Accelerated Achievement

As much as I have spent the year focusing on teaching Key Competencies and social skills, there's still that monkey on your back to have each and every child make accelerated progress. For Manaiakalani that means 1.5x the expected.

This year I had no expectation that academic gain would be substantial, I was looking at gains in Key Competencies and emotional security. The way that I taught these skills didn't follow the usual pattern of a classroom, in fact very little academic expectation was placed upon the boys. We worked on routines, discussion, cultural identity and regulating emotional responses to varied experiences.

The graphs below show just one snapshot from PAT tests. As much as I am extremely proud of some of the test results produced by the boys, these graphs are a tiny piece of a much much larger puzzle.

While most of the boys have made the expected academic gains or even 2-3x the expected gain in one year, I don't believe that this has anything to do with quality academic teaching.

The reason for the academic gains made by the boys come from a feeling of belonging and the comfort to take risks and feel confident about their abilities. In reducing the anxious responses and ramping up the positive, the boys have had the opportunity to learn from everyday simple activities.

Suddenly, sitting down to lunch, waiting your turn, using your manners or following the rules of a game, become massive learning opportunities.

By being who they are, acknowledging where they come from and feeling secure and safe, the boys have achieved as themselves and are growing into confident, connected, lifelong learners.

But in reality, the learner who has actually learnt most in the room has been the teacher.

Taking Charge of Creativity

I am trying to have the students very much in charge of how they are creating and sharing their learning. Many of the members of my class are traditionally "clever" children. Around 1/3 don't quite fit that label. This is a story of the 1/3.
Two days ago the class discussed a movie where the main character is faced with a dilemma and the following consequences. I posed questions to the children of a moral nature and the discussion was lively and loud.

I then wanted the students to share their thoughts, discussion points and own conflicts, anyway they wanted.
Many students began by simply writing out the story from differing points of view, or from their own moral conflicts. Eventually iPads were collected, animations begun and recordings made.
2 girls sat quietly on the deck outside looking quite lost.

After about 20mins, Annliz brought me her story as well as many more supporting ideas. She had written some very interesting and creative ideas but she just didn't know how to continue the story - that she had begun as a narrative. Her partner - Quziyah, was no longer supporting her in the direction she wanted, Annliz made the decision to go it alone and seek out some help.
The session ended and Annliz was making good progress with her narrative by sitting with me and taking a few risks while still feeling supported.

Fast forward a day and a half and Annliz and Quziyah asked me to look at their work. I was surprised to see them back together but even more surprised to see that they wanted me to watch a movie, not read a story.
Together they had decided to keep the narrative, but add a twist of sharing an interview discussing their feelings towards the posed dilemma.

To me, this is exactly the kind of learning I love to see kids go through. They reflect as they work, make changes, take risks and ultimately own what they have created, 100%
Annliz and Quziyah are both incredibly proud of their work, not only because they made decisions and owned the outcome, but also because they used an iPad for the first time, edited in iMovie and exported it to Vimeo - all independently.

I congratulated them on a job well done and the way that they reflected on their work and process and made changes as they needed them. - Cue massive smiles. Great day.