Charlotte Verity Professional Learning (School Based)

Updating our thoughts on DMIC / Inquiry Maths Approaches Workshop with Rob Profitt-White  An abridged version of Rob's presentation: The Research  An Outline For Maths Teaching & Planning & Learning: Presentation Two Key research findings: * Hard / challenging learning is remembered and concepts are retained by students (presuming they succeed through the challenge) * Students need time to think independently  as well as in small groups, in pairs and whole class. * Students need a range of experiences , i.e. representation / modelling, contextualised (i.e. this includes word problems), and open ended * Students learn from and need explicit teaching as well as inquiry maths experiences * Students having a positive disposition towards maths is key . This is nurtured by various factors: appropriately challenging learning, strong teacher-student relationship, risk taking attitude, self-efficacy, teacher belief / parent belief in child's ability, ...

Kate introduced her six stages of Inquiry (Copyright EduKate), see details below: My Next Step  after this learning: * I am going to try planning backwards, flexibly planning according to needs of children and then documenting the learning as we go. * Focus more on FORMATIVE and SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT e.g. a wall display or verbal statement from the children of their learning. This is EVIDENCE OF LEARNING AND TEACHING.  * Spend time unpacking key words, questions and ideas through engagement e.g. picture sorts, ask an expert etc 1. PURPOSE - So what does this mean for our Identity Unit: I will suggest to team that we spend  longer  on engaging the students into the concept of Identity and why its important.  e.g. tell a personal story about why my family is important OR start with the word identity on the board and have students draw/write what they think it means OR cut / sort paper words related to identity. 2. EMPOWERING STUDENTS TO TAKE OWNERSHIP ...

SELF-REGULATION = staying calmly alert, focused and managing emotions in a way that is socially acceptable. THE ALERT PROGRAMME... * is a way of thinking about internal state, without focusing on emotions. * uses neutral language AROUSAL = HOW ALERT ONE FEELS To attend, concentrate and perform tasks in a manner suitable to the situational demands, one's nervous system must be in the optimum state of arousal (Mercer & Snell 1977). We need to be in exactly the right state of arousal to attend and complete a task.                  How is your engine running? Take the time to stop and check, how is your engine running? Ask the students, how is your engine running? Discuss how the class' engine is running (as a group). You can use a speedometer picture to show this. What affects self-regulation? * Physiological needs e.g. hunger, fatigue * Sensory processing difficulties e.g. over-sensitive or under-sensitiv...

As part of my management unit this year, I have established a Wellbeing Action Team and am over-seeing a review into wellbeing using the MOE Wellbeing@School tool. See: ww. wellbeingatschool .org.nz Establishing The Team Schools are made up of various teams and groups. It is critical that each group is represented on our Wellbeing Action Team, so that all groups' needs are considered . Together, we can develop shared strategies to address our common needs, and work to help those strategies happen. Our team includes Year 7-8 student reps, and support staff, parent, leadership and level representatives. Gathering Survey Data The Wellbeing@School tools place a large focus on positive peer relationships. Aspects like bullying, sense of inclusion, and respect are covered. Key findings from Year 5-8 students and staff surveys shows that we need to address the following issues. The strategies so far discussed are detailed. Key areas identified Strat...

I was interested to focus my observation on Te Waka Una on: * How  do teachers collaborate - in terms of space, student groups, planning? * What opportunities are provided for student self-management, agency and voice? * What digital devices are used and how these are managed? I saw a very  calm ,  focused  working environment with all students doing, making, writing, reading together or independently… inspiring ! Teacher collaboration Each term, teams review data and group students, with a focus on target students. Target students receive additional teacher sessions (short, sharp sessions during other whole class work e.g. handwriting) Students are grouped (assessment) and matched to teachers' skills and interests e.g. one teacher may teach multiple art classes, across levels. Students develop relationships with more teachers, and get the best teaching skills available for their needs. Staff teach to their strengths Frequent data review and fle...

Something that has really challenged me this week is student motivation.   Do students believe they can achieve (i.e. that their effort can impact on outcome; intelligence/ability is not something that is fixed from birth - see Dwek etc) Do they feel what they are learning matters? Is it related to them and to the real world? How can they share what they are learning?  Do they have opportunities to experience success?  What can I/others do/say to help them feel/enjoy this success? How can I provide for and listen to students' voices? How can I give them a REAL  say in what and how they learn? What can I do as a teacher to engage them? What tools do I have? e.g. build relationships; bring in humour; use a variety of stimulus which connects to the real world; encourage positive connections with others; set up tasks which allow students to connect with others; knowing students' interests and planning learning accordingly; help students direct their ...