Week 6 Term 4 - Refining the 'Next Steps' + working on a plan: Literacy Plan 2022 (November 22 - 26)

 Literacy is an important part of a student's learning journey. As teachers, our job is becoming increasingly complex and demanding with having to transform our teaching strategies for online learning, helping students deal and heal mentally and emotionally. These complexities and demands are present in the area of literacy. Over the last four weeks the Literacy Project Group have met to reflect on our current literacy practice and structure and discuss what our next steps are. It has been a deep dive into self-review which has been confronting but also exciting. The next phase that we are in is centered around refining what the next steps are that we have outlined and then how do we put this into an action plan. 

REFINE: make minor changes so as to improve or clarify (a theory or method).

In the previous post, I shared the feedback from our self-review. This post will take a look at how the team have refined some of those action points. 

Refining Data Management + Use Next Steps

• Starting point for teachers across learning areas is to do the 1000 HFV + Nations 1st 2K Testing/Assessments
• Suggestion: Dr Jannie van Hees will work with teachers and will learn pre test + post topic for the vocabulary assessment to build confidence in teachers. The teacher can learn and understand what it is, why we are doing it and how we are going to do it - then they can share their experience with the staff and within their own department.
• Teacher to support Marc with data crunching to understand the numbers and then share it within their own department.
• Classrooms should be more conversational and group focused - formative assessment is a powerful tool for teachers and students.
• Is the literacy priority for Tamaki College 2022? The literacy and numeracy at TC has always been a priority, now it is about being deliberate about it. We want to build a literacy culture that is embedded in teacher practice/daily delivery.
• If the teacher is doing all the work, who is learning? Instead of helping the learner to unpack the print (the skills to be literate are held by the teacher)
• Suggestion: revamp junior programs and prioritize literacy focused programs into the program.
• Literacy Project Team to meet in week 8 to design a plan of action for the teachers to take and to use.

Refining Kaiako Pedagogy Next Steps

• English Department new vision for 2022: Doing things differently and getting the students to experience literacy beyond the desk. Doing things like public speaking, drama, spoken word, school magazine, blogging, visual arts
• Build confidence for teachers to use Maori + Pacific contexts into their practice - how do we address this? How do we expand our lens?
• Math's Department + Cook Island Group (tie dye activity)

Refining Akonga Action Plan Next Steps

• Have robust conversations within departments to see what we are doing with the akonga action plan and what we can do better.

Refining Whanau/Iwi/Community Engagement Next Steps

• We were not able to refine the next steps for this area - however it is very clear that our Tereora Academy run by DJ would be the suitable group to help us engage our whanau and community with our literacy plan.

PLAN: a detailed proposal for doing or achieving something.

An effective literacy plan or program is firstly one that is embedded into the school system and culture. It should not be something that belongs to the English Department. Although the English curriculum is solely centered around literacy, it is something that is offered in all learning areas. Sheena Hervey states that "Literacy teaching can only be described as truly effective when it positively impacts student learning. Successful teachers are able to skillfully integrate a range of instructional approaches and resources to meet the diverse learning needs of their students.

We can now say, with certitude, that effective teachers of literacy:

• Know the literacy processes and pedagogy that determines how their students learn
• Know what their students need to understand and be able to do to meet the Standards
• Know their students as learners
• Have high expectations for their students and encourage risk taking
• Flexibly use a range of instructional practices
• Engage students in challenging learning experiences"

This phase is about planning and mapping out a plan that will be presented to our school in 2022. The hope is that all the learning areas will 'journey' with us and integrate this plan into their departmental, individual planning and prioritize this in their teaching and classrooms. 

The first part of the plan is to really specify what our purpose and goal is. What is our why?

The plan will be focused on the four rubric areas that we have been using in our self-review. Attached to each area is a 'refined next step' that we have discussed and some information on what we can do to help achieve this goals. This is the first draft of the plan and over the next week and half I hope to really flesh this out and make it user friendly. 

First draft of the Literacy Plan 2022

It is a little daunting trying to create an action plan for all learning areas, so my goal is to make this not only user friendly but something that is adaptable for each department. I want departments to be able to see themselves in this and to really take ownership of it. I look forward to recording the last part of the draft stages of the action plan.