Collaborative Maths Planning

In response to the reflections and feedback of one of my team members, we are collaboratively picking apart the maths curriculum to create a long-term plan that works for us, and that illustrates the learning outcomes across Level 1 and Level 2 of the NZ Curriculum. 

As a leader I see growing the capital of my team as important. However the 'how' to do this can at times seem difficult when everyone is at different stages of their teaching journeys and everone has diffrent levels of understanding of the curriculum. Noticing areas that need my attention as a leader is the first step. 

Stefan wrote an amazing, honest reflection about the hugeness of the maths curriculum and how difficult it was to know what and how to teach it, covering all aspects. At a PLC course he was shown diffrent schools' long-term plans and compared them to our long-term plan... honestly pointing out that what we were using was not effective, especially for the beginning teachers within our team. 

So.... we are taking our school LTP, taking the parts that we need to and as a team creating a plan that will work for us. 

Today we started with just one aspect, probability.

We looked at the Achievement Objectives from the Curriculm, the Elaborations, NZ maths plans, thought about our own understandings and broke down the specifics of teaching probability to our junior students. Doing this collaboratively over a google meet meant we were challenging each other, questioning each other and coming to a shared understanding. 

By the end of the session our brains hurt but the outcome was amazing. We all know what we will be teaching at each level, the shared language we will use and how to scafold learning to meet our students needs across the junior school. 

Yay for collaboration, and a fabulous team.... so much more powerful than if one person was to write the longterm plan and give it to the team to follow as we have done in the past!

COL- Teaching as Inquiry New Learning From Jannie Van Hees

Hypothesis 2: Developing oral language through short high-interest topics and real-life experiences, with a focus on intensive oral language acquisition, will create an environment of language in abundance.

Our Junior Team has been fortunate enough to enlist the help of Dr Jannie van Hees to help us develop an effective intensive oral language programme throughout our Junior School. 

Our Goal: For our children to have a large vocabulary and to be able to express their ideas in detail fluently.

Jannie has delivered both an initial theory session and workshop to train teachers and teacher-aides to conduct a hands-on language experience session which will become the basis for a three-day oral language intensive programme. The programme is designed to be used in small groups of 6-8 children.

Key Points from Dr Jannie van Hees Sessions which we will implement within our oral language programme:

• Tell the children why we are doing this and what it's about. Create a culture of talking in the classroom so that children understand that in our classroom we use lots of words.

Example:

“Our brain needs to be used, your voice and brain need to talk with each other - In our safe place, we push ourselves to talk because talking is your job. We need to push ourselves to use our brain and talk and to value that of others." -Jannie

"You have a clever brain. You need to think and think but there is something else you need to do and that's talking." - Jannie

• Give the meaning of new vocabulary.

Example:

"You are gardeners. Gardeners are people that grow and care for plants."

• Repetition! Students repeat new phrases and vocabulary multiple times over multiple days. This is the uptake. They need to hear it multiple times and use it multiple times for uptake to happen. Students are doing something with the new vocabulary pushing them to extend their language. Repetition and recycling of new words and phrases pushing them to the edge using complex language that they don't hear at home.

• Do it and say it. Children use new phrases and language in a hands-on context. Foster and encourage self-talk. Self-talk is a safe place to try out the language.

Example: 

The children put on each other's gardening aprons to get ready to do gardening explaining what they are doing as they are doing it. The teacher models "Here is your apron. I'm going to put it over your head. I'm going to flatten out the front and tie it at the back" The children then copy the teacher 'doing it and say it' to their partner. The teacher insists that they talk as they do it.

• Insist on connected speech. Many of our students don't use connected speech. They don't have the word groups (also illustrated through our work with PELP), students are used to using cryptic talk. Supporting them to use connected speech through gifting, modelling then insisting they use complete sentences is really important. They are used to using a few words then letting us complete their sentence. If we don't insist on them using connected speech they will continue to get away with broken speech patterns. This may feel extremely uncomfortable for the student and the teacher as it doesn't feel natural. 

Example: 

Teacher models: We need the...(bean seed)...to put in the ...(soil)...so the seed can grow into a ...(little bean plant).

Students: Each student has a turn in saying the sentence. They repeat it with help until they are able to say it fluently.

• No questions from the teacher, no hands up. 

Example: 

Students choose equipment to use for planting seeds.

Teacher: "We are all going to pick something and say what it is and say why it is important."

Teacher models: "I'm going to pick a pair of scissors because we may need to cut something."

"We are going to give it a go and if you don't have the words we will help each other."

"Ben you go first."

How and why will this changed practice impact the specific learning outcome?

It is believed that this intervention will give our students the vocabulary and sentence structures that will allow them to express their ideas in detail fluently. We hope that this will transfer into reading and written language.  

What is different from what we were doing before?

Personally, although I have always tried to explain the meaning of new vocabulary and given them hands-on activities to connect new language to, I have not insisted on them using connected speech. I have modelled how complete sentences would sound but not insisted that they repeat it back or use it multiple times. As a teacher you are always in a rush to move on, slowing it down and taking the time to get students to talk in complex sentences is going to mean letting go of the rushing. Finishing students sentences or accepting broken speech is also something I need to let go of and accept that it is going to feel uncomfortable 'discomforting' the students through pushing them to extend their language instead of jumping in to save them. 

Tasks are going to have to be thought out ahead of time and well planned. Instead of giving children a hands-on activity to explore away from the teacher, with the notion that students will share their ideas, knowledge and vocab with each other, activities will need to be done with a teacher and expected vocabulary and prepositional noun groups will have to be anticipated, planned for and modelled. This is far more teacher-directed than the 'play-based learning' approach I have used in the passed.

How will we monitor the effects of our changed practice?

Each teacher will take notes anecdotally on the oral language uptake of their students. The combi list and ELLP forms will be a way of recording progress made by students and teachers will reflect on their own teaching of this programme in terms of what is working and what needs tweaking. These aspects will be shared at team meetings.

The Beginning of Te Waipuna ō Tamaki

Te Waipuna ō Tamaki

As a teacher that has experienced working in both single cell classrooms and shared learning spaces, and conducting research on working within newly opened ILEs, I can acknowledge both the affordances and challenges of both learning environments for teachers and students.

It is with an open mind and awareness of the need to adapt our practice to meet the needs of our learners, that my wonderful colleague Laadan Jalili and I negotiate our way in our exciting new shared learning space Te Waipuna ō Tamaki.

Honesty and a fail fast approach have already begun to guide us through our first term as we quickly find out what works and what doesn't, changing things as we go.

This blog is a space to share the journey with others interested in or working within a shared space. It is not a 'how to' as anyone working within a shared space will now that what may work for one set of learners and teachers may very well not work for another. But it may provide ideas that can be adapted or a sharing of experiences others can relate to or offer advice on.

So far this is what has worked for us establishing our shared learning space:

• Acknowledgement of each other's strengths, allowing each other to take the lead in these areas whether it be in the organisation of resources, the teaching of a specific area of the curriculum, or sharing of ideas.
• The flexibility of changing what isn't working. This has been on a near daily basis in the form of groupings of students, routines that haven't worked or needed adapting, and timetabling. 
• Learning from each other as we watch each other teach.
• Developing a respectful and honest working relationship.
• Constant discussions regarding students needs and learning.

Current challenges we are facing are:

• Students attempting and succeeding in gaining attention from each other through inappropriate behaviour within a larger audience. This can quickly escalate and management of behaviour takes teaching time away from other students. To manage this we have decided to separate the students into two mixed level groups for the afternoon which is when this behaviour is mostly happening, give student choice through Daily Five to motivate them to stay on task and focus on praising these students when they are doing the right thing giving attention to positive behaviour.
• Everything on mass including paperwork. We need to ensure the workload is spread evenly and that we support each other so we don't feel overloaded.

Any advice and ideas would be appreciated.