Getting Prepared

Towards the end of 2020 our Catholic Schools Education Officer encouraged each grade team to take a sample of writing from every child and mark it according to the Learning Progressions, specifically 'Constructing Texts.' The aim of this was two-fold: to upskill and familiarize staff with the progressions and to establish a 'starting point' for writing data across the entire school. Teams agreed after this engaging in this process the need to continue exploring/using the Learning Progressions for writing to inform their current learning and teaching cycles and pedagogy.









The start of 2021 saw the need for us to continue to prepare for whatever this 'learning collaborative journey' was going to be. Firstly, we had to vote on a Collaborative Team to lead us through the learning. The Principal, AP Learning & Teaching, Leader of Pedagogy were automatically on the team but a representative from each of the stages of the school were needed. Those chosen were thought to have strong interpersonal skills, were respected and respectful, considered to be highly credible practitioners themselves with the ability to challenge the status quo and demonstrated innovative pedagogy in their own practice. Staff voted. We also brainstormed possible ways we would clear our agenda to ensure that at least 60% of our learning time will be the work of the collaborative. 

Through consultation with the Catholic Schools Office we were instructed that we needed to complete a whole school write (using the same marking criteria such as what is used by NAPLAN) earlier in the year. Our Learning Collaborative team needed these work samples to take with them to their first coaching session with Lyn. 
In addition to our PM Benchmarking process (our standardized reading test) we needed to also become familiar with Probe2, an additional standardized reading test for students who had reached the maximum PM level. Staff engaged in the learning that covered how to administer the Probe and how to interpret/utilize the insights gained in future teaching practice. Throughout Term 1 and 2 of 2021 staff put this learning into practice.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Revising the Parameter 1 and 14

Image
 Staff were asked to re-reflect on  Parameter 1 and the shared beliefs and understandings articulated by Lyn Sharrat. We had completed this same activity 12 months earlier and wanted to gain a sense of where we were placed collectively. Staff were asked to give a rating from 1 to 10 to indicate how much they believed in each of the statements and were encouraged to give a reason as to why they believed what they did. These ratings and reasons were collected anonymously. Then redistributed. Staff then stood behind the chairs, reading out the rating and reason they had been handed.  The photo below indicates where staff now sit with the statement: All leaders, teachers and students can articulate what they do and why they lead, teach and learn the way they do. The photos below are the staff's reaction to: High expectations and early and ongoing intervention are essential. The photos below are of staff's reaction to: All teachers can teach to high standards given time and the righ
Read more

Going deeper with Success Criteria

Image
  It took a whole staff meeting to go deeply with Learning Intentions. Our next meeting, some what two weeks later went into Success Criteria. The focus: How they need to be visible, understood, relevant and transparent. Lyn's video showed how we can demonstrate to students how to succeed - connecting it to prompts, resources, anchor charts and Bump It Up Walls. Staff sat in their PLTs (which included their TA) and divided their page into a Ta chart. Staff examined two work samples and analyzed what did the samples both have and what did the better sample have. Staff then shared this with another PLT and together they co-constructed what is the success criteria (standards - what students do to attain the Learning Intention). They were instructed to ensure their Success Criteria enabled all students to achieve at least one aspect of success. Success Criteria was then shared around the room through a gallery walk. Two PLTs at each Success Criteria T chart were asked to reflect on the
Read more