I was forced to eat my words

I often say to my learners, "You either do or you don't, there is no TRY". Well I was forced to eat my words as one of my learners did TRY and with much success. I have a learner who had been attending school part-time for 3 weeks due to personal and wellbeing issues before we went into Lockdown. He said that he had never passed a single maths assessment in his life, is no good at maths, does not understand maths, does not like maths… and all the other negative self-talk that goes with it. I told him that I had already planned his success and all he had to do was TRY. I soon realised that we had another hurdle to overcome; the language he was using. When he sought feedback he would ask “is this wrong”, so I made him unlearn that phrase and taught him to ask “is this right” and I immediately noticed a quiet confidence. One day, while looking at the tracking sheet, he commented that he was surprised at his progress in my class, he was actually understanding the work and enjoying learning maths (remember this was within a 3 week period). I was so impressed by his change in his attitude to maths, work ethic and overall demeanour, that I emailed his mum who was super pleased and impressed.

Culture of success: the numbers don't lie

 

After consistently bringing my learners back to our "Culture of success" focusing on what success LOOKS, FEELS and SOUNDS like, I have some data to share:

There is an overwhelming increase in the number of learners who were successful in completing their course in term 1 and then took on additional NCEA standards.

11MAT - additional stds 1/15 = 7%

12MAT - additional stds 1/17 = 6%

11ELE - additional stds 3/12 = 25%

12ELE - additional stds 1/8 = 13%

It is evident which class was used to pilot our "Culture of success". That's right .....11ELE.....the numbers don't lie.

Brief update on our Culture of Success

 After my previous post about modelling and celebrating what success LOOKS, SOUNDS and FEELS like, I have a brief follow up to share:

Level 1 Physics 

67% of my Pasifika learners and 50% of my Maori learners have sat their assessment long before the due date and 100% of them have gained NCEA L1 credits. One of my learners stopped by after school today to let me know that he was going to sit his assessment later this week...not sure if he had an inkling that I was analysing his class data

Level 1 Algebra

100% of my Pasifika and 75% of my Maori learners have sat their assessment before the due date and 100% of them have gained NCEA L1 credits. A few learners have sat 2 assessments and have been successful

Level 2 Networks

33% of my Pasifika learners 100% of my Maori learners sat their assessment before the due date and 100% of them have gained NCEA L2 credits. A few learners have sat 2 assessments and have been successful

After their success, I was pleased to hear them ask for an additional standard to attempt. I am going to be bold and say that they know what success looks, feels and sounds like.

Creating a culture of success in our learning environments

A recurring theme at the start of each year, is my learners total disbelief in their ability to be successful in maths, let alone enjoy learning maths. With that message playing in their minds year in and year out for most of their schooling lives, it is no wonder they switch off as soon as they enter a maths room.  

Over the years, I have tried a variety of strategies to persuade these impressionable minds and after a comment from one of my learners, I thought it was worth sharing.....it is based on sound, look and feel.

SOUND - When I hear a learner verbalise their thinking, explain a concept to a peer or even ask a question, I will respond by calling out the learner's name and saying, "this is what success sounds like, thank you". "I love it when smart students make smart choices". On the other hand, off-task chatter gets a response of, "this is not what success sounds like"...."it saddens me when smart students make poor choices" and it seems to work every single time as learners soon get back to the task at hand.

LOOK - When everyone is on task and engaging with their learning, I will comment loudly enough for all to hear, hopefully without disrupting the learning environment, "this is what success looks like, thank you"....."I love it when smart students make smart choices".

FEEL - When a learner has completed a series of learning activities, requests feedback or suggests their confidence to sit a practice assessment, I comment "this is what success feels like"....."I love it when smart students make smart choices".

One of my learners went back to their previous high school to tell their maths teacher that since leaving their school, he is now smart in maths and went on to share his success at getting NCEA L1. His version of events is that his teacher did not believe him but he was ok with it because he knows that he is smart.