Teaching as Inquiry -some relevant links

T.A.I links   Wiki

4 april staff meeting from Catriona Chrystall

Interesting Stuff! The "Why' is so important.

Following on from "Do Schools Kill Creativity"? and his book "The Element" Sir Ken Robinson gives this TED talk about education. He talks about the fast food model of education where everyone is pushed in a linear way towards academic achievement, where passion is killed, talent is never discovered and where people try to reform a broken model rather than transform and revolutionise by personalising learning. Lastly he reminds us of our responsibility as educators through the reading of Yeats poem

Impact of video games on learning

How do fast-paced video games affect the brain? Step into the lab with cognitive researcher Daphne Bavelier to hear surprising news about how video games, even action-packed shooter games, can help us learn, focus and, fascinatingly, multitask. 

Daphne Bavelier studies how the brain adapts to changes in experience, either by nature or by training.Full bio »

 

 

TW 28/8 and Team Inquiry

A really interesting 30 minutes with Tim - centred more on e-learning than Inquiry - have been given some interesting links to explore and how a tablet/iPad would be of benefit.
The afternoon session after discussing traditional 'expert' leader (mainly the Principal,) was initially looking at working with our teams and models we might use.

• The bottom line is " I am doing this because.....
• Explicit instruction
• As the inquiry progresses, reference back to the data is necessary to see if there has been an improvement. If not how are others doing, their successful practice.
• Evaluation Indicators/evidence and reflections.

After discussion our Team decided that Inquiry evidence will start with the psedoword test as baseline data. WHAT WILL BE AN ACCEPTABLE PASS MARK?

• Elkonin boxes will be the strategy trialled
• 10 minutes daily
• Running records, video, writing etc.. can provide evidence.
• Will give the Team Marie Clay's (Reading Recovery chapter 6 on Elkonin boxes and also Gazette 28 August article as professional reading. These can be examined and logged as part of evidence RTC 6 etc.

 Some possible evidence of student voice  - attitude to writing:
NEMP - c.f against national norm
ARBs
E-astle  (is part of the test though)
Learning Media online -Observational Schedule Reading and Writing
Student questionnaire -SurveyMonkey -remove IPS which will allow multi access from the same logins.

Moved on then to 3rs for Coaching:

• Listening with attitude LiPPI -Listen, Pause, Paraphrase effectively, Inquire.
• emphasis - understanding before we understand....
• WAIT TIME 5-7 seconds
• Paraphrasing to confirm the message -3 types

1.  mirror test - do you need to add ......
2. Basket -gather up messages and order 1.  ____ 2. ____ 3. ____
3. Ladder view conceptualise the ideas -underlying this is knowing the person/relationship with the person -respect/values

• Refresh  -Developing a coaching culture -deliberately schedule time to actively listen -mirror, basket, ladder
• Reflect on ...
• What you would do differently

E-Homework Survey

Parents and pupils completed the Survey regarding E Homework. Pupils indicated 100% of those who completed the form, voted to retain E-Homework. 87.5% of Parents  of those who completed the form, voted to retain E-Homework also.
In general very positive feedback for this initiative. I have found engagement with Homework has really increased - I had great problems with receiving work (on time), using the BIG STICK and giving elements that were relevant to all levels in the class.
Now I can use video, interactivity, be able to track engagement and success/difficulties pupils are having.
Eureka!

Joy Allcock Workshop @ SJHS

What a wonderful experience to listen to Joy's analysis of how our pupils learn about words. I have tried her programme see but found this second session certainly answered questions I had regarding my 'Phoenician' spellers.

Her points:

Why are there such differences in the way people acquire literacy skills? Some people are good readers and good spellers
Some people are good readers but inaccurate spellers
Some people find both reading and spelling a struggle

How do people learn to read and spell a complex alphabetic language like English?
You need to know:

What the learner brings to the task

What exactly is involved in carrying out the task

Baron and Strawson in 1976 and Rebecca Treiman in 1984 studied the individual differences that exist in students’ reading and spelling styles. They introduced the terms “Chinese” and “Phoenician” to describe the differences that exist in the strategies students use to read words.
‘Chinese’ readers are described as those who rely on word-associations to read words; they rely on recalling the visual images of known words to read unfamiliar words.

‘Phoenician’ readers are described as those who rely more on spelling-sound rules to read unfamiliar words. They rely more on knowing the connections between sounds and letters to sound out words, rather than recognising whole word images.

‘Phoenician’ processors seem to learn more readily from sounds to print; they get meaning from what words sound like. They may ‘read aloud’ in their heads and write words sound by sound.

My questions...

Retention? Connection? Processing? Learning words –don’t write the way they tell me. What can I do? I have 6 phonetic hage spellers

This on her website: Bucket List
Vocab depth teach decoding –context sh oe c.f. m ou se

Sight word knowledge

Knowledge of alphabetical code
Knowledge of spelling
-system of English
Spelling our way to reading c.f. reading our way to spelling
Predictable high frequency words to decode
TEACH VOCABULARY EVERY DAY
A FEW CORE WAYS OF OPERATING:

Poor retention is an outcome of a problem –what is going on –the child needs a different way to learn Br....e -Need to work with syllables?

Whole -chair
Sound
Part -ch air

Whole Write our words down –Chinese would be a picture -with us we could use a code

based on how we record what we say not how it is written

Image Sounds right but looks wrong
 

Part – grapheme

Whole meaning -morphemes

Structure

Part –spelling conventions ist for occupations–dentist, greatest, fastest –est for adjectives.
 

Rules –y to ies double consonants hopped

Look at working with whole words c.f. sounds of words
Spelling Errors Analysing spelling errors

Ask about your child’s work…Is every sound in this word?

hage –how does this make hungry? Understand the process behind this.
h a _ / g_ e clap syllables and sounds hangre
Does the word look right?
USE Elkonin boxes Use this isolate sounds when working with words
Word detective game - sounds belong to words not letters – letters belong to sounds.
thay … th/ay we need to use an ey how would you brain remember? Write it in a different colour because it is only for this word. They give them a bookmark –put 1 to 10on it –get child to find everything and they can fix it.
Choose one high frequency word in the writing –give time talk about and change.
PROOFREADING!
Bucket 5 –full stops and capital letters

Chinese Phoenician -pesudowords –left brain activity
Visual memory
Phonemic awareness
Read to learn or write through exposure to language but not print
You have to learn how
Right brain learning can be taught. Barron and Strawson –have preference for one side or an other
Be more accurate in non fiction!! Information – adding facts to our prior knowledge, if you get the wrong message, you are in trouble. Insist on accuracy of reading with non fiction, c.f. fiction
Most fit into the sounds right looks wrong category.
Not a good plan to give errors to find re proof reading Find words with a long a sound in a library book.
The Won I’d Dough c.f. The One eyed Doe.
SUS –in the back words that in back of the book–reversing will get Phoenicians succeeding !
Don’t teach silent letters.
Get new SUS
schwa
Teaching Vocabulary P5 –incorporate into PLANNING
Class programme that integrates everything –vocab, phonological awareness, morphological awareness etc..
Count sounds in words ..Elkonin boxes
Able to write an ow sound sh sound
Later on they can write 2 sounds

TASK FOR KIDS DAILY IN SMALL GROUPS Every day write down every sound in English

3 WORDS THAT START WITH SH shut ship shot

End with sh push hush gnash

sh in the middle – no suffixes motion action notion

use the SUS activity book grids

Beginning	Shell Charlotte Sure sugar
Middle
end

Circle the sh sounds

Sh has anyone got another one that does not start with sh
Think it say it
Look at P5 FOR VOCAB PRISCILLA VAIL
Cards words soup game
During Silent reading time 1 card per person per day
Kids write word on card with definition on back
Groups of 4–competition the team has to give a definition of the word when it is pulled out - without using the word groups with long a sound looks like in the word, of prefix, suffix,

Allcock English Spelling Dictionary – sounds and rules

http://www.spelling.co.nz/professional-development/teacher-support-material
Teach whole class not groups THEN Select activities to suit the students
Practice –need at least 2 practice sessions a week or those with skill may not
Use Elkonin boxes –look at activities for the class again…too transformational for top kids
TEACH TO THE GAPS
GAPS ANALYSIS TEST

Blogging Through the Fourth Dimension | Education musings, technology, and lessons; my life as a teacher by Pernille Ripp.

Some interesting Links to explore when .......

Blogging Through the Fourth Dimension | Education musings, technology, and lessons; my life as a teacher by Pernille Ripp. |
A Collection of My Favourite Back to School Posts

I realized today that I am about to start my 6th year of teaching, not counting the 6 months long-term subbing I started with. 6 years of first days, first weeks, and incredible students to get to know. 6 years of having the hardest time figuring out what to start with, what to share, how to set up my room. 6 years to figure out that every year it feels like you are brand-new and the back to school nightmares come earlier and earlier. So I went through my archives of posts as I was looking for some old ideas myself to tweak and in the process thought I should share some of my favourites from the past 3 years of blogging about back to school.
Before you even start:

• How to Make the New Year Easier – Year After Year: simple solutions to make the rest of the year run smoother
• Listen Up – What Teachers Wish You Knew: A post for parents as they get ready for the new year
• What Will You Do the Very First Moment of the First Day of the Year- asking you to ponder what the first thing is you will do
• Dear First Year Pernille – what I wish I had known the very first year
• If You Have One Hour With a New Teacher - many new teachers will be coming to us for advice those first few weeks, here are some ideas to discuss with them
• Administrators, Please Inspire At Back to School - we can make those days of meetings meaningful!
• Some Ways to Show My Students They Matter – little ideas to start building trust and community that first week

Reading inspiration for the new year:

• 10 Picture Books I cannot Wait to Share With My New Students
• So You Want a Reading Classroom – 12 Ideas to Help You
• 10 Things That Helped Us Love Reading More

Classroom Setup

• The Secrets of Your Classroom – What Your Setup Says About You: have you ever wondered what your classroom says about you as a person?
• Some Questions to Ask Yourself As You Set Up Your Classroom

Have you thought of trying this?

• How to Get Rid of Homework or at the Very Least Limit It – This could be the year you finally stop assigning homework, take the chance!
• How to Do Student-Led Conferences
• What is Innovation Day and Why Should You Care? My students’ favourite day of the year hands down
• So You Want to Do Mystery Skype - here’s how
• The Global Read Aloud - join more than 60,000 students as we read aloud a book together and connect using technology
• Student Blogging - my students blog to the world, give your students a voice as well
• Get Rid of Punishment and Rewards - You don’t need either to have a great classroom
• Get Rid of Grades - Or limit the emphasis on them at least
• Give Your Students a Voice

I am a passionate 5th grade teacher in Middleton, Wisconsin, USA, proud techy geek, and mass consumer of incredible books. Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project, Co-founder of EdCamp MadWI, and believer in all children. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day. First book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” will be released this fall from PLPress. Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.