Navigating An Unexpected Numeracy Challenge

As I anticipated at the start of this 7 week contract, teaching Maths was challenging. I always felt like I was half a step ahead of some students, on par with other students and even behind some! I hadn't learnt about or practiced multiplying fractions and exponents for probably 13 years, so felt incredibly rusty. I was lucky to have a PE teacher in my office that also taught 8Maths to help me out though. I would've really struggled without him!

I was asked to complete a mini inquiry/professional development plan for the time I was at Plympton. My HOD and her PLG had developed a vocab 'test' for students as part of their PDPs. The purpose of this was for students to demonstrate the key terms/language they understood at the beginning of a unit, identify areas of development (between the teacher and the student) and then complete a post test at the end (to hopefully see progression!). I thought that this could be a great little tool for me and my Maths students. I liked that this would help students to self-identify their next steps and help me to plan for differentiation. See below the table that I gave students 6 weeks ago and again this week.

After the students did all they could on the pretest of the vocab, we went through some of the possible answers for each box as a class. Anything they'd left blank or were incorrect I asked them to add a correct answer in a different colour. This then became their study guide for the next 6 weeks (during class time and at home). The kids could refer to this when they were studying at home or when they were learning/completing practice questions at school. In hindsight I should have come up with a way to make this digital or actually given them glue to stick their now study guides into their books because unfortunately throughout the unit a lot of kids lost them! Nevertheless, there were still many who referred to the guide throughout the term.

Majority of students struggled to make real life connections during the pretest. They struggled to see the connection between the terms and how they can apply them into the world around them. As a result, I made sure throughout my lessons to include a variety of scenarios that applied the terms. We had vineyards, stores, school systems, stationary, orchards, birthday parties and whatever else popped into my head while I overheard the kids chatting and while I was planning. I actually really enjoyed coming up with these scenarios because they helped me to recognise and explain how and why the terms are relevant day to day. I certainly empathise with the question "when am I going to use this in the real world?" So, I tried really hard to answer this question before the kids asked!

Earlier this week the students completed their 'posttest'. I was so proud how many of them took this seriously to see their own progress since I started with them 6+ weeks ago. Conversely, some unfortunately did not take this opportunity with open arms (many of who were also the students who'd lost their pretest). To be honest this process also demonstrated clearly to me the pressure the kids feel when they hear the word 'test'. I noticed several students this week decided that they would rather not try than get things 'wrong', even when this was just an indicator for their learning and the fear of grades was removed! There seriously needs to be a shift away from kids thinking grades make or break them. It was sad how many of them thought it was better to not try, than it was to find out where the gaps were in their learning. I hope in my next gig I can help to change this.

When they'd completed their posttest, I asked the students to complete this mini reflection (they also had completed a similar one at the beginning of the unit for me to compare to). It was interesting for me to see their progression (which I could also send to the teacher who I have replaced over the last 7 weeks), but of most interest was the comments they made. Check out alongside some of the responses the students gave to the question 'What has this process shown you and why?'

One skill I developed throughout this contract was my attempt to differentiate learning. I very quickly realised there was a major difference between the levels of understanding in my Maths class. I was genuinely surprised how far apart the top end were from the bottom end. Although it became time consuming, for most of my lessons I actually had 3 levels of tasks/activities. They all helped students to meet/work towards the learning intention of the lesson but were different levels of difficulty. I organised the physical class into 3 spaces; need 1:1 help with the teacher, feeling ok but need more practice and feeling confident and ready to be challenged. The kids were able to choose where they wanted to go and could move between the groups/spaces each lesson. I've had great feedback from the kids about this flexibility and choice between their activities, and I feel it helped many students to self-regulate, so it's definitely something I will keep in my teaching toolbox!

Overall, this gig has pushed me out of my comfort zone, but this opportunity to teach Maths has increased my confidence to try new things and attempt to include different levels of learning. Here's to the close of another chapter. I can't wait to be a reliever next term as a bit of a change of scene!

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. 

Grasping MYP Assessments

A couple of weeks ago I attended a Zoom session facilitated by the South Australia Middle Years Programme Coordinators Network. The session was based around the creation/development of conceptual assessment tasks in the the IB programme. As previously posted, I am on a significant learning journey at the moment, teaching within an IB framework. Over the last three weeks I have created three new assessment tasks, so this session was timely for me as I reflect on these recent tasks.

The biggest takeaway was the GRASPS acronym as shown below. This will help me to structure future assessment tasks that I create and also to relate specifically back to the key and related concepts. I am starting to understand these a lot more now and have been getting help around how to embed key and related concepts into units I develop, but still need to ensure these are included in assessment tasks. Finally, GRASPS will help with how to relate everything back to the statement of inquiry - also an area I need to develop further.

The second takeaway was related to the unit plan and how this can directly impact on the final assignment (side note - I am unsure why, but the words assessment and assignment seem to be used interchangeably!). The below points were new to me, but make a lot of sense. I've tried over the last few years to title units and develop units based around learning objectives, rather than topics. I particularly get frustrated when PE teachers name and refer to units purely based on sports! Sports may be the practical medium, but generally aren't the purpose of the unit! I now understand that unit titles as inquiry questions directly gives flexibility to explore the key and related concepts. These unit questions should be created in a way to hook learners and set them up to be involved in an exploratory inquiry! The presenters also suggested the questions are based off of real life events, to relate to global contexts too.

For the last 20 minutes of the session, we were grouped into our curriculum areas to have a discussion. I was grouped with two other teachers who were both from the same school. This breakout discussion made me realise 1) how much I have learnt over the last few months and 2) how much I love the inquiry based model MYP offers. These two teachers were involved in the session because their school is shifting to the MYP IB framework next year, so they were looking for ideas and greater understanding. I was proud that I could actually discuss, explain and use correct terminology for my experiences of what MYP IB looks like in action to date (particularly in a PE setting)!

I'm looking forward to being involved in more of these sessions and discussions, and also implementing these two major takeaways over the coming months.

Closing One Chapter, To Open The Next

Well, I've had a hiatus from teaching and blogging, but I'm excited to get the ball rolling again. I've moved over to Adelaide in South Australia, and next week I start part time teaching here. I'm looking forward to learning a new curriculum, and being back in the classroom! The New Zealand teaching journey is likely to continue in the future, but for now I need to get used to people pronouncing h as 'haych', and learn the rules of Australian footy! 

Closing the first 5 years, 2 schools and country of my career encouraged me to check out which posts had the most views. Although this blog is a place for me to store my reflections and an artefact for my teaching evidence, it's also for me to share, connect and learn with others. Therefore, I do like to follow the statistics behind how many people view my posts and where they view them from. According to my view count, these are my top 10 most read blogposts to date. I'm intrigued to see what the top posts from my Australian chapter will be!

1) Engaging Students From Afar!

2) We Like to Move it, Move it!

3) A Seesaw, A Wheelbarrow and An Arm

4) Co-Teaching Celebrations

5) Lockdown Learnings

6) A Day In The Life Of A Learner

7) Assessment - More Than A Test!

8) Student Opportunities To Respond

9) Keeping Up With The Teacher Load

10) Restoring Relationships Through Restorative Conversation

NCEA Review: My Thoughts

Biiiig changes are coming to our National Certificate of Educational Achievement (that link is to the new and developing NCEA), over the next few years. There is currently a review of our Senior assessments, with 7 changes, as identified in the below picture my colleague drew. Yesterday for our national Teacher Only Day we got a taster of the changes to come over the next three years. There are 5 major shifts that need to be addressed in our high school system to support these 7 changes, which I decided to share my thoughts on.

WELLBEING

I am so pleased to see wellbeing is not only a key focus of the changes, but also the first to be discussed. By having less, bigger standards as well as less credits offered per course will definitely help to reduce teacher and student stress. The biggest stressor for the kids is when they are juggling multiple assessments, and sometimes even need to choose whether they are going to complete them all. The biggest stressor for me personally is the considerable amount of marking (especially when I'm very particular!). 

I also think with more scope to go off on tangents with learning, as less time needs to be set aside for assessment, will enhance overall enjoyment at school. With greater flexibility, students will have more say in what they are learning, and are likely to have greater interest. I do think the current structure and system of NCEA means kids are just credit counting. I'm sooooo tired of hearing 'I don't need to do this work Miss, I already have the credits I need'. To get to this point though of greater flexibility though, a lot needs to be done around greater understanding of different modes of assessment gathering, and exemplars to show this.

GREATER INCLUSION AND EQUITY

It's fantastic there has been recognition of the diversity in our country and the need to consider this diversity within our teaching, learning and assessment. There appears to be more thought not only around our Māori ancestry and customs, but also LGBTQI, several other ethnicities/cultures, and those who are less able. Greater inclusion of students and adapting the way we assess to have greater equity is a super positive step forward!

As part of Change 2, there were several mentions of the creation of resources to support staff, but I hope that there will be Professional Development to ensure these are delivered effectively and consistently. I am excited for greater access to and inclusion of Māori medium learning, but really hope this is implemented correctly and respectfully, which may not be the case if there isn't effective PD around the resources. My final wondering, is if there is the possibility of teacher judgement alongside teacher aides to determine whether students with disabilities have met a standard, rather than have the same expectations of able students?

COHERENCE

Although I agree there needs to be a reduction of the fragmented learning across graduates, I fear that this may reduce student choice. If we try too hard to fill the gaps in capabilities, knowledge and skills, so the students are on a level playing field when they leave school, then are they going to be clones of one another? Sure, we need to be confident we are preparing students for multiple pathways, as the next shift suggests, but we also need to be sure students still have some choice in pursuing the capabilities, knowledge and skills that they are passionate about. So, how are we going to individualise courses and learning opportunities, if we are wanting greater coherence..?

The design of a literacy and numeracy package which every student must pass, I do think is a fantastic idea. Having a set of 20 credits for numeracy and literacy will certainly help to ensure a base set of knowledge and skills which is consistent across school leavers. This will also help increase understanding and confidence for future education providers or employers. The ability to access and be assessed on these different assessments in the 20 credit pack when the students are ready is an incredible change - meaning students can demonstrate their learning at any point throughout their high school years (as opposed to only in Year 11 currently). Finally - OC are ahead of the game since we are already assessing against the Achievement Objectives and Levels of the NZC, which is the language these packs will use.

PATHWAYS

I do genuinely think the students at Orewa have so many options for future pathways between extra-curricular opportunities, subjects, GATEWAY programmes and they are given lots of guidance from our Careers department around the steps in their journey. The fact it has been identified that some Kiwi students have been "denied access to empowering pathways to succeed in life", is saddening, so it's great something is being done to address this inequity.

I love the creation of the new Vocational Entrance Award, as I think this will give motivation to the students who possibly don't enjoy the school system, but want and need it to support their pathways. This credited award that will hopefully become internationally recognised, will hopefully give some of that empowerment back. I also think this may give greater clarity for whānau and employers. A final positive, is that this system change may encourage discussion and changes within the HPE department, to more proactively advocate for the myriad of pathways students could follow by choosing our HPE courses.

CREDIBILITY

I don't have many thoughts on this system shift, aside from agreeing on the need to have clearer transparency and apprehension of what NCEA actually is and how it can support our young people. Especially for our families and the wider community. There certainly is a gap in understanding, which becomes especially evident during student conferences with home. When I was at Tamaki, they held NCEA info evenings for caregivers, which was great - but there is certainly a need for resources in multiple languages, as I feel that is a current barrier.

I also wonder if there is uncertainty around the general credibility of NCEA, as discussed, how can we actually demonstrate or increase the certainty of NCEA's credentials?

Lots of changes ahead, but lots of positive changes. I look forward to following the next steps...

Assessment... More Than a Test!

Over the last four months, I have been fortunate to be able to complete the Evidence Based Education course 'Assessment Essentials', funded by The Education Hub. I was interested in this opportunity because I love to learn, but also because there aren't many PD opportunities that are specifically about assessment. The course was split into 10 modules. Each of these had videos to watch, audio to listen to, texts and further articles to read, and also collaborative conversations. I had these conversations with my HOD, Asher, and the conversations were my favourite part of the course. 

There were soooo many things that challenged my thinking throughout the course, and I learnt a significant amount. Here are the key things I was left thinking more about;

• Learning can be considered as a change in long term memory, and assessment is bridging the gap between teaching and learning. The aim of assessment is to generate actionable meanings.
• How we question students - There was a large focus on the importance on 'hinge questions', questions to encourage students to think. I have more actively been considering when I am asking questions, how I am asking, how many, and at what point in the learning process. The course also encouraged me to more actively explain WHY I am asking students questions.
• The importance of multiple inadequate glances - Essentially, assessment is not a one hit wonder. We should be looking at learning from multiple angles, and multiple times, before we develop a conclusion and decide on the next steps.
• Awareness of student cues, to demonstrate an understanding, or a lack of. This means more actively looking for facial expressions and body language!
  
• Being comfortable being surprised - There were several times throughout the course I was reminded of the importance to have high expectations for all students, and to never be surprised by what the students may demonstrate. This can help reduce bias based off previous understandings and experiences with/of students. It's important that we allow ourselves to be continually surprised by student growth and development, rather than judging or gathering evidence from first impressions.
• The importance of Ako Orewa - There was a huge focus on student understanding of their own knowledge and skills, and where they are heading next. This is the culture our school is currently embedding within teaching and learning.
• The wording of assessments is crucial - So be sure to structure the wording and/or break down the language of questions so that they are comprehendible by the students. The wording/vocabulary can sometimes be a barrier for students to demonstrate their knowledge.
• Feedback needs to have a specific aim related to the performance of a task, and give strategies to put that feedback into action. It's important to remember that some feedback can actually have negative implementations on learning.
• Professor Rob Bjork's concept of Desirable Difficulties - When someone is at the right stage of learning, so that difficulties becomes desirable. If they haven't reached that stage of learning, then the difficulty will become less desirable.

After this course, there are a few things I would like to do (or do more of) in the future:

• Co-construct assessments with Seniors
• Greater use of student work as exemplars (at various levels)
• Have visible learning intentions that are measurable and able to give effective feedback to

A huge thanks to The Education Hub for the opportunity and for Asher's support along the way. I would highly recommend anyone to get amongst this course (just know it's mostly in a UK context!).