Anita's Teaching as Inquiry Blog

 Collecting Data on what learning connections are being made? my question is how is the learning process  Split digraph a-e and ng Split digraph a-e, ee and ss Split digraph i-e and ea Student Voice: We are building our knowledge by practising our split digraph. Learners are taking action, referring to the Learning Process, and identifying the thinking skill. In this case 'Practise' to continue their learning. Taking agency to know their gaps and work on them.  Learners feeling proud of their learning when taking action to practise.  When looking at this qualitative data, I can see that the phonics we cover is transferring in most learners' writing. The noticing and reflection of this are when some learners might be writing with a different teacher and phonics are covered in reading with another teacher, can the explicit connections be made? 

  Our recent communication on our  Knowledge Builders | Tupu Mātauranga cards shares how parents can use these cards at home. Taking this a step further by engaging our whānau with the learning at school enables our whānau to feel empowered with how to use the cards. I am using these cards during reading and writing times, to provide ore practise for learners to read and spell these sight words. Learners can use these games and activities at home with their whānau. 

  Research Read a great article recently "The importance of Teaching and Learning in the Classroom" 2021 Some things really resonated with me. The 'Tools for transforming themselves and their world" When I think about the learning process and how it helps our learners, it is about providing tools and and a vehicle to drive learning. The next paragraphs explain that if learners are to experience success we need to consistently be reflective about what is going to help student learn best. What is going to help our learners connect to the knowledge, teach them how to think and reduce barriers to learn new knowledge.  Learning Principles “Good students are those who  learn . Whatever their preconceptions, barriers or deficits—whatever their story—they take new information and new experiences, and to the best of their ability, make them tools for transforming themselves and their world. And at last I’ve learned that a good teacher is someone who can recognize and connect ...

Feeling refreshed and revived and ready for and new Term. Our Hub Inquiry last over the last two terms has lead to a collaborative effort to Notice - Recognise and Respond.  We have been fortunate to be fluid with our groupings. Responding to Covid times has meant that we have been more isolating to one group for all our learning areas. This term we are changing it up.  Our Writing and Maths groups are with our Guardian groups, mixed ability groupings allowing us to do buddy learning, small group, whole group a range of fluidness to meet the needs of our learners.  Our reading groups are more based on ability but allowing us to be collaborative between groups. Our Concept and Breakthrough learning is with a range of mixed learners based on learners needs and interests. I am feeling as though a weight is lifted off my shoulders and I am feeling free in my learning design to be deliberate and cause learning.  Bring in the Learning process!  To help our learners ma...

Holiday Time has arrived. Our mid year data across the Y1/2 cohort showed that we needed to target more of our learners to meet the national writing standards.  To cater for this need I created a 'writing ideas for home' slide to support whanāu who would like more support with how to help their child at home. Parent feedback is asking for suggestions, easy take aways and tips that can help at home. 

The Learning Process helps us to engage and think in our learning  We use the thinking skills to identify what we are doing to learn. Learners can talk about how they use the learning process in Writing. In summary, they comment that we use our senses to sound out the tricky words. We use 'what we know',  'notice' using the letter sound cards around us and word banks It helps us in reading when we are stuck in the Learning pit with those tricky words.  We explain how the thinking skills have helped us in writing. When I ask learners how the learning process helps you in your learning they refer to the three rocks. They have a good understanding of building knowledge. My goal is for learners to understand that the nature of working in the learning process is very fluid and not stationary in one rock. By making the learning process interactive, learners have a grater understanding of the transferability when using the learning process.   

  See Video of teaching practise using the Learning Process By ensuring deliberateness of teaching the Learning Process it will give learners access to know what to do when they are writing. When I ask my target learners what they find hard about writing the majority to say 'what to write', 'how to write the words' and 'what words to use.' I am noticing that learners sometimes use word cards to help them spell a word, but don't know that the Learning process can help them. Learners don't know which learning rock they are working in or what thinking skill they are using.  Over the last term I have created the visuals of the learning process to be more visible. I am explicitly using the Learning Process in writing especially (see the video that shows this).  My next step in my Inquiry is to continue this deliberateness when using the Thinking skills. By making the thinking skills visual will help learners to know how to access them and use them when they a...

  I've had a massive reflect. After reading the BES (Best Evidence Synthesis) The Complexity of Community and Family Influences on Children's Achievement in New Zealand June 2003. There were a number of finding that were relevant for my Inquiry.  These are that: • Most parents want their children to succeed educationally and are prepared to help in any way they can. Many want their children to have a better chance than they themselves had. Limited facility in English is not an insurmountable obstacle. • The traditional view held by many Pasifika parents (particularly migrant Pasifika parents), that the teacher is the ‘expert’ seems to be changing. There is growing recognition that both school and family have joint responsibility for children’s education. • The process of partnership building should add to family practices, not undermine them. • Connections and partnership building can be initiated by teachers ‘reaching out’ to parents. It can result in teachers ...

Writing related to the Term 1 Concept of Well being From drafted to publised writing. Where learners are seeing the purpose and process of writing. The opportunity here to share this writing further with our Whānau for them to know where their child is at in their writing and what they could continue to support them with.  Some noticings are that learners are becoming more determined to write the sounds they can hear, knowledge of letter recognition and sounds are continued to be worked on.  The baseline data shows there are some gaps in knowledge of letter sounds and recognition. Which is a good to see where our gaps are in their phonological knowledge.  In School Talk we are a gap analysis shows there is a morning learning to do in all areas Deeper Features and Surface Features in writing.  DData and photo evidence is highlighting the opportunities and the content we can share with our whānau.

  "Although we are already in an undulating teaching and learning phase. I believe that keeping in communication with our whānau is going to continue to strengthen partnerships between home and school".  Anita Unka 2022 My area of focus is to strengthen whānau engagement so that parents and teachers have a shared responsibility to help their children learn and meet educational goals.  Last year was an interrupted year for our all teachers and learners.  It was a disruption of routine, emotions and our teaching and learning momentium. Connecting with whānau has moved from face to face to virtual connecting. The nature of the connecting has being more of an emphasis on the child's wellbeing, verses student achievement.  I don't want to loose momentium with my writing flexi connects this year. As I felt we were able to connect with families to share their child's progress of their writing. The conversation have been student led with the support of the teacher....