Online Distance Learning

Our online distance learning is happening because of COVID-19. My class were already set up with this because we use a class site to access our learning anyway. Over the past two days I have been troubleshooting for the students as they encountered problems. Some couldn't remember how to put their Canva creations onto their blogs, others couldn't remember how to put their Screencastify on. So I emailed Catalina, a student in my class, asking her to create some tutuorials for her class mates to refer to. She has done an excellent job and these are now on our class site for everyone to see.
(There is also another way which Cheryl Torrie, my Manaiakalani mentor and saviour, is going to put on our class site for them to use.)

Cybersmart PD - Cheryl Torrie

It was actually quite surreal attending this PD as we all knew in a couple of hours our school would be shutting down for lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. For that reason, it was hard to stay focused. Cheryl sidetracked and gave us tips for our class sites and ideas to use during remote learning. 
Basically:

• keep it simple for the students. 
• use Screencastifies of yourself as the students will want to see you.
• Screencastifies will help explain the learning and gives it a personal touch. 
• Screencastifies  will also provide that rewindable learning which is so important for students. 

Here's some sites she told us to look at:
Year 3/4 The Block

Year 5/6 Team 4

I am also going to use daily slides. One tip is to change the background each day so students can differentiate the days. 
Lots to do over the holidays!

Building Student Agency Through AFL - Allan Powell from Evaluation Associates

We began with a provocation from Vivienne Robinson: 
“The culture of an organisation/school/classroom is the sum of every conversation and interaction that happens within it.” What do we hope it would be? 
I had someone observe me last year and they made the comment, "It's like your class are all brothers and sisters. They talk to each other like that and bicker like that!" I took this as a compliment! I liked the idea of my class being like a family. I call them my Room 1 whānau. As a staff we hoped the culture would be children self-managing, positive, fun, learning focussed, supportive, and faith-based.

Next question from Allan: "What do great learners do in this classroom?"
Lots of discussion followed. We thought they took risks, were able to analyse and reflect on their learning to form their next steps, knew where to access 'next step' options and were able to articulate their learning. Through this PD, we learnt it's also a whole lot more! 

We then reviewed the 4th February staff meeting:
Why is this professional learning worthwhile to engage in?   A child who has agency and self direction will achieve better - go to higher heights.  Showed the importance of the learning and steps being clear - how to achieve success.  Put us in the learners seat.  Looked at the variables that contribute to effective learning - working in shared partnership with the students.

A continuum from passive learners to active learners.

A theory for improvement. 
Research found studnets improves when:

• They are active in their learning 
• Motivated to learn
• Manage the amount of new information at any one time
• Practice
• Seek descriptive feedback

Logic for improvement: 

• Student achievement accelerated through effective/improved
• Student learning achieved through effective/improved
• Teacher practice
• School leadership
• PLD

What is desirable?  What is currently happening?  Devising a cunning plan!

What is desirable?  AFL Learning Capability Matrix:  This term focussing on 1.  Building learning focussed relationships and 2. Clarity about what is to be learnt.

We looked at the AFL Student Capability Matrix - the rubric for Building Learning-Focused Relationships (comparing stages 1-4)

Learning Focussed Relationships:
How teachers can relate to their students (or how students perceive the relationship):
Controlling
Caring
Activity focused
Learning focused

What is the culture of your classroom?  Do they understand the reason for being in the class?  They are there to LEARN - we want learning to flourish.  Learning will flourish if if learning is the focus.

What are the key messages you want your kids to have about learning?  What do you want students to understand about learning & how do they see themselves as learners?

• Great learners can talk about their learning with others
• Great learners know when they have achieved the learning
• Great learners can tell me when learning is too easy or too hard

Is this culture actually about learning in our class or is there a mix in of other stuff (control etc.)?


Effective feedback accelerates achievement. Research says that the number one thing that accelerates learning is when learners activate / initiate feedback.  However, they won’t know what to activate feedback on unless they are clear about what & why they are learning.  Without clarity, students can’t self assess, reflect or promote further learning.

Building learning focussed relationship requires: Students to be active and committed participants in creating and maintaining the classroom environment that best promotes learning and meets their learning needs. Students hold the teacher to account for his/her responsibilities in this relationship. The classroom is focussed on learning and students can describe their contribution to the learning process. Greater ownership of the lesson by students as responsibility shifts from teacher to student for learning. Content, process and choice of learning are experienced as co-constructed. Students are independent learners who have a committment to evaluating and adjusting their learning to meet their needs in partnership with the teacher. Students are able to lead conversations about their learning with their parents and describe their learning process.

Maths PD #2 & #3 - Bruce Moody

Senior Syndicate Meeting - Making Sense of Place Value
In Year 2 students need to grasp place value and basic facts to 10. This is our start place.
Be careful - teaching using the number house doesn’t work - if a child already understands place value this will make sense but not before this learning has occurred. AVOID PLACE VALUE HOUSES!

Never tell a child that a number 32 is a 3 and a 2. It's always 30 and 2. If a child says it’s a 3 instead of 30 - read that number again, read it again pointing slowly at the tens digit. "What does that it say?" "What does this bit say?" Make the students say 30 and 2,

There is 50 in 54, 57, 59 etc.

When using bigger numbers e.g. 91, be careful with your word problem If you use 91 students, we see 91 individual people. If you use $91 dollars, then we imagine nine $10 notes and one $1. The students automatically imagine the groups.

When students are first learning something we need to give them structure (which is why using money is good) but once they have the learning then we can use other contexts e.g. 53 children are on the bus and 27 get off. How many are still on the bus. Once students are fluent in their learning, they can now generalise and impose the structure themselves.

Introductory questions need to link to the equipment/structure of the numbers e.g. packets of biscuits (10 in a pack) or a packet of lollies (10 in a pack) The second step -is to push without the scaffolds e.g children on a bus question mentioned above.

For students struggling to order simple 3 digit numbers - go back to can you make 86? Telling the teacher what to get to make a number (if they say an 8 and a 6 say no that’s 14, I need 80 and 6). Explore the 2 digit place value understanding and then they can transfer this to 3 digits quite easily.

For students struggling with 35+8: Use models that would work - 10s frames or packets of biscuits "There are 10 in each pack - how many have I got here? I have 8 more biscuits (counters). What should I do?" They will tell you to fill up the 10s frame/packet - 5. "How many left?" 3. So my answer is 43. When you are teaching something for the first time go back to the place value structure.

Practice models and teaching models:

10s frames as the first choice as they are visible. Next use beads in packets of 10 (they are hidden). "This one is full, this one is full, this one is full this one only has 5 in it. I pull out 8 jellybeans what should I do?" Students can still see 5 more drops into the container. "How many are in my hand?" Use believable examples e.g. iceblocks in a freezer. I have 36 and I get 8 more - tell your buddy what happens. Self-directed at this point Next they need mileage - keep practising it with them for days - they need to do them quickly and without help (this is called 'fluencey') Write 38+ (students need to know straight away they are going to need 2 to make the next group). If you get students to think there is a pattern there they will find it. "what happens if the number was 36 what would I need? As scaffolding goes down - variation goes up turning :I can do it" to" I am fluent."

Once students know th system and are getting fast use the claim game e.g. using a deck of cards, each player flips over a card, every time the cards add up to a multiple of 5 say "Claim" and pick up the pile. Don't tell the students the rules - see if they can work it out by themselves as you play. The idea of the game is to add really quickly.

Level 3 students need to read large numbers. Use a sheet of A4 paper - simple works best.  Fold a piece of paper in three pieces - write three numbers - unfold the paper and read it as one number 28,451,862 - in the gaps we say millions, thousands, etc.

Subtraction: 

When they get to triple numbers use the algorithm - before this use the maths.

Then we can investigate different strategies: algorithms, reversibility, rounding.

For algorithms use a story like:

"I went to an ATM machine. It only had 100 bills and 10 bills - it was an AI one and it had attitude big time.

On Monday (because it’s a smart ATM, I didn’t have to use a card). It asked me what I needed (Level 1 place value), I said I wanted $420. It gave me:

4 hundreds

2 tens 

On Tuesday - I went again and said I wanted $420. The ATM machine said to me, "If you can tell me another way I can give you $420, I'll give you $420. (Level 2 place value)

42 ten dollar notes 

On Wednesday I went again and said I wanted $420 and it said, "Ok but I won’t give it to you like Monday or like Tuesday." What did it give me? 

3 hundred

12 tens 

Repeating this process - swap 100 to 10 10s. 

You want them to get to the 12 tens and 3 hundred etc

$510 -  3 ways of making this number. Once all the students can verbalise this then we can do this subtraction problem. 

I have $510 but I owe … $140 and she wants a 100 dollar note and 4 tens. What would I need from the ATM machine …

4 hundred 11 tens 

 4 11 0

-1   4 0

3 7 0 

This is where we can show what the algorithm is showing us - this is where we can show the faster way of writing it. 

Without this lesson they do not understand why we do this or why it works - they trust themselves first!

90/10 Rule - Teaching children top end of level 3 -

Everyone gets a 2 digit number: 

e.g. 47  61 38   24 79 

Tell us the number to get to 100 (90/10 Rule). 

Students say the pattern to get to 100 - 90 and 10. 

What goes with 626 to make 1000?

377 to get to 1000.

Place value is always in collections of 10  - "You are all accountants. The budget for the project is $1 million.

You have spent $329, 876. How much do you have left? You have ten seconds to answer. The boss is walking down the corridor!"

This is a fantastic bridge to decimal fractions 

9.2m - 3.615m (take the decimal up to the next whole number).

3.615 to 4 is 0.385 then add the 5.2 onto it to get 5.585m remaining.

Use this rule again and again - it is faster than an algorithm - round it up works using the 90/10 Rule.

Staff Meeting - Numeracy and Pedagogy

Acceleration and Planning:

Acceleration

Prior meeting was on planning from a big picture view and the key progressions. The planning today is the planning within and between the lessons when you have already decided what the teaching is going to be.

Acceleration - Bruce’s idea is that we don’t accelerate kids  what we are hoping to do is not need it! That we don’t have any kids not keeping up. Long term we don't want to have remedial programmes in maths. If you can name the children who are struggling in maths or groups or cohorts who are struggling then we do something about it. We are looking at saying that we are going to move the vast majority of kids on  - we will always have strugglers but if you can name them then we are winning!! The numbers are small if you can name them. 

The math teaching you do is for a deeper, longer lasting purpose -  our aim is that they are independent from us! 

It’s about throwing out the stuff we don’t need and doing the stuff we do need very very well.

Acceleration is the rate of learning against time - those students who need acceleration haven’t learnt very much or very quickly. They’re pretty much flat lining. What can we do to shift them??

First and most important is to identify, do the diagnostics with them. Find the starting point! 

Own that starting point! Don’t ignore where the child is - you will do them a disservice. It’s not what you taught the child it is what they have learned.

It’s about finding out the last thing that the child actually understood,  that  is then what you use to take them to the next step.

So we identify the key progressions needed for that child’s learning and it may be a Y4 student going back to doing place value at the Y2 level. AND CELEBRATE that progress! Once the children start that process then we can get some acceleration.

Acceleration happens because once the children develop the key understanding then the work they have already been exposed to throughout the year can actually begin to make sense and they can, most times, learn the rest quite quickly.

To get acceleration you have to be prepared to take the step back in order to take the step forward. You have to keep trying to get the children to make the connections faster so the learning is accelerated.

Year 1’s we are teaching, those kids who are on track we keep on track and keep on pushing ensuring that we are covering the curriculum, those who are behind we FIND THEIR STARTING POINT

One of the things will kill acceleration is if what we are teaching is not what we are assessing! Assessment must mirror the learning that has occured. Assessment should also be grounded in what the curriculum identifies what the students should be learning.

Don’t undermine student confidence by not accessing the student’s learning!

Assessment should be an affirming process for our students not a discriminatory process.

Planning

Long term we want to apply the same principles wherever you are teaching. There are a number of simple repeatable things we do that work.

You already know your starting point.

Piaget’s disequilibrium model - Piaget described learning in a line. Learning involves stress but not to the point of distress. The teacher induces stress by increasing the demand. This is normal. If you know what the child knows then you can reaffirm with the child that they know how to do this. You make the situation more comfortable like maybe bringing out materials to aid them Now the activity becomes enjoyable. 

Need to allow learners to get things right again and again and again!! Don’t make it harder, let them feel success and know that they can get it right until they get to the point of fluency. If it always gets harder and harder students lose incentive, motivation and belief in themselves as a learner.  Let the kids get to the point where they just nail it! Practice is important - do it to an effective depth!! We do have time to get them to fluency! If we recognise and know what is necessary, we remove excess useless teaching and this frees up time.

We know what our students ZPD (Vygotsky) is then we know they  will be able to learn! If the teacher is confident than that is transferred to the students - “Oh she thinks I can do this ergo I think I can do this”.

Didactical or teaching purpose - if your math lesson is light then your students will do better. Having a laugh is actually helpful, it de-stresses and aids rational thinking.

Barely sufficient scaffolding - is about supplying only just enough help and no more!!!

Teacher lust - the almost irrepressible urge to go and help someone! We don’t shut up and we don’t stop helping. We need to know and recognise when our help is needed and when it is not. We can’t develop independent learners if we have this!

The help we supply to children over time impacts their independent level of work. We transfer the ownership of the math problem from the teacher over to the student so that they are doing the maths and NOT YOU!!  Give them more than one at a time -  allow them the freedom to go ahead and get on with it. Put up multiple problems for them to do. Check by asking if they all have the same answer - you don’t have to mark it. You only come in when the answer is NOT the same and you can go in and help figure out how they solved it. 

Children should be allowed to work together and figure it out together, talking and trying out their ideas. Teachers need to ensure that they provide enough time for the students to work together, wait before providing help - give them sufficient time.  When they start becoming fluent let them just get on with it. Plan to differentiate within your lesson - let some with fluency just get on with it and teacher helps those who are still hesitant.

Robert Sieglar - real children don’t learn in stages, there are ups and downs, gentle rises and steep inclines. There are no clear cut demarcations on how children learn.  Children start off with a particular strategy they use all the time as they know it. The teacher introduces a new way of doing it ( a new strategy). The children then enter a new zone where they can choose to do it the new one or to do it the old way.  We only find that an issue if we have the mistaken belief of the children learning in stages. What  we have done is allow them a choice which they use. Eventually they will change  - the teacher's role is to help them make the choice. Effective, logical and efficient will be the three drivers of change. If the students recognise the new way of things only if these three factors are present! We deliberately must attend to these three drivers of change. Itf the students do not believe in what you're saying then they will not tune into the new learning - they will do it with you on the mat but independently will turn back to the prior strategies.

MATHS IS ABOUT MAKING THINGS EASIER FOR CHILDREN NOT HARDER. MATHS TURNS HARDER THINGS INTO EASIER ONES.

Cybersmart PD - Cheryl Torrie

I spent a couple of hours with Cheryl Torrie today sorting out my Tuhi Mai Tuhi Atu organistaion for my students. (I am finding it difficult to remember everything Cheryl taught me last year so am often requesting help.)
We are trying to make it easy and simple for the students to follow.  Everything they need is now on our class site. 

I also wanted to introduce some accountability with the students blogging and commenting. At this satge, I have some expert and keen bloggers and others who are struggling to put up one post a week. We have now put a Google Sheet on the class site for the students to link each blog post each week. This will make it much easier for me to manage rather than using Hapara. I will still use Hapara to see how far the students are with their blog e.g. are they still in edit mode. I will also experiment with copying this link onto the Reading and Writing pages as well to see if this helps - or am I spoon feeding them?
We also added some useful tips for the students on our Cybersmart page.

It is also useful for me as I had forgotten the Control X and Control L function (big sigh).