BSLA Conference Day 1

 Over the next three terms, I will be working through the University of Cantebury to become a trained BSLA (a structured literacy approach for reading) teacher. I am excited to continue this process as I spent some time during term 1 trialing the year 4 program before it was released to be used more widely. 

Here is a brief overview of the notes that I took during day 1 of our conference at the Waipuna Conference Centre. 

Day 1:

Morning Introduction: 

10 weeks of teaching (term ¾?)

UN: Target Goal 4.6 All youth achieving literacy by 2030

Children’s literacy achievement is strongly related to educational success and well-being

-need to accelerate learner needs

-extend exceptional learning capacities

Systematic and explicit teaching approaches (IDA 2019) evidence based approaches for dyslexic students

Year 4-8 Breakout

Oral Language         Reading         Writing

Communication Skills Word Recognition Transcription

Language and Reading Comp. Comp. Composition

                Critical Analysis         Writing Processes

Assessment; Dibels ORF,  Dibels Maze (ASAP and again at 20 weeks) and PhoM

Excellence in Assessment Practices 

Valid and reliable assessments to monitor students’ growth and celebrate success

In 10 weeks….who is tracking who needs support who needs extending?

Focus on what children can achieve and then identify next steps for learning.

Why are we using the assessments we are using? Above: Guides for Assessment Selection 

BSLA Assessment Website: still be developed for yr 4-8

Year 4-8 Assessment:

Oral Reading Fluency (ORF):

• Assess students’ ability to read connected text with speed and accuracy

• 60 seconds measured individually

• Scoring=words correct per minute and accuracy percentage

Maze: 

• Assess students’ ability to reason through a passage and select the most appropriate word to fil in blanks

• 3 minutes measure administered individually or in groups

• Scoring= number of words correct minus ½ the number of words correct. 

Grade Administered Should be:  Year - Minus 1 year

Middle passage for baseline and end for the 20 week assessment

After analysing all testing data (colour coding)

Then total number of green & Blue scores 

At least 50% of the whole class teaching at year level

What assessments should we do in the next week or two? ORF and MAZE then compare with PAT scores keeping in mind current reading levels 

PhoM Assessment

Purpose: 

-Track progress over time before/after taumata (and after 30 weeks of teaching)

-3 taumata a year

-Recognise strengths in knowledge and next steps for learning

-Ensure teaching remains responsive and targeted

Assessment Schedule:

For kids who score in the “red band” give them the year 3 spelling screener and input their data into the assessment website and follow the action plan there (score analysis)

Shameless SWAG

 I've titled this "Shameless SWAG" because quite honestly that is exactly what it is. What else do you do with a "badge" you earn when you're a Manaiakalani teacher? 😆 

In all honesty, I'm about to begin training for BSLA (Better Start Literacy Approach) through the University of Cantebury and as we begin our online course there was an 'Online Essentials' mini-course that we were asked to complete to familiarise ourselves with the course layout across their digital platform, and other key information about the school and it's values and policies.

So, with that said, here is my badge!

Create Mini-Games with Gemini

 During our Manaiakalani Create teacher only day, I spent some time learning how to create mini-games with Gemini. It was a lot of fun and we were able to spend some time debugging through the AI prompt to make things run smoother.  To access each game click on the photo below. 

The first game I created was a Tetris-style multiplication game. In order to earn peices to play on tetris board, the play must accurately answer the multiplication facts.

The second game, (actually the first one I had a go with) was a solar system trivia game. It is very basic (game-wise) but the questions are pretty impressive given the parameters I set for the game in the AI. 

Mid Year Inquiry Reflection

After teaching from the Prime Maths program for a few months, I decided it was finally time to gather myself together and record a lesson to upload into Vosaic. Once I did, I was rather happy with the feedback that I received from the AI in the program. 

The summary of my lesson was: 

The teacher effectively uses hands-on learning by incorporating place value blocks for students to visualize subtraction with regrouping. This strategy helps students understand the concept of borrowing in subtraction. The teacher also encourages collaboration by having students work in pairs, which promotes peer learning and engagement. Additionally, the teacher checks for understanding by asking questions and prompting students to explain their thought processes, fostering a deeper comprehension of the material.

The teacher employs classroom management strategies such as setting clear expectations for noise levels, reminding students to work in a "whisper zone," and redirecting off-task behavior. The teacher also uses positive reinforcement by acknowledging students' efforts and correct answers, which helps maintain a positive classroom environment.

As far as next steps goes, I wasn’t all that surprised to find that the suggestions were right where I’ve been thinking about how to improve my maths teaching. 

Suggestions for future lessons:

Incorporate more student-led discussions to increase engagement and allow students to express their understanding in their own words. Utilize formative assessments throughout the lesson to gauge student understanding and adjust instruction accordingly. Provide more opportunities for students to explain their reasoning and thought processes to deepen their comprehension of the material.

However, I think this comes along in this program more as the lesson moves into the “you do” portion of our problem solving and I didn’t record this portion of the lesson as it wasn’t what my focus was. 

Once I put it my inquiry focus question as an AI prompt:
Has the teacher implemented a lesson that allows students to explore mathematical concepts, using manipulatives as tools for discovery, while also facilitating meaningful mathematical discussions and problem-solving? 

I was pleasantly surprised with the analysis of lesson implementation from the Vosaic AI. 

Yes, the teacher has effectively implemented a lesson that allows students to explore mathematical concepts using manipulatives as tools for discovery. Throughout the transcript, several key strategies are evident:

• Use of Manipulatives: The teacher encourages students to use place value blocks to visualize the subtraction process. For example, at timestamp 01:17, the teacher instructs students to "pull out our place value blocks" and work in pairs to build the numbers 252 and 136. This hands-on approach helps students understand the concept of regrouping in subtraction.

• Guided Discovery: The teacher guides students through the process of borrowing in subtraction. At timestamp 03:31, the teacher asks, "What do you need to do?" prompting students to think critically about the need to borrow from the tens place. This encourages students to articulate their thought processes and engage in problem-solving.

• Encouraging Collaboration: The teacher promotes collaboration by having students work in pairs to build numbers and solve problems together. For instance, at timestamp 01:28, the teacher assigns pairs to build the top and bottom numbers, fostering a collaborative learning environment.

• Mathematical Discussions: The teacher facilitates discussions about the subtraction process, asking questions that require students to explain their reasoning. For example, at timestamp 06:13, the teacher asks, "Now what do we have left?" This encourages students to reflect on their calculations and engage in meaningful dialogue about their understanding of the concepts.

• Checking Work: The teacher emphasizes the importance of checking answers by adding the result back to the smaller number, as seen at timestamp 08:16. This reinforces the concept of verification in mathematics and encourages students to think critically about their solutions.

Overall, the lesson is structured to promote exploration, collaboration, and discussion, which are essential components of effective mathematics instruction.

Interestingly enough, the final statement says that the lesson promoted discussion, but I loved that the summary suggestions provided key ways to promote more student-led rich discussion. Looking forward to focusing on this more as the year progresses.

Prime Maths: A Different Classroom Environment

 We are moving along into our Prime Maths journey, and as we move along we have encountered many learning bumps along the way. However, as a class, I strongly feel like we have made the easy turn to understanding. The students now understand what is expected of them and they are working diligently to complete their learning in a timely manner. They had developed a deeper understanding for MathsPro (the online "assess" component) and now know that they must try their best, and seek help as needed, to obtain the highest score possible. They are independently asking to have their mathspro tasks reset so that they may resit a session after reviewing what they have done wrong the first time through. 

Students are taking it upon themselves to actively use the manipulatives we modeled and worked with at the beginning of each session when completing their work as needed. 

Check out this photo of students working independently all using different modes of learning. Such an amazing thing to see!

2025 Inquiry Intro

 This year we are implementing the new NZ Maths Curriculum and using the PRIME maths program in our year 4-8 classrooms. We began the year with a placement assessement that allowed us to determine the best placement for our students into our PRIME maths coursebooks. 

After we had PD with someone from Scholastic to talk through the PRIME maths program, I began  thinking about my teaching inquiry for this year and the question that I came up with is:

How can I implement lessons that allow students to explore mathematical concepts, using manipulatives as tools for discovery, while also facilitating meaningful mathematical discussions and problem-solving?

As term 1 comes to and end, I can say that I am enjoying teaching through a more structured maths program and I am enjoying the time it provides to focus on how I am going to be working with my students. We are on this journey together and so far, I am very pleased with how we are going as we begin to understand the structure of the program. 

BSLA Trial

 This term, I have been working through Taumata 10 of the new Year 4-6 Better Start Literacy Approach (BSLA) program. While it seemed like a lot before I started, I really feel that over the past 5-6 weeks, my students have learnt so much.

It was a bit of a learning curve for them to go from more direct small group literacy teaching to more of a whole class approach. However, they are now able to sit through the whole lesson (most of the time) without needing too much of a disruptive brain break (run/activity). Now, once I notice that we are getting a little squirmy, we just stand up stretch to the sky, touch our toes and then we're back to business for the last few minutes of the lesson. 

I took the BSLA suppled QAR poster and modified it into my own version for the students to interactig with when completing their independent learning tasks. 

I have really taking some time to determine how to turn some of their suggested pen/paper learning into more interactive digital tasks. 

Click to see student's blog.