Keeping Up with Mrs Faalili

The domino effect  A causal chain is like the domino effect, if I make one change then I hope the rest will follow, you push the first domino over and the rest just topple down afterwards The focus of my inquiry is  How can I support my Year 8 students transition into Year 9 and achieve success? What changes in my teaching practice are going to lead to this change  Professional readings and research Collecting & analysing data - Observing what is currently happening in our setting that supports the transition for our Year 8 learners Observing Year 9 habits and movements Student Voice - worries and concerns for our Year 8s heading into Year 9, tips and advice from Year 9s for our Year 8s End of Year data for current year 9s. This will be compared to this year's end of year data. Use the comparative data to identify patterns and students who achieved accelerated progress.  Start the conversations of high school now! Don't wait for term 4.  Be proactive in Y...

  Finding your voice in a digital world Core Education blog post - Kit Haynes; Head of English Kelston Boys High School The power of talanoa. This reading is another one that supports what I know and believe to be powerful and effective in teaching, when done right. After sitting through a range of video calls with students this morning, popping in and engaging with what was happening in their class, with the goal to stay connected and support, I couldn't help but think 'Dang, I wish I had my own class because I'd be doing it way differently'. This has led to me write this reflection because I know at a point last year, I came to the conclusion that I spoke too much during our class calls. Way too much. And at that point I had to make a change, allowing students to share more, talk more. The bit that got me was the 'just mute your microphone' as kids are coming in phrase. So damn true. Even sitting here, now, a year later and still saying that in calls is off pu...

The causal chain - What is it?  A causal chain is when a cause leads to an effect and that effect becomes the cause of another effect A leads to B. B leads to C. C leads to D. Any intervention you design will (consciously or not) be based on a causal chain you have in mind - this is your theory of action. The image below highlights the causal chain to show flow for my Year 7/8 Inquiry Group - The Hiss Hass Hoos Boys. One thing that I haven't mentioned on my causal chain is address the issue of a group of them always late. I timetabled the group so that I see them first thing in the morning. This, I hope will encourage them to be at school on time, ready for learning. Milo with Mrs Faalili is also on the menu - breakfast club 8:30am as another way to build relationships with the group. 

Identifying a target group to work with this year, more than other years was quite tricky. Because I don't have my own classroom this year, I have the lucky opportunity to work with students across our whole school and therefore am able to pick and identify students from Y0-Y8. This year, my target group identified are a group of 5 Pasifika Year 7/8 Boys who are all learning below/well below their expected year group in all Reading, Writing and Maths.  The collection of data (assessments, student voice, teacher observations, my own observations) lead me to find the following trends:  Punctuality - Ready for learning These boys were in no rush to get to school. They were often late (3-4 a week), sometimes rolling up to school after 9:30am. 'Slept in' was the most common reason for coming late.This made me wonder 'why there was no sense of urgency to get to school', 'what is happening in class/school for them that isn't motivating them to come' followed by...

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...

Reflection on 2019 CoL What worked well for me? Having another CoL teacher to work alongside with at school - sharing similar inquiries. It allowed for structured and focused conversations  Using relevant data to make informed decisions about selecting target students to work with, forming hypotheses and discussing these with fellow CoL colleague and team ALL intervention (focussed strategies and sessions, whanau engagement, student voice) Challenges Consistency & Time - ensuring that ALL group was being seen 4 times a week, consistency in reflecting and refining my inquiry Not dedicating enough time Prof. Readings that supported my inquiry Trying to play catch up at the start of the year (missed the first 1 or 2 CoL meetings as I only applied for this early in the school year 2019) Identifying the what and why there was a mismatch in student assessments (PAT, PROBE, Student output in class)  Additional Support I'd like Seeking support from a...

Evaluation 1. Summarise evidence about key changes in teaching and other factors that influence student learning. This year has been a great journey. Some wins and some losses but it's been great learning for my students but also for me, as a teacher. The use of ALL strategies has been pivotal in the progress that my learners have made. With the targeted group of 6 boys, I listened to what they had to say about reading - how they felt about reading, what makes reading enjoyable, what makes reading hard and spent time really thinking about how I will implement their reading programme. Seeing them consistently throughout the week was always a challenge - and not all weeks I was able to see them 3-4 times, but from the get go - we were open, set goals and worked hard to try and achieve them. Biggest changes in my practise - *Acceleration rather than remediation. I had to know what Reading looked life for Year 5s and 6s in the Curriculum. * Using ALL strategies; brain storm...

A review of my intervention. I've had to remind my self that my intervention is the work I'm currently doing with my Target Group/ALL Group. This intervention (ALL),  when reflecting and preparing for the week ahead looks like this: 1. Looking at the needs of my learners  - Analysing student output, discussion, ideas and participation from the week.  - Evaluating what needs to be taught (stick with same Learning Intention or change). Student voice collected at certain points within the term to encourage student driven learning.  - Once the teaching goals for the week has been decided, I unpack how my students are going to be able to achieve their learning goal specific to a reading strategy (comprehension). Because my intervention (ALL group) is a group of Y5 & 6 boys who are working just below their expected level, I am always trying to think of creative, hands on ways to introduce new concepts and keep them engaged.  - Plan and use the ALL ...

Gathering some base line data and actually getting into the classrooms today to see amazing reading lessons across our school today. - Looking at independent reading activities - Supporting learning activities for reading - Guided sessions - Collecting Student voice     Some takeaways and questions 1. How are we supporting the teaching and learning of decoding & comprehension strategies? 2. How confident are we at teaching decoding & comprehension strategies?  3. Do our learners understand the what, how and why of learning?  4. How do we support our teachers to be able to teach decoding & comprehension strategies? 

Talofa  Lava! My inquiry this year as a CoL Within School Leader is how can I change my practice to lift achievement for Reading for all students, with a particular focus on boys and Maori students (both genders). I'm extremely excited to be able to delve into my practice this year and really look at how I can raise student achievement in Reading. Come on this journey with me. Malo Lava, Poto