students is evident.'

The coaching feedback was to support my team in implementing mathematical discourse and the use of manipulatives along with a deeper understanding of the learning progressions and acceleration strategies.