tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58130838520579188622024-02-22T13:33:32.605-08:00Learning on Purposemrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-60974442954974829932020-04-30T22:03:00.000-07:002020-05-01T01:11:54.961-07:00Moving curriculum design from teacher-centric to student-centric<h2>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Moving innovative practice and curriculum design from teacher-centric to student-centric without devaluing what we have to offer the learning journeys of our tauira</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We opened our Year 7-10 Junior High School in 2016, with 636 tauira across all 4 year levels. As an ILE (Innovative Learning Environment) school, we had the privilege of designing a curriculum that was not constrained by some of the issues faced in existing schools, and we were encouraged to do so. In 2015 as a leadership team, and with our teams on board in waves throughout the year before we opened, we visited a range of educational institutes from ECE through to tertiary, and engaged in professional learning. Throughout this time we developed a 3 layered approach to our curriculum. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img height="518" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/aaOWdF0b24z7Uii83ShUF4h2ySP0_lyL2FcO4kYz2-o-G4JdBh5zsKZliLLmYEY_Nb6K53yCUCEgMswk3pnyzqwKMK1tpMypCVpkkZV9tsRVuleHL4LgWOp-BhyRw_TOFS5JL_k_" width="640" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The structure of our Learning Modules encouraged teachers to be <span style="font-size: large;"><b>creative, effective, and efficient in delivering learning experiences to tauira that took advantage of connections</b></span> - between ideas, between prior learning experiences and the current ones, and connections to their lives. It was a new way of teaching the 8 Learning Areas of the NZC for most of us. Our teachers designed interesting and creative Learning Modules that tauira chose for a Semester (as we grew, they would choose their top 3 in each timetable line, and be put into one of those).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In 2018, as part of our growth planning (we were over 1000 tauira, in a building with a questionable 1200 student capacity by this stage), the MOE contracted Derek Wenmoth of Core Education to audit our curriculum design and building use. In that report, Derek commented <i><span style="color: #999999;">“The current staff describe their approach in a more ‘teacher-centric’ way, with an emphasis on providing choice for learners based on the decisions of teachers, both in terms of content and the way it is timetabled and taught…. school leaders have focused on promoting teacher agency and allowing the pairs of staff to explore varied and creative ways of working together and engaging students in their learning.”</span></i> <span style="font-size: large;"><b>My initial gut response to this part of the report was defensiveness, we premised our design on student agency and he was calling us teacher-centric! When I got over myself, I realised he was right.</b> </span>Our teachers were doing an amazing job of designing and delivering these incredibly interesting and creative courses, but they were still designed and delivered by the teachers, and consumed by the tauira. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We had tried collecting tauira voice on contexts, themes and ideas for modules, but without an in-depth understanding of the intention and essence of each Learning Area in the NZC, tauira suggestions ranged from unhelpful to invalid. It was the wrong way to go about becoming more student-centric. As educators, we have a good idea of the necessary and powerful learnings in the curriculum that tauira need to engage with for a ‘broad and balanced’ curriculum experience. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In 2019 we introduced a trial module structure in Semester 1 with a group of Year 9 & 10 tauira. <span style="font-size: large;"><b>We called it Tautoro.</b></span> </span>As a kura, one of the many ways in which we honour our role in the Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership, is to look to Te ao Māori to inspire us and help us explain our thoughts and process. <span style="font-size: large;"><b>Tautoro means to extend or stretch oneself</b></span>, which perfectly captures what we were asking our tauira and kaiako to do in this new model. <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The module had 6 teachers in it, and could cope with the responding ratio of tauira (we didn't have that many choose it the first time around, and so our numbers were a bit smaller). It offered the following 6 Learning Areas - English, Mathematics and Statistic, Science, Health and PE, Technology (Digital) and Social Sciences. We each ‘sold’ our Learning Areas to the tauira, and they chose which 2 they were going to study for the semester, and had to start thinking of their own authentic context in which they would be able to connect the learning from the 2 Learning Areas - in some sort of learning artifact, portfolio or project. In choosing their 2 Learning Areas, they still had the responsibility of ensuring they had an English Learning Module and a Mathematics and Statistics Learning Module across their 3 module lines in the timetable - so for some, they had to choose English, or had to choose Maths for example. They were also guided by their Learning Advisors to ensure they had good curriculum coverage across the year, so for some, there was no choice at all - they hadn’t studied Social Science in the past year - they needed to do Social Science. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rather than 2 teachers planning and delivering learning experiences that integrate the 2 Learning Areas from the start of the module, as happens with our regular Learning Modules, we found ourselves back into our solo specialist roles in a larger collaborative environment. Tautoro better suited a ‘front-loading’ model where we individually focused on our single Learning Area for the first half (approximately) of the semester, and then moved into the ‘creative’ second portion of the semester where tauira started developing their ‘big idea’ - the context in which they would connect the learning from their 2 Learning Areas in an authentic way that was interesting to them, and created an artifact or project that evidenced this learning. Not dissimilar to the year long structure we observed at High Tech High School - Chula Vista when we visited in 2018, just more condensed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our three 90 minute blocks in the week were divided into 3 x 30 minute sessions per block - 9 sessions across a week. We used our LMS calendar (Schoology) to advertise when in the week we were holding teacher-directed workshops or optional drop-in sessions that the tauira booked themselves into. Some workshops were repeated across the week because there were inevitable clashes between Learning Areas. Most of us employed a ‘flipped-learning’ approach to learning resource development and availability - the content and skills instruction was available in the LMS for asynchronous learning when required. Tauira also planned independent learning time into their week. As a teaching team, we planned out our own weeks in a collaborative/share planner so that we could keep track of what we were all doing. We also met every week (as all of our module co-teachers do) to discuss at risk tauira and share what we are focusing on so that we could still make the most of connected learning opportunities - for example, when both Science and Health & PE were learning about respiration, we grabbed those tauira and co-taught a workshop and had an integrated task for them to complete. We tried to make the most of these opportunities throughout the first part of the semester, so sharing with our team was critical. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img height="348" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/zUwwG7CTx4YBkBVMXExyvxGqyw7HYSZembyMGlOiF9_N0u8nvwUDqAnoBwKBKgQ5E9dynx3IpaPvtxcmFrAaTgG2-M1wE2bvIdYDOLYEKrRtR_p45H1hZm_XRz3AlnfKc839QF7F" width="640" /></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Example of a teaching team week overview</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Once tauira were well underway, and had a grasp on the essential learning in each Learning Area, we paused and ran compulsory workshops in 2 teacher teams with the tauira who were learning our 2 Learning Areas. In these workshops we collaborated as a group on what the essential learnings were for each Learning Area and where the connections existed, and what big-ideas could be developed to showcase all of this. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Blank integration workshop blank template</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />Some examples of final artifacts created by tauira at the end of the semester </span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A phone app supporting the learning of Material World (Science) concepts for tauira learning Chemistry (Science and Digital Technology)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Interactive animations explaining Science concepts such as state of matter and state change (Science and Digital Technology)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">An in depth analysis of a film scene including how the film makers use their understanding of light and sound (physics) to create mood and effect in the scene (Science and English)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Health and Safety posters for our Science labs (Science and Health & PE)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A persuasive speech on a social science topic of particular interest - such as The experiences of transgender tauira in mainstream education (Social Science and English)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A sculpture using LED lights, annotated with how electricity works and powers the lights in the sculpture (Visual Art and Science)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Jingles written for advertising a product they had created for a market day (Music and Social Science) </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With so many tauira in Tautoro, and with them doing a number of different Learning Area pairings and many many big-idea contexts, we portioned them into 6 random ‘coaching’ groups (one per teacher - or Kaimanaaki). <span style="font-size: large;"><b>To manaaki means to support, protect and take care of, and to respect.</b></span> As Kaimanaaki, our role was to support their dispositional development in this new module structure, help them plan their week, help them reflect on their week, ensure they were on track to complete required learning and assessment tasks, help them develop their big-idea (some tauira had this coming into the course, some needed to be told what big-idea might suit them and their Learning Areas, we had the complete spectrum), and to protect their learning journey. We spent the first 30 minute session of each week in coaching groups so that tauira had time to plan and map out their week, as well as the last 30 minutes in each week for them to reflect on how their week went - did they achieve their learning goals? What were the enablers and barriers? What did they need to focus on next week. We early on developed a fortnightly planning and reflection template doc for tauira to use. They submitted these to their Kaimanaaki every fortnight in our LMS. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img height="590" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/qO7_Ak9wP_-xCJ9IKo683oeJsRK21HmGXVVwj3eggQQM1bgClJpYMrIUYf33wyMFlBKFV39YCVrP5Fp_n4UeIHIbUbYVakKRacPsmb3Fn-13JjEQyUOw907ucOC00M-lypCQ9TL6" width="640" /></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Example of a tauira fortnightly planning and reflection doc</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In 2019 Semester 1 we had one Tautoro class. In Semester 2 we had 2 Tautoro classes, with 5 teachers and 5 Learning Areas in each. A small number of tauira chose Tautoro for 2 out of their 3 modules. In 2020 Semester 1, one timetable line has 5 Tautoro classes (5 teachers and Learning Areas each) - so every Year 9 & 10 tauira has Tautoro for one of their modules. </span><br />
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<b><b><span style="font-size: large;">The current COVID-19 affected educational environment gives us the opportunity to further critically review what we are doing and how we are doing it. What is absolutely essential? What curriculum design will give us the best outcomes in both a remote learning structure and then (hopefully) a return to full time attendance </span></b><b><span style="font-size: large;">on-site</span></b><b><span style="font-size: large;">?</span></b></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We are proposing that Year 9 & 10 tauira have 3 Tautoro courses - that there will be no more 2 co-teacher & 2 Learning Area modules. They will only have one Kaimanaaki across the 3 lines though. This will mean they only have one key person overseeing their learning and giving the support and advice, and will reduce the number of tauira each Year 9 & 10 teacher coaches. Even at Alert Levels 2 & 1 we see our school being impacted by staff absences and the inability to provide enough social distancing to have all tauira on-site every day. This model will provide us with more flexibility with staffing, and more opportunity for tauira to use the happenings in their lives outside of school as context for learning. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We are also proposing expanding the concept into our Year 7 & 8 curriculum design. Currently, our Year 7 & 8 tauira stay with the same cohort of 60 tauira for all 3 lines of the timetable - they have a different co-teaching team of 2 teachers and 2 Learning Areas in each of their 3 Learning Modules. We call these ‘Sets’ i.e. Set Tahi, Set Rua… We are proposing that they still stay together, keep the same English and Maths teachers (which is what would have happened from Semester 1 to Semester 2 anyway), with 4 other new teachers to expose them to Learning Areas that they were not learning in Semester 1. Across the Set the 6 teachers will each individually be responsible for the learning in one Learning Area. The tauira will be learning all 6 Learning Areas - there will be no ‘choice of Learning Areas’ as there is for Year 9 & 10. In the final half or third of the semester, tauira will be supported to develop artifacts, projects etc to connect their learning. We will also use the Kaimanaaki model - each kaiako will coach 8-10 tauira. Our curriculum teams have started working together to delegate the creation of flipped learning resources in the strands that are the Semester 2 Curriculum Framework. These can easily be created in our LMS resources section and quickly added to individual courses. With the division of labour, more differentiated resources can be created, and during the semester kaiako can spend time coaching and guiding tauira, rather than creating learning resources and experiences. Our Maths team have done this in Tautoro this Semester, and it has been successful. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><br />This is what the tauira told us they got out of Tautoro, vs their regular modules: </span><br />
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<li><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I learnt a lot about how to manage my time effectively and how to plan out different activities and workshops</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I learnt the importances of time management and the responsibilities of working independently.</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To challenge the goals that I have set for myself and go beyond them, try harder in my learning and put more effort in my work.</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I Have learned how to show my evidence and I have become confident in talking to the teachers and asking questions about my work.</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">that you don't always need a teacher telling you what to do, to be good at what you're learning and that we can all be independent and with hard work and can do really good high quality work.</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have learnt about the importance of learning to be independent and how creative you can get with your classes and how deep the big idea can go.</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have learned how to be more independent with my work and not relying on the teachers to remind us what's due or what needs to be done.</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I learnt a lot about managing myself as a learner, and using organisation skills to keep up with expectations.</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have enjoyed being able to work at my own pace and get things done in my own time and just be very independent.</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have enjoyed the way that this module is student driven and it is up to the tauira to get their work done and to what standard.</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have enjoyed being able to direct our own learning and being able to do it at our own pace the best. It really helped me to take charge and complete task to the best of my ability</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The choice to learn what we want to learn</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Being able to talk to my friends and do my work without getting told off</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The free will and choice</span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have enjoyed being able to go off on my own and work independently on my big idea and learning new things that I was actually interested in.</span></i></li>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />What are some of the things have we learned? </span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Learning dispositions are everything. Tauira need support to develop these learning dispositions in an authentic learning setting, and this course structure provided the perfect platform for this. Our tauira did not all know how to learn like this at the start of the module, we had to teach them how. Our CLOAK (dispositional curriculum) provided the framework for this. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Shifting the locus of control is hard, it’s nerve-wracking, but it’s okay</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This model allowed us to be student-centric, but still valued the essential learning in the Learning Areas. It wasn’t a free-for-all, tauira still progressed through our Curriculum Framework essential concepts and skills. The specialist knowledge and skills the kaiako bring still have a place and are valued.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Qualitative observations and analysis of feedback from tauira told us that engagement was higher in Tautoro than other modules</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tracking tools are essential with so many tauira on their own individual pathways.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tauira need to be given time to plan and reflect. This is essential learning, and deserves class time being dedicated to it.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We started the semester with dispositional workshops on time management, collecting effective evidence of learning, using digital learning tools (Google, Schoology), planning and reflecting on learning etc </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is also a model that could be extended into the senior schooling years. <b><span style="font-size: large;">A Tautoro-like curriculum model based on the Vocational Pathways would allow tauira to experience how different bodies of knowledge contribute to career and study pathways.</span></b> The flexibility of NCEA will allow for specific standards to be used to assess the pathway specific essential learnings, and for the double-dipping of standards from one piece of evidence. Use that L2 Biology report on adaptations to assess against an English writing standard, or a Statistics standard with a scientific method one. Join Claire’s NCEA Hackathon in DisruptED for more help on how to do this!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It would also be possible to achieve in a tradition single cell classroom setting, and does not require being in an ILE to work. It requires collaboration between teachers, a shift of the locus of control, and an acceptance of the fact that you will not 'cover as much content'. When teaching and learning time is committed to explicit disposition and meta-cognitive learning, something else has to give (and we are perfectly okay with that!). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It has been an exciting and challenging journey. My biggest reflection is that we often limit flexibility and student agency in our curriculum design <b><span style="font-size: large;">because we think the tauira won’t be able to do it </span></b>- they can’t self-manage, don’t know how to keep track of time and deadlines, and so on. Of course they probably won’t initially. But is this not the real learning that we should be valuing the most. The whole point of structuring the curriculum differently is to provide them the opportunity to be able to learn how to learn, while they are learning. Teaching meta-cognitive skills outside of authentic learning experiences is like learning to drive in a car in a gaming console, you can learn the fundamentals in concept, but it’s not until the rubber hits the road for real that you really have to put them into practice that they become lived skills. </span></div>
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mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-27221047281132316252015-10-17T20:25:00.004-07:002015-10-17T20:25:54.394-07:00#it'snotaboutthebuildingsMuch like Sally Hart (<a href="https://sallyhart72.wordpress.com/2015/10/17/everything-is-nothing-with-a-twist-i-am-not-a-non-existent-teacher-who-just-lets-students-go/" target="_blank">see her blog post here</a>), I could not spend the rest of today revelling in the All Black's glorious defeat of France, having read <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/73042309/top-schools-give-multimillion-dollar-classrooms-a-fail-grade" target="_blank">this article</a>. The danger these days is that scare-mongering fluff articles like this, that previously were consigned to the back pages or local rags, are now available free of charge online, to a potentially world-wide audience. @Doctor_Harves has correctly pointed out that the journalist made no claims, that all claims were from interviewees. My response is that surely the author has some culpability by bringing the views from one side together, in one place and publishing them.<br />
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My first, and strongest, response to this article is that it once again focused on the physical spaces in which learning occurs, as if that is the defining factor for the pedagogy that occurs inside. How many tweets, blog posts and hashtags do we need to be able to be heard as a profession - it's about the pedagogy, #notaboutthebeanbags. The article segueways straight from the amount of money being spent by the government to imagery of the positioning of teachers and students in the space. Let's be clear, the Ministry of Education has spent $517 million in the last 5 years on desperately needed new classrooms for new and expanding schools, and their design has been based on rigorous research here and overseas, on the conditions under which all students can learn at their best. "The teacher in front of the chalkboard..." as described in this article is only one of many ways in which learning can occur, and certainly does still happen in Innovative Learning Environments <i>when that is what is most appropriate for the learners and learning. </i>I challenge anyone reading this to argue that a teacher standing at a chalkboard for an hour, day in-day out, is the best way for students to learn.<br />
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That allows <i>me </i>to segueway into my next issue with this article. The MLE/ILE/MLP vision has never been synonymous with independent, free-range learning, where students do what they want, when they want. MLP is about student agency, knowing our learners, and exploring ways in which the passions and interests of all students can be harnessed to provide the best learning outcomes for them - described articulately <a href="https://stevemouldey.wordpress.com/2015/10/16/agency-and-ownership/" target="_blank">here by Steve Mouldey</a> in a summary of his recent uLearn presentation. We are all bound by the same national curriculum document and strive to achieve the same vision of confident, connected, actively involved lifelong learners. Those of us embracing innovative learning practices are focusing intensely on this vision, especially the actively involved and lifelong learner parts. The New Zealand Curriculum document gives us the enabling constraints to work within, as @totallywired77 said "handing over ownership to your students is not not the same as just letting them do whatever they want! This is hardcore punk learning, not f+++ing free form jazz!<br />
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My next issue is the focus of the article on what constitutes success. What good is a 77.5% UE attainment rate if only 1 in 3 students go on to tertiary education? How is the school meeting the needs of the other 67%? At our first community meeting as a school, we asked our parents what their hopes, dreams and aspirations were for their children. The resounding response was confident, resilient, happy, fun and kind... here's the wordcloud:<br />
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So we have a responsibility, as the school of our community, to make good on this mandate. Again... will we achieve this only one traditional pedagogical style? No, we won't.</div>
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Other points I struggled with in this article were "sterile open spaces with absent teachers and loud noises." I can't say I've ever been into an ILE where the teachers are absent, the student:teacher ratios are the same, and purpose built environments are engineered to minimise noise pollution - there are strict noise tests they need to pass when in operation. "...some students use their laptops instead of pen and paper..." what does that have to do with anything else in this article? This has been happening for years, and simple device substitution will not have an impact on improving learner outcomes. "... their newly fitted-out classrooms have glass doors and moveable walls, but the students and teachers also prefer a traditional learning environment" it's not an ILE without the ILP, again it's all about the pedagogy, and what teacher is going to want to deprivatize their practice when it is obviously not a school-wide supported movement, with everyone, including the leadership team on board, and high quality professional learning to take them on the journey? "People feel like they're being watched so they're more focussed on their behaviour, teachers stay on topic more" and "there could be distractions with people walking past of with [other classes] working opposite...." surely if the learning is student centred and engaging, they shouldn't need this as a threat to remain focussed on their learning, or be so easily distracted. In all the schools we have visited this year, there have been many, the one common factor across all ILE schools is the absolute student engagement in learning. </div>
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<span id="goog_890299480"></span><span id="goog_890299481"></span>This article really did hit a nerve with me today, because I think it was a poorly constructed piece of journalism that skirted around the real issues and the gains being made by those of us trying to evolve education. It is especially topical for me, as we try to bring our community on board before we open next year. We have an incredibly supportive community, who have waited a long time for this school, and who are trusting us to do what's best for their children. They have come to our meetings, read our blogs and newsletters, and approach us with their worries and concerns, but (so far) never in a narrow-minded and negative way. They genuinely want to know how it's going to work, and seem excited when we share our ideas. I worry that articles like this will undo some of our hard work to date, and have parents doubting us before we even get off the ground. All I ask is for balanced and fair representation of our sector.mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-56241072388449169722015-08-25T19:42:00.004-07:002015-08-25T19:56:36.272-07:00Collaboration - what do we want it to look like?In our recent round of interviews for our teaching staff, we asked only a few, but quite in-depth, questions. One of them was on how applicants viewed successful collaboration between teachers in an ILE and how it enhanced student learning - because it needs to, otherwise there is little point in doing it.<br />
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Most of the responses spoke about collaboration in the way it was currently done in traditional schools settings - what Farjana Ferdous (Jazan University, K.S.A.) describes as Grade Level Collaboration <i>"Teachers working with other teachers to develop and implement instruction"</i> We think that in our environment where 3 teachers will be working together on a curriculum module that covers 2 learning areas of the curriculum, collaboration must be much deeper than this. Their responses were understandably a product of their environment, as most are coming from traditional schools. Ferdous goes on to describe Co-Teaching/Collaboration Teaching and Cross-Curricular Collaboration - a blend of these is our aim. <i>"Co-teaching/Collaborative Teaching is when 2 or more professionals jointly deliver substantive instruction to a diverse and blended group of students in a single physical space"</i>. She goes on to separate Co-teaching into 5 scenarios:<br />
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<ul>
<li><i>Lead and support - one teacher plans and instructs, while the other assists students with work, monitors behaviour, and corrects assignments</i></li>
<li><i>Station teaching - curricular content is divided into two parts. One teacher teaches the first part to half the students and the other professional presents the second part to the other half. The two student groups then switch.</i></li>
<li><i>Parallel Teaching - students are divided into heterogenous groups in which each student has more opportunity to participate in discussions. Different types of presentations are structure to the various student learning styles.</i></li>
<li><i>Alternative Teaching - students are divided into two groups, and one teacher instructs one group while the other person pre-teaches the other group for the lesson to follow or re-teaches material using alternative methods</i></li>
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I think there will be times when the 4 types of teaching will be appropriate to groups within the learning commons, but my hope is that we aim for team teaching as the norm:</div>
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<li><i>Team Teaching - both professionals share leadership and are equally engaged in instructional activities. They might use role play, stage debates or model note-taking strategies.</i></li>
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Blended with team teaching will also be Cross-Curricular Collaboration. <i>"Cross-curricular learning helps develop meta-cognitive learners able to adapt their learning to new situations. Interdisciplinary teaching provides a meaningful way in which students can use knowledge they have learned in one context as a knowledge base in other contexts in and out of school"</i></div>
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So how do we encourage, expect and enable this to happen?</div>
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Every applicant commented on the time teachers will need to collaborate, but they will also need the skills and support to do it effectively, in most of us, these skills are not innate. With that thought in mind we embark on our journey of fostering a collaborative culture.</div>
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Cheryl Doig's July 15, 2014 blog post "Collaboration Matters" she talks about 5 things that stand out for effective collaboration in an education setting.</div>
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<ul>
<li><i>Relationships matter every step of the way - time must be spent at the beginning to develop shared norms, values and vision.</i></li>
<li><i>Technology enhances - collaboration can exist without technology but the ripples will be smaller</i></li>
<li><i>Conflict - no conflict = no collaboration. Allow for it, deal with it openly and respectfully. Diverse groups bring a richness of perspectives and naturally create tensions.</i></li>
<li><i>Know when to collaborate - if there are few gains or a hostile environment, or no relationships, collaboration will waste times. Grow relationships first.</i></li>
<li><i>Leadership - collaboration still requires leadership, but from a position of influence rather than position. Leaders must navigate complexity, explore multiple perspectives and be okay with not having all the answers.</i></li>
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Having open and honest conversations about these points - how to make them happen, which parts we are comfortable and which we will find challenging and need help to overcome, will be the first step. Designing professional learning workshops, and having visible reminders of how and why we collaborate will be vital.</div>
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In a 2015 post <i>"Collaboration in Schools" </i>Cheryl describes the Russian dolls of collaboration. From the individual "me" to day to day collaboration, organisational collaboration, associate industry collaboration and outer collaboration. The organisational collaboration quote resonated with us the most as we think about how we can enable the type of collaboration we want to see happen. <i>"Organisational collaboration connects to the overall vision and values of the school. Everyone needs to understand their role in supporting and challenging every learner. This learning connectedness intentionally supports teams to develop flow in learning, with specialist teachers still having a deep understanding of their subjects, but also connecting to different lenses of other specialists and generalist teachers and growing transversal skills in themselves and their students."</i></div>
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She also describes 3 mindsets requires for good collaboration</div>
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<ul>
<li><i>Growth mindset - deeply believe that everyone can learn. Talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching and persistence. Start with self. "Made not born"</i></li>
<li><i>Inquiring mindset - ask questions about your own practice rather than looking for answers. Deeply engage with your own context. Explore collective wisdom. "Continuous, collaborative curiosity for better"</i></li>
<li><i>Outwards mindset - seek new networks and connections beyond your comfort zone. Explore trends, signals & multiple possibilities. </i></li>
</ul>
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I believe our CLOAK will be the place we start to develop this culture, with both staff and students.</div>
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<ul>
<li>Challenge our mindset</li>
<li>Learning is connected</li>
<li>Ourselves as learners</li>
<li>Ako, always</li>
<li>Kindness and respect</li>
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We need to be always developing our growth, inquiring and outward mindsets. Be okay with a culture of open communication where ideas are valued. One of our applicants used the analogy of hui - when someone offers an idea, it is a gift to the collective, that idea then belongs to the group, not the person anymore, and in that mindset any responses to the idea are about the idea and not the person who offered them. I see real value for this thinking and mindset in our team. We want our teachers working as a team, connecting their own learning as professionals with others on their team, and appreciating the value of collaboration in students' learning. We also want them valuing interdisciplinary collaboration as a way to enhance student learning. Our physical learning spaces and timetable will also support and encourage this. And continually, we are learners, and can learning from everyone around us. Finally we need to realise we will always be on a journey to our edutopia with those around us, and to keep enjoying and reflecting on the ride there.</div>
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mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-70534213096297862582015-08-02T17:56:00.001-07:002015-08-02T17:58:31.102-07:00Road Trippin'One of the most privileged parts of our job right now is having the time to visit other schools during instruction time, to see them in action. While we have learnt different things from, and focused on different things within each school, a common thread throughout each visit is the warmth with which we are welcomed, and the generosity of people's time when there is already so little of it.<br />
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We spent 2 days visiting Hobsonville Point Secondary School. The welcome and (again) the generosity of time, resources (and food and coffee) was amazing.<br />
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Maurie, Lea and Di each spent time with us sharing their journey, their ideas and their vision (Claire was in Wellington - but I'm sure would have been just as generous). The most value, though, came from Maurie standing at the whiteboard wall asking us "So what are you about? What do you want to be?"<br />
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It made us articulate how much we valued a dispositional curriculum and wanted to give it as much essence in our daily timetable and curriculum structure as an academic curriculum. We questioned our emerging leadership structure, and looked at how we each might fit into the vision and direction of our school, and where we might best incorporate the skills of our newly appointed Learning Leaders. Maurie spoke about their unique appointments process in their establishing year, and how to clearly advertise what we are about to ensure teachers applying for jobs knew what would be required of them in their roles. We also got to see the school in action, the learners we always so engaged, could articulate their learning, and noise was never an issue.<br />
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The next stop was Papamoa College, which open in 2011, was designed by the same architect company as us, and also has Year 7 and 8s. From Papamoa we learnt the importance of having a moral purpose and courage, to know what we are about and to take our whole staff on a journey to collectively get there. This is something we think about often as a leadership team. How do we start travelling the road and developing a vision, without going so far we are not bringing the people who will be joining our team with us? We are going to have some amazing teachers in our team, some we have already met, and some who are still in the process of applying for jobs with us. They will bring their collective talents and ideas, and we want them to help us create the school, to have ownership of what we do and what we're about. So it's 3 steps forward, 2 steps back... not in the negative sense, but us purposefully taking 2 steps back to wait for the rest of our team to arrive.<br />
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Then we started visiting our major contributing schools so have a sense of where our students would be coming from and the values they would be bringing with them, so that we can acknowledge, harness and build on that work already done, rather than try to impose over it. Puketaha, Te Totara, Rototuna Primary, Horsham Downs and Fairfield Intermediate were so welcoming and I can see us having long and mutually beneficial partnerships.<br />
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Last week we visited Hobsonville Point Primary School and Mission Heights Junior College. Daniel and the team at HPPS shared with us, along with some excellent coffee and great professional readings, the importance of creating great teams, maintaining functional teams and growing a vision and culture as a collective. Again we witness real purposeful learning, targeted teaching and student ownership of learning. The MHJC visit was most exciting for us, as this would be the first Junior High School school we visited - same year levels, and the have grown to have the same roll number the MOE predict we will be opening with - so what does 800 students look like in an ILE? MHJC have decided to go down a more traditional education timetable route, with students timetabled in to classes specific to Curriculum Learning Areas with specialist teachers i.e. Maths with a Maths teacher in a maths room, Science with a Science teacher in another. There were shared learning spaces in the middle of each block that allowed students to migrate out and work independently, which we did see a lot of.<br />
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We have been blessed to be so welcomed in to these schools. We are in a unique position - on such a tight time frame and opening with unprecedented numbers, that we really can't build everything from scratch and re-invent the wheel with everything that we do. So for the hints, tips, deep and meaningful conversations and lasting connections we truly are thankful for all of you.<br />
<br />mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-1134528402615102972015-07-01T19:47:00.001-07:002015-07-01T19:47:20.348-07:00A new journey<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How do you start a school in the way that you mean to go on? You'd have to argue that creating a learning culture that values a dispositional curriculum as much as an academic one is easier than changing a existing and embedded culture, but where to start?</span></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-d1a1fee5-4ca8-18c4-486d-c56af4e378d4" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last week was the first 'official' one of my new job. Over the past few weeks we have been working with the EBOT on the emerging vision of the school. We refined their ideas using a hierarchy chart and post-it notes. We valued the most, ideas such as, a sense of belonging, recognising the uniqueness of all learners, being connected, having motivation and confidence, being part of a community, resilience, creativity and curiosity. From here we started developing our </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vision: Connect, Inspire, Soar: Empower our people to be connected, collaborative, community-minded learners inspired to soar to their potential.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We have taken inspiration from the kāhu - a bird frequently seen in our area and that our hapu see as chief-like and leaders. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Te kāhu i runga whakaaorangi ana e rā, te pērā koia tōku rite, inawa ē! The hawk up above moves like the clouds in the sky, let me do the same!</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a leadership team we had also begun sharing readings that resonated with us strongly as a way of getting to know each other in a professional capacity while we were still living at opposite ends of the country. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Nature of Learning - Using Research to Inspire Practice</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Edited by Dumont, Istance and Benavides on behalf of OECD's Centre for Education Research and Innovation; </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Understanding John Hattie’s Visible Learning Research in the Context of Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, by Gerry Miller; and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Supporting future-oriented learning & teaching - a New Zealand perspective</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Bolstad and Gilbert with McDowall, Bull, Boyd and Hipkins. These readings have started shaping our initial guiding Values and Principles - which will act as a framework for further developing our vision, values and principles as we move towards creating an inspiring, connected and inclusive curriculum. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>Our emerging Values are:</u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Growth Mindset:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We will value a Growth Mindset, that through self-belief, self-awareness, a willingness to take risks, commitment and resilience, we can achieve personal excellence.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Innovation:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We will value innovation through being curious, inquisitive, and questioning. Through collaboration, creative ideas and solutions can be found.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Respect:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We will value ourselves, others, and our environment. We take care of each other and value diversity. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Community-Minded:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We will value community-minded citizens who contribute to, and are valued members of, our school, whanau, community and beyond.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>Our emerging principles are:</u></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Learners at the Centre</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - having our young people actively involved in, and drivers of their learning, and raising their awareness of how they are as learners. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New Kinds of Partnerships</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - recognising that our school forms only one component of a wider learning ecosystem, and the value of community partnerships and relationships in a range of settings. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Emotions are integral</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - our year 7-10 learners are emerging adolescents, a period of rapid change. They are developing an awareness of self, and they have an increasing need for independence and responsibility. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Social Nature of Learning</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - learning is socio-constructivist. It should be shaped by the context in which it is situated and is actively constructed through social negotiation. Learning should be organised in a way that fosters interactions between people. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New Views of Equity, Diversity and Inclusiveness</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - that when similarities and differences are celebrated, they become powerful contributors to the fabric of the school and the wider community. An inclusive learning community fosters compassion, respect and the skill of relating positively with a variety of people. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Knowledge to Develop Learning Capacity</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - we need to equip our young people to use knowledge, create knowledge, solve problems and find solutions. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Culture of Continuous Learning</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - teachers need to be able to access the learning that they need, and leaders need to support a culture in which teachers are encouraged to grow and take risks as part of shared inquiry.</span></div>
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mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-19811159285020298092015-03-31T16:54:00.000-07:002015-03-31T18:02:21.198-07:00Blurring the lines - my exciting term with Year 9 ScienceYou may have seen from a previous <a href="http://learningonpurpose.blogspot.co.nz/2014/10/exciting-times-for-year-9-science.html" target="_blank">post</a> that we have been working towards aligning our junior curriculum across the 'core subjects' to offer more opportunity for cross-curricular learning. At the whole school level, we assigned themes to terms. This gentle approach allowed for buy in, and buy out.<br />
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An English teacher and I, who teach the same class, decided to buy in. It started with conversations over morning tea (it helps that we tend to gravitate towards each other in the staff room). Innocuous conversations around "What are you doing with 9xx at the moment?" On one fortuitous day, we could see a link, she was doing poetry, I was doing planets, and she suggested they do <a href="https://docs.google.com/a/waikatodiocesan.school.nz/document/d/1uZhn6y-qPfhkk0V7caRGgcrBbHH-BO-nsILsjv3wv44/edit" target="_blank">poems</a> about planets. She had a cool example of a <a href="https://docs.google.com/a/waikatodiocesan.school.nz/document/d/1g7_tgMVygg0P3WSNsHSA9WkhH0QNMFkFSlAa_8L1N8I/edit" target="_blank">Magic Box poem lesson</a>, and wanted students to be imaginative about what it might be like to be on the planet. They got to work on their poems in both English and Science, and thought that was pretty cool, as they got to ask us both questions. We even managed to pop in each other's classes.<br />
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We were on a roll, and I was next moving on to whether or not humans should see the colonisation of Mars as a solution to Earth's over-population issues. That topic in itself excited me, as it is the first time we have contextualised our science teaching at such depth. The science learning outcomes within this context were the usual Year 9 science culprits - what is a terrestrial planet, conditions on other planets, what we'd need survive there.... We were analysing the Mars One mission, which was timely given the release of articles reporting the selection of the final 100 candidates. This time, we even created a shared <a href="https://docs.google.com/a/waikatodiocesan.school.nz/document/d/1u317oji_5EFQO9csG6rxxzr3KTaYSsDduSfuYPDf6aU/edit" target="_blank">Google Doc</a> for the lessons that flowed from the activities in Science, to those that would be continued in English, where students wrote a formal piece of writing in response to a text, which they had critically analysed in Science. When asked how they found the cross-curricular experience, 72% of the class responded positively, saying that they found it helpful, natural and enjoyable. The other 28% were indifferent, but not negative towards the experience.<br />
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I has been a long time since I've been this excited about learning, which is saying a lot, because I'm usually quite excited!<br />
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You can find an overview of our whole unit <a href="https://docs.google.com/a/waikatodiocesan.school.nz/document/d/1XcZqgvvdhCM-LFXFGoeIz6RE84RR9jtvGUIE-dRKceY/edit" target="_blank">here</a>. Feel free to share and use.<br />
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Next term is looking just as, if not more, exciting. I am in the process of re-writing our <a href="https://docs.google.com/a/waikatodiocesan.school.nz/document/d/1K1ipbgA7fMx61BDhgz3bup1zjTLhHZxNjBtiyvxvj10/edit" target="_blank">extended abstract learning outcomes</a> to suit the film study (Remember the Titans) being done in English, and our social studies comrade is thinking about coming on board with cultural diversity. As a Year 9 Science teaching group, we are also looking at whether we ourselves will be more diverse, and change the extended abstract learning outcomes to suit each class. This would result in us not having 'common assessments' (but surely they're common if the bottom line we are assessing Material World at Level 5 etc etc - but that's a whole different blog post!)</div>
mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-695300390944092972015-02-17T12:23:00.003-08:002015-02-17T12:23:34.617-08:00I am humbled....I am once again humbled by my students. This year has seem some significant change in my classroom. I have new furniture, we have become a compulsory BYOD, I am using SOLO taxonomy and Google classroom like a manic, and have changed assessment practices to be more intuitive with learning.<br />
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My students haven't skipped a beat. <br />
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They have taken everything new in their stride, getting on with it as they always have.<br />
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The furniture has been a wonderful addition to my room. I had the "cowards castle" front teacher's bench removed, making the room more open and accessible. There is no more barrier between myself and the students, and no laptop to be distracted by while my students are working independently. Now I am forced to wonder around the room bugging and distracting them (as they would say) - it's been one of the best thing I've done in here. I am lucky to have a large room, there are more seating spaces than students. This gives them the opportunity to move around the room during the lesson to suit the learning the are doing at the time. Groups are fluid and students can choose to join or move into their own quiet space.<br />
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The move to compulsory BYOD has been (I think) seamless. We have spent the last 3 years building up to this point with optional BYOD and good communication with our community. We focused on the improvements to student outcomes that access to the world of information and increased ways to communicate understanding to others bring. No to mention the opportunities to teach our students to be good digital citizens.<br />
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I am still going strong with SOLO, and my students are using the language and rubrics so naturally. They like the control and sense of agency that choosing their pathway, start points and end points give them. I have also made the move to student readiness practicals in Level 2 Biology. All the equipment for all the practical activities and experiment they can do is in the room at all times, and students can complete them when they are ready. I has allowed me to have such rich conversations with small groups completing pracs, on their observations, and the relevant scientific explanations. It feels more powerful than a whole class doing the same prac, in a pre-designated session, followed by a 'whole class discussion' in which probably half of them were disengaged. <br />
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Later in the term, in Level 1 Biology we are completing a project that will cover 2 internal achievement standards. This is the first time I have tried this approach - setting up a learning opportunity, in which the students product of work will be used as evidence for standards, rather than a separate stand alone assessment event. Wish me luck!<br />
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Feeling pumped about what has so far been a great start to the year.<br />
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<br />mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-37527897144961344282014-10-16T03:18:00.000-07:002015-03-31T18:01:50.269-07:00Exciting times for Year 9 Science<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Further from a previous <a href="http://learningonpurpose.blogspot.co.nz/2014/10/exciting-times-for-year-9-science.html" target="_blank">post</a> detailing a new framework for our Year 9 programme, a colleague and I have started mapping out how a new, more futures focused, Year 9 Science programme might look. We are trying to find a balance between background disciplinary knowledge and allowing for the development student's capacity to create new knowledge and investigate the world's wicked problems and possible solutions. </span><br />
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<i>Key Competencies for the Future</i> (Hipkins, Bolstad, Boyd and McDowell; NZCER 2014) has been an immense help for me as I work my way through the tension that exists between traditional science education which focuses on the acquisition of knowledge and future-oriented science learning, where we should use the Nature of Science learning outcomes to develop science thinking and literacy in an effort to have informed citizens. A part of the book that has resonated with me the most in this aspect is Chapter 3 p45-46 which describes assumptions about the mind, knowledge and learning that underpin the current education system (hopefully not for much longer). This is an articulated description of the fixed vs growth mindsets in education programmes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So, the programme, based on school-wide themes:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Term One - Globalisation</span><br />
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<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-b8b9a990-17d6-9682-0793-90ea23d0c6eb"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>Astronomy</u> - Earth as a globe or planet, day, month, year, seasons, the ethics of space travel and colonisation of Mars as solution to the overpopulation of Earth. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hydrology</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Water and water cycle. Water rich/poor countries - will water become the next currency? States of matter - how and where water exists, can it be moved around the globe + how.</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Term Two - Diversity</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>Diversity of Matter</u> - elements, mixtures, separating mixtures - salt to fresh water (link to water issue in Term 1)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>Diversity of Life</u> - ecosystems, food webs, biodiversity - NZ's unique biodiversity and the need to protect it. Introduced pests and controversial pest controls e.g. biological control agents vs 1080</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>Diversity of Energy</u> - what is energy, waves - light vs sound (A work in progress. Still need some big picture thinking ideas in here - help anyone?)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Term Three - Enterprise/Innovation</span><br />
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<li><span id="docs-internal-guid-b8b9a990-186f-64cc-e1e6-87119b236d80"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><u>Human digestive system/nutrition</u>, inquiry into food security - what innovations exist or are being developed to address food security - link to digestive system - what is quality/nutritious food? Finding lots of inspiration in Chapter 4 of <i>Key Competencies for the Future</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><u>Thermodynamics</u> (context of cooking food + why we cook food link to digestive system)</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Term Four - Citizenship</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><u>Sustainability</u> - this will be the cross-curricular unit we have done for the last 5 years. It is an independent inquiry unit titled "What can you do?" Students choose a sustainability issue and complete an inquiry with a bias towards action, and evaluate the consequences of that action. In science we support their exploration of the scientific aspects of their issues. Very Nature of Science focused.</span></span></li>
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<span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Our next step was to start designing SOLO taxonomy rubrics of learning outcomes. In an ideal world, these would be co-constructed with students, but not all of our junior Science teachers are this far on board yet.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Here is the first section of Term 1</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT_J8TOtCnK6GO6P0vx4tb0qiNF9XtB-L3s3v_K-v0icH3P9Hj4ajhyex1tI3sabSoPglYHKSF8DMuuW3jqedcR2IU58AWNQWYZORryUMJWFO3ygt3v5KOHXuTGR5ybe-van_nFhOl89PA/s1600/SOLO+T1.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT_J8TOtCnK6GO6P0vx4tb0qiNF9XtB-L3s3v_K-v0icH3P9Hj4ajhyex1tI3sabSoPglYHKSF8DMuuW3jqedcR2IU58AWNQWYZORryUMJWFO3ygt3v5KOHXuTGR5ybe-van_nFhOl89PA/s1600/SOLO+T1.tiff" height="433" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The beauty of this rubric is that reluctant teachers can work from unistructural up to extended abstract in a traditional teaching model, however it gives the rest of us the freedom to work from the top down, encouraging creative and innovative thinking in context - and students can access a guide to what foundational knowledge they might need. A non-threatening framework for those who feel challenged by the moves in education, but enabling for those of us that are ready to fly.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My hope is that in time, with support and seeing it in action, they will join us.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Credit to Mr Angus Jones for the co-development of this Science programme</i></span></span></div>
mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-319624948651555222014-10-05T20:50:00.005-07:002014-10-05T20:51:13.044-07:00After #edchatNZ... the conference that never endedI was lucky enough to bring a team of colleagues to the #edchatNZ conference in August. Experiencing the 2 days together showed me I was no longer a lone nut, I was part of a mixed nut group keen to enact change. We naturally leaned towards ways to improve our local junior curriculum (Years 9 and 10). In a high performing school so focused on excellence, especially in NCEA, junior classes can easily become the poor cousins to senior classes for busy, fully loaded teachers of multiple levels. In times of busyness and stress, we readily default to the industrial model of teaching that we were bred and educated in. So as a group we decided to make our junior programmes an absolute focus for improvement. We want to work more collaboratively, be cross-curricular, use assessment for learning and explicitly teach the principles, values and key competencies.<br />
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So post-conference around the lunch table we kept the conversations going, more people came on board and we ended up with a larger interested group who decided to focus on the Year 9 programme next year. We chose to assign a <a href="http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Principles/Future-focus" target="_blank">future focus theme from the curriculum</a> to each term. This would be a wide enough scaffold for any curriculum areas that wanted to align their programmes and non-threatening enough for reluctant teachers to give it a go.<br />
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In a staff meeting, I gave a quick presentation about the "front of the curriculum" - and how the principles, values and key competencies should be integral and at the forefront of our minds when planning programmes. For the cross-curricular "sell" I also reiterated the principle Coherence - the idea that "The curriculum offers all students a broad education that makes links within and across learning areas, provides for coherent transitions, and opens up pathways to further learning."(NZC, 2007). After the staff meeting, anyone who was interested, or wanted to be involved was welcome to stay behind an continue the conversation. At a rough guess 60 - 70% of teachers stayed, and the response was overwhelmingly positive, with some small but relevant areas of concern. It's at this point I'd like to acknowledge a fantastically open minded staff of teachers, an enabling principal and senior leadership team, and a supportive BOT who absolutely trust us to offer a programme that's best for our community.<br />
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We started a Google Doc as a place to share thinking and ideas, and more and more teachers in different curriculum areas have seen it as achievable to link their teaching and learning programmes to other curriculum areas. This is an example of the doc in it's early stages:<br />
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After some thinking and collaborating time, another meeting later, we have settled on the following themes for each term next year:</div>
Term One: Globalisation<br />
Term Two: Diversity<br />
Term Three: Enterprise/Innovation<br />
Term Four: Citizenship (Sustainability)<br />
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A fresh Google Doc has been started as a place for collaborative planning to occur. Some of us are optimistically hoping to spend a lot of Term 4 redesigning our Year 9 programmes now that we have something to work with. Subject and teacher involvement will be as little or as much as they want it to be. This framework exists for those that are passionate about aligning the learning in their Year 9 classes to other learning areas, and for those that aren't, learning can still occur in the way they want it to, but we hope they'll catch the bug one day!<br />
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<br />mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-27292823579626255212014-08-09T17:44:00.002-07:002014-08-09T17:44:52.590-07:00#edchatNZ Blogging Meme<div style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #333333; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">
If you get included in the blogging meme: copy/paste the questions and instructions into your own blog then fill out your own answers. Share on twitter tagging 5 friends.</div>
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<strong>1. How did you attend the #Edchatnz Conference? (Face 2 Face, followed online or didn’t)</strong></div>
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<li>Face 2 face - no other option for me really!</li>
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<strong>2. How many others attended from your school or organisation?</strong></div>
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<li>6 other fantastic people from my school attended, we have a supportive senior leadership team</li>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">3.How many #Edchatnz challenges did you complete?</strong></div>
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<li>7</li>
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<strong>4. Who are 3 people that you connected with and what did you learn from them?</strong></div>
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<li>Red Nicholson (@rednz) - I learned that there are tweeps out there who are as passionate about transformational education as me but have far less freedom than I do. I think I take that for granted too often, I have neve been told I couldn't try something with me class. Makes me want to go on a break-out / intervention mission</li>
<li>Catherine Delahunty (@greencatherine) - I love how passionate she was about what we do, and so completely admire her for being the only politician on stage without notes.</li>
<li>Danielle Myburgh (@missDtheTeacher) - I can't say enough about this lady! Be a lone nut, have an idea, never give up, surround yourself with positive people and you will achieve something far beyond your imagining but everything you dared hoped for deep down inside. I loved watching her wonder around for 2 days with a dazed look in her eyes thinking "wow, we did it"</li>
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<strong>5. What session are you gutted that you missed?</strong></div>
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<li>Both Matt Nicholls because I think that filming yourslf teaching is such a brave thing to do, and I think I would have been inspire to try it, and Steve Burgh's (from NZQA) because as an organisation they are far more enabling than we give them credit for and I think it's about time we stopped using assessment as an excuse not to be better and try new things.</li>
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<strong>6. Who is one person that you would like to have taken to Edchatnz and what key thing would they have learned?</strong></div>
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<li>My principal. I think she wants to see transformative change in teaching and learning in our school, but is sometimes held back by a fear of how that might happen, or how to get it started, and a fear of how our community might respond - because when it comes down to it the current favourite measure of success is achievement data and ours looks great, so why change?</li>
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<strong>7. Is there a person you didn’t get to meet/chat with (F2F/online) that you wished you had? Why?</strong></div>
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<li>Michelle Dickinseo (nanogirl) because I was a bit star struck when I talked to her, so didn't really say anything and I missed her session because I needed to be elsewhere.</li>
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<strong>8. What is the next book you are going to read and why?</strong></div>
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<li><em>Key Competencies for the Future </em>from NZCER because I think it will help me with my movement in our school away from such content driven learning area specific subjects</li>
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<strong>9. What is one thing you plan to do to continue the Education Revolution you learnt about at #EdchatNZ?</strong></div>
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<li>Try to hook up with a different subject teacher and teach in the same theme in an NCEA course</li>
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<strong>10. Will you take a risk and hand your students a blank canvas?</strong></div>
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<li>Not yet, I think we will paint the canvas together.</li>
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<strong>Who do will I tag with this meme:</strong><br />
<strong>@44trees4me Bryce Clapham</strong><br />
<strong>@mrsCNZ44 Michelle Clapham</strong><br />
<strong>@kaiako_na Michaela Pinkerton</strong><br />
<strong>@belldogc Chris Bell</strong><br />
<strong>@josshale Jocelyn Hale<br /></strong><br />
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mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-56905287311806754492014-06-17T00:36:00.004-07:002014-06-17T02:01:10.384-07:00When real is too real for someIn April blogged my excitement at relinquishing control of learning, of giving them some agency, and some choice. <a href="http://learningonpurpose.blogspot.co.nz/2014/04/making-it-real-relinquishing-control.html" target="_blank">http://learningonpurpose.blogspot.co.nz/2014/04/making-it-real-relinquishing-control.html</a><br />
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I can't remember the last time I had students so engaged and so invested in their learning. Unfortunately, they were not being assessed on commitment, investment and effort. Had they been, it would have been Achieved with Excellence for all. Such is the beast, they were being assessed against a standard. Some did not meet the standard to the level at which they expected. I also can't remember that last time I had this emotional a response to results. I can't help wondering if the intense response was influenced by the degree to which they invested themselves into the project.<br />
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In an effort to give some perspective, we discussed what they learned that was outside the standard. What skills and competencies did they gain working for 10 weeks on an independent investigative project. Learning from my experience of meltdowns in class, a colleague led her lesson with this, before returning grades. Students were asked to reflect on 3 things that the learned through the process, even if it was as simple as "I don't want to be a research scientist". Hindsight is 20:20, if only I could go back. We also discussed the 'meaning' of these grades, in the greater scheme. Whilst we should always give of our best, what ill these grades mean in 6 months, 12 months time, as long as they will get us to where we need to get next. <br />
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The other thing that worries about this assessment is how it does not completely reflect real life in science. It is the closest we get, but in a PhD dissertation, students receive feedback on, and reflect on, their papers before final submission. My students had one shot at hitting the mark, and if they didn't, well..... Does this make a case for portfolio assessment?<br />
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Lastly, as I reflect on my students' resilience, I notice a post from another colleague who touches on the subject far more elegantly than me, so I will leave to her <a href="http://techieangel.blogspot.co.nz/2014/06/how-do-we-nurture-resilience-in-our.html" target="_blank">http://techieangel.blogspot.co.nz/2014/06/how-do-we-nurture-resilience-in-our.html</a><br />
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<br />mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-57862415471229278782014-05-15T17:01:00.002-07:002014-05-15T17:01:22.258-07:00#hackyrclass2 - SOLO in actionThis week saw my Level 1 students put their SOLO work in to action. I started off by giving them a SOLO grid of learning activities that match the SOLO learning outcomes. My hope is that they will start to find and share learning activities themselves when they become more familiar with the taxonomy.<br />
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We talked about using the unit plan to decide where they were in their learning, what the did and didn't understand. They then self-selected activities to consolidate their understanding, and then challenge themselves to a higher level.<br />
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Building DNA with lollies proved to be a popular activity choice (go figure!). How they shared their justification of lolly choice and manipulation was up to them. One group chose a static image:<br />
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Another group use iLapse on an iPad to film the building and then replication of DNA</div>
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When I asked this group to justify their process and link it to the actual biology process, so working in the extended abstract, this is what they wrote:</div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-c19b23a5-024e-734f-007c-b009f4328ba0"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>We used green wine gums to represent the original phosphate. we choose the wine gum as the phosphate as it had a circular shape which best represented the the actual shape of the phosphate molecule. The pineapple lumps were chosen as the sugars because they were the best lolly to cut up and show the antiparallel structure of the DNA. We cut each pineapple lump an arrow at one end so that one strand of DNA could have the arrow facing upwards and the other strand could have it facing downwards. We then chose the starbursts to represent the bases as there were four colours meaning that we could use each colour to represent a different base, pink was C and was paired with the red starburst which was G. The purple one was A and the blue starburst was T. Using the different colours to symbolise the bases was the easiest way to show the base pairing rule. We started off by making the first base pair. we put a ‘phosphate’ on the paper and then connected it with a ‘sugar’ with the arrow facing upwards. the arrow of the ‘sugar’ symbolises the top of the sugar. We then joined a ‘C’ base to now connected sugar phosphate. To complete the base pair. we then joined a ‘G’ base to the ‘C’ base and a ‘sugar’ to the other side with the arrow facing downwards. we then joined another ‘phosphate’ to the top of the ‘sugar’ to complete the first base pair. We repeated this until we had a seven base pair section of lolly DNA which had a mixture of red and pink starbursts and blue and purple starbursts, showing that the DNA had a mixture of both base pairs. Before the strands started to split, we had an exact amount of the new ‘sugar’, ‘phosphate’ and ‘base pair’ ready to form the new strand the new strand. We did this because for a short time in the nucleus there are free nucleotides ready to form the new strand of DNA. We then started to split the two strands of DNA from the bottom up to demonstrate the first steps of DNA replication. We split the old molecule of DNA into two strands as the splitting process is semi conservative, meaning it saves the old strands so its easier for the new strands to form and it uses less energy. To represent the new strands of DNA which is being formed, we used a yellow wine gum as the new phosphate. The easily shows the old and new strands of DNA formed in DNA replication. While splitting the base pairs, we added a new ‘sugar’, a new ‘phosphate’ and a new ‘base’ to form a new base pair which is complementary DNA. We continued this until we had two identical and complete molecules of DNA made up of one old strand and one new strand. The two molecules formed have to be identical to ensure that the cells have the information to complete the same life functions as its parent cell.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have never had students at this level be able to articulate their understanding so clearly, and I think it comes down to them being engaged with the activity, owning their learning, working collaboratively, understanding where they are in the process and being challenged to justify what and how they've learned, all in a safe and supportive environment.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you for the #hackyrclass challenge Claire, and for championing the movement Steve. While I am getting so much from this, my students are the ultimate beneficiaries and for that I am truly grateful.</span></span></div>
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<br />mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-41001241524629426602014-05-06T19:22:00.005-07:002014-05-07T02:07:15.441-07:00First #hackyrclass for Term 2<div>
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My first class hack for this project is using SOLO taxonomy to co-construct a genetics unit with my Level 1 Biology class. We began by identifying what we know, what we want to know, and what we need to know. <br />
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I then introduced SOLO to the class as a framework for differentiated and personalised learning. We have used this framework to structure and articulate differentiated learning outcomes. </div>
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A question I get asked often as a teacher, is one that I find very challenging to answer - "What do I need to do to get Excellence" The anti-establishment part of me rebels at the question - why should the grade matter? Love the learning and learn it well! Bless most of my students though, when they ask this question, it's not just because they are only interested in results, they do love their learning, but in the end, they have goals for tertiary study and the competitive courses and universities want strong academic records. The SOLO taxonomy for genetics has given us the opportunity to answer this question together as a class - and to re-frame it to "How do I need to communicate my learning to get the grades I want to get" </div>
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This is what we came up with:</div>
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They are engaged, excited and asking lots of questions. They know where they are at and where they are going.</div>
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I am engaged and excited, and have lots of questions about how this is going to work. I know where we're at and have some idea of where we are going, but will keep myself open to opportunities.</div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Tahoma;">SOLO symbols courtesy of </span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Tahoma;">http://pamhook.com/</span></span></div>
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mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-72797743275247963702014-04-15T18:55:00.004-07:002014-04-18T21:40:54.979-07:00Making it Real.... Relinquishing ControlI love Level 3 Biology right now. We are doing AS91601, colloquially known as 3.1 - a standard one colleague of mine calls the only real science we do in the school. That colleague teaches another Science, and, by his own admission, is quite jealous.<br>
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The task requires students to measure the response of a plant or animal to an environment stressor. Measure - the collection of primary data, carried out through fair testing or pattern seeking.<br>
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In past years we've done this the easy way. Only 1 plant or animal, in fact in some years, the whole cohort has done the same organism, and a limited list of abiotic environmental stressors. Students went through the process mechanically, robotically, with little interest or engagement. They shared methods and results (inauthentically) and in the worst instances, fabricated the entire investigation.<br>
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This year we relinquished control. There is a vastly extended list of suggested plants and animals, and others will be considered. The options of environmental stressors are nearly endless. To my delight, our students have come up with investigation ideas that have not been done here before in the context of this investigation. They have extensively researched the organisms they are most interested. They have narrowed down the range of stressors that can be investigated. They are being creative with their apparatus, constructing bespoke equipment that fits their needs. They are problem solving for bias and sources of error.<br>
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Yesterday, I had 2 students who were trying to get the air temperature of a dish to 5*C using a water bath. The bell went, they didn't want to leave. What others would consider such a mundane task they saw as a challenge, and in context had meaning and relevance. They were engaged. We have had many of these moments in the past 2 weeks.<br>
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It is wonderful to me, and terrifying at the same time. I don't know if their experiments will work. I can't guarantee that they will get a trend in their data. Lack of trend is still valid, but as science teachers we tend to lean towards investigations with will give a clear trend. It's easier to explain. But to hell with easy!<br>
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<br>mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-69051615274076996492014-03-30T23:54:00.000-07:002014-03-30T23:54:22.795-07:00That moment.... when it feels worth itI had one of those moments today, when it felt like the hard work and fighting the good fight become worth it..... when discussing PL one of my colleagues complained about learning how to use a digital tool and asked when we would get on with the pedagogical discussion - how to use the tool effectively improve outcomes for learners.<br />
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Some background.....<br />
Late 2012 a group of us 'early adopters' formed a group that would research and drive PL for our school. We had recently become BYOD and had a fabulous wireless network to back it up. Uptake was slow, students weren't bringing devices, teachers weren't expanding learning opportunities. We called ourselves BLING (Blended Learning INquiry Group). We met, we talked, we hashed out a plan.<br />
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In 2013 the academic goal for teachers was to explore and implement blended learning techniques. Blended learning, for us, was about giving students access to as many effective learning opportunities as possible. Our senior leadership team recognised the need for time and supported PL to educate and enable teachers to be able to achieve this.<br />
Time: Wednesday was compressed, students finish classes at 2:30pm, 2:45pm - 4:00pm was set aside for formal or discretionary PL. School singing practice, held each Tuesday for 35 minutes was initially staffed by SLT (and then on a rotation basis) so that teachers could follow-up on Wednesday session from the <span style="font-family: inherit;">previous week.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Supported PL: our aim was<span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to develop blended learning best practice, to build confident, competent users of digital tools and to encourage teachers to reflect on how they can make effective use of technology and blend it with excellent pedagogy in the classroom, to develop empowered, effective facilitators of learning. </span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each of us in the BLING group offered a blended learning module, of approximately 6 sessions in duration. Teachers self-selected the modules and completed one each term. The sense of agency teachers got from selecting their modules resulted in greater buy-in from teachers, and had them more engaged (.... and we aren't doing this for students..... why?)</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To support this blended learning focus, each learning area nominated a BLDR (Blended Learning Department Rep) who role was to facilitate good pedagogical discussions at each department meeting - rather than focus entirely on administration.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Feedback from teachers was positive throughout the year, and on reflection they wanted to continue on the same track in 2014, with more needs based, and department focused PL. Our goal for 2014 became to implement and embed blended learning techniques. This is been slightly de-railed by gaining GAFE accreditation. Term 1 PL has focused totally on how to use Google apps, with teachers learning in 'ability' groups learning the technical aspects of the software. It's not the best way to do it, but the range of skills went from can't open a second tab in Chrome to already using Sites for student portfolios. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Which brings me full circle to that brilliant moment today - when a colleague complained about PL not being focused on pedagogy.</span>mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-21030525025963206702013-09-25T02:06:00.001-07:002013-09-25T02:46:48.139-07:00Learning for learnings sake<span style="font-size: 19px;">I have had an exciting opportunity this term, as a deputy principal. I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy the role, because I am passionate about learning, and my job was the Deputy Principal of Assessment and Reporting. Learning and assessment are not mutually exclusive, but there are times as a teacher that I feel like assessment eclipses the importance of learning, for learnings sake. I feel like you value credits and grades more than learning, and what it means to your development as a person. Don't get me wrong, I know gaining a qualification is important, but it shouldn't be the only reason you turn up to school in the morning.</span><div>
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</div><div style="font-size: 19px;">So today I am going to share with you why I love the act learning, and why it should be valued by you.</div><div>
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</div><div style="font-size: 19px;">I love being an informed person, being able to have conversations with a wide variety of people, on a wide variety of topics. And when some those conversations become confusing to me, I love that I have the confidence to say "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're talking about, can you explain it to me"</div><div>
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</div><div style="font-size: 19px;">I love that I learnt how our political system works. While I find politics quite boring, I can still make an informed vote, because those people in Wellington makes choices that effect my day to day existence.</div><div>
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</div><div style="font-size: 19px;">I love that I know I can swing this bucket of water over my head without getting wet.</div><div>
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</div><div style="font-size: 19px;">I love knowing why the sky is blue, and why the grass is green - and have an appreciation of the incredible process that is photosynthesis.</div><div>
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</div><div style="font-size: 19px;">I love being able to walk in to a shoe store, and calculate a 30% discount and figure out whether that means I can buy an second pair without getting in too much trouble with my husband.</div><div>
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</div><div style="font-size: 19px;">I love having enough understanding of te reo and tikanga Maori to act appropriately and respectfully, and wish I knew more.</div><div>
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</div><div style="font-size: 19px;">I love that I can cook, and cook well.</div><div>
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</div><div style="font-size: 19px;">I love to read - I read a lot of books!</div><div>
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</div><div style="font-size: 19px;">I love watching sports and understanding why a champion team will beat a team of champions</div><div>
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</div><div style="font-size: 19px;">I would like to encourage you to love learning too. To get out of bed in the morning in the hope that you will learn something new, maybe something interesting, maybe something that you will use again. I want to encourage you to engage during class time not solely for a credit reward, but to learn for learnings sake.</div><div>
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</div><div></div>mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-12310529656883675622013-09-18T01:43:00.001-07:002013-09-18T01:43:34.150-07:00Glass ceilings in educationI am in my second year of teaching an accelerated year 10 science class. They complete 1 term of year 10 chemistry, then terms 2 and 3 on 3 Biology context L1 achievement standards, and term 4 on a geology internal. While trying to cram 2 chemistry topics into term 1, I gave the class a lot more independent home learning than I would usually do for a year 10 class. And they seemed fine. So in term 2, I thought I'd try something different with them. At the beginning of our micro-organisms unit I gave them the SLO's, my previous teaching notes, interesting newspaper articles, online resources, TED Talks etc<br />
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And then I said "You have a test in 7 weeks"....... you can imagine the tumbleweeds rolling through the room....... then the explosion of sound as reality hit. 29 teenage girls can make a lot of noise when they put their hearts into it. So I explained that I would still be there and if we needed to stop at any stage and do some traditional teaching, we could. I also explained the benefits of independent learning and tutorial type classes. The skills and dispositions they learn will see them well throughout their education. After the initial panic, they studiously got under way. They learned to decide how to curate their resources and understanding, where to search for reliable information and how access practice exam questions. One thing that particularly impressed me was their ability to plan practical experiments. They had to order gear from our technician 72 hours in advance, and follow all safety procedures (we didn't taste the ginger beer!)<br />
And then 7 weeks was up and it was time for this. Their answers blew me away. They had learned biological concepts in this topic to a far greater depth than I ever would have taught a level 1 class. And they got it, they could apply it to unfamiliar contexts.<br />
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So am I guilty of creating glass ceilings in my NCEA secondary classrooms with traditional, teacher prescribed industrial model teaching? Do I limit how much they can learn in a course by my design? When I design my courses around achievement standard explanatory notes, am I hamstringing my students from maximising their learning potential, from taking it as far as they can go? So how do I change my content rich secondary subject? Its about creating open ended learning opportunities. It happens in the early years of schooling, so students know how to do it.<br />
What I did with this unit is one extreme (it was definitely a gamble and I'm keen to see if it works again on a another group of students). It was independent learning at it's best.<br />
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Project based learning is another way to do it. We have a Year 9 inter-curricular unit here, this year’s one was launched on Monday this week. We start it off with a conference like bang - challenging video, guest speakers, goodie bags etc. The context is sustainability - the question: What Can You Do? They are challenged to find a concept of sustainability that interests them most, and complete an inquiry on it, and offer a solution. They have to consider social, environmental and economic aspects of their solution. This is the inquiry cycle we give them. They work on it every day in science and social studies, and some time in english. They need to regularly evaluate where they in the cycle and where they go next.The conclusion of the unit is a gala. They present their learning journeys and solutions at an evening event, we invite families, friends and the community to come and view, and have a bit of judging, just to add a competitive element.<br />
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Problem based learning is how I structured one of my L2 internals. Again, left it very open ended in terms of the details they needed to cover, just started with the problem that plants living in extreme habitat have different issues with balancing water. What do they do? Present it in any way you want. Again, they went above and beyond the 'requirements' of the achievement standard and I was impressed with the extent of their learning when left to their own devices.<br />
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So my challenge to myself is to give my students opportunities, resources and confidence to break through my teacher imposed glass ceilings.mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-29113862581966854802013-06-24T01:28:00.006-07:002013-06-24T01:28:57.530-07:00Musings on leadership<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A unique opportunity has come my way, I am going to be acting deputy principal of my school for a term. A unique opportunity in that not many have the chance to 'taster' a role like this, not many schools will let a senior leader escape for a term!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I could settle into my (temporary) predecessors shoes, and do what she does, and just hold the position in place for nine weeks, for her to walk back in to and pick up where she left off. I don't want to transform her position, but I do want to add a sense of me to it. I want to be the best leader I can be, and not just a gatekeeper.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I started reading about leadership, and educational leadership, and here's what I have learnt so far: </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #444444;">Listen</span><span style="color: #666666;">. </span></i><span style="color: #666666;">The people around us have voices, values and opinions. They are as much stakeholders as we are, decisions and changes will impact them first and foremost. </span><i style="color: #666666;">"<span style="line-height: 22px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;">Employees and subordinates long to be asked for feedback and to be heard so </span><span style="line-height: 22px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;">ask how everyone’s getting on</span></i><span style="line-height: 22px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;"><i> on a regular basis. Companies ranked the ‘best places to work’ invariably have a system in place for soliciting opinions and taking action based on their findings."</i> </span><span style="line-height: 22px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;">Maya Verber</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="font-style: italic;">Have purpose and vision</b>.</span><span style="color: #666666;"> In an educational context, having a vision for maximising student potential, for developing the whole person, for offering opportunities that challenge and grow our students to be the best version of them. </span><i style="color: #666666;"> "</i></span></span><span style="line-height: 24px; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Purpose is the one thing all great leaders have in common. Great leaders have a clearly defined purpose, while average leaders just show up to work. Purpose fuels passion and work ethic. It is these characteristics that afford great leaders a competitive advantage over those who don’t understand the dynamics of this linkage."</i> Mike Myatt. Model a positive attitude moving towards the vision. <i>"While we're crossing the desert, we may be thirsty, but we sincerly believe there's an oasis on the other side. You're going to have to have a willingness to repeatedly fail if you're going to experiment. For a certain kind of person, that is a very exciting, very motivating culture" Jeff Bezos</i> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Be authentic</i></b>. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Joe Denner, president of Aliant Leadership quotes <i>"Not being true to ourselves makes us inauthentic leaders."</i> Being authentic means trusting ourselves, and in turn being trustworthy. Michael Fischer asked a group of 10th graders at <span style="line-height: 22px;">the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership conference in Rochester, N.Y. to create their vision of leadership in the 21st century. On this they said <i>"</i></span><span style="font-style: italic; line-height: 20px;">We believe that leadership starts with the individual being genuine and authentic, leading from the trenches."</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: #444444;">Differentiate leadership from management.</span></b><span style="color: #666666;"> Any DP is at risk of being bogged down with administrative tasks, and management responsibilities. Take the time to differentiate between the 2, and prioritise. Leadership is having vision, developing people, and the strategy to respond to the situation. Management is the processes and procedure, the reality that makes the vision come to pass. There is a time and place for both, and when they intersect at the right time and place, great things can happen.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #444444;">Let go.</span><span style="color: #666666;"> </span></i><span style="color: #666666;">For a self-professed control freak, this will be my biggest challenge. Taking a step back, letting others lead. Providing a safe and supportive culture in which other feel empowered to speak up, suggest change and offer opinions. </span><i style="color: #666666;">"</i></span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 24px; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Successful leaders deflect attention away from themselves and encourage others to voice their opinions. They are experts at making </span>others feel safe to speak-up<span style="line-height: 24px; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"> and confidently share their perspectives and points of view. They use their </span>executive presence<span style="line-height: 24px; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"> to create an approachable environment</span></i><span style="border: 0px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 2;"><i><b>.</b>"</i> </span><span style="border: 0px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 2;">Glenn Llopis</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813083852057918862.post-44553624827304771172013-06-12T02:43:00.000-07:002013-06-16T02:33:56.315-07:00It begins....<div style="text-align: left;">
I facilitated a professional learning session today with a group of 10 colleagues. It is an eclectic group including a senior leader, middle managers, run of the mill teachers and one who received her full registration last week. The session was the first in a module rotation I am offering, within the professional development framework of the school on blended learning, showcasing a smorgasbord of digital tools to support good pedagogy. I wanted us to begin by thinking about why we do what we do, from the institutional level, down to individual lessons. I don't want them using the digital tools I am presenting them with for the sake of using them. </div>
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I started with Simon Sinek's "The Golden Circle" Clip</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: nowrap;">He beautifully describes why having purpose, knowing our purpose and communicating our purpose, is </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: nowrap;">the best way to engage our learners.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: nowrap;">So I posed the question "Why do we do what we do?" I was greeted with silence, then a quiet "was that </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: nowrap;">a rhetorical question?" </span><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: nowrap;">When conversation did start, it was worth the wait. One colleague offered the </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: nowrap;">schools </span><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: nowrap;">newest rendition of our Vision Statement: </span></div>
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<i style="white-space: nowrap;">"Preparing confident, resourceful and resilient young women to make a positive difference in </i></div>
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<i style="white-space: nowrap;">their </i><i style="white-space: nowrap;">world"</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: nowrap;">I can't really argue with that. Another offered that she was passionate about the language and culture that </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: nowrap;">she taught, and wanted to </span><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: nowrap;">share that with as many young people as she could.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: nowrap;">Conversation continued along the lines of giving young people positive experiences of the curriculum areas </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: nowrap;">we </span><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: nowrap;">ourselves love and value. </span><span style="white-space: nowrap;">I myself want to send students in to the world as informed citizens, capable of </span></div>
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<span style="white-space: nowrap;">accessing </span><span style="white-space: nowrap;">and processing information, with the capacity to </span><span style="white-space: nowrap;">make purposeful and justified decisions. On </span></div>
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<span style="white-space: nowrap;">reflection, there </span><span style="white-space: nowrap;">was very little conversation around skills, dispositions and </span><span style="white-space: nowrap;">competencies. </span></div>
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<span style="white-space: nowrap;">So if this is the <i>why </i>- do we sell our product to our students this way? Do we plan our programmes</span></div>
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<span style="white-space: nowrap;">with our vision, our <i>why,</i> in mind? Are we facilitating learning on purpose?</span></div>
mrsmoorenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00756958954793199221noreply@blogger.com0