2015 Inquiry

 How to get higher order thinking for below and well below students.

It's a fairly broad, yet uninteresting title for 2015. Time to breathe some life in to those words.

For 2015 I am teaching a year 3 1:1 iPad class. For the first time in my 13year career I have students who are emergent writers, level 1 for reading and stage 1 for maths. There aren't just one or two treasures, but 6. - that's approximately 20% of the learners in the class.



Higher order thinking, cognitive engagement, personalised learning - all that jargon fits well for learners who already know how to learn and for whom learning has been fairly successful.

My question asks, how would you begin to get higher order thought out of learners who have spent 18months to 2 years at school and have not made any academic progress. Students who are yet to fully understand the concept of an alphabet or words or even counting beyond their 5 fingers.

The 6 in my class come with all manner of special needs and special circumstances, however these learners don't have time to let those inconveniences get in the way. It's time to use their special talents - which they all possess, and find out how to accelerate these kids in the direction of their peers.

My main strategies and first thoughts lie with visible learning, rewindable learning, reflection and the incorporation of oral language. These students lack the language necessary to articulate their learning and thoughts - if I give it to them, make it rewindable and by nature, visible - will this create an impact in their learning?

We'll start with routines, we'll start with solidifying relationships and we'll get going.

Tuakana Teina with Scratch

Last year I attended a wonderful PD session from Amanda Signal about using Scratch with middle - upper primary. The subsequent fun and learning in my classroom was a total win.
I tried to introduce Scratch in term 1 this year to my year 4 students. However, it was bad timing as they were still trying to come to grips with managing all things Google.

Term 4 seemed like the perfect chance to try again! - This time with ScratchJr on iPad and Scratch on Chromebooks.

We have spent the last week learning with Scratch and ScratchJr to share our stories, tell jokes and even just to show off the cool things it can do.
Most notably the students learnt about timing and angles through trial and error as they attempted to make their sprites do the unimagined.
The problem solving and thinking at such a young age just can't be beat.

Today I was asked to send a handful of kids to share ScratchJr with the year 1s. Karen Belt - their teacher, knew that technically her students were more than ready for it, however, having a more focused approach with Tuakana Teina would mean that both her students and the older ones, would be learning, creating and sharing in one happy moment.

The morning was an utter success. Karen commented that you could hear a pin drop in the classroom as her young ones came to grips with a new tool. My kids all thoroughly enjoyed themselves and thought that perhaps the 5yr olds' animations may rival their own. - They now have some work to do!

The draw card for the students as they create sprites and backgrounds and experiments with code, is indeed the element of experimentation and creating things never created before. They excitedly discuss new found tricks and techniques with friends and eagerly help one another to complete some fairly sophisticated stories.

Unfortunately, like many iOS apps, ScratchJr is unable to be shared online. So as much as the students want to post their creations on their blog, without screencasting via a laptop or desktop, it can't be done. However, the handful of year 4s working on Scratch should have some fabulous recreations of Hairy Maclairy and some original stories to share in a short while.

Chromebook vs iPad

As many schools and countries head 1:1, a current world wide debate seems to be tablet vs laptop - or more specifically iPad vs Chromebook. I have been experiencing this first hand over the last 9 months.

2014 had me tackling not only a new year level, but also the exciting prospect of 1:1 iPads.

The plan was to pilot a year 3 class, testing and trialling to see what a school wide pedagogy may encompass. However, student numbers were thrown into the mix and I ended up with a year 3/4 class.

The kicker, was that the year 4s had already signed up to receiving their Chromebook for 2014. So I was set to embark upon a split level class and split devices.

The general conclusion - I don't envy anyone in a BYOD situation!

I was very confident, technically with both devices. I had spent 3 years in Chromebook 1:1 and I was an early adopter of using creative iOS apps for sharing thinking and learning.
I wasn't scared about the prospect of managing 2 different devices. I was a little nervous planning how on earth I would teach 2 sets of skills to children in their first year of a 1:1 class.

Manaiakalani operates a very structured and visible pedagogy. One that is learner centred and is visible and transparent. Each learner and parent always knows where the learning is at and where it's going. This is made possible by using Google Sites for each class as well as Hapara Teacher Dashboard.

The idea of transferring this pedagogy to junior students and iPads was a tempting and challenging one. The question I posed myself in January was;
                        Is the pedagogy delivered the same no matter the device?
I assumed that it would be delivered identically and the device was just a tool and would make little difference.

Once the majority of basic skills had been acquired by the students (massive shoutout to Lynn West for all your assistance), I truly began to focus on pedagogy.

It became apparent that there are in fact many differences in the tools themselves.

The Chromebook is perfect when working in a visible learning environment. Google integrates seamlessly, obviously, and the wide range of apps associated with the Google account, means that you can extend learning, tasks and ideas very easily.
Learner agency comes to the fore as everything is linkable, or embeddable in a class site. Which means that the learners are directed and scaffolded into the learning without having to stray too far from the main learning portal of the Google Site and Google Drive.

Conversely, the iPad with apps can often mean that a student is working in different "windows" and not always having each piece of the learning puzzle perfectly accessible. Having to decide which browser performs a task best, or which app am I using, can hinder or slow down the learning. Not to mention the utter clunkiness of GAFE for iOS. For this reason, we largely limit the number of apps on the iPads.
(We fundamentally use 3 creative apps, 5 sharing apps and a handful of teaching apps - such as Matt Thomas' Hundreds Board.)

I have come to some conclusions:

• The iPad is not used to access learning in the same way as a Chromebook.
• The iPad is an incredibly powerful, individual, creative tool.
• The Chromebook is a collaborative, functional tool.
• Neither tool is better than the other and I could never choose which device I would solely want in a classroom. 
• Pedagogy delivery does need to change depending on the devices in use.
• When given a choice as a 1:1 learning tool, students as young as 7 will choose a Chromebook. 
• For many students challenged by learning, the iPad is an ideal choice.

I look forward to planning for 2015 and the necessary tweaking to pedagogy as the affordances of the technology are used more efficiently for the device and for the age group.

I have certainly learnt many lessons and will continue to reflect and refine what 1:1 with tablets looks like in a junior classroom.

A Midway Reflection

So what is going on with the craziness that is our classroom?

The Key Competencies still take centre stage in all our learning.
The children are confident creators on both iPads and iMacs.
More and more, the quieter students are finding their voice amongst the over abundance of "character" in the room.

What is next?

With such a focus on Key Competencies, we've let slip the focus on the students becoming monitors of their own learning.
I still strongly believe that such young learners can, and should be, in full control of their learning - They may just need some assistance.

So term 3 is calling for a greater awareness of learning content and also fostering the motivation needed to be able to identify and strive for those next steps in the journey. It is one thing to know what you are to do next, it is another thing to be motivated to achieve it and to know how best to get there.

The class Google Site will still play a major role in providing the visibility of learning the students need. Also we will also begin to introduce a series of learning progressions developed by staff at Pt England and Stonefields Schools.
These progressions give clear and concrete success criteria at each level/stage. The students are therefore never far away from being to check on what could or should come next and where they've come from. Each child has an individualised set of progressions, really personalising the learning for each child.
Initially, this process of identifying where the students are working and what may come next, will be well scaffolded and directed. The plan is that through this scaffolding and assistance, we will develop students who are more self managing and intrinsically motivated.


I am still mulling over the current learners in our classroom. I scratch my head daily as we make great progress in some areas and yet still struggling in others.
Am I expecting too much of such young kids - is it related to age or maturity?
Or.....
Is it simply that I currently get to enjoy days with a class of individuals who are determined to leave their stamp on everything they do?

 

Angry Birds Teaching us Physics

Digital Learning

As a part of being a MIT (Manaiakalani Innovative Teacher) we were asked by Telecom to front a movie showcasing learning in our schools.
It was a very difficult task trying to articulate exactly what it is we do in a 30minute interview - so the cameras came to school.

Create and ReCreate

A culture of creation and reflection in a classroom, I believe, leads to true understanding of the learning process and how best each individual responds to new ideas and challenges.
In young learners, this happens many times a day and in many situations. As simple as when drawing, trying to spell a new word or tie a shoelace. Through to the more complex tasks of crafting an effective story, creating an appealing movie or writing a new song to share learning.

Each occasion calls for learning and it's our job to recognise those moments and build in the reflective thought and language until it becomes an innate experience.

I watched a 6yr old show me how she had learnt to copy and paste in Kidpix to make 2 of the same picture. After successfully copying and pasting her image, she quickly realised that the original image had been too big and there was no space on the page for the copy. Without hesitation, she realised what she had done and said "Oh, it's too big, I can do that again and get it right this time."
I asked her what she would do and how it would be better second time around.
 "I'll just have to make my picture smaller first, so that when I paste there'll be room for two pictures."

Not only are our students learning how to create great pieces of art, amazing stories, fascinating animations or solve complex problems, these tasks teach them about how to learn. A skill that will serve a greater purpose than any other.
These learners will always have learning at the forefront if they are encouraged to create, reflect, re-create and refine.

A Mid Year Reflection

I have spent the better part of today reflecting on my students and where they have come from this year as I write their mid year progress reports. It seems like the perfect time to reflect on the process and learning that we have all gone through this year.

What have we learnt:

• How NOT to set up tablet devices.
• How young students take to an online learning environment.
• How strong a role the Key Competencies play in the classroom and in learning.
• How articulate young learners can be when given the opportunity to talk about learning.

What are we still working on.

• The best way to set up tablet devices.
• How can we encourage young learners to fully engage in an online learning environment?
• How far can we entrench and use the Key Competencies to even further support learning?
• How much more can these young kids surprise and encourage me as we talk about learning?

Major Successes

• Week 2 Term 2. A child before school was using their Chromebook and remarked to a friend. "Look at our class site, I can see what we are learning today and what I can do for my learning."  5 other students gathered around to look and remarked that they too could "see what they are doing today."  Up till this point, despite being shown and told numerous times a day, the learners had yet to engage with the fact that a class site held that information 24/7 -  since day one of school.

• Week 4 Term 2. I remarked to a student that I had noticed they were more engaged and participatory in class and that it was such a good thing to hear their ideas. He replied "Yeah Miss, I realised that when I listened and joined in I knew what to do and learnt more. School is fun and easier when I participate, contribute and relate well to others."

I can feel that we are beginning to emerge from the learning pit and are truly developing strategies, ideas and new, exciting ways to learn. 

Our next learning steps, as a whole class, is to delve much further into the idea of exploring our learning and taking it to that place where curiosity resides and thrives.