Teaching Strategies With High Impact

One part of our teacher only day today was looking at the high impact teaching strategies and how these can be embedded within our classrooms. There are 10 HITS which are the dark blue puzzle pieces below. HITS are instructional practices that have been proven to increase student learning when they are applied. The numbers I have written are the effect size of the strategy - it was not surprising that multiple exposures and feedback had the highest effect sizes! Our jigsaw activity was to individually learn about and reflect on one strategy and then share back with our group. 

I was given Setting Goals, as below. We were required to think about what the strategy was, how it is already included within teaching and learning and then specifically link with the school's pedagogical framework. I enjoyed this task because it really encouraged me to think in detail about whether that strategy is a) already within learning programmes, b) how effectively the strategy is included in programmes and c) where there could be greater inclusion. To help determine these three things we also had to consider where the faculty is currently sitting along the progress continuum for the use of the strategy (emerging, evolving, embedding or excelling). Having the group discussion about each of the strategies indicated that although all the strategies are currently employed within the HPE department (some subconsciously), some are more common than others (which also changed across teachers). Moving forward therefore, there needs to be more conscious inclusion of the HITS across the board - i.e. actively planning to use the practices. I really liked having the continuum to refer to, because this made it quite clear what level we were. I like when things are this clear, to help determine what the next steps are to continue the progression.

If you would like to learn more about the HITS, this website breaks them down for a quick read. The Victorian Department for Education has explained the 10 HITS in greater detail with examples to demonstrate how they can be included in teaching and learning (this was also what we were referring to for our jigsaw activity and discussion).

Microplastics: The Tiny Menace That's Adding Up

To build on our learning and reflections from the Attenborough doco, we had Michelle from AUSMAP visit our OUED class for a presentation about microplastics. Michelle shared what some of the microplastics in Australian waterways are, some of the places these microplastics come from and the impact they are having on our environments and wildlife. The stats and images from our shores made the reality hit a little harder for the students and gave some the spark to make a difference. 

Following from Michelle's presentation, we headed to Tiranna Reserve at West Lakes. West Lakes has been proven to have a significant amount of microplastics compared to other waterways (some of the highest numbers in the country). Check out the hotspot map AUSMAP have created to show the data they have collected so far. Our job at Tiranna Reserve was obviously to remove some microplastics, but also to collect further data.

In addition to this experience, recently our faculty has been learning about key numeracy terms and topics. The aim of this learning is to increase numeracy across the school and the HPE teachers were given the task to create at least one lesson with a numeracy focus. I decided that there were so many opportunites for connections with numeracy vocabulary and skills throughout the learning and microplastics experience. Many of these connections were natural, I just hadn't been using the correct/consistent vocab! Check out my lesson plan below:

As an addition to our lesson plan, we were given a 360 degree camera to film (I ended up with 6 clips as the camera saves them as 8 minute files). A local uni is analysing our lesson plan, video and reflection from our lessons (see my reflection below). Unfortunately this process is continuing into next year so I won't get to see the results. However, watching myself back is always interesting. Several years ago I filmed myself and refelcted on the lesson. I remember being so surprised how much I missed in the moment of the lesson! Some thoughts after watching my recording back from last week:

- When kids share their ideas in a group discussion, I repeat back what they say and then add a little further information. I didn't realise how often I did this and I think it was actually useful for students! 

- I used a lot of jargon throughout the lesson. Jargon that was relevant to our excursion and our unit of learning, but there were also several numeracy terms. I made assumptions that the students would know what all of these terms are, but I should have spent a minute or two checking in with them they they understood the terms/jargon. I did this partway through the lesson but not at the beginning, so I must have reflected on this subconciously!

- I quite liked the presence that I had in the class. I was always nearby if the kids had any queries and I could overhear the conversations they were having. I knew I paced a lot, but I actually think it was a good thing. Hopefully the presence is the same in a larger class!

- There were a few moments when I said "I'm not sure about that sorry" or "I don't know the answer to that". I like how I was clearly open to learning with, alongside and from the students. We don't know everything, and the kids certainly highlighted this!

- Their results for their estimations were all so different. I knew this in the moment (and reflected below), but I definitely should have chatted with a Maths teacher prior to the lesson so their results were closer. 

The trip to the beach was incredibly eye opening as the students found so many bits of plastic (macro and micro). The discussions they had while sifting through the sand were great to listen to because there was true amazement with what they were finding. I'm glad that we managed to include this experience for the students this semester, because informal chats with the students have indicate they feel they've learnt quite a bit about our environment. I also became more confident with my trip planning and inclusion of numeracy terminology and skills. Unfortunately this whole process was incredibly time consuming, so I will need to think about how I can realistically learn and embed more numeracy within my teaching (without having to invest a tonne of time that I don't really have!).

 

Fatality Prevention: Grim But Necessary

Today I went to an OEASA workshop called Preventing Fatalities in Nature Based Outdoor Activities. Yes, it was as morbid as it reads. I knew when I signed up that it was going to be quite a confronting day and really challenging emotionally. But I also knew that conversations around preparing for the possibility of deaths are important! 

We had some pre reading to complete before the workshop - one paper covering 4 cases that have occured for whole group discussion this arvo and one case that was specifically designated to me to share with the group. I really enjoyed having this prep time beforehand, as it gave me time to process some of the information, reflect on the scenarios and how I would have responded in them and also complete some further research about what could have been done to prevent/reduce the possibility of the tragedies. I also felt like I was back at uni, which I loved because I love learning!

The key things I took away from the pre-reading were;
- Competitiveness can have significant impacts on young people's choices and ultimately their safety. The word 'challenge' therefore, should be used carefully!
- "Adolescents tend to wrongly assume something is safe if they try it and experience no adverse consequence" (Reyna & Farley, 2006). We know that assuming generally has it's own consequences...
- There shouldn't need to be a near miss or incidents to occur for people to act on it/prepare for the possibility of something occuring. This shows the importance of having discussions about a variety of scenarios that could occur, no matter how low the likelihood is.
- Prepare for the worst case scenario in any setting - and prepare the students for this too. They need to understand that the teachers/facilitators/instructors are vulnerable in the outdoors too, so at some point they need to be the 'leader'!

A large section of the day was sharing the narrative of the case we were given, and then discussing how the fatality could have been prevented. In all of the cases, something could have been done. Majority of the cases were water based - mostly drownings. Many of them were also based in New Zealand, which made me super uncomfortable (but I had an early colleage, Adam, in my mind saying 'be comfortable with the uncomfortable!'). I found the discussions with the group incredibly valuable too though, because people were able to see things from different perspectives as well as share their own experiences. 

My case was about a young boy who drowned only a few metres away from the edge of a lake with his peers and teachers closeby. Truly devastating. Unfortunately there were several steps that could have been taken to prevent (or at least significantly reduce) this fatality from occuring; more active supervision, education for the students, flotation aids available, greater knowledge about the depth and colour of the water, aquatic knowledge and skills taught, risk managament discussion and plans for this swim (this was not an aquatics camp or a planned activity), confidence and competence checks of students in, near and around water and more efficient procedures in first aid scenarios (such as faster contact with emergency services). See below the quick drawing I created while I was explaining the case with the group (it's a bit messy, but I find visuals to give more context! The x's represent people, and there were others that I did not include). Honestly, it was gobsmacking to read and gut-wrenching to recount.

Throughout the day we had a lot of great discussion - it was so eye opening for me. There were parts of some of the scenarios that I thought 'how on Earth could you make that dedcision', but then other times I was left thinking 'I actually could have been in that position'. I feel like I will certainly be a lot more aware of fatality prevention and will certainly include this in my prep with students too. Here are a few things I was left thinking more about:
- Just because you have safety considerations, does not mean that you have fatality preventions. RAMS often consider low to medium level possibilities, but I don't think I have actually ever seen one that specific considers the possibility of a death.
- If there is an incident or tragedy - what measures could have been put in place to prevent this? (Note this can be any situation, not a personal one!)
- Many of the scenarios discussed today were the 'same story with different actors' - so they could have been prevented.
- "Experience is an unreliable guide to fatality prevention." Assume you know nothing.
- The use of real case/scenario based learning in class is helpful to prepare students for the possibility they find themselves in that situation. This rang particularly true with the fatality case of a student passing from anaphylaxis and another student wasn't sure if they could use an Epipen on them.

If you are wanting to learn more, check out this paper by Andrew Brookes, who was our workshop faciltator today. With regard to safety, you can never learn too much!

Marking and Moderation - Should Come Hand in Hand

Having a Senior class is a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. If a teacher has never taught an NCEA or SACE class, they often cannot comprehend the hours that go into giving feedback and marking assignments. To give detailed feedback and have 1:1 meetings with the kids on top of general teaching and learning takes a lot of time, energy and effort. Thankfully I actually enjoy this part of my role (I just wish it didn't send me to bed late or force me to get up at stupid o'clock sometimes). 

One of the pieces of feedback that I received last semester (and continue to receive) is that I "mark too harshly". This is something I take really seriously, because I genuinely try my best to mark directly against the marking criteria, to leave justified feedback to support my grades and I compare my grades and justifications against exemplars. The final stage, which I always find valuable, is the moderation process. Throughout the year Cass (the other Y12 teacher) and I have met several times to moderate each other's classes. We would send 3-4 assignments from our classes to each other, mark them independently and then have a chat together with what grade we gave and why. I like the rich discussion that we have and how this can encourage us to read/view things from another perspective, or to see the variety of examples or pieces of evidence that can be used in support of different criteria.

Because final SACE grades are due to be submitted in a couple of weeks, Cass and I were released from our afternoon classes to spend a few hours together this afternoon. It was interesting that we agreed on a majority of grades but there was one specific criterion which we viewed vastly differently. What I thought evidence for this criterion may look like differed quite a bit from Cass. This meant that our expectations differed and so did our grades. Surprisingly though, it wasn't like Cass gave A's and for the same I gave C's - they varied a lot. We asked for feedback from another Health teacher in another school, to eliminate the possibility of bias of the students and they were also blind to which grades Cass and I gave. She came back basically with a mixture of thoughts of what Cass and I had discussed! So, we could reevaluate and slightly alter our feedback and justifications, and change grades if needed. This really highlighted the importance of moderating - something that needs to happen more often, in my opinion.

I have created the alongside with some of the many positive reasons for moderating. While creating the infographic, I referred to this resource, which has a lot more information about why we should moderate and what should be moderated. 

We Need To Protect Our Planet

We have recently started our Ecology unit in Outdoor Ed. Some of the key topics include ecosystems, food chains and microplastics in our oceans. Soon we will be having a presentation from AUSMAP and then a trip to the beach to remove some microplastics (I plan to blog about this later). So far, most of the students actually seem to be quite interested in the conversations we have been having which is a great start!

To begin, we had several discussions around what ecosystems are and why it is important we understand biodiversity. To give a bigger scale and more real-life contexts, we watched David Attenborough's A Life on Our Planet documentary. I watched this with my OUED class last semester near the end of our unit but realised it would fit well at the beginning! If you haven't watched it yet, head to Netflix ASAP because it is truly eye opening.

Throughout the doco it moves through time, from the past through to the future. As time passes stats are shown on the screen: human population goes up and wildlife goes down. Check out my quick graph I created of the stats up until 2020 alongside. This visual encouraged great discussion and students started to ask a variety of questions we could research together.

I planned a few questions to promote discussion;
- What do these stats suggest/show?
- How do these stats make you feel?
- Why do you feel this way?
- What are the impacts happening and why are these an issue?
- How are we contributing to these impacts?

(Sidenote: Preplanning questions is a great way in any class or topic to help you to guide discussion. Of course they can be ignored if there is great chat already, but it helps to reduce tangents and actually go back to the learning intention of the lesson).

The most important part of our discussion I think, was our brainstorms around what we can do to reduce these impacts individually as well as globally. Please note this obviously isn't an exhaustive list, but a great place to begin! The kids were surprised how much of a difference turning lights off as we leave a room or not having the tap running while we brush our teeth can make.