Teacher Inquiry Mindlab

Collecting Data and EvidenceThis week focuses on the different methods you can use to collect data and evidence during your inquiry project.

Learning Objectives

• Understand the importance of collecting data and using this as evidence during an inquiry project
• Become familiar with the different types of data you could collect
• Decide on the types of data collection methods you will use in your inquiry project

Practising Teacher Criteria12(i). Systematically and critically engage with evidence and professional literature to reflect on and refine practice

12(ii). Respond professionally to feedback from members of their learning community

Learning Objectives

• Recognise the components and steps that are involved in designing an inquiry project
• Know how to design your own inquiry project
• Understand how to involve your chosen community(s) in your project design

Practising Teacher Criteria12(i). Systematically and critically engage with evidence and professional literature to reflect on and refine practice

12(ii). Respond professionally to feedback from members of their learning community

12(iii). Critically examine their own beliefs, including cultural beliefs, and how they impact on their professional practice and the achievement of ākonga

I joined the webinar and found that there was more to this inquiry than I first thought. However, it dis allow me to think about the question in relation to the literature review that we just completed. I think that our focus can be around boys' writing in year 5 as this is the group that is hardest to shift. I think doing a questionnaire with the boys will also help. The PD I did yesterday with the literacy progressions gave me good questions to ask so the two fit nicely.

Sharing our learning with whanau

One way to bring whanau to our school is for children to share their learning. I found that the children had a goal to complete work to show an audience which made them work to a very high standard. The children were proud of their work and were able to present a range of learning from throughout the term.

I found that this was the best way to get whanau involved in their children's learning. I had 100% turn out of whanau, and the few that could not make it on the actual evening, came on another day.

What is a learner?

At the beginning of every year I spend some time discussing learning with children to make sure that everyone is clear about expectations, asking questions, and the role of the teacher and the children.

This brainstorm shows all the ideas children came up with during the discussions. By laying the foundations for learning, children are clear about their role in the process.

Science Water Testing 2016

I took 10 children to JPC to test the water quality in a local stream. A teacher from JPC helped us with providing some extra equipment from their school. Children used the equipment to check water nutrients and pollution. I think that this was a great lesson as children were able to have a real go at testing water and could see the results. I would like to take this lesson with my whole class but we would need to have transport for this.

Marae Visit 2016

As part of learning about the Maori culture, I took my class (and all the senior classes) to the local marae. We had whanu with us and that helped when explaining about all the interesting bits and pieces associated with the marae. We had a guided tour, had a hangi there, and immersed ourselves in activities like poi, flax weaving and drawing the carvings.

I think by going to the marae helps children to learn better as they actually have a go at things. It also helps them connect with the marae and the community associated with it. Children learnt so much and I feel it is essential to keep this type of ETOC activities going.

NPeW PD

In this PD we were  looking at student agency and how students view the situation/learning. Give students the opportunity to engage in learning in different ways. Creating a focus for an interview - take out emotion in an interview. We used a peer coach in this PD and we used the different levels of questioning.

We practised the reflective interview in pairs and we wanted to get to the level 3 questions. I'm unsure how this connects with what happens in real life but since I missed a meeting last week, I will have to speak to someone about it first. It seems that we are heading towards peer coaching.

People need to reflect on their own practise without judgement. By leaving emotion out, allows the other person to reflect openly and not what the other person wants to hear. The focus is on the thinking and rationale of decisions rather than gratitude/well done/need improvement.

We collected data from students and teachers on student agency. We looked at having the reflective questioning tool and we made goals around what we will do about student agency and reflective questioning. We are now working on a coaching process around teacher agency in order to improve our practices.

Mindlab First 16 weeks

I have completed the first 16 weeks of the course. I found the contents of the course have made me adjust my teaching by including more collaborative work for students. I have found that when I learn new things, sometimes it makes me question whether I have actually discussed ideas with students. Sometimes I take the time to discuss collaboration with students just to make it clear to them as it has become clearer for myself. I already share the workload at staff meetings and everyone takes a turn at presenting, but I need to think about bring people together to collaborate on science so that everyone takes away new learning.

Overall, the course has made me inquire into my own practice and whether what I thought was the correct way of doing things was actually the best. There are also many things that I am already doing and I have adjusted what I do to improve teaching and learning.