Light bulb moment

Professor Graeme Aitken shared 3 things for learner success at our Manaiakalani PLG today:

Enjoyment of learning, Confidence and Achievement

I had a light bulb moment ......I am so FOCUSED on Maori achievement in my 1104MAT class, that I have overlooked the enjoyment/fun factor for learning that is needed to build learner confidence which will subsequently lead to achievement. With increased confidence, I am certain that learners will attempt more set tasks which will better prepare them for summative assessments and thus reduce our high level of learners who are not sitting assessments.

Baby steps

Our Maori achievement data shows a slight reduction from Term 1 to mid-term 2 of students who Did Not Sit (DNS) the Linear Algebra assessment. 

  

AS 91029	% Maori Term 1	% Maori Term 2
N	90% - DNS	75% - DNS
A	10%	25%
M	0%	0%
E	0%	0%

Achievement criteria in student-friendly language were revisited in conjunction with explicit literacy and teaching strategies as shown below

Algebra - Internal  3 credits - Numeracy
ACHIEVED	Form equations, Solve equations (line graph), Substitute
MERIT	Interpret data (in context)
EXCELLENCE	Create and solve your own equation
Literacy Strategy:	3 Level Guide Achieved - Read on the line Merit - Read between the lines Excellence - Read beyond the lines
Teaching Strategy	Forming equations: Look for secret words: each, every, single, one, per; that number gets the letter Solving equations: =sum( Interpreting tables: Colour code cheapest prices

The table below shows an increase in Maori Achievement from 10% to 38% and a reduction in students not sitting assessments from 90% to 62%. 

AS 91029	% Maori Term 1	% Maori mid Term 2	% Maori after Term 2 exam
N	90% - DNS	75% - DNS	62% - DNS
A	10%	25%	38%
M	0%	0%	0%
E	0%	0%	0%

The Maori National Decile Equivalent (%) for Not achieved for this standard is 17.8%. We still have a way to go to get students confident enough to attempt assessment tasks.

Whanau support

Our recent analysis of data from 1 May showed that 42% of our year 11Maori learners and 87% of 1104MAT Maori learners have zero maths credits. Giving 1104MAT learners an opportunity to set maths specific Goals on day 1 of term 2 seems to have had limited effect on a few learners, so I stepped up the intervention and contacted whanau today asking for their support to encourage learners to attend maths study classes after school. 50% of our whanau immediately agreed to support their children. Now we just need learners to show up.

Multivariate Statistics Cheat Sheet

All learners should be familiar with the achievement objectives from the New Zealand curriculum. Empowered learners can interpret and show evidence of their understanding of the achievement objectives. At the start of our new standard on Multivariate Statistics, we discussed the achievement criteria in the table below.

Statistics (multivariate) - Internal  4 credits - Literacy/Numeracy
Problem - I wonder………(compare 2 populations) - 2 questions needed Plan - randomly select data from the table provided (about 30 for each population) Data - table Analysis - 5 data summary and description of graphs (Dotplot and Boxplot) Conclusion - Answer the question, Reflect on the outcome if another population was used. Discussion - shape/skew, median, shift, overlap, spread, interesting features
ACHIEVED	Discuss any 3 for each population
MERIT	Discuss and compare any 2 (in context) with evidence
EXCELLENCE	Detailed discussion AND comparison of any 3 (in context) with evidence
Literacy Strategy:	Mnemonic - PPDAC Cycle Word Definition Give one Get one
Teaching Strategy	Acrostic Poem Shapely Men Shift Over Seas for Interesting features Shapely - shape/skew Men - median Shift - difference between medians Over - overlap of boxes Seas  - spread for Interesting features - interesting features

Learners then found definitions or images of words which were unfamiliar to them. For example
Multivariate
5 data summary
Dotplot
Boxplot
Skew

Multivariate Statistics - Plan of attack

Historical data from 2016 showed that many Maori learners in 1104MAT did not sit (DNS) this Multivariate Achievement Standard which was taught in term 3.

AS 91035	% Maori 1104MAT	%Maori my school	Maori National Decile Equivalent (%)
N	83% - DNS	52.9%	21.5%
A	0%	23.5%	64.8%
M	0%	11.8%	9.2%
E	17%	11.8%	4.6%

Higher expectations cannot be taught or imposed independently of context. Rather, they develop as new teaching approaches are mastered and student learning is seen to improve. (Timperley, Wilson, Barrar, and Fung, 2007).

A plan of attack for 2017 was to teach and assess this standard earlier in the year and be more explicit about the use of 3 literacy strategies (Mnemonic, Word definition and Give one get one) and a teaching strategy (Acrostic Poem). My next blog will elaborate on these Literacy and Teaching strategies.

GROWTH Coaching

A default for learners who are not achieving, is to request lunch/after-school study classes. Study classes work well for those learners who can commit to them, but for learners who have other commitments (family, sporting and church) after school, we needed to find another way to get learners to become more active and take charge of their learning in order to achieve academic success.

We attempted a GROWTH coaching activity using the template below which raised some rich discussion and collaboration.

NAME:

Questions	Answers/Observations
Goal - To get 16+ maths credits in 2017 What are the benefits of achieving this goal? What will be the cost if you don’t achieve this goal?
Reality - What is happening now? On a scale of 1 - 10 where do you see yourself What have you tried so far?
Options - What could you do? What could you do to change the situation? Can I make a suggestion? What advice would you give someone who was in a similar position to you?
Will - What will you do? Which option do you like the most? What specifically will you do in the coming week?
Tactics - How and when will you do it? When will you take the next steps? Do you need to log steps taken What type of person do you need to be in order to get the desired results?
Habits - How will you sustain your success? What resources/assistance do you need to maintain this? What might get in the way? How will you ensure you carry out these actions

Comparison Algebra and Bivariate Statistics tracking sheet

 "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" - Winston Churchill.

Day 1 of term 2 was an ideal opportunity to revisit 1104MAT achievement data from term 1. Kamar statistics were projected onto the board for our first 2 achievement standards and learners had to see what part they played in the data. Most realised that term 1 effort was insufficient for success at NCEA L1.

All 23 students who are showing up as Not Achieved (red bar), did not sit their assessment and will have another opportunity during the mid-year exam.

Evaluation & Re-redesign

Learners took ownership of their learning by Setting an achievable goal based on outcome Focus browsing kept learners on task by limiting or eliminating distractions and more evidence of learning was produced; that was evident on the Linear Algebra Class Task sheet which showed that more work was being completed compared to our first standard at the start of the term.

The Visible Teaching and Learning (VTaL) tracking below sheet shows a marked improvement in Maori engagement for Linear Algebra, our second standard this year, and completion of set tasks compared to Bivariate Statistics which was done at the start of the year

Learning Activity ✔	Activity 1			Activity 2			Activity 3			Activity 4			Activity 5			Activity 6			Activity 7			Activity 8			Activity 9			Activity 10			Activity 11			Activity 12			Activity 13
Student Number	A	M	E	A	M	E	A	M	E	A	M	E	A	M	E	A	M	E	A	M	E	A	M	E	A	M	E	A	M	E	A	M	E	A	M	E	A	M	E
1
2	1			1			1						1				1		1			1						1
3
4	1			1			1			1			1			1			1			1
5	1			1			1			1				1			1
6			1			1			1			1			1			1			1		1
7	1				1		1
8		1		1				1			1			1			1		1

Tracking sheet for Bivariate Statistics,our first standard for the year

This year the college trialled a Visible Teaching and Learning(VTaL) model where learner progress for a standard was tracked using RED (no evidence), ORANGE (unfinished work) and GREEN (standard met).

Maori learners struggled with the Key Competency "managing self"

Teacher and Learner expectations were readdressed so that there would be an increase in GREEN squares.

Learning Activity ✔

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Activity 12

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