Remote learning Journey

Week 1
Planning was rather complicated and some subjects not engaging
I had the idea to create a Celebration slide for students to see what others are doing as well as a model/ semi exemplar for those students who hadn't done much or any mahi to have some sense of direction of what others were doing.
Celebration of the Learning Week 1

Week 2/3 

Introducing Maths by the maths teacher and students to join their Math Google Classroom

Screencastify to connect for Maths first so we are all consistent then when teachers are happy with the tool, we are to use it for all slides
Celebration of the Learning Week 2
Parent feedback letter sent individually for their  comments put into a Google Sheet to feedforward on.

Thank you very much for supporting our online learning programme. We would appreciate any feedback you might like to give us in regards to whether there is too much or too little, or if any more support is needed. Please forward any feedback by emailing me.

Again, thank you for your continued support,

Nga mihi

Megan Akkerman

Google Sheet with parent responses

A lot of time is spent problem solving and what we think is our next step is to have a Google Meet with our students next week to connect as that seems to be what is missing.
INtroduce Sunshine books

Sunshine books New resource. I have set up your passwords and have uploaded the user manual. You may wish to use
this for some of your students. 

Week 4 adaptions to home  learning after listening to parent feedback it became obvious that this is what is missing
Google Meet for connecting with students. The safe way so they can't get into Meet earlier than the time set up by the teacher

The following link is a good video. I think! I will be trialling it

https://youtu.be/CVCazmHBfac

Here's how to create a Google Meet with restrictions so that the students can't join the meeting early or try to join after the teacher has left.

The meeting must be created via the Google Meet site and using the 'nickname' function (not through calendar).

Follow these steps:

1. Share the meeting details with the students via Google Classroom or email e.g. You have been invited to a meeting on Monday 4 May at 9am with Mr Mills. You will need to enter the nickname 'Millsmeeting' in the box.
2. When you are ready to start your meeting, go to Google Meet and just enter your chosen nickname into the box (see below) and the meeting will start. You will be the host and the students cannot join until you have joined.
3. When the meeting has finished, just make sure everyone has left before you leave. 
4. It is recommended to use the same nickname for every meeting you host just for convenience e.g. AkkermanYear5. Every time the teacher joins a meeting, it generates a new hyperlink so students can't join without permission (even though they know the nickname).

I hope this is useful. Let me know if you have any issues. It's a great function because it only works with users who are in our school Google account e.g. students and teachers. I am happy to create a generic instruction message for the students that you could share with them for next Monday's meetings.

Week 4/5 Hattie Distant Learning

Some takeaways for me and things to consider and adapt and also encouraging as we are making changes as we go through this journey which adhere to the advise given by Hattie.

Holidays for recharging the batteries

On parenting

Help parents see their role as creating routines for learning and allowing their children to not know: Tell

them that there is no point having their kids learn stuff they already know, not knowing is a sign of

readiness and excitement of learning. Create opportunities for teacher-student and student-student

interaction.

But keep in mind that there is a work balance not only for students but also for teachers. Deliver mini-

classes using social media, make them clear, and provide oodles of opportunities for feedback. Make it

skill-based and provide exciting ways to practice, and not just project-based which can (but does not

need to) lead to busy work with little learning. Worry more about subjects that parents are least likely to

be able to help with, like math and science, and encourage kids and parents to read, read, read and also

talk about their reading, so the story is important, the vocabulary is stretched, and then simultaneously

keep teaching the skills of reading to make reading pleasurable.

What it should look like content

Optimize the social interaction aspects (we do not want to be talked at, but learn with)

● Check for understanding (listen to the feedback from the students about their learning even

more when you do not have the usual cues of the classrooms

● Make sure there is a balance between the precious knowledge and the deep thinking (too often

online favors the former over the latter)

Gorgeous appreciation from a student

Hello Aroha Teachers , just wanted to Email all of you guys to say Thank You soooo much for all the hard work you have been doing to keep our learning up at home during this pandemic, all of you are amazing role models to all the kids, especially the year sixes as this is our last year, and an interesting one it has become, Thank You and keep it up, and we will catch up later in the coming weeks, MISS YOU ALL!!!

Loi

What if our children are ahead?

Interesting words to answer the worry from parents who think their children might be left behind.

A message sent by a UK Primary to their parents:

If they cancel the rest of the school year, students would miss approx 13 weeks of school. Many people are concerned about students falling behind because of this. Yes, they may fall behind when it comes to classroom education...but fall behind whom?

BUT WHAT IF ....

What if instead of falling “behind", this group of kids are ADVANCED because of this? Hear me out.

What if they have more empathy, they enjoy family connection, they can be more creative and entertain themselves, they love to read, they love to express themselves in writing.

What if they enjoy the simple things, like their own garden and sitting near a window in the quiet.

What if they notice the birds and the dates the different flowers emerge, and the calming renewal of a gentle rain shower?

What if this generation are the ones to learn to cook, organize their space, do their laundry, and keep a well run home?

What is they learn to ride a bike, play a board game, do simple crafts, learn to bake, climb a tree, play without a screen?

What if they learn to Understand the value of money, what’s important and to live with less?

What if they learn to plan shopping trips and meals at home.

What if they learn the value of eating together as a family and finding the good to share in the small delights of the everyday?

What if they learn to just be, to be more resilient, to be content ?

What if they are the ones to place great value on our teachers and educational professionals, librarians, public servants and the previously invisible essential support workers like truck drivers, grocers, logistics, and health care workers and their supporting staff, just to name a few of the millions taking care of us right now while we are sheltered in place?

What if among these children, a great leader emerges who had the benefit of a slower pace and a simpler life to truly learn what really matters in this life?

What if they are AHEAD? 

The Well in Our Being

Keeping thr Well in Our Being - Mary Ann Murphy

Ripple affect - If we keep ourselves happy it will keep others happy.

2 typesStress that drives us to achieve

Unhealthy stress, chronic: The stress n the graph is the stress that affects our wellbeing


Emotional intelligence are a set of skills WE CAN LEARN

Our primary senses enter at the base of the brain and messages from there must travel to the front region of the brain, the pre-frontal cortex before we can think rationally about our experience. However, before they enter the rational part of our brain some signals travel through a series of structures referred to as the limbic system. This is a place where emotions are most acutely experienced. Emotional intelligence requires effective communication between the rational and emotional processing areas of the brain, and a ‘broadband connection’ between and across these areas is critical for developing high emotional intelligence.

“Plasticity” is the term neurologists use to describe the brain’s ability to change. Your brain grows new connections as you learn new skills. The change is gradual, as your brain cells develop new connections to speed the efficiency of new skills acquired.

Our ability to understand and reflect on our emotions helps us to use this

information to arrive at accurate judgments and take positive, constructive action.

The ‘Psychological Prisons’ from which They Never Escaped: the role of ability grouping in reproducing social class inequalities JO BOALER

Paper about ability grouping leads to psychological prison

instead we need equitable and effective grouping polices that promote high achievement for all.

This statement in the reading: One of the most important goals of schools is to provide
stimulating environments for all children; environments in which children’s interest can be peaked and nurtured, with teachers who are ready to recognize, cultivate and develop the potential that children show at different times and in different areas. It is difficult to support a child’s development and nurture their potential if they are placed into a low group at a very early age, told that they
are achieving at lower levels than others, given less challenging and interesting work, taught by less qualified and experienced teachers, and separated from

International Perspectives on Ability Grouping

Japanese concept of group education, not individual education. Because we want everyone to improve, promote and achieve goals together, rather than individually. That’s why we want
students to help each other, to learn from each other (...), to get along and grow together – mentally, physically and intellectually.

Response to text to  how we run Aroha: Draft notes so far

Students grouped according to curriculum level. Within these groups are mixed ability groups and specific goals taught. Teachers know when students have achieved a goal and will move accordingly. We are constantly assessing and reorganising groupings. Currently we are sorting and assessing for HERO.

Mixed ability lesson's are taking place. Still students have the feeling sometimes on they are not good enough as problems progress. 

Yes it is good for students to help others and explain the thinking. This can help with large numbers

I think there needs to be a balance of both. Extending all students which also means extending the top students.

Is the online approach very much a part of this such as KHAN when students are able to move at their own pace. 

A mixture of all and a balance.

This is also where workshops are important and the students having access and knowledge of what is needed at certain levels and what this means. They can self nominate into workshops

Also from the teacher's perspective - knowing what to teach in the limited time we have etc

Discussion from Senior Leadership Team

Discussion points: 

FORUM (2002) revealed that 88% of children placed into sets or streams at age 4 remain in the same groupings until they leave school.

In Sweden ability grouping is illegal because it is known to produce inequities.

Japanese educators are bemused by the Western goal of sorting students into high and low ‘abilities’....That’s why we want students to help each other, to learn from each other (...), to get along and grow together – mentally, physically and intellectually.(teacher B) (Yiu, 2001)

There is no escaping the fact that mixed ability teaching is difficult and it requires advanced knowledge and practice of pedagogy (Boaler, 2004, 2005)

...teachers had regarded everyone as a high achiever…. Learn about equitable and effective grouping policies that promote high achievement for all and reduce rather than reproduce social inequalities.

Purpose of collaborative teaching and learning - to model and support as teachers in the classroom. Question for us as teachers - are we moving away from collaborative teaching? A good time to be reflective on our teaching practice. We must be collaborating as teachers to be growing our capabilities and supporting each other through collaborating practice. 

It is a real challenge to mixed ability groups - use workshopping more using HERO to teach to a goal rather than a level e.g. could be a fluency goal but could have children from lower and higher levels. 

Collaborative planning & teaching whether in a single cell or ILE

The WHY is easy .. we understand but what it comes back to is the HOW - keeping children motivated, settled, engaged in rich learning - come back to the Key Competencies - how are we managing that with the children. 

 A great reading to provoke our thinking around our collaborative teaching and learning, ability groupings & collaborative practice.

When teachers collaborate children and teachers benefit from each other.

As a leadership team, we need to come back to our WHY? Perhaps with a change in staff and environments we  need to come back to look at this together to grow our pedagogy / capability as to what this should look like - our aspirations.

How do we overcome the barriers to allow this collaborative practice to happen.

Bridging Playbased learning to Structured Literacy

Recorded session

Kylie Mckay - consultant assessor specialist educator

• What is Playbased learning
• Look at the research - How and Why and When
• Learning principles of structured literacy
• Consider ways we already teach areas of literacy
• Reconsider way to include structured literacy through play

Resources in Folder

Session 1

DATs from data adapting actions and beliefs

IN Nz done phonics, and balanced and structured literacy

What about playbased?

some research about all forms of teaching so this is about bridging the 2 together.

Do both and will succeed

Nathan Mc influential in playbased

3-7 year olds what do they need to learn? To read

So find out what they know

Continuum from Free play to direct instruction

Success using both have the tools available to find our what is needed. Need to bridge them both

BECAUSE the WHY we need to do this

Learning Matters support teachers to get kids 

How do we develop phonological awareness?

She has a worry when schools go to playbased solely

Book 'play misunderstood the divide between the primary classroom'

Teachers 

ALL PLAY TYPES ARE IMPORTANT IMPORTANT TO WROK ON TRANSITIONING THROUGH.PLAY WITH PURPOSE

What we do know 

Play is important 

it is fashionable

Important kids in front also learn how to read, write and spell

Structured literacy

• diagnostic - assessment
• Systematic step by sptep
• Cumulative each step, sounds to digraphs 
• Direct teaching principles

Bridging the Reading Science to the Classroom Floor

Spelling should be taught

Identify the problem we cannot wait early intervention is crucial

Important if we have playbased philosophy and spend a lot of time playing the child will go undetected if having difficulty. SO need to add structured literacy to the program.

We know it is in the family if someone in the family has difficulty learning then tis will likely to be so in the child.

Playbased helps with vocab social language.

Q asked what if they are not ready for reading. Not being ready for reading means there is a phonological awareness lacking. So assessing on school entry enables schools to know if they are ready. Also social capabilities to interact with others.

Phonological awareness has to be taught so a child is ready for reading. This can be done well through a playbased setting.

segmenting important for spelling S-t-r-i-n-g

blending important for reading.

Practice makes permanent

What we ignore we chose to accept e.g handwriting, pencil grip. Needs to be corrected at an early age. These are fundamental skills are crucial to higher order thinking are required for reading comprehension .

Needs to be a consistent approach to teaching handwriting.

So what about those students who still haven't got this at an older age? This is the spelling test we were going to introduce to our students

Assess what they know the sounds they are missing and also reversal to letters.

• This will be the starting point
• Spelling need to be able to break words into chunks. What about sight words ( research says that kids skilled in phonemic awareness are good at this, not good practise to send home words to be learned as rote like has been done in the past). 

Multisensory - crucial for reading and spelling

saying it

hear it

feel it (in your mouth)

see it

silent handwriting tasks wont do this need to say the sound and o it t the same time. This builds kinesthetics=c pathway.

sand, playdough are VEHICLES to engage

Phonological awareness matters so what are we going to do about it?

Have a look at this from another school of their literacy guidelines

Good examples of teaching vocabulary could get ideas for reading activities and maybe to include into some sort of Tic tac toe and explicit teaching??

Should we teach handwriting in schools?

Session 2 also in Notes with photos

Playbased-Learning

NZ kids going down hill in reading

Spelling assessment check what we are using

Structured literacy  teaching must occur as direct instruction gather what we need to teach through assessment

Explicit looks like 

1. I do 
2. We do
3. You do

In NZ tendency to use too many questions 

Diagnostic

Explicit

Systematic

Multi sensory seeing hearing feeling in my mouth

Word level to sentence level to text level

Build sight word automaticity. Could be an irregular or phonetic word it means the word pops

Review review review essential as some kids need to see a word up to 1500 times for automaticity

Structured literacy is a pedagogy as is Playbased-Learning learning and both can be done together 

Isolation application transference

Phonological is away form print alphabetic principle is when we take. It to print.

If kids have low comprehension maybe having trouble with phonological or alphabetic or fluency so important to find out what’s missing

Neuro diverse  learner has to learn by code this is the same for all need to learn the code such as what is in print on page not using pictures. 

Phoneme to graphemes not phonics a phonics program is a small piece of structured literacy

Alison Clarke fluency needs to happen for comprehension as it becomes automatic

Example little robot to read little need to know the le end sound 

We here the ere is a complex grapheme for a new reader swimming that is a huge word and the picture will need to be used so we have been creating the strategy of using. Pulling apart some PM readers and complex words in them 

If we taught spelling rules at the same time then could gain automaticity 

When we read a network is going on so important to teach spelling and reading together so the above text has no system it is very difficult for kids to make progress. So saying that these books aren’t levelled they are levelled on noun count. So we are not being resourced well in NZ. 

SUITABLE DECODABLE TEXTS links will be shared 

Choose texts with caution for early readers especially those that struggle 

Sunshine book samples were discussed 

Mat time great time for phonological awareness or when leaving to mtea 

Sound pack

Learning to read sound in isolation

Increasing difficulty reading how do we support the speech impediment children 

Font choice is publishers font and write the other a and g next to it.

Narrow focus for automaticity eg 5 sounds 

DED decode encode and decode back demo with sound cards

TALKING syllables phonemes graphemes digraph blends important we teach blends as individual sounds and not chunks.  

High frequency words that show up frequently in texts

Sight words- any word that is committed to memory instantly can read and spell it 

Irregular words have an irregular sound in them only 4%of words eg was want what

Orthographic

Teaching said to stop kid’s spelling it as sed. Kids can come up with their own ideas of how to remember it by heart 

Handwriting can also hold up automaticity. Not a silent task verbalise sounds as they write

Switchlearning.co.nz site for phonological awareness 

Carlas blog 

Spelling list essential not a good list.

Year 5 6 learners need to teach phonological awreness

Looking forward to spelling  is telling!

Notes from the Course Provider

Hi all 

Thanks so much for attending our recent webinar Bridging Play-based learning to Structured Literacy. Many of you have emailed either Carla or Kylie directly and have shared some awesome feedback. They both really enjoyed working with you. 

Please find attached 

• A copy of the slides from both sessions
• An audio link to the first session (apologies the video did not record for day 1) 
• https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/u8Evcbj9_T83SdXDtASDV6dwW47ofPisgCAd-fsKzUnnVHZWYQeuYOQWa-Ys9GNfraBfEJTho14wck2c?continueMode=true
• A video link to session two here https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/650rIrut_To3ToKT4QSDUKV8W9XuL6is1yYf8vNfnRyzVSRWZAWmYOEaZue-4COlvZjarG6NQAD1GxEy Password LearningMatters2020* Please note this will expire in 5 days. View on full screen for optimum viewing.
  Please respect that we are a small business working hard to make a difference. Your course fee includes your viewing only. We ask you to please not share this with others who have not paid for the use or viewing of this webinar.
• The 4 session structured literacy lesson outline in word format
• The iDeaL video insight link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW8fvkutpvk&t=82s
• The iDeaL introduction guidelines attached
• Dates for our Stage 1 iDeaL Assessment training will be loaded to our website in the coming days. 

Links to free decodables:

Free Teaching Resources - Phonic Books Free Teaching Resources Free printable reading and spelling resources, for use by parents, teachers, tutors and those who are homeschooling. It's not always easy to get children to work on their reading and spelling.  These free resources are are a … PHONICBOOKS.CO.UK

SPELD SA Phonic Books | SPELD SA SPELD(SA) Free Phonic Books use the sequence of sounds used in the Jolly Phonics early literacy program. They are available in an online flash version, a printable PDF version and a iPad and tablet friendly PDF version that allows a user to upload and use the books from any ap that can read PDFs such as Kindle and iBooks. The books are free to use amd is published with suggestions on how parents, tutors and teachers can get the most out of the book. Worksheets are also provided. Suitable for ALL people learning to read. SPELD-SA.ORG.AU

Here is a link should you wish to register your interest in the iDeaL platform. www.ideallearningapproach.com

We wish you all the very best as you hopefully head back into your classrooms and or school based settings in a week or so. 

Please don't hesitate to get in touch with us should you have any questions and or if we can help you to move forward with your PLD journey.

Epilepsy and ASD PD

Epilepsy

Could be seconds or a lot longer. Is noticed by the person Tyson
Affects nervous system
Tyson Petite mal or Absence 
triggers emotional highs and lows??

ASD Autism Spectrum Disorder

Movie Temple Grandin movie a positive spin.

Unpacking the book from MOE

What is it

difficulty with communication, interaction, thinking or social interaction

Mind over Manner a play in NZ with people acting out. Good to hear their perspective.

Struggle thinking about what others are thinking. 'On the Spot' resource can help with this (see slide)

How do we teach?

Explicit clear links

teach to their strengths

Lisa to send home an Individual Learner Profile perhaps to Mum.

Charlie to make video of what she needs to do.

Support How?
RTLB - Time resources and PLD to make it happen.

Mary Anne Murphy Kai Hui Ako

Mary Anne Murphy

Presentation slide

Personalties are movable

We decide how we respond
Check out where team gets their energy from. How you operate your team enables them to recharge and get their energy back.

Team meetings how do we share who does the speaking? Way facilitate meetings need everyone to speak. Use post it's what are everyone's ideas put together have some think time. Make sure all voices are heard.
Observants vs intuitive
Observants have strong habits
Likes the process before change.
Like it clear

How do we give certainty to those who need it

My personality came back as Observant
Head down bum up to get things down. Need to be careful that that doesn't make us look at alternatives
Intuitives be careful don't look at the sparkly things

Thinkers and Feelers How we make decisions
Feelers heart based don't want to hurt feelings of others
Thinkers all about facts. Need to be aware that need to level it out. Need to go to someone I can trust with a logical decision. Sometimes we don't call out the people who aren't performing. Need to make a decision on what's best for the students. If a high F be careful of heart space. If. high T may come across as disconnected
Way approach work
Judging
Highly organised.

What do we need to be mindful of as leaders?

Group think: Happens when people want to be liked this is dangerous when everyone is yes yes. Have we considered.
Know people's personalities perhaps do with the team and ask....
What do you need to get stuff done at your optimum.
My job as a leader to get the best out of team. I cannot change anyone but I can change the way I deal with them to utilise their strengths.
If we do it though make sure stress it's not a judgment and to out the in a box
Assertive or turbulent
T internalises pick an A to help you
A

DOTS is a communication tool 
BLUE
Why? Need to the why doing things. 
Get to know the dots and be mindful of how we're 

Emotional Intelligence;
Ability to be agile on how we communicate.
10 emotions that drive leadership

1. inner focus
2. self knowing
3. self control
4. self confidence
5. self reliance
6. adaptability
7. optimism - (resilience)
8. self actualisation

When looking at the cards

Assertiveness I need to work on but need to doit with Aroha

Characteristics of High Performing Teams

Teaming. Now a more fluid sense of team See slide

1. Forming - 

2. Storming can be make our way for common understandings _ it needs to be addressed. Absolute clarity around our roles and expectations is a must

3. Norming

4. Performing - work load balanced, good communication, can challenge with love. 

5. Transforming - questioning rather than telling - coaching

How am I collectively building the culture of my team?

Trust is built from doing the work

Dysfunctions of a team>>>

https://medium.com/taskworld-blog/lencionis-5-dysfunctions-of-a-team-330d58b2cd81


Thought to leave with... what has resonated with me?
Personalities, dots, 
Knowing my teachers as learners grow our people.
Mural idea how and who, shield
ALL WAYS. we are always communicating

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhqiupZHVdg

Second part on Emotional Intelligence to follow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCxct4CR-To

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLqzYDZAqCI