Keeping Up with Mrs Faalili

My teaching inquiry: What changes can I make in my practice to make sure that my learners DEEPEN THEIR UNDERSTANDINGS OF KEY CONCEPTS AND IDEAS while being CHALLENGED TO LEARN, CREATE AND SHARE CONFIDENTLY AND CONSISTENTLY We're in 2nd week back, post lock down and it feels....different. Class numbers are still a bit low (at least 8-10 learners still not here) and we're trying new things. Planning this week for Samoan Language Week - using the resource created (working doc) integrating Math, Literacy, Art & Sport. It's Tuesday and thinking about the Resource, the one thing that is missing is the explicit connections between the LEARNING & ACTIVITIES.   I've got the understanding and thinking in my head and what it is , but it doesn't make it an effective resource.  So, thinking forward into the next few weeks left of the term, Room 9 will be learning about MATARIKI (teacher driven) and Animals (student voice) while doing lots of art (student voice). Still...

As identified in my previous post ( Blog post #5 - describing my process for developing my hypothesis ), my hypothesis were: IF I provide real life, hands on, authentic learning experiences, THEN my students will have rich ideas to write about. IF I see my target students 3 times a week for focussed sessions (deeper features for writing) THEN I can provide them with specific, structured sessions that will allow me to give relevant and timely feedback/feedforward. IF I teach my students at Level 3 of the curriculum THEN we are working faster to bridge the gap in their learning. IF my planning shows integration, THEN my students will be working across the curriculum, thus providing them with more opportunities to consolidate new learning. IF I choose specific features of writing to focus on for the week e.g. vocabulary, THEN this will allow them to see the progress/next steps of their learning in writing. The hypotheses about teaching that I decided were MOST worth testing have been high...

Throughout the course of the year (term 1, home learning, current) I've had many conversations with our Senior Leadership Team around what would best help our school and teachers. These conversations together with data analysis, talanoa with my fellow colleague and CoL teacher, Christine and teaching practice has shown me that there is a need to focus on making a change in my teaching practice to help shift student achievement in writing. To develop my hypothesis I used Aaron's 'What is a hypothesis?' to help me get in the right head space and to clarify my thinking about my inquiry. The 'If...then' formula shared on this slide helped me to identify the following as my hypothesis. IF I provide real life, hands on, authentic learning experiences, THEN my students will have rich ideas to write about. IF I see my target students 3 times a week for focussed sessions (deeper features for writing) THEN I can provide them with specific, structured sessions that will a...

Poto Faalili 2020-05-04 @ 1:50pm uploaded Christine Tupou 2020-04-04 @4;30pm uploaded What did this observation really make me think about in my own teaching practice? Pace  - I am going WAY too fast for my learners! This is why I am ALWAYS having to repeat myself numerous times to the same kids (Layarnah, Lance, Marcus, Faiva). After watching Christine's video and the time that she spends explaining expectations and work is a timely reminder that I NEED TO SLOW DOWN! Each of my calls have at least 10+ learners so need to re-establish expectations around muting and cameras. Questions  - Are my questions specific enough for my students to be able to think about specific learning task/activity? I'm not sure. I do know that I need to change the types of questions for different students. When asking Drevyn questions, before he leaves the call, rather than asking him 'Do you know what to do?' and get the typical answer 'yes', even though it may not be a yes, asking h...

Self reflection - Template: Shout to the Stars Celebratory Framework   - Visible to journal Edit  |  Delete Description I want to celebrate the power of my screencasts and the impact it has on my learners Significance I am using screencasts more now than ever - and each week the purpose of screencasts has improved. Initially, it was more instruction based, which some still are, making a move towards using it to model learning. The goal this week was to use it to help teach and scaffold my learners in a piece of writing. Learning What is it that I have learnt by achieving this? That my instructions and what I choose to say must give the message clear to my learners What is it I am learning about myself, my teaching practice, and my students, and my colleagues? That my questions and the way I explain the learning through screen cast need to be done in a way that ALL my learners are able to understand. In this home learning situation that we're in, that my learners can still...