What is Effective Learning?

I was just looking through my files and came accross a range of notes I took for a Masters paper in the Uk and they seemed so relevant to what I am investigating - how to develop independent learners.

Effective Learning

Institute of Education, London University

This chart really made me think abut what I am doing as the teacher and what this is developing in my learners.  I need to transition further down the line from guiding through facilitationg and into consulting if students are to become independent and self directed.

When teachers:	Instruct	Guide	Facilitate	Consult
Learners become:	Dependent	Interested	Involved	Self-directed

I think this might need more:

1. Student understanding of targets and how to achieve them.

2. Student choice over learning activities and co-construction.

3. Me letting go more of the control!

While I am still wariting for my newly ordered copy of  Dweck's 'Mindset', this next part really rings true and echoes the same truth.  

Positive Learning Orientation	Negative Learning Orientation
·       effort = success ·       believe in ability to improve & learn ·       prefer challenge ·       personal satisfaction to success ·       problem solve & self-instructions	·       ability = success ·       judged as able ·       do better than others ·       competition ·       helpless & negative self evaluation in difficult task

For our class to be a positive learning place we need to be explicit about these things:

Hard work brings success. 

I can get better.

I will be adventurous. 

Success makes me feel good.

I can solve it!

This will become our 'Positive Mindset' for Term 3. We will unpack it and do lots of self talking to help embed it in our understanding.  It will be interesting to see how it supports the students with a more negative attitude to life.  It fits perfectly with the Māori whakatoki that is our foundation this term.

SOLO Description collectors adapted

Our students like to use sheets to gather ideas and they are a great way to scaffold writing by gathering word banks and descripitve tools for students to refer back to.

This is what our initial effort looked like. As you can see, it clarifies what adjectives and adverbs are but also illicits deeper thinking and wonderings.  We have not managed to unpack the 'Analogy' section to develop effective metaphores and similes but will use that next term. This Desciption Collector resulted in 'Slow writing' and 5 Sentence Challenge responses.  It is a tool to feed any type of written response.

The Year 1-2 teacher came for a visit and we decided it should be simplified for them.  She had tried a version of it in her class and already had a student independently apply the 'see, think, wonder' to his writing on the following day.

First steps in Independent Learning!

We used the last couple of weeks as an experiment to see who could cope with making Independent Learning choices, what further support would need to be set in place and which students were ready to continue having earned their Independent Learner's Licence. All evaluations and learning conversations centred around these success criteria and our next steps in achieving them.

The initial Independent Learning Plan had titles of Writing and Daily5 Reading in the traditional places, while Independent Learners had choice of activitiy during these times.  They also earned the right to select where they work and who they work with.

During the first week we had 10 Independent Learners, while in the second week we expect to have 13. All of the initial students managed to maintain their independence and licence but as the numbers get bigger, I would expect some students to lose their licence by making the wrong choices.

Observations of our first week with Independent Learners:

• Students I was not 100% sure could manage stepped up to the challenge, showing outstanding independence.
• Independent Learners encouraged and supported peers to make the right choices.
• The class was a calm and productive learning space. 
• Most of the remainder of the class aspire to earn their licence and can identify their focus success criteria.
• A couple of students showed aspects of anger or frustration as they thought they would never earn their licence.

Scaffolding steps to set up for Term 3:

• Continue with the class tracking sheet or trial the one from the neighbourng room. (Alice K)
• Set up clear guidelines about numbers and expected behaviour in the library, cloakbay or outside.
• Incorporate aspects of the Independent Learner Licence in the student Daily Planner.
• Purchase more lanyards and make 5-10 more licences. 
• Begin to incorporate more SOLO visual organisers.
• Develop more 'How to' sheets for ICT based activities.

Going SOLO!

What a mind-blowing day - unpacking Solo Taxonomy with Pam Hook at Springston School.

I couldn't possibly unpack all the points we covered but here are some of the aspects that relate to my 'Teacher Inquiry' of using scaffolding to develop Independent Learners.

What really concerned me was the research done by Carol Dweck that suggested praise for intelligence resulted in students avoiding taking risks and who took failure personally. In contrast, giving praise for effort and strategy selection resulted in students willing to take a risk, who resiliently tried a range of strategies and explained success as a combination of effort and the right strategy.

I need to praise students for showing the A+ Characteristics and selecting an effective strategy.

Actions:

Next Week:

1.  Use the 'Hexagons' to unpack post unit knowledge of science vocabulary and the scientific process. Record group oral explanation of connections to support the image.

2.  Introduce the adaptation of the Description++ Map (Description Collector) to unpack and write a five sentence challenge based on an image then use as a scaffolding tool.

3.  Order Carol Dweck's 'Mindset' and read it over the holidays.

Term 3

1.  Use the 'Hexagons' to unpack what an Independent Learner is - looks like, sounds like and feels like.  Look for relationships between these as a whole group.

2.  Look at how the Success Criteria for an Independent Learner fit into the Solo stages  - co-create a chart like the one below or make a visual cartoon representation of the stages.

3.  Make a display to unpack SOLO levels.

4.  Model and embed the use of the draft writing rubrics and visual models, providing laminated copies that students can take away for writing support.

All Solo resources here have 

been adapted with permission from: 

Kaitiakitanga - our responsibility to the environment

'Kaitiakitanga' is the Māori value often translated as ‘stewardship’ or ‘guardianship’ but it is so much more.  At the Wairewa Hui 2014 (Little River) we unpacked this concept with a range of Ngāi Tahu people who are actively engaged in environmental management.

Here are they key points I came away with:

'Kaitiakitanga' or (environmental guardianship) is centred around the ability to gather and protect ‘Mahinga Kai’ so that it can be gathered from traditional sources to nourish the people, but also balances with the responsibility to care for the resources so they are available to future generations.

To achieve this the water, land and air must be protected so they are clean and can sustain the 'Kaitiaki'.  The 'Kaitiaki' are the guardians or indicator species of the environment, such as the tuna (eel) and kererū (wood pigeon).  These 'Kaitiaki' must be watched as they will indicate the state of the environment by their numbers and wellness, thus letting us know when or what action is required.

As a teacher I could teach the value of 'Kaitiakitanga' in our curriculum and daily lives by:

Preparing, planting and harvesting kai in the school garden.

Thank Papatuanuku when harvesting her gifts.

Lift the value of kai by saying a karakia of blessing.

Investigating Matariki and the traditional 'times' to prepare, plant and harvest.

Taking only what is needed, leaving some to reproduce and for other people.

Sharing the harvest with others - family, the old, neighbours.

Caring for Papatuanuku by re-cycling, re-using and composting.

Getting out into nature with our tamariki to harvest kai - fish, whitebait, eel.

Make camps more about experiencing 'pristine' nature so they have something to compare and aspire to.

Identifying an area in or around school that students can restore, re-plant and maintain - a wooded area or a local stream.

Learn about native birds and how to restore their habitat - protecting kaitiaki.

Be a fearless advocate and fight for what you and your students believe.

Plant fruit trees in the school grounds and write to council about kai in local verges. 

Get involved in relevant issues on the local community.

The children we work with are not the 'Kaitiaki' - the guardians, but we have a term for them. Children who care for the environment can be called 'Tamariki Tiaki' or child guardians.

'Kaitiakitanga' is not just a Māori value but one that should be embraced by everyone who cares about our natural resources and what we are leaving for future generations. It is not about developing 'reserves' and throwing away the key, but restoring eco-systems so they can be harvested for ‘mahinga kai’ and maintained sustainably.

For further reading: http://ngaitahu.iwi.nz/environment/ 

First leap into independent timetables...

With the need to support the movie making and group science experiments, both of our Year 4-5 classes have dived deep into independent learning programmes during Week 7.  A list of must-do and can-do tasks were determined.  Timetable planning moved backwards from assigned experiment time and group booked move making time. All students have filled in two tasks to complete during an hour period and have a range of additional 'Can-Do' tasks to move onto as they complete tasks.

While I would have preferred to scaffold this in a more progressive way, the inquiry need has determined we take this action.  It will show exactly who can be self managing and highlight the needs for scaffolding tools.  Think of it as a 'pre-test' on independence.

Scaffolding:
The tasks are known and easily managed by individuals.
Timetable planning is modelled by the teacher and supported by confident peers - during the week prior to commencement.
Resources and tasks are easily available.
Experts are identified for student support.
An independent programme anchor chart is developed with learners prior to commencement.

Agency:
Student are given choice in when they complete tasks, where and who they work with.
Tasks give freedom of activity allowing students to focus on personal interests and targets.