Mighty Microblog May

Throughout the month of May Andy Milne seeks bitesize blog posts from contributors around the world. These posts cover a whole manner of things depending on what the contributor would like to reflect on or share! This was the fourth year of microblog May and the third year I contributed. To learn more about the month (especially if you are keen to contribute next year!) check out this post.

The microblog posts I have written: - Classrooms should be safe places, right?: A prompt for teachers to consider what their physical classrooms look like and the impact this has on the general vibe of the room as well as the success of the students - Outside of Your Comfort Zone: I discussed my experiences leaping into the unknown to move to Australia and why it's important to be comfortable with the uncomfortable - From Unprecedented to Familiar: I described some of the positive impacts on my teaching that came from the last few years

In addition to the 3 microblogs for Microblog May, I have also been a guest blogger for Andy twice on his #slowchathealth website.

- Te Whare Tapa Whā: A brief description of the Māori wellbeing model based on the concept of a house with four walls

- Mental Health ≠ Mental Illness: Hopefully a helpful explanation of the difference between mental health and mental illness and strategies to support with mental health

I enjoy reading the short posts while I have 5-10 mins to kill or during break times. Much more interesting and beneficial than some of the mindless scrolling I can find myself doing! Here are my favourite posts from this year with a quote from each of them. 

- Finding Their Swish (Judy LoBianco): "We want students to internalise the joy of physical activity and to do that they must feel a level of personal success".
- Informed Decisions (Sarah Hawkins): "The STI National Strategic Plan from the U.S. Department of Human Services shares that 15-24 year-olds account for around 50% of the 20 million new STI cases in the United States each year".
- A More Engaging Pre-Test (Shelby Hosmer): "A written pretest is not my jam".
- Know Your Why (Cara Grant): "Sometimes by changing schools or positions our Why can look different, and still maintain fidelity and feed our intrinsic values as we persevere through difficult times".
- Walking Away From The Stigma (Donn Tobin): "If we are to truly change the notoriety of physical education, we need to continuously address what is considered best practice. Demonstrate what exceptional teaching looks like, how it can be highlighted, celebrated, and keep those to a higher expectation teaching it".
- The Joy of Eating (Nadia Moya): "Food is one of the great joys in life that we can all share. I want students to walk away from health class with excitement and curiosity about eating, and the skills to build a healthy relationship with food".
- Embrace the Goblin (Michelle Rawcliffe): "Goblin mode is when we transition from treading water to floating. In other words, our body and brain pin us down and force our head back on the pillow".

I would encourage you to get amongst Microblog month next year, even if you don't contribute there are heaps of great posts to peruse!

2022 Goals - How'd I Go?

This year I have completed a 'Professional Development Plan' for the first time. Although there is a specific structure that is supplied by the Dept of Ed and specific questions my mentor has needed to ask, it's very similar to an NZ inquiry. My full PDP can be accessed here, which includes a little more detail around my planning, the criteria my goals link to and some of the discussion points I had with my mentor.

I have created the below visual which gives some of the key ideas/topics that I have been focused on throughout the year. Included are some of the possible ways to learn more about these areas of development (which I wrote at the beginning of the year). Although these goals aren't written as SMART goals, they were fleshed out more in my PDP meetings with my mentor (HOD HPE).

Reflecting on the some of the specific knowledge and skills I have wanted to develop throughout this year, these are some of the things I have achieved this year:

- Gave student choice in the activities/tasks/assignments they complete (including topics and modes of presentations)

- Provided exemplars and explained what grades they are and why (generally got students to do this themselves first and then broke the criteria and grading down with them)

- Gave suggested structures with sentence starters (student choice whether they used or not!)

- Used colour coding between the task, the criteria and what students created

- Created pre written questions to prompt in class discussion

- Created several tasks and assignments directly related to the ACARA objectives/criteria (and of course assessed against them)

- 1:1 verbal feedback meetings with Y12s as well as written feedback opportunities on their drafts (i.e. checkpoints)

- Completed a Coping With Stress program alongside my Y12s

- Gathered and reflected on student feedback

- Had multiple meetings and discussions with colleagues about SACE marking and moderation

- Attended a Mental Health First Aid course, a Remote First Aid Course and a Preventing Fatalities Workshop

- Learnt a significant more about risk management and planned my own trips and camps

Moving forward, areas I would like to further develop/build on include:

- Greater confidence and understanding about facilitating OUED debriefs

- Use of different tools and strategies to gather and analyse feedback (I did not use Ziplet as it seemed very confusing I didn't think would give me anything additional Google Forms would)

- More specific differentiated tasks for students with learning challenges or who have been identified as students needing modified or adjusted tasks (and learn more about neurodiversity in general)

- Attend PD and complete more reading around literacy and how to increase literacy in HPE/OUED

- Actively engage students with risk management planning and have more specific scenarios to help prepare students more before they go into the outdoors

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).

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!

Tourniquets in 'Timbuktu'

Over the last three days I was fortunate to complete a Remote Area First Aid course facilitated by St John Australia. Because I have started teaching my own Outdoor Ed classes this year, I thought this would be valuable, especially for camps. When I arrived I quickly realised most of the other participants were freelance outdoor instructors or tradies working in remote areas. I felt a little inexperienced and out of place as a result, but knew to get experience you need to start somewhere! 

Across the three days there was some repetitiveness across basic first aid courses, which is never a bad thing! I liked that most of the second half of the course were hands-on practical demonstrations and practice runs of a variety of scenarios that we could be faced with though to mix it up. Although the scenarios were as realistic as they could be in an office space, I do think that the course would be much more beneficial, rewarding and enjoyable if they were actually based in an outdoor setting. I was hoping that I would go on a course like this and actually be camping / in a remote area. 

The most lifelike experience was a fake arm with an open wound that water could be pumped through to replicate blood gushing out. On this we needed to practice stuffing the wound to slow the bleeding and encourage a clot and then place a tourniquet. It was incredible how many gauze pads needed to be stuffed into the wound to even slow down the 'bleeding'. I can only imagine if you had to do that for real for someone!

There is an array of evidence to show that the more people know, the more confident they feel and the more empowered they feel to respond to a medical emergency. As described by First Aid Melbourne, "a study conducted by the Red Cross showed that a staggering 59% of deaths from injuries could have been prevented if only first aid had been given in the first few minutes of the incident before an ambulance arrived". So, even though I feel I still know very little there is to know about first aid in the grand scheme of things, every little bit helps. I've been lucky to only have been involved in a couple of responses that would be considered mild, and hope I never have to respond to someone in a critical or dangerous scenario. Therefore, I encourage everyone to complete at least a basic first aid course - please don't hesitate! 

I do hope to get the opportunity in the future to learn about more preventative strategies, as the last few days have mostly had a focus on responses. I have heard about a course based around preventing fatalities in the outdoors that I may try go to - watch this space! Finally, as I have previously blogged about, first aid is more than a broken leg - mental health first aid is another great course to complete.

First Aid Is More Than A Broken Leg

Over the last two days I have completed a Youth Mental Health First Aid Course facilitated by Mental Health First Aid Australia. This is something I had heard about several years ago but the stars never aligned for me to complete a course. I was grateful to finally get the opportunity to attend. 

The other participants actually ended up getting COVID or being sent into isolation, so I ended up being the only one! This meant for a great 1:1 experience, but I also felt that I missed out on conversations with others a little. One thing I like about attending PD is to be able to compare stories and experiences with others. There was lots of scenario based learning across the two days though, which helped to solidify the learning a little.

This specific course was designed for youth because the median age for depression is 25, the median age for anxiety is 15, in 2020 480 Australians under the age of 24 died by suicide and 1 in 4 people experience a common mental health illness in one year. These stats really surprised me and were quite confronting. This really reinforced the importance of quality mental health education in schools (as well as the importance for as many adults as possible to be mental health first aid accredited). Check out some of my previous posts related to mental health here. Just like physical first aid, mental first aid should help people to have preventative strategies, rather than an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. 

Beverley introduced me to the mental health continuum below. She encouraged me to consider these questions while observing young people; 
- To what level has someone moved towards 'illness'? How long have they been at this point of the continuum and how quickly did they get there?
- Are they bouncing back to 'health', staying where they are or moving closer to 'illness'? 
- Does the place on the continuum change at school, home and/or hobbies, or remain much the same?
These questions can help to gauge a students 'wellness', but also help to form a conversation with them and/or their caregivers. It is also very important to note that mental health is not the same as mental illness.

One thing that stuck with me, which shouldn't be surprising, was the comment "the more that we can support the brain in any illnesses they are presenting, the more likely they are able to learn". When we are having challenging mental days as adults, we generally aren't as productive, might not focus much or could have a shorter wick than usual (these are certainly my observations of myself). So of course if a student is feeling stressed, down, anxious or all of the above then they too may not be as productive as usual, may not be as focused or have a shorter wick. Teachers can see these as signs of disrespect or defiance, but really they may be signs that the student needs some support in that moment. Signs to look for and to ask the student about.

Here are several points that left me thinking a little further and for you to also ponder;
- Teachers should be modifying tasks like we would in a practical sense. We wouldn't ask someone with a broken leg to play a sport, so why would we ask someone with anxiety to 'keep on trying'?
- Empowerment is important for young people to make their own decisions about themselves. the feeling of powerlessness can significantly impact on mental health, so people need opportunities and tools to make decisions for themselves.
- "It is important that during the first response [to the person] we do it well, so that there is a positive result for them long term".
- Dendrites in the brain are responsible for neuro pathways and severe mental illnesses can impact on these pathways such as thickening them. Medication can help with repair of these dendrites, which can then help someone to have clearer thought processing and decision making. BUT medication is NOT the first answer for majority of people.
- We can recognise in student language, artwork, texts, interactions etc possible expressions or depictions which may indicate the student needs support.

Finally, the acronym ALGEE was referred to several times throughout the course. Like the WARM acronym for restorative conversations, ALGEE is a structure to create a conversation  and an action plan with someone as a mental health responder. To gain my accreditation, I had to demonstrate this structure through practice discussions in a range of scenarios. 

Even before completing this course I knew student mental health was just as important to understand and know how to respond to as physical health. Now, I feel even more so. It blows my mind that physical first aid courses are compulsory for all teachers in South Australia but mental health first aid is not - here's hoping that changes in coming years and that NZ mandates too!

Let's Talk About Sex, Baby

At the end of last term we had Dr Tessa Opie from In Your Skin visit the Y8 HPE teachers for a Relationships and Sexuality Education PD. I was proud to see how ahead New Zealand is in this space - there were even Kiwi resources used such as the notorious pie ad.This year Pedare has started an RSE programme with the Y8 students and this was the prep for it. 

As many know, sexuality education is one of my passions (see here some posts that reflect this). As a result, there were lots of reminders throughout this PD around gender, sexuality and stereotypes (the key topics of the unit). If you are learning or new to this area of the curriculum, the genderbread person is always a great place to start. The visual clearly helps to differentiate between sex, sexuality, gender and expression. So much discussion comes from this picture alone. I often then use the Real Sex Talk videos (especially the gender one and the sexuality one) to create further discussion.

Without elaborating on each of the below points, these are a few things that I was left thinking about after our session with Tess. I feel leaving them as points may encourage you to also ponder and complete further research;

- "The issue isn't porn. It's the complete lack in our society of an open, healthy, honest conversation about sex in the real world." (Cindy Gallop - Twitter here)

- Consent is a noun, not a verb

- Body autonomy can be taught at any age including kindy - Do you want a hug or a kiss?

- "Don't put the red dot on the traumatised kid's folder" (Tess). This was referring to removal of students from sexuality education - just because a student has experienced trauma, does not mean they don't deserve the education or want to be there. 

- "There is a very real difference between feeling uncomfortable and feeling unsafe" (Tess). 

- We are aiming to empower students. If they can own their own Medicare card at 15, can we empower them to feel comfortable to go and get an STI screening and/or contraceptives? 

- "The more positive you feel about your own sexuality, the more likely you are going to have positive sexual experiences with someone else" (Tess). 

- The impact of having teachers that aren't competent or confident teaching sexuality education can be significant. 

- "Pornography is the most prominent form of sexuality education for young people today unfortunately" (Interview with Maree Crabbe as embedded below).

Where are you on the Spectrum of Teaching Styles?

I was excited to attend my first Australian Council for Health Physical Education and Recreation conference. I miss PENZ and my involvement in PENZ back home, so when I had the opportunity to attend an ACHPER PD I jumped at it! I was especially interested in this one, because it was based around Mosston's Spectrum of Teaching Styles, which is something I've always been interested in. His spectrum was referred to often during my degree and something I often think about when designing new units. The PD was about unpacking SueSee, Hewitt and Pill's book The Spectrum of Teaching Styles in Physical Education, in which they've redesigned Mosston's initial spectrum.

Shane Pill is someone I have followed on Twitter for a while and am fascinated by his thoughts. I knew the day was going to be interesting when he was the opening speaker and one of his first sentences was "you need to use a variety of teaching styles, there is no one way of teaching". The redesign of the spectrum to be more like a flower, like a cluster, demonstrates that all styles are equal and we should in fact be moving in and out of them as opposed to linearly (as initially designed and can be seen below). Isn't it incredible how visual presentations of something can genuinely impact how you interpret them? Unfortunately I cannot find any pictures of their design, without buying the book (which I have requested school to do!), but it is kind of visible in my picture below).

The teaching styles can be divided into reproduction (A-E) and production (F-K). As it sounds, this relates to the role the students play within those teaching styles. Generally speaking, when in the reproduction styles students are mostly replicating something they have learnt and the lesson is more 'teacher driven'. Production is more-so related to the application or creation of something to demonstrate learning - more 'student driven'. The clear theme throughout this PD day is that there needs to be frequent movement between these different styles, as they are all valuable. If we blend styles together, they are called canopies.

In particular though, there was a large focus on the three discovery styles. Guided discovery is when there may be a series of activities or tasks for students to discover something throughout the process of completing these tasks. Convergent discovery is when there may be a problem and you are guiding them to discover there is only one answer. Divergent discovery is when there may be multiple answers to a problem/situation.  We referred to these often throughout the day and there were practicals to demonstrate the differences, especially between convergent and divergent. For instance, participants were set up in a piggy in the middle structure, and the aim was to pass the ball between the players without the defender in the middle getting the ball. Their convergent discovery question was "what pass is the most appropriate to receive the ball?" To encourage students to think, they were only able to use the width of an area. This increased the pressure so the students needed to use lob passes to try and get it over and away from the defenders. After, they changed the boundaries to be able to pass lengthways and the question changed to "how many different ways can you receive the ball" (clearly showing the 1 answer to multiple answers differentiation between the learning styles). To further probe the students to think critically to be able to be self regulated learners, the questions asked need to be open ended to encourage the students to think, discover and analyse information/ideas on their own.

Throughout uni and my initial teaching years, I was often discouraged to teach in command style. As the name suggests, the activity and instructions are all based around the teacher. The students must follow the teacher's commands. Although I agree this approach is not appropriate for many activities (as we want the students to be at the centre of the thinking and learning), I believe there is a time and place for command style. Sometimes we just need to get information across and command style is the most effective and efficient way to do so (such as information regarding safety on equipment). Hewitt noted that we need to consider whether command is the most appropriate for that particular lesson/learning objective and how long we are in that teaching style. He said his fear with command style teaching, especially when teaching the technique of a skill, is although the students may increase confidence with how to perform the skill itself (technical mastery), they may be strangers to the game. This is where game sense approach comes in.

Game sense approach is an umbrella term, with several areas coming underneath it. Essentially, GSA is a pedagogy that focuses on developing players that cognitively and critically think about the game they are immersed in. As outlined in Pill's chapter Game Sense Coaching: Developing Thinking Players, there is significant research to support that a traditional method of coaching or teaching limits players' ability to be able to make effective decisions within a game. This is often as a result of behaviours/techniques learnt in a non-contextualised environment. However, when immersed in a Game Sense Approach, a player "is trained to use a wide focus of attention and becomes adapted to placing attention more broadly than on a primary task" (Pill, 2018, p.46) because of activities that are more representative of the complexity of an actual game. Relating back to the teaching styles, although command style has a time and place, it's important command style does not lead to players being strangers of the game. GSA is a practice style pedagogy with discovery and command episodes. The teaching should be inquiry based, educating through the game but with a purpose. See more here - Pill's Play with Purpose blogpost.

There were a lot of other interesting topics of discussion, and some other things I was left thinking about were;

- "The game is not the teacher... The game can have an educative purpose, but in order for that purpose to be realised, the teacher comes in to get the educative purpose that is desired" (Pill).

- "All teaching is deliberate - even the choice of not planning is a deliberate teaching choice... but teaching can only be purposeful if the teaching has been planned" (Pill). 

- One of the teachers posed a question to us at the beginning of a practical session for us to think about throughout. The teacher referred to this question frequently and it then became a point of discussion at the end of the lesson. This actually made me think of the statement of inquiry and the overarching question of the unit being asked. 

- Depending on the learning style employed, depends if and when we tell the students the learning objectives of the lesson.

Overall, it was a very informative day, which made me think specifically about my questioning and the importance of mixing the teaching styles to suit the learning objectives, activities and students in front of me.

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.

Analysing Autism

Across my classes this semester, and last semester, I have had several students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Although of course each student is unique, this is an area I felt I needed further development to be able to support them to be successful. At the end of last term I attended a workshop facilitated by Professor Robyn Young: Autism Spectrum disorder and behaviour management in the educational context. 

Key takeaways from the workshop:

- Often students with ASD can have scripted language. What they say is what makes sense to them and/or they think is what they want you to say. This is important to be aware of, because this may mean the students don't actually understand what is asked of them or what they are supposed to be doing. So rather than yes/no questions, actually ask the students to describe or explain something to reduce the scripted responses. 

- I had never heard of Echolalia before. Echolalia is when someone repeats words or sentences they have heard previously. For instance the student may repeat the last word they hear, or later on in the day repeat something that they heard their caregivers say before school (so it sounds out of context). Having greater understanding of Echolalia is important, because it has made me more aware of how many words I use when giving instructions or asking questions. If the student is retaining and repeating the last word or two, then maybe they did not comprehend the words before it. Robyn explained that this is one of the ways ASD is diagnosed early, especially in toddlers because they are learning speech so are likely to copy their caregivers.

- To diagnose ASD there is no medical test as such (although tests may be carried out to identify/rule out other causes of the symptoms). Across several settings there are observations of the person. They are being observed to see how they communicate with others, what their behaviours are and what their developmental levels are. 

- When possible, ask for quantitative responses rather than qualitative. More definitive, rather and descriptive.

- Rather than setting plans in concrete, allow for changes/adaptations. Many students with ASD do not like or are unable to process unexpected changes, and as a result this may impact on their behaviour. By avoiding solidifying plans, this can help to reduce the fear of change and the reactions to change. This makes a lot of sense to me as one of my students can become argumentative and/or frustrated when we need to change things (for example if I have said we will be playing outside then this changes to completing an activity in the classroom). I also have a new student this semester that asks me in advance where we will be, what he will need and what we will be completing. This has helped me to plan in advance, but also to have conversations about change and flexibility to change.

- Although their IQ skills may be high, many students with ASD have low common sense skills. This means I will have to be more aware of assumptions that I make, as some things that may be obvious to me or to some students, may not be clear for others. 

- Chronological and clear steps are important. Those with ASD are very literal, they will do exactly what is asked, so everything needs to be structured, scaffolded and explicit. After this PD, this is the biggest thing I have been left thinking about. I have gone through and adapted/updated assignments and considered this when I am planning activities. Many of the assignments I gave students (the IB assessments) last term had many questions that implied depth was needed, or had multiple parts to answer. I've tried to break these down, so there is greater order and the questions are as specific as I can make them. Additionally this also helps to divide tasks into more simple and manageable steps to work through, so can be less overwhelming for students. 

- For off task behaviour or behaviour that isn't acceptable, consider differential reinforcement of positive behaviours and/or intermittent reinforcement. Differential reinforcement is about giving alternative behaviours, rather than asking the student to not do something. Robyn gave the example if a student is constantly clapping, this may be because they don't know what to do with their hands. Rather than asking them to stop clapping (which may result in them becoming confused or frustrated with what to do with their hands), ask them to put their hands on their lap or on the table. The students need clear break downs and descriptions of what is expected of them, linking back to the importance of being explicit rather than implicit and not making assumptions. When students are behaving appropriately, make them aware of this so they can recognise what is accepted. Don't ignore low level off task or misbehaviour, because if we wait until they are extreme, this may result in the student thinking the lower level behaviours were acceptable. 

- Sometimes an explanation for the way they are behaving, is that ASD students often do not see cause and effect. They may be able to recognise and describe the effect and consequences of their decisions/actions on themselves, but it can be difficult and problematic for them understand the impact on someone else / others. 

- Executive functioning skills like those below (from the Positive Partnerships webinar) help us to organise information, evaluate ideas, self regulate and much more. These skills are incredibly helpful during a student's learning journey, and are often skills autistic children struggle with. Positive Partnerships also suggests several strategies that could be used in the classroom to support development of these executive functioning skills. 

Things to consider moving forward

- Simple instructions

- Scaffolded and explicit questioning

- Break down tasks

- Allow for flexibility or change

- When in groups, consider who will be supportive

- Explain why certain behaviours are unacceptable and give an alternative

- Read through students' individual learning plans that have been broken down, to learn more about students individually and strategies that support them specifically 

I'm back treading water!

One of the biggest changes about teaching in Australia is the change of curriculum. In NZ, knowledge and implementation of the curriculum and the HPE achievement objectives is one of my strengths. Here however, I'm completely thrown back into the deep end trying to learn the Australian Curriculum - I feel like a first year again! In addition, Pedare (my new school) teaches the Middle School through International Baccalaureate - another mindset shift and terminology overload! Therefore, I have been on a learning journey throughout my first term reading the handbook, engaging in online PD and having discussions about what on Earth IB is. 

Essentially, IB is split into 8 subject groups, and the Middle Years Programme and is a 2, 3, 4 or 5 year programme. Pedare runs the IB programme across 4 years (Y6-Y9/the middle school). IB describes the aim of the programme as "a framework of academic challenge that encourages students to embrace and understand the connections between traditional subjects and the real world, and become critical and reflective thinkers" (p.128). This does link closely with the NZC aim for students to be active lifelong learners, but the biggest difference is the world focus at the forefront. I have found it interesting and exciting that the aim is to ensure that learning is globally contextualised.

At the heart of IB is the IB learner profile, as included alongside. This profile highlights 10 key attributes IB aims to develop, that aren't related to academic success. Ideally, students are able to demonstrate each of these attributes/personal qualities by the end of the IB programme. The below video gives more detail, as well as the IB website.

When planning a unit of work within an IB programme, there are several parts included. I've tried to break down the major jargon here - there's a bit to take in! One is the key concepts. There are 16 key concepts as identified below. Teachers use these key concepts to create units of work both within their discipline of teaching, as well as interdisciplinary. Something I'm excited about, is there appears to be greater opportunities to create integrated units of teaching and learning, which of course was a highlight for me last year. From my understanding these key concepts are the broad, overarching ideas that can be explored and demonstrated differently across the 8 subject groups.

Key concepts are broken down further into the related concepts. Related concepts are subject specific, so can vary from class to class. For instance, in Health and Physical Education some related concepts are energy, movement and space (see more here about HPE in the MYP IB). There are however some common concepts across subjects such as the descriptor 'explain'. I think that this is fantastic for students to have common language like this across their classes, because then there is greater consistency. Something that has really frustrated me previously, is when including words such as 'explain' in students' learning tasks or assessments, the expectation of what this actually looks like may be different across subjects. This small yet significant issue is resolved by the IB terminology used consistently (in theory), and hopefully reduces barriers to student success (as the language in the questions is not new to them). This consistency is also evident among the summative assessment tasks, which all have the same structure and language.

As well as key concepts and related concepts, to incorporate 'the real world' each unit also includes global contexts. IB believes that by using global contexts in teaching and learning, this may increase student engagement because of greater relevance and meaning to their lives.

Teachers combine the KC, RC and GC to create a statement of inquiry. This statement is what should be at the front of the teaching and learning programme. Therefore it should be one sentence in student friendly language, and readily available to be referred to throughout lessons.

Finally, a large component of IB is learning how to learn. The essence of this is that students not only understand what they are learning, but also why they are learning and what knowledge and skills they need to be able to learn (this links directly with my previous school's pedagogy Ako Orewa). There are five categories titled the Approaches to Learning; communication, social, self-management, research and thinking.

So, where to from here? A couple of things I've been left thinking about and want to explore, develop, and practice in the months to come;

- Explicitly using the learner profile attributes in my teaching and learning, so students know what they are developing

- Creating statements of inquiry, and including them within learning programmes 

- Down the track I think it would be great to co-construct units with the students, so they actually help to decide what KC's, RC's, GC's are included in the unit and ultimately what the statement of inquiry is

- Greater understanding of the 4 criteria/strands of the HPE curriculum, which I haven't even mentioned here (these appear to be similar to NZ's A.O.'s)

So there you have it, IB described in 844 words!

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...

Prejudice & Misconceptions

"We've got to stop trying to fix our kids, because our kids are not what's broken. We have a very broken system."

These words from Dr Michelle Johansson really left me thinking during (and following on from) her webinar last month (hosted by PENZ) - 'What will it take to change the world for Young Brown Scholars?' As I pondered some of her key messages, our staff also had the opportunity for Anton Blank to present to us about Racism, Bias and Wellbeing.

There were many crossovers within these presentations, but they both highlighted the prejudice and misconceptions many have about Māori people. The unfortunate stereotype in society is that our brown faces are poor and dumb. And because they are 'poor and dumb', society treats them this way. It is appalling that we have created this prejudice, but horrific that this has become normalised and accepted by many. 

As teachers, we have a significant role and opportunity to challenge these preconceived ideas. To defy them. To interrupt the ongoing cycle. 

But to start, Anton suggested we are aware of our unconscious bias. When you think something, do you consider where that idea has come from? Do you challenge the idea? Do you critically break down where/how/why that idea even existed in your mind? Over the last week or so, I have been trying to answer these questions, to challenge my own thinking and bias.

I was surprised by some of the findings that Anton discussed, related to the disconnect between teachers and students. Even though there wasn't supposed to be this disconnect, and many of the teachers believed they were inclusive of all learners, the students commented that their teachers often asked Asian and Pākeha students to answer questions. This has encouraged me to more intentionally consider who I am asking to demonstrate learning or to give examples.

Some additional strategies that were recommended included; breaking up the 'in' groups (those who may not be considered as a minority), ensuring Māori students are all around the room (not just at the back), and educate about prejudice and misconceptions to encourage students to think about their own bias!