iMovie Experience

Oh my! What an experience...

With the ongoing COVID level changes and Manaiakalani HQ in lockdown our wananga presentations have gone from live face to face in Auckland, to live online from Auckland to pre recorded and shared in our own regional clusters on the 30th November. With the ongoing support from Matt (MIT mentor and digital guru) I created my Pecha Kucha in Google Slides, downloaded as a PNG, uploaded into iMovie, recorded audio, added to iMovie and then edited! Whew!!! 

I will not be giving up my day job any time soon to become a video editor.

After many takes (many, many, many takes...), splits and cuts to remove unnecessary gaps to keep it within the correct time frame and aligning each still shot with the correct video recording, the completed video is done albeit with a few obvious edits.

The biggest challenge now is to sit in the wananga and watch myself on the screen with our Tairawhiti Cluster. 

 

Zooming in on Reading Data

As I zoom in and reflect on the changes I have made with instructions across our curriculum program I have the challenge of locating some diagnostic data. The interviews I have done with students have all been positive and largely in favour of the introduction of new digital instructions sitting alongside the more traditional methods of classroom visuals, dot to jot and teacher modelling. There is need for both and it has made me stronger in my inclusive practice to ensure the right instructional strategies are used for the right tamariki.

There have been significant shifts within some students PM reading levels, which is a huge celebration but I can’t establish that this shift is amplified by the introduction of different instructional strategies as this cannot be quantified in raw diagnostic data. 

I have  however identified a shift in their learning  behaviours, attitudes and students seeing themselves as successful learners resulting in them being empowered to drive their own learning. 

This data shows shifts in PM benchmarks reading curriculum levels of my target groups.

Super proud of this cohort of students, they have worked hard and it has payed off.

Some of the results in this cohort are;

• An ESOL student who came to our team with little English has move from PM level 10 to PM level 26

• A severe dyslexic student who was stagnant at PM level 10 for 2 years has shifted to PM Level 12. Digital tools and the use of a multi modal platform has opened up his learning experiences.

• An ASD student who had shifted from PM level 22 to PM level 24 and has become more confident with joining in group discussion allowing further understanding and development with comprehension.

As a kaiako, many of us are quick to reflect on what didn't go well and improvements needed for next time rather than celebrate what did. I think teachers are the hardest working of many professions. We are driven by the love of what we do and the many beautiful smiling faces that pass our classroom doors. I know I need to celebrate the little successes more often, especially as those aren't reflected in our school wide data.

KPMG Hui #3 Online

 

In this current Covid climate life is back in lockdown which for many work comes to a screaming halt. For many educators life becomes very busy as we adapt back into online preparation and learning.  Learning never stops and each lockdown brings new ideas and collaboration amongst those in our industry.

Today our MIT 2021 cohort were meant to be meeting for our termly hui at KPMG in Auckland. Lockdown didn't stop this team of innovative teachers, we meet for an online hui. We shared our experiences of online teaching and successes and challenges it brings. 

One of our tasks today was to split off into pairs or small groups and retell our inquiry as if we were explaining it to a Beginner Teacher. I worked with Sarah & Manpreet. The buddy I was reporting on was Sarah. 

Sarah's inquiry was based on the gaps she sees in her classroom in Mathematics. 

The Problem - she has identified that this gap in her students number knowledge is preventing them for moving up a level. 

Her Goal  -  to create teacher directed resources to support her learners. She is collaborating with Rebecca who also sees this gap in her students even though they are working at a different level. Sarah and  Rebecca are formulating google sheet worksheets with a range of number strategies and levels within the curriculum. 

Classroom Practice - Sarah has introduced the Google sheet workshops into her daily maths program as a ten minute warm up. The students are required to take a screenshot of the completed sheet and of a photo of their working out to put in a blog post. She has seen an improve me in the students understanding of different number strategies. This is a great way for students to reflect on their learning and also awesome evidenced based practice by tracking their achievement through the students blogs. 

Next steps for my own inquiry is to continue to check my to do list and keep on track. I have a clear understanding of what I been  doing and what outcomes have come from the introduction of tools to support my learners with their understanding of instructions. I now have to practice being more succinct in my preparation for the upcoming wananga in October. 

Huge shout out to Matt and the MIT cohort for our hui today. It was so great to SEE you all and to connect with others outside of my bubble. 

Until next time team. 

Next Steps

After our recent adventures in the Cook Islands I'm still on a high. Time to bring myself back reality and reflect on my Inquiry. 

Where am I at? 

Time to; 

• Review recent data and compare to last data collection. 
• Does it show a shift in academic learning with the changes I have made during this Inquiry.
• Re-interview the students to gather student voices? 
• What are the differences? What has helped? 
• What tweaks can I make to support this particular group of learners? 
• What evidence have I gathered to support my findings during this Inquiry so far? 
• Continue to build  a curation of resources on my Google Site 
• Get feedback from colleagues on Google Site, is it easy to navigate?
• Create and insert a Google Form into my Gsite for other educators can add to the collection of resources. 

Still a lot to do... better get busy!