Thank you and farewell

Thank you for following my blog over the years and taking the time to view/read/comment on my posts.

With your support, I was transformed from a reluctant to a somewhat prolific blogger and I thank you for that.
I will continue to blog at my new school, so feel free to continue to follow me on mrsnoelenedunn.blogspot.com if you like.

Taking responsibility for learning/success

I am so impressed by one of my "Jumpstart" learners who encountered something that she did not understand and instead of waiting for the maths period the next day, tried to figure it out for herself by accessing her CHEAT SHEET.

This is her message to me.

6 Dec 2018, 23:04
Hi Miss, 

I just want to make sure if I'm on the right track with my Conclusion in Activity 7: French/German PPDAC 1. From the site, there is one column of data that shows a question mark. So I read through the site where there was guidance for this missing data. I managed to understand what could be done to this missing data, I just want to know if I can talk about it in my conclusion as "predict" for excellence. 

Thanks. 

Her interpretation was spot on. By having a clear understanding of the requirements of the standard and the evidence needed for the various achievement levels, she was able to make headway despite coming across what could have been seen as a stumbling block.

Learners taking ownership of their learning/success

Straight after junior exams, our school embarked on what we call "Jumpstart"  where year 10 students were given their NCEA L1 timetables and began working towards their NCEA L1 certificate.

For the first few periods I deliberately chose not to teach the curriculum as I needed to focus on the 3 R's - ROUTINES, RELATIONSHIPS, RESPECT.

After initial introductions, my goal was to learn each students name so I modelled a repetition technique where I shook hands with student number 1 and welcomed them by name. I did the same for student number 2 and then repeated names 1 and 2 before moving onto student number 3. By the time I went around the room I had mentioned names up to 10 times. Students saw me as a learner and when they laughed at me for mispronouncing a name, I had an opportunity to teach them about expectations and acceptable behaviours when in class; otherwise known as the DUNN way and it was an ideal opportunity to practice our school RISE values and the Key Competencies with a few fun challenges thrown in.

Once we began focusing on the curriculum, students had access to a CHEAT SHEET, LITERACY STRATEGIES and LEARNING STRATEGIES and the learning programme with resources for the standard. The expectation had been set, so success was our goal and for each learner success started by setting an achievement goal which they have been working towards. After 2 and a half weeks of Jumpstart, a student had completed her learning programme, practice test and student voice survey and felt confident enough to sit her first NCEA L1 assessment. Her goal was to get excellence and that is what she got. She has now moved onto her second standard.

Another student who has been away on a regular basis has just sent me this email:

Hi Ms Dunn, 

I was wondering if I could come in today at interval (6/12/18) and practice for the maths assessment? 

I will keep you posted about the outcome.

Student Voice

3 of my NCEA L1 learners sat their maths external exam yesterday. 
One of them gave me verbal feedback saying that only question 
about median confused them but they chose the middle value.  

The other sent me an email

Afternoon Mrs! The exam was good! It wasn't too hard as I 
had already knew what to write for each question because 
of your study notes and help!  It was like doing a normal assessment in class! 
Thank you Mrs for your help and guidance! :)

The final analysis

As I sum up my two-year inquiry on "Raising Maori Achievement", I noticed an increase in engagement as well as an increase in the quality and quantity of work produced.

The evidence that I have, shows that in 2017, 39% of my students got numeracy from achievement standards compared to one of my classes this year where there was a significant 77% increase from the previous year. My final analysis showed that in one class 94% got numeracy and 100% in the other. Particular mention needs to be made for the quality of grade for a Statistics achievement standard worth 4 credits that has both a literacy and numeracy component.

National statistics show that 27% of the students who sat the assessment got a merit grade, national decile 1 statistics was 17% and in my class, 85% of the students got a merit grade.



What did I do to make this happen?
Well, we started with the basics to build up learner confidence.
Maths is like a foreign language so each standard had a list of subject-specific vocabulary which learners had to explain AND in most cases, find an appropriate image to reinforce their understanding.

Achievement criteria and Teaching/Learning Strategies were explained in “student speak” and each standard had an accompanying CHEAT SHEET with Achievement Criteria, subject-specific LITERACY STRATEGIES and learning strategies needed for success.

Prior to any learner evidence being gathered, goal-setting was done where learners had to choose an achievement grade; either Achieved, Merit or Excellence so that they had something to work towards.

Whole class teaching was replaced with conferencing which was done at the learner’s request and
questions were answered with questions to promote independent thinking and proactive learners

Academic achievement was celebrated with phone calls and/or postcards sent home and the use of a wall of fame in the classroom.

The bottom line

I am in the process of reviewing my NCEA L1 Maori achievement data and because I had the benefit of teaching two NCEA L1 maths classes this year, I have evidence to show that the most successful Maori students this year were the ones who arrived at the college in year 9 at curriculum L4 and were in smaller classes in year 11.

The bottom line is that a firm foundation in maths and class size matters for our Maori learners.

What I would like my teacher to know about me....

Today I met my 2019 NCEA L1 students and after initial introductions, I set myself a challenge to learn each students name within a timeframe of 10 minutes. This was a ploy for me to gain their trust AND to teach them about expectation in my class. After student 1 told me their name, I shook their hand, welcomed them to my room and repeated their name. I did the same with student 2, but then repeated names 1 and 2 before moving on to student 3.

When I mispronounced a name, a few students laughed at me ......................just what I was waiting for .................. this was a teachable moment about appropriate behaviour/responses when someone is trying to learn. Apologies flew across the room and when I called a student by the wrong name a short while later, I was met with responses of his correct name - what fast learners?

I managed to learn and pronounced all their names correctly so I think I got off to a pleasing start.

We discussed our school's values and I explained how, as a teacher, each one applied to me.

For the next phase of the lesson, I shared my Y11 academic data which compared my 2018 achievement with other decile 1 schools and with NZ schools nationally. That seemed to impress a few and silenced others; the challenge was set, WE NEED TO DO BETTER.

I then got students to take a mini whiteboard and marker and write down one thing they wanted me to know about them. A few of their responses are listed below


 
 
 

Best gem of all

A follow-on from my previous post about digging deep to find gems, well.......I have saved the best.
for last.

This 4 credit Statistics standard worth 4 literacy/numeracy credits shows that 85% of my students attained a MERIT grade compared to 27% nationally and 17% across Decile 1 schools. This standard is NOT commonly taught at all schools to all students as it is deemed as too academic for some.


Possible reasons for this impressive result could be a combination of:

Teacher belief in the student's ability
Goal setting
The deliberate use of Literacy strategies
Teacher-created teaching and learning strategies
Contextual Teaching and learning
Easy access to all online resources via Google Calendar/Sites
Use of Tracking sheets to "manage self" and monitor progress

Digging deep to find gems

In the table below there is a comparison of my 2017 Data with my two 2018 classes this year. A huge improvement is noted in 11MAT 4 where 69% of the class have numeracy compared to 39% the previous year and 45% in my other class.

Credits	2017	2018 MAT 4	2018 MAT 5
0 credits (Maori)	0%	0%	70%
1 std away from Numeracy (Maori)	0%	0%	0%
Numeracy (Maori)	100%	100%	30%
Numeracy (Whole class)	39%	69%	45%
Numeracy cross curricula (Whole class)	47%	69%	48%

I dug a little deeper into the data and found a few gems which I am happy to share.

In my y11 class, for Algebra worth 3 numeracy credits, 50% got a MERIT grade compared to 27% Nationally and 19% across decile 1 schools.

For Bivariate statistics worth 3 literacy/numeracy credits, 36% of my students got a MERIT grade compared to 27% Nationally and 19% across decile 1 schools. Quality of grade is definitely on the increase and is a result of goal setting prior to learning about each standard. Most students chose to work at a merit grade and they have reaped the rewards. In addition, the deliberate use of literacy strategies and teacher-created teaching and learning strategies have all helped reach this success.

Looming deadlines

Some analysis since my last blog which was the final week of term 3; we have about 3 weeks to consolidate learning and achievement in term 4 for our seniors before they sit their national external exams and 22% showed up to the double maths period today which was first thing in the morning. 11% arrived after morning tea and the remaining 67% have not shown up at all.
It is a disappointing start to the term and hopefully will increase dramatically by tomorrow so that learning and achievement can be maximised and looming deadlines can be met.