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.

The Importance of Fluency and Automaticity for Efficient Reading

The Importance of Fluency and Automaticity for Efficient Reading

The Importance of Automaticity and Fluency For Efficient Reading Comprehension

by Pamela E. Hook and Sandra D. Jones

Reprinted with permission from the International Dyslexia Association quarterly newsletter, Perspectives, Winter, 2002, vol. 28, no. 1, pages 9-14. IDA website: http://www.interdys.org.

My abridgement:
What are the relationships among phonemic awareness, phonics and orthographic reading?

 The importance of background knowledge for comprehension also increases. Fluent reading at this point is essential.
Automatic reading involves the development of strong orthographic representations, which allows fast and accurate identification of whole words made up of specific letter patterns. English orthography is generally alphabetic in nature and initially word identification is based on the application of phonic word attack strategies (letter-sound association). These word attack strategies are in turn based on the development of phonemic awareness, which is necessary to learn how to map speech to print. It is important to keep in mind that prior to the stage where children read orthographically, they apply alphabetic strategies to analyze words (Frith, 1985).


Figure 1: Relationships Among Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, and Sight Word Recognition Skills.
Figure 1 illustrates the relationships among the processes involved in word identification. The bottom of the figure depicts a strong base in phonemic awareness upon which word identification skills are built. There is, however, a reciprocal relationship between the development of phonemic awareness and the development of phonic word attack strategies. As the child becomes more familiar with letters, phonemic awareness also improves. Ultimately, strong underlying orthographic patterns begin to emerge.
WORD LEVEL-AUTOMATICITY
How do we develop this automatic, orthographic reading ability in our students?
In the beginning - the six syllable types
One of the most powerful tools to begin instruction in this area is using the visual patterns inherent in the six syllable types (Steere, Peck and Kahn, 1988.) (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. The Six Syllable Types 1. closed -not (closed in by a consonant - vowel makes its short sound. 2. open - no (ends in a vowel - vowel makes its long sound 3. silent e - note (ends in vowel consonant e - vowel makes its long sound 4. Vowel combination - nail (the two vowels together make a sound) 5. r controlled - bird (contains a vowel plus 4 - vowel sound is changed) 6. consonant- l -e - table (at the end of a word)

It is these letter (orthographic) patterns that signal vowel pronunciation.  Anna Gillingham when she incorporated the Phonetic Word Cards activity into the Orton-Gillingham lesson plan (Gillingham and Stillman, 1997). This activity involves having the student practice reading words (and some nonwords) on cards as wholes beginning with simple syllables and moving systematically through the syllable types to complex syllables and two-syllable words. The words are divided into groups that correspond to the specific sequence of skills being taught.
Accent
In addition to acquiring phonic word attack strategies, prosodic features at the word level such as stress on syllables are important. At times, poor readers can accurately decode a word but true recognition of the word eludes them because they have not correctly accented one of the syllables. Dyslexic students often have difficulty hearing the accented syllables in a word, so teachers should first determine if a student is able to discriminate and identify through listening alone. If a student cannot hear differences, lessons should begin with listening practice and then move to oral production. Visual and tactile/kinesthetic strategies can be incorporated with listening if necessary.
A teacher can begin to practice listening for and producing accented syllables using the alphabet. The alphabet is presented in pairs and one letter of the pair is accented until a student is successful. The teacher begins presenting the accent only on the first letter until the student is consistent and then presents the accent only on the second letter. When a student can do both of these successfully, the teacher can then present mixed pairs to practice (e.g., A'B C'D EF or GH' IJ' KL' or M'N O P' Q'R). Instruction should move as quickly as possible from using the alphabet to using real words. The teacher can begin with names to practice listening for accented syllables (e.g., Court' ney, Michelle', Ty ler, Je sus').
Training and Linking the Orthographic Processor
Although most students learn to apply the rules of phonic word attack strategies and later of prefix, stem, and suffix through multisensory, structured systematic teaching techniques and become quite accurate in their reading, many remain slow and laborious. They have trouble moving to the next level of automatic orthographic reading and thus comprehension suffers.
Approaches have been developed that use a variety of repeated reading strategies to strengthen these orthographic images. The automatic recognition of single graphemes is a critical first step to the development of the letter patterns that make up words or word parts (Adams, 1990). English orthography is made up of four basic kinds of words: 1) regular for reading and spelling (e.g., mat, sprint; 2) regular for reading but not for spelling (e.g. boat, rain - could be spelled "bote" or "rane" respectively); 3) rule based (e.g., planning - doubling rule, baking - drop e rule); and 4) irregular (e.g. beauty - it should be noted that most parts of an "irregular" word are actually regular and only the irregular part needs to be specifically addressed).
Students must learn to recognize all four types of words automatically in order to be effective readers; thus, techniques for developing strong orthographic representations for all types of words are essential. Extensive opportunity for repeated practice in pattern recognition is often necessary.  Other ways of emphasizing orthography would be card sorts where students sort different syllable types into appropriate categories as quickly as possible and then say the vowel sounds of each syllable type as quickly as possible.
Single word level word drills - regular and irregular words
Once these orthographic signals have become automatically recognized, the students complete speed drills in which they read lists of isolated words with contrasting vowel sounds that are signalled by the syllable type. For example, six to eight closed syllable and vowel-consonant-e words containing the vowel a are arranged randomly on pages containing about 12 lines and read for one minute. Individual goals are established and charts are kept of the number of words read correctly in successive sessions. The same word lists are repeated in sessions until the goal has been achieved for several sessions in a row. When selecting words for these word lists, the use of high-frequency words within a syllable category would increase the likelihood of generalization to text reading
These same kinds of speed drills can be used for irregular words as well as multisyllable words that incorporate higher-level concepts of structural analysis (prefix, stem, and suffix). At the multi-syllable level, automatically recognizing both the visual patterns related to syllable division as well as prefixes, stems, and suffixes (larger chunks) can be very helpful.  The SPIRE program contains speed drills that at first mark these syllable breaks as well as prefixes and suffixes and then fade the cues as the student progresses through the skill.

Not only do good readers read fluently with adequate speed, but when they read aloud, they also use appropriate phrasing, intonation, and their oral reading mirrors their spoken language.

Air writing - development of symbol imagery
 Sky writing, which involves using gross motor movements of the whole arm to form letters in the air, has also been used to help reinforce single letter formation by combining visual, auditory and tactile-kinesthetic cues. More recently an air writing technique has been included as a component of a program intended to improve symbol imagery, or the formation of orthographic representations (i.e., Seeing Stars Nanci Bell, 1997). This technique involves having the student look at a word or word part pronounced by the teacher, name the letters, and then use his finger to write the word in the air directly in his visual field while looking at his finger. The student then reads the word from memory and the teacher questions him about the order and placement of specific letters in the word (e.g., "What is the third letter in the syllable?" "What is the second letter?" etc.). The emphasis here is on enhancing the students' ability to "see" the letter patterns in their minds.

TEXT LEVEL - FLUENCY

The lack of fluency in poor readers is evidenced by their slow, halting, and inconsistent rate; poor phrasing; and inadequate intonation patterns. Not only do good readers read fluently with adequate speed, but when they read aloud, they also use appropriate phrasing, intonation, and their oral reading mirrors their spoken language.
Fluency training helps a student to connect the prosody of spoken language to the prosodic features of text that are signalled through punctuation. There are features present in spoken language that provide clues to a speaker's intent such as gestures, facial expression, intonation, and stress that are not present in printed text. The absence of these prosodic features in text inhibits some readers from chunking words (grouping by semantic and syntactic features) into meaningful units. Just as we teach students to make sound-symbol correspondence during decoding instruction, we also must teach readers to map the prosodic features of spoken language onto the printed text. Structured and systematic instruction in this area will facilitate spoken-to-print prosodic correspondences and enhance comprehension.
Intonation/Punctuation
To begin to develop awareness of the prosodic features of language, teachers can introduce a short three-word sentence with each of the three different words underlined for stress (e.g. He is sick. He is sick. He is sick. The teacher can then model the three sentences while discussing the possible meaning for each variation. The students can practice reading them with different stress until they are fluent. These simple three-word sentences can be modified and expanded to include various verbs, pronouns, and tenses. (e.g. You are sick. I am sick. They are sick.)
This strategy can also be used while increasing the length of phrases and emphasizing the different meanings (e.g. Get out of bed. Get out of bed. Get out of bed now. ) Teachers can also practice fluency with common phrases that frequently occur in text. Prepositional phrases are good syntactic structures for this type of work (e.g. on the _____, in the _____, over the ________etc.).
Teachers can pair these printed phrases to oral intonational patterns that include variations of rate, intensity, and pitch. Students can infer the intended meaning as the teacher presents different prosodic variations of a sentence. For example, when speakers want to stress a concept they often slow their rate of speech and may speak in a louder voice (e.g. Joshua, get-out-of-bed-NOW!). Often, the only text marker for this sentence will be the exclamation point (!) but the speaker's intent will affect the manner in which it is delivered. Practicing oral variations and then mapping the prosodic features onto the text will assist students in making the connection when reading.
This strategy can also be used to alert students to the prosodic features present in punctuation marks. In the early stages using the alphabet helps to focus a student on the punctuation marks without having to deal with meaning. The teacher models for the students and then has them practice the combinations using the correct intonational patterns to fit the punctuation mark (e.g., ABC. DE? FGH! IJKL? or ABCD! EFGHI? KL.)


Short phrases with familiar words can be introduced through chunking machines. A chunking machine is a tachistoscope that allows a student to pull the reformatted or chunked text through the window to increase speed of recognition. (See Figure 4 for an example of a chunking machine.)
Scooping
The incorporation of a multisensory component of scooping under syntactic chunks may benefit some students as they read at the text level, where the appropriate application of intonation and stress in conjunction with speed and accuracy are considered primary. The following is a suggested progression for repeated readings of a paragraph that incorporates systematic work at the phrase and sentence levels:
Developing Anticipatory Set
As noted above, in addition to repeated readings and other sorts of speeded practice, it has been suggested that fluency is enhanced by being able to anticipate what is to come in the text, which in turn enhances comprehension.

Summary

Effective reading comprehension requires not only accurate reading skills but also automatic and fluent reading ability. Many struggling readers have difficulty moving to a level of automaticity and fluency that allows them to easily comprehend what they are reading. We have discussed the underlying processes involved in developing fluent reading as well as suggested some techniques for improving fluency. Research in the area of developing accurate decoding has consistently indicated that a systematic code based approach is important for teaching beginning reading skills. The best techniques for developing fluency, however, have not yet been clearly established. The suggestions here are based on clinical experience and more systematic research is needed to determine which methods or their components will be the most efficient.
References
Adams, M.J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print. Cambridge, MA: MIT.
Chall, J. (1996). Learning to read: The great debate (Third Edition). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Chall, J. (1983). Stages of reading development. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Bell, N. (1997). Seeing stars. San Luis Obispo, CA: Gander Educational Publishing.
Clark-Edmands, S. (1998). Specialized program individualizing reading excellence (SPIRE). Kennebunk, ME: Progress Learning, Inc.
Fischer, P.E. (1994). Concept Phonics. Farmington, ME: Oxton House.
Frith, U. (1985). Beneath the surface of developmental dyslexia. In Paterson, K.E., Marshall, J.C. and Coltheart, M. (Eds.), Surface dyslexia: neuropsychological and cognitive studies of phonological reading. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Gillingham, A. and Stillman, B.W. (1997). Remedial training for children with specific disability in reading, spelling, and penmanship. Cambridge, MA: Educators Publishing Service.
Greene, J.F., and Woods, J.F. (1993). J and J language readers. Longmont, CO: Sopris West.
Lyon, G.R. (1995). Towards a definition of dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 45:3-27.
National Reading Panel (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. US Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH Pub. No. 00-4753.
Pearson, P.D. and Johnson, D.D. (1978). Teaching Reading Comprehension. New York: Holt, Rhinehart, and Winston.
Sanders, M. (2001). Understanding dyslexia and the reading process: A guide for educators and parents. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Snow, C.E., Burns, M.S., and Griffin, P. (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
Steere, A., Peck, C., and Kahn, L. (1988). Solving language difficulties. Cambridge, MA: Educators Publishing Service.
Raines, B.J. (1980). Alphabetic Phonics. Cambridge, MA: Educators Publishing Service.
Torgesen, J.K., Rashotte, C.A., and Alexander, A.W. (2001). Principles of fluency instruction in reading: Relationships with established empirical outcomes. In M. Wolf (Ed.), Dyslexia, fluency, and the brain. Timonium, MD: York Press.
Wood, F.B., Flowers, L., and Grigorenko, E. (2001). On the functional neuroanatomy of fluency or why walking is just as important to reading as talking is. In M. Wolf (Ed.), Dyslexia, fluency, and the brain. Timonium: York Press.
Additional Resources
Carreker, S. (1999). Teaching reading: Accurate decoding and fluency. In J.R. Birsh (Ed.), Multisensory teaching of basic language skills. Baltimore, MD: P.H. Brookes.
Honig, B., Diamond, L., and Gutlohn, L. (2000). Teaching reading: Sourcebook for kindergarten through eighth grade. Novato, CA: Arena Press.
Pamela E. Hook, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions, a graduate-level training program in speech-language pathology and reading. Her research interests include the relationship between oral and written language, auditory processing and nonverbal learning disabilities. She has been a consultant to schools, designing language arts curriculum, training teachers, and working with parents. She also designs computer software to teach phonemic awareness and reading skills.

Sandra D. Jones, Ph.D. is the Program Coordinator for the Hanson Initiative for Language and Literacy (HILL), a whole school model for professional development, research and educational outreach that is affiliated with the MGH Institute of Health Professions. She has conducted research in the areas of auditory, visual, and cognitive intervention strategies for dyslexic students. She has been a consultant to schools in the areas of literacy, learning disabilities, behavior management, technology, strategic planning and group facilitation techniques, and policy.

TW Sessions 2 and 3 and August Readings

TW Session 3
I really enjoyed the work we covered with Tim - all the pieces are starting to fit together.
For my practice this means identifying gaps and teaching to them -different in that the Inquiry Cycle involves deciding on a strategy, defining a time frame, Implementing the action and evaluating effectiveness. Alongside this is use of experts, research reading, collecting evidence and collegial/peer critique.

·         Sustaining Improvements on Student Achievement

·         Embedded process of inquiry

·         Experts within and outside school
·         Cycle  of Inquiry
·         Effectiveness of practice
·         Need to know what to do and what to stop doing
·         Identifying new challenges and how they will be acted on
·         Examination of data
·         Examine any improvements
·         Minimise other goals to focus on inquiry
·         Identification of specific student learning needs
·         Focus of middle management  to develop a wider pool of leaders to draw on
·         Interschool conferences
http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Leadership-development/Leadership-programmes/First-time-principals-modules/Module-2-Teaching-effectiveness
What it means to teach effectively
Style view –teachers  are assessed against the students achievement
-effective teachers measured against student achievement –teacher action against student achievement
1.Effective teachers display warmth.
2. Effective teachers are enthusiastic.
3. Effective teachers provide an overview at the start of teaching something new.
4. Effective teachers minimize the amount of time they are teaching
the whole class from the front (direct instruction).
5. Effective teachers facilitate the joint construction of knowledge through teacher-student and student-student conversations.
6. Effective teachers use teaching techniques and approaches that research has shown to be effective.
Flaws:

Outcomes approach
Flaws:

 

Inquiry Approach
Not only inquire but take action –collect and analyse data, Identifying possibilities for improvement
Improve outcomes –look at own practice-engagement,

Knowledge skills and attitudes
 Ideas from all sources
Fallibilities:
No absolute truths, hypotheses may fail, beliefs may be wrong.
http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-stories/Case-studies/Teachers-as-learners-Inquiry/Learning-stories/Story-4    Moana’s Story
Evidence from data
Related reading to writing
Focus on one genre only – narrative writing
Explicit and deliberate teaching, students equipped with tools needed.
Recording of student interviews
Portfolio assessments
Observations –video early and late in the intervention to monitor use of instructional strategies.
You’ve got to be able to step back and be less directive – give the students more autonomy. In some ways, I think it’s one of the harder things for experienced teachers to do!'
Sharing the asTTle data and talking about her own learning also helped:
'They knew it was part of our inquiry into our practice and we were learning along the way … The students could see I was creating a learning community.'
Support of Colleagues
'You’ve got to be able to step back and be less directive – give the students more autonomy. In some ways, I think it’s one of the harder things for experienced teachers to do!'

Sharing the asTTle data and talking about her own learning also helped:

'They knew it was part of our inquiry into our practice and we were learning along the way … The students could see I was creating a learning community.'

What questions does this story raise for you and your colleagues about:

·         the relationship between reading and writing?

·         how to transfer knowledge about effective pedagogical practice into your own teaching?

·         the concept of “effective pedagogy for all learners”?

·        the value of collaborative inquiry?

·         the value of sharing assessment data with students?

·         the importance of feedback and “feed forward”?

·         the deliberate use and combination of instructional strategies?

Jan Robertson’s 3R’s  for Coaching:

1. Reciprocity

2. Relationship
3. Reflection-on-reality
·         Communication and interpersonal skills are essential tools for working effectively with others
·         teacher pedagogy or educational leadership
·         effectiveness, to reach the students in the most challenging situations, reciprocal learning for teacher and learner, leader and follower, is essential. Where there is deep trust, there will also be a depth of reflection on the reality of the learning context.
·         listen to their colleagues articulate and justify certain elements of their pedagogy and practice: “What do you do and why do you believe it is important? What impact does it have on students’ achievement in your class or school?

Reflective Questioning
Effective frameworks for asking questions that challenge and enable others to reflect in depth on practice are important. Good coaches are aware of the types of questions they are asking, they are able to analyse their questions, and they ask questions that delve down to the level of philosophies, values and beliefs about the leadership of learning.

Self-assessment

A most important skill of coaching is creating opportunities and designing the conditions for self-assessment. Often in teacher appraisal, as well as in student learning, it is ‘others’ who give feedback and assessment with little involvement of the learner in the self-assessment process. Much of the interaction in education is typified by someone telling another what to do, and how to do it, and then telling them how well (or not) they have done it and what they should do.

Goal-setting

Goal-setting is an important part of coaching and learning relationships as new learning is about the creation of new knowledge and new ways of being. The coach as learning partner can input into this process with ideas, expertise and suggestions. Important, however, is the timing of input in this process to keep the responsibility and ownership for the learning in the learner’s control. The learner then sets the priorities and establishes a timeframe and commitment to the goals set.

The hardest aspect of teacher development for most educators is being able to give and receive constructive evaluative feedback. This is most often because they have not had the opportunity to learn effective skills. If they follow this process above, and use the coaching skills outlined, they will find partners not only taking responsibility for their own practice but also ownership for the improvement of their work.

Developing a coaching culture– “the way things are done around here”

Coaching, therefore, is not something that you do for one hour twice a year at review and development time or even once a month. Coaching can be the way you enter relationships – teaching, learning, and leadership relationships - and a particular organisational culture can develop when such peer-assisted support and development is prevalent in the learning practices of educators and students.

Inquiry – the learning community is committed to researching their practice and seeking information from each other. Teachers problematising their practice. They ask each other questions about challenges they are facing and encounter in their practice. They problem pose. They proactively search for continual improvement. They ask questions such as
■ a. “What would happen if we tried …”
■ b. “What might we do differently?”
■ c. “Does anyone know any research that might guide us?”
■ d. “Which students are not achieving as well as others? Why not?”
■ e. “Has anyone tried anything similar to this with their students?”
■ f. “What is the data/evidence telling us?”
Through this process, teachers create and share new knowledge together as part of their daily work.
You would see students supporting each other in their learning in the same ways, and encouraged
by their coaching partners’ reflective questioning techniques to develop critical perspectives about their work.
Risk-taking and challenge – supportive coaching environments are not soft and woolly – far from it! In strong cultures built on networks of relational trust, educators set very high standards and expectations for their own professional behaviour and that of others.
Here members of the learning community try new ideas and share their successes and ideas with each other as part of their learning journey. They are open to new ideas and open to thinking about new ways of working and being. They exhibit risk-taking and experimentation But it will be in a cycle of reflection-on-reality. Their actions are informed by past experiences and decision-making, and the extent to which these new actions achieved the intended outcomes is subject to their own scrutiny and that of their peers. The challenge part of coaching provides the opportunities and structures to move people beyond self, across boundaries, sometimes beyond their comfort zones, to enable different perspectives and methodologies to confront existing ways of knowing. These outside perspectives, the observation of others and new ideas, enables further reflection, examination of one’s own work, and the justification of, or the subsequent change of one’s existing practice in the light of this reflection.
Responsibility and trust -from trustworthy, authentic leadership practice within the learning relationships.
Shared learning -when people enter the learning relationship as partners.
Support
Building capacity -Building capacity – in oneself, others and the organisation. Intellectual capacity building is not enough – and social, cultural, emotional and spiritual capital
Quality -% for all
Innovation and improvement -Students are creative in their approaches to their work – and their coaching partners, (their teachers), value different ways of understanding and achieving results.
Critical reflection, thinking, and awareness -this requires outside perspectives and feedback through coaching relationships. In these relationship-rich communities, time is prioritised for critical reflection focusing on policies, values, beliefs and principles.
Belief – in oneself, in others, and in possibilities. Self-efficacy and self-confidence is one of the most powerful determiners of one’s ability to learn and to feel that one can make a positive difference in his or her work and life.
Coaching partnerships, is much more than a one hour session here and there within an organisation. It can influence the whole learning culture of an organisation.

Tim White Session 2

·         Sustaining Improvements on Student Achievement

·         Embedded process of inquiry

·         Experts within and outside school

·         Cycle  of Inquiry

·         Effectiveness of practice

·         Need to know what to do and what to stop doing

·         Identifying new challenges and how they will be acted on

·         Examination of data

·         Examine any improvements

·         Minimise other goals to focus on inquiry
·         Identification of specific student learning needs
·         Focus of middle management  to develop a wider pool of leaders to draw on
·         Interschool conferences

http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Leadership-development/Leadership-programmes/First-time-principals-modules/Module-2-Teaching-effectiveness

What it means to teach effectively

Style view –teachers  are assessed against the students achievement

-effective teachers measured against student achievement –teacher action against student achievement

1. Teacher characteristics – warm  etc. 2. Techniques  3. Approaches 4. Minimise time they spend whole class teaching.

Outcomes view

Inquiry framework –most coherent

 

http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-stories/Case-studies/Teachers-as-learners-Inquiry/Learning-stories/Story-4