Do I Have The Tools For Learning?

Fortnightly our PLGs meet. To further understand Ako Orewa and how to implement into my practice, I chose to be involved in the PLG which is breaking down the 'tools for learning'. We have discussed how these tools are discussion starters to have with students, and the aim is to increase learner agency. My plan is to get my head around the tools, begin to think about how I can use the tools in my lessons and then hit the ground running next year, possibly next year's inquiry.

I feel these tools are great stepping stones to decrease the teacher being in control and increase student ability to self manage their learning. In the future I would love to give students the ability to design their own courses and how they will assess their learning! I think a major affordance of using these tools within the classroom will mean that the students have greater 1:1 time with the teacher, and there will be much less time spent on managing behaviour

Last week we focused on the orange tool. Our task was to design a swimming pool in small groups, but before doing so, we broke down the time required to complete the task and the resources we needed. Leanne and Bev (the facilitators of our PLG) then walked around the room and asked the groups key questions related to the tool such as "How are you going for time?" and "What resources do you think you could have used if you had more time?" As the student in the situation, I became more aware of how much I needed to do, and when I needed to do it by. I was held accountable for my task as others relied on me and the teacher asked lots of questions during the design process. We debriefed the activity by then thinking about what to do next and reflecting on how we used our time - which then started to link into the blue tool! 

I walked away from this session with greater understanding of how to include this tool within my classroom, and I am looking forward to experimenting with the others too. Below are the Slides Leanne created and talked us through last week, about how she has implemented the tools in her own practice so far.