Week 9 Term 1 - Monitoring Progress (Mar 28 - Apr 1)

CURRENT SITUATION: of the immediate present; in progress

The last few weeks of term are typically academic driven. We should be at a stage where we are closing the loop on internal assessments and finishing text studies but the nature of Term 1 has been quite disruptive. Our landing spot looks a little different at this stage in the term, with student attendance low (to both online and onsite classes) due to COVID 19 including ourselves having to isolate throughout the term, our current position is somewhat - challenging. However I read something this week that spoke about the position that we are in our own lives. If we find ourselves in a challenging situation or in a situation that we are happy to be in, regardless of the nature of it, we are called to be in that position for a reason. What we do and how we approach the position that we are in will determine how we experience it. 

The position that I am currently in with my akonga is one where we are playing catch up and trying to finish work. For the most part, playing catch up has been my place of residence with my students. We are always finding new ways or nurturing well-oiled ways that work, when it comes to monitoring and tracking student progress. Monitoring the progress (or lack thereof) has been a focus for myself over the last 2 and half weeks. There are a few things that work well for me that I want to share and also there is one way of monitoring progress that I am hoping to integrate into my work in Term 2. 

TRACKING SHEETS: the act or process of following something or someone

My tracking sheet for 2022 (Level 2) 

Tracking sheets were introduced a few years ago, as a way to manage student's work. The aim of the tracking sheets is to have a centralized document that documents all internal assessments, external assessments and tests that the students undertake throughout the area. During my isolation period when I was from home, the tracking sheet was a useful tool that helped me monitor student progress. In particular with my Level 2 and Level 3 NCEA English students, I was able to track their assessments and provided some feedback. It is a clear and simple system that gives me a sense of control when managing and tracking my student's progress. For my Year 9 students, I have started to fill out their tracking sheet with their PAT Reading Comprehension Test and Asttle Writing Test results. I can see where they are at and it is a good visual reminder on what I need to do to help them go forward. As many students were staggering back to school (from isolation) the tracking sheet allowed me to track students who did not complete the test and I could follow up with them. I check this daily to make sure that I am following all of my students progress closely, even though we have Hapara Teacher Dashboard as a way of monitoring their work, I find that this (Google Spreadsheet) is easier to manage and work with. 

FEEDBACK: If you get feedback on your work or progress, someone tells you how well or badly you are doing, and how you could improve. If you get good feedback you have worked or performed well.

Feedback to my Level 3 student for their 91480 Assessment

I have reflected on what meaningful feedback should look in regards to the feedback we give our akonga. Since writing the reflection, I have made sure that the feedback has clear expectations, that I affirm what they have done well and use this as leverage when I give my suggestions and finally, I personalize it in a way that is fitting to the student. This takes time, but it does work in the end. I have spent time with my students to talk them through the feedback, to ensure that they do understand what I need from them. I get the sense that the students feel a little bit more confident in what they are doing when I give them positive affirmation - not just a laundry list of things that they need to do. I try to provide feedback once a week so that the students have something to work with throughout the week (whether they are working onsite or online). As we are working in a Hybrid Learning environment, feedback can often be the only type of communication I have with the student throughout the week so I have make sure that it is meaningful and worth it. 

ATTENDANCE: the action or state of going regularly to or being present at a place or event.

An excerpt from our Totara House Attendance Tracking Sheet

I have outlined some of the things that I do to monitor my student's work as an English teacher. I have used the same approach with my students in my whanau group, in role as Whanau/House Dean. An area that it is constantly reviewed and scrutinized is attendance. Over the last two years, our attendance has fluctuated due to the disruption of the pandemic. With so many students isolating at home, working or reluctant to return to school, attendance has and will continue to be a focus for those us involved in pastoral care. It is a huge area to unpack and analyze, it takes and needs time to be explored. I have created another Google spreadsheet for my Whanau/House that is shared weekly with my mentorship team. The Google spreadsheet holds the weekly attendance data for the 8 classes in my Whanau group, the mentors are able to add updates on students in their mentor classes. I am also able to refer certain students to the mentors (students who I feel need to be contacted by their mentor teachers). It is an open document so that all of the mentors can access each other's class tab and add information if they know anything. I have also shared this with the Director of Deans, Director of Pastoral and the Pastoral team. I update this weekly and use this as a focal point in our discussions when we do meet. For me, it is a good way to centralize our Whanau/House specific attendance data so that I am not having to sift through everyone's data on KAMAR. 

WORKSPACE: Hapara Workspace is a platform for teachers and learners to create highly personalized learning experiences that deepen collaboration and differentiation throughout the learning cycle. Teachers are able to streamline the process by tracking progress, submissions, and providing feedback to their learners.

Mrs Harde's NCEA Level 2 English Workspace

Over the last 10 years, I have been inundated with all types of educational online tools. Hapara Workspace is one of those tools that I have yet to add to my toolkit, but I am hoping to integrate this into my online learning space in Term 2. My focus group will be my NCEA Level 2 (201ENG) class and I will be trialing Workspace with them for their Term 2 Internal Assessment (91104 - Connections Essay). My fellow colleague and English Department member, Mrs Pravina Harde, is quite experienced with Workspace and was able to share this with our team at our Department Planning Day in Term 4 2021. I really liked how she used the app and how her students knew how to access it and use it well (even in her absence). Mrs Harde has created a Level 2 English Workspace that I am going make a copy of and then modify to fit my class. I am hopeful that this will be another effective way of tracking and monitoring student progress. 

I have made a deliberate attempt to integrate all of these monitoring measures in my weekly routine at school. It gives me a sense of 'control' over what I can control and manage. I do know that student achievement and attendance will always have gaps, that will not change. However how I approach it and try to monitor it, in some ways helps me grapple with it as it can be quite overwhelming. These measures are result of my experiences with our first lockdown in 2020. It is way of keeping me accountable to my students and the teams that I work with. It is also a way of keeping me in line and on the pulse with what is going on with my students. 

Week 8 Term 1 - Adjusting the Approach (Mar 21 - 25)

 At the beginning of the year, the English Department had a plan in place for our NCEA students. We wanted to ensure that we were all on the same page - literally team teaching the same text and assessment for the first part of Term 1. Our goal (which still remains) was to ensure that our students were able to bank some early credits through our visual text study focusing on the Close Viewing Assessment. Across all three year levels (NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 English) our students spent the first three and half weeks fully immersed in our visual text study. Our Level 1 students delved into Tim Burton's 1990's classic 'Edward Scissorhands', our Level 2 students got familiar with the local director, James Napier Robertson's 'The Dark Horse' and our Level 3 students dug deep into 2013's Martin Scorsese's hit 'The Wolf of Wall Street'. 

Our intention was to get through the study of the visual text and start the assessment by Week 4 and Week 5. However as soon as community transmission of COVID 19 impacted our school whanau, our plan came to a halt. From Week 5 to Week 7, our dedicated English Department have been working overtime to try and get our students back into the routine of school on top of catching up with their Close Viewing Assessment. The initial due date for the Close Viewing Assessment was March 18 (Week 7). We knew that the return on this assessment would be low due to so many of students who have been absent due to COVID 19. We wanted to push through any way to see how many students completed the assessments. We met on Monday March 21 (Week 8) to discuss the Close Viewing Assessment. In our discussion, we spoke about the students who completed the assessment and those who did not submit. We also discussed how we needed to adjust our approach, taking into consideration the disruption that our students have experienced this term. Here are some of our findings from the meeting. 

NCEA Level 1 English 2022: Overview of the L1 Close Viewing Assessment. 

Our NCEA Level 1 students (for the most part) have responded well to the Close Viewing Assessment. Considering the disruptions to their learning, the English Department have managed to guide some of their students through the assessment (in a new Hybrid Learning structure). There is still a significant number of students who have not completed the assessment which of course, is a cause for concern.

NCEA Level 2 English 2022: Overview of the L2 Close Viewing Assessment. 

Much like the NCEA Level 1 students, our NCEA Level 2 students have had made some good progress with the Close Viewing Assessment. The students who have managed to finish the assessment were present in both online learning (week 3 and week 4), there was some type of communication throughout the last three weeks and they were present for learning onsite. The students who have not submitted the work is due largely to the fact that they have not been able to engage with their work due to COVID 19 or they are working. We have had some new students join our classes during the course of Week 3 and Week 4, which in itself poses some issues as the students have not been able to get online. 

NCEA Level 3 English 2022: Overview of the L3 Close Viewing Assessment. 

Our Level 3 engagement with the Close Viewing Assessment has been disappointing and concerning to say the least. The return with assessment has been poor with only 4 students out of 79 completing the assessment, we can see that there is an opportunity here. An opportunity where can either continue with our program and fail the students who did not submit. Or we can adjust our program to try and work with those who need it, in the hope that they will submit their work. 

ADJUSTING THE APPROACH: If you adjust something, you change it to make it suitable for a new purpose or situation

We wanted to ensure that all of our students had the opportunity to achieve credits this term. As this term is 11 weeks long, we know that we have the luxury of time to wriggle things around in our program to afford this opportunity. We have decided to give our students an extension of two weeks (Week 8 + Week 9) to complete the Close Viewing Assessment. The team have been encouraged to speak to the students about WHAT the decision and WHY we have decided to go forward with this. We have also asked the team to make sure that they communicate this both in person and via email so that the students have no excuse and that they are updated. Once we reach the end of Week 9, the hope is that the students are ready to complete and submit the assessment. If they do not meet the deadline, then this will be classed as a Not Achieved grade. The hope, however, is that our students will use this time wisely and make the most of the extension. Our plan for Week 8 + Week 9 has been shared to our students via email.

Our plan for Week 8 + Week 9

Our team have been working with our students (both online and onsite) and this has been quite intense. The feedback, one-on-one sessions, after school classes (onsite) and Google Meets (after 3:00pm) have all taken place. I do not see this changing over the next two weeks. I am also not surprised at how well we have adjusted to this new type of learning and teaching. We have no choice but too, we cannot complain or try and stick to the status quo because that is what we expect. Teaching in a COVID landscape is difficult and challenging, it is a landscape that is forever evolving. One positive takeaway from our discussion was this sense of togetherness. Although we may have felt disappointed or frustrated with the poor return of assessments, we knew that we could adjust our approach together as a team. It is vital that the team are on the same page, that we acknowledge what went wrong but ultimately that we agree on how we can move forward - together. It is important that our pedagogy evolves as well, as we need to meet the needs of our students. I anticipate for a better return in student completion of the assessment by the end of Week 9. I am hopeful! 

Week 7 Term 1 - Meaningful Feedback (Mar 14 - 18)

 It has been a bit of a mission trying to teach online (whilst in isolation). Teaching from home whilst some of my students who are onsite whilst the others are online (in isolation) has been challenging. A structured hybrid learning structure is the approach that our school has taken on as our response to COVID-19. The benefits in this structure of learning is that the workload for both teacher and student is lessened, working in an environment that is constantly changing due to a pandemic can be challenging and stressful. For staff working onsite and from home, this type of learning structure gives us the flexibility to work within our means and within a COVID landscape. 

The risks with Hybrid learning are that we lose time with our students as we are not operating by the normal timetable. Student engagement is relatively low (whether onsite or online) and this can cause issues later on with their progress. I think teaching online and onsite can be a challenge as you cannot fully give a 100% to students who are working from home (especially if you are managing students onsite in the classroom). As I have spent the last week and a half in isolation, I found the hybrid learning structure a bit of struggle - trying to maintain momentum and structure with my students (in class and online).

During my recent stint in isolation, I have focused on what I can do instead what I am limited to. What I have been able to do and focus on, is feedback for my Senior class (Level 2 and Level 3 English). Both of my classes are currently working on their first internal assessment - Close Viewing of a Visual Text. What I learnt over the last two weeks is that feedback is important but needs to be effective. Effective in that the student is able to unpack and understand my thoughts, opinions and suggestions. Effective in that it is not just about 'what they need to improve' but also celebrating what they have done so far and affirming their efforts. I have spent hours giving feedback on areas for improvement (which is not a bad thing, it is necessary). I do not think that my students (at the time) engaged with it the way I wanted to them to. Some of things that I have found to work with creating and sharing 'meaningful feedback' will be outlined below. 

CLEAR EXPECTATIONS: It is about helping people understand the bigger picture. With this bigger picture, people will understand better and commit more easily

Outlining clear instructions, how you want them to be addressed and when it needs to be done (sounds simple yeah?) Well this is very effective and can be something that we can overlook. I tend to use feedback as an opportunity to share my laundry list of things that the student needs to work on. Setting out and organized list of achievable goals with supporting links can be even more meaningful. "By setting clear expectations and giving specific instructions at the beginning, students get a better idea of what is expected of them, and it saves both parties time" (eLearning Industry) 

Teacher feedback example

POSITIVE AFFIRMATION: Positive affirmations are defined as statements that affirm something to be true. To explain, positive affirmations generally mean positive phrases that a person repeats to themselves to describe how they want to be

As I mentioned before, feedback is not just about providing recommendations or suggestions to students. It is also an opportunity to affirm what they have done well and to highlight this. Our students want to know what they can do better but I believe that they need to know what they have done well. In my experience, my students do not realize that they are making progress or that they have done something right as they are used to seeing what they have done wrong. 

Meaningful feedback is supposed to encourage and not just scrutinize. I have tried to do this with my feedback to my students, highlighting the areas in their writing that I think is gold. Talking to the students about why I have highlighted that this is important is something that I am hoping to do now that I have returned. "Your students need to derive value from your feedback. It needs to inspire some sort of change or action. So, every time you are giving feedback, make it goal-oriented and actionable for it to be truly effective." (eLearning Industry)

Teacher feedback example

PERSONALIZE IT: design or produce (something) to meet someone's individual requirements.

It seems like common sense, but it is something that I can over look when it comes to feedback. A simple act like using the student's name, addressing my feedback to them - can make a huge difference. 

"A simple act, like using the student’s name while writing feedback, also helps in developing your connection with the student. So, keep those generic responses aside and provide feedback, tailor-made to every student’s work and capabilities in order to maximize their potential." (eLearning Industry)

Teacher feedback example

Making feedback meaningful can be powerful. It can be a springboard if it is done right. I think the next step is speaking to the students through the feedback. I do not expect my students to read it and understand it straight away, I want to spend time to talk through each part with them so that they understand where I am coming from. 

Week 6 Term 1 - Literacy Project 2022: Department Self-Review: Specific Actions (Mar 07 - 11)

INTENTIONAL: done on purpose; deliberate.

The final part of our Self-Review for the literacy project is focused on what our specific actions are going forward. We spent Week 4 and Week 5 reviewing our current literacy practice is and what opportunities we would like to pursue within literacy. This last part of the review is all about refining the 'opportunities' to manageable, realistic and purposeful actions to take going forward. The English Department began the discussion around specific actions for Literacy and our goal was to be more intentional about what we thought was the best approach with literacy (for Year 9). We used the guiding questions from the Kaiako Literacy Action Plan to help direct the conversation. 

What can we do as kaiako to ensure that we promote literacy in our classes?

• Marc has been wonderful with my Y9s and I value both his and Dr Jannie’s input and advice during my Y9 classes and would appreciate their continual support.
• Marc has done evaluations during his time in my class and we are working on strategies, based on the outcomes of these evaluation.
• Take help from Marc and Jannie to create literacy programs for our class
• Have discussions with our students about literacy and why this is important for them in their learning journey.
• Use literacy strategies
• Work with Dr Jannie + Marc in the classroom with our students (especially those who need literacy support)
• Inform my Year 10 mentoring group about upcoming NCEA changes, as future NCEA Level 1 students, in regards to numeracy and literacy.

There is a mutual understanding and desire to use and learn from our Literacy experts. Dr Jannie Van Hees and Marc Milford are two people that are integral in how literacy is delivered at Tamaki College. We know that we need to prioritize time and space for Marc and Dr Jannie to come in and work with not only our students but also us a department. Working with the experts is important in that it gives us as teachers the support that we need and it also allows us to learn. We know that there is so much to learn from Dr Jannie and Marc and we are hopeful that we can do that going forward. 

What actions can we take to learn more about our akonga?

• Literacy survey
• Surveys
• One on One Conversation

Dr Jannie suggested that we create and share a literacy survey to our focus group, Year 9 students. The idea around this is that we can get an idea on what the students think about literacy but also how they see themselves when it comes to literacy. We were talking about data and how we share this with the students, initially we thought that the students knowing their literacy data (where they are at with reading and writing and what areas they need to improve on) was the key to learning more about our akonga. However as the discussion progressed, we agreed that we did not want the students to be discouraged about the numbers or to feel that their literacy journey is defined by data. Although important, it is more than that. The idea of the survey is to approach the students in a way where they can reflect on what they know, like and dislike about literacy and then see what the opportunities for them to grow. 

What can you do now to reflect on and further develop effective teaching strategies to support literacy?

Again, utilizing our experts and learning from them on what we can do better in our teaching. We are always looking for literacy strategies that work and that are meaningful. Some of our team shared some great literacy tools that they are using in the classroom. I think that when we do meet for our weekly meetings, we can set a time for staff to share good practice in the hope that it will inspire the team. Here are some links of literacy practice that were shared during our self-review discussion (from Mrs Christine Williams) 

• Word Wipe

Learn fast how to create words from a string of mixed letters here.

• Outspell Scrabble

Select each letter and create new words until the time is out.

• Microsoft Word Games

More word games in one game just for you ready to play!

• Casual Crossword

Play smart with a free casual crossword game on your laptop.

• Just Words

Online multiplayer game with scrabble words and letters to..

• Text Twist 2

Rearrange letters online with your friends and twist like pro..

• Daily Crossword

Try new crossword scrabble every day by day with clues.

• Word Finder

Find real words inside the table to finish the game because..

What action(s) can you take now to develop systems to collect, share and use what you notice about the literacy learning of your ākonga?

• Unpacking the data: Continual discussions and analyzing of student data is required - really unpacking and deep divining into the literacy data is key and that is where our literacy experts come in to help all of us to understand. 
• Department + Appraisal goal: Our department goal and individual appraisal goals all feature a connection to literacy - this is one way of tracking teacher progress and engagement with literacy. 

This part of the self-review is about being specific and intentional about our approach going forward. We want to make sure that we are doing all that we can to help improve our knowledge and practice of literacy. Ultimately we want to make sure that our students can see themselves in this journey and they can feel some sense of empowerment in their learning. I look forward to reflecting and documenting how the next part of our journey. 

Week 5 Term 1 - Momentum (Feb 28 - March 4)

MOMENTUM: the impetus gained by a moving object.

I am a stickler for routine and running to some type of schedule. For me there is an element of control and comfort in having a routine, I understand what the outcome is and the steps needed to get there and I can control what I do and how I do it. When I get off track or when things out of my control limit my progress and the process, I feel out of it. For teachers, part of our job is to create a culture of learning and the other part of our job is build momentum for our learners. The last two years have definitely been disruptive for everyone's momentum - whether it is social, emotional, physical, financial - the momentum of life from 2020 to now has been anything but steady. 

Our school and wider community have felt the impact of the COVID-19 virus especially in the first months of 2022. This has had an impact on how we operate as a school with a recent move into online learning (for a week) and now with a staggered return to school. Our 'normal' way of functioning as a school, our 'normal' way of providing a service to our learners - is the one that is changing. As much as I would like to think that I am open to change, I am not. I do think that there is a big part of me that is adverse to change. The idea of 'changing' the routine and the normal when it comes to the school's approach to teaching and learning in a pandemic is one that is evolving (almost momentarily) and it calls for everyone to be open to change and adapting our we teaching (and learn) in a COVID landscape. 

After a week of online learning, our school has returned to a rostered schedule. With different year levels coming in to school for a day whilst the rest of the school has online learning. This week I have tried to regain the momentum but it has been a bit of a challenge in that a lot of the students are not online due to isolation or work. The best that I can do this week is to be prepared and available for my students, my akonga. My Year 9 students (9TNi) will spend this week and most likely Week 6 reading through Roald Dahl's 'Boy' and completing the chapter questions (everything is online on my site). My Level 2 and Level 3 students will continue working through their Close Viewing Assessments (both Level 2 and Level 3 Close Viewing Assessments are due at the end of Week 7). I am confident in what I have prepared online for my students and hope that they will access the work. Even more so, I hope that they are comfortable with what is offered online with my sites especially as I have made sure to load everything that they could possibly need (especially for my Level 2 and Level 3 students). 

Now that I am in isolation, I guess I am trying my best to maintain the momentum not only for my students but also for myself. Working from home has both pros and cons, however I do know that the novelty has definitely worn off and I would much rather work at work (if you know what I mean). I think the best approach going forward is to take it day by day and not to stress or worry about what I cannot control. So long as I am prepared, so long as I am aware how I can manage the 'momentum' - I will be fine!