Learner Voice about ALL Journey so far.

I thought to get some student voice on what the learners think about the journey thus far. I wanted them to give me feedback on what they've enjoyed most and what they're most proud of. I also asked them to provide me with feedback on what to do next.

Here's what they had to say:

 ALL Boys Responses

ALL Workshop #2

At the 2nd ALL workshop this year, teachers were invited to briefly share about their ALL journey thus far.

Here are some of the highlights from Cycle #1 and Cycle #2 and some of the successes we've had on this journey.

In Cycle #2, I was privileged to have 3 more teachers jump on the "ALL wagon". It was a sign of success because it meant the intervention was proving to be a success and was slowly making it's way across the school.

Front-Loading using a video.

Today in our ALL session the boys watched a video about the HUMAN BODY. To front-load them for what the whole class will be learning tomorrow, they were withdrawn from class to go and watch the video in our breakout room.

Front-loading your target students can be something as simple as watching a video. You're preparing them for what you will subsequently be teaching. This way, if you are going to ask questions, your target students will have prior knowledge about the topic and could contribute in class/group discussions. Setting them up for success!

Inside Ralphie's Body - Magic School Bus video

ALL Observation - 23rd August 2018

Thursday 23rd August - I was observed by our ALL facilitator Mayleen. The purpose of this lesson was to illustrate the ALL strategy of GRR (Gradual Release of Responsibility).  It was based on mind-mapping and grouping of ideas, eventually developing into paragraphs for the students writing. I used a tool called 'Popplet' - to help my ALL boys with their planning but also help elaborate their ideas for their writing.

Popplet is a tool which allows users to visualise their thinking and ideas. Teachers and students can create graphic organizers, timelines and many other forms of visual organizations. A strength of this tool is the ability for students to collaborate but also present their ideas in a format that is easy to understand.

At the end of the lesson, I received some positive feedback from Mayleen. She identified that my lesson covered majority of the ALL strategies; front-loading, visual learning, gradual release of responsibility and double-dosing. I took this feedback very positively and I felt it was a 'shoot for the stars' moment. I noticed I was more critical about my lesson through our discussion. Identifying areas I thought I could better rather than celebrating the positives.

Cycle 2 - A.L.L Whanau Hui

This afternoon Poto, Mary, Natalia and myself (Cycle 2 teachers) hosted a Whanau Hui for the families of students selected to be part of ALL intervention - cycle 2.
The purpose of the Whanau Hui is to inform families of the intervention and explain to them why their child was selected.

I further explained the difference between ACCELERATION vs REMEDIATION.

During this hui, I was able to share some of the success stories from cycle 1. After explaining to the whanau the process of conducting a gap analysis and identifying the learning needs for the students, I provided them with examples of students' writing pre-intervention versus their writing post intervention.

Although we did not have ALL the families attend, we had a great turn out and it was great to see students, families and ALL teachers in one whare.

ALL Staff meeting @ GTS!

Today I ran a staff meeting about ALL (Accelerated Learning in Literacy).

The purpose of the staff meeting was to help teachers develop an understanding of the intervention and to share some of the successes I've had with my ALL group.

The discussion points I had planned were:

• The Purpose behind ALL/What is research saying?
• What is ALL?
• ALL Strategies
• How it relates to the NZC - Literacy Learning Progressions
• Brief sharing of successes in Room 11
• Reading activity for teachers 
• Kahoot Quiz about today's meeting

The feedback that I got from my colleagues and management after my meeting were very positive. The teachers had a better understanding of the ALL intervention programme. The teachers saw the connection between ALL and ALiM and were amazed at the successes made within the ALL group.

Here are the slides from my ALL staff meeting.

Success for my ALL boys in cycle 1.

The piece of writing above was written by one of my ALL boys. He wrote this for his beginning of year writing assessment where he had to write about "My Special Place".

Last week we had our mid-year writing assessment and here is his piece of writing he produced.

ALL Workshop for ALL schools @ UoA

Name of Course/Programme/Seminar:

Accelerating Learning in Literacy Workshop

Provider/Presenter:
Team Solutions ALL Facilitators

If I was to summarise the key things I took away from this Professional Development what would they be and why?
What I took away from this professional development was the understanding the importance of this intervention, creating a plan and following through with it. I enjoyed meeting teachers from other schools that are running the ALL programme and gaining an understanding of how the programme looks like.

Some schools withdraw their ALL group from the class and teach them separately. Usually when the group is being withdrawn from the class, it's to front-load them with information needed for what the teacher will be teaching the whole class in the upcoming lessons. The purpose behind this is to enable the ALL students who are usually quiet and not willing to participate in class discussions, an opportunity to contribute.

I also learnt that the ALL intervention is underpinned by the BES 4 levers of change. The BES model for systemic improvement that leverages evidence and expertise to make a bigger difference for valued outcomes for diverse (all) students” - Alton-Lee, 2012, provides a map for improvement that will lead to this vision.

How has this professional development challenged my thinking?
This PD has challenged my thinking by making me question how effective I am in teaching Writing to the class. I've decided to take the strategies from the ALL intervention and implement it to my whole class teaching. The programme also reinforces the importance of whanau engagement and how a partnership between the school, whanau and the learner is proven to make a huge difference. The ALL intervention implies Epstein's 6 types of involvement framework as a model of how this partnership could be successful.

What aspects of my practice would I consider changing as a result of this professional development and why?

An aspect I am going to change is how I work with my ALL group and how I teach writing as a whole class. Hearing other teachers share how they approach the intervention provided me with ideas on how cycle 2 could look like. Knowing my students have made progress because of this intervention has helped expand the intervention within the school. In cycle 2, 3 other teachers' will be joining in hopes of acceleration of student achievement.

Accelerator 2018 - Core Education 2 day PD!

Name of Course/Programme/Seminar:
Accelerator 2018 - Activating Change!

Provider/Presenter:
Core Education

If I was to summarise the key things I took away from this Professional Development what would they be and why?
The importance of creativity and collaboration.

How has this professional development challenged my thinking?
After a very long 2 days, I came out of this PD feeling challenged, but in a good way. I was able to pitch an idea to a group of 30-40 professionals about something I believed was important in the field of education, with a focus on Pasifika and Maori students. Why are they my focus? Because they're at the tail end of the current education system and it's an aspiration of mine to play my part to help shift UP! Starting with my own class.

Accelerator made me think about them so much and even my own practice. I thought to myself if my current practice is actually helping them? Am I making a difference? What more can I do to cater effectively to the needs of the students?

I liked how the whole room was told to "Hold your ideas lightly" and be ready to be questioned and disrupted. It's important to unfold the layer of thinking behind an idea to reach the core of what it is you actually want. "A reasonable person maintains the status quo, an unreasonable person disrupts it" - it's good to be different!

What aspects of my practice would I consider changing as a result of this professional development and why?

I'm not much of a critical thinker, it's growing on me though. In the culture I was brought up in, we are expected to listen to our elders, no questions asked. But in the field of education, it's about challenging and unpacking your thoughts and thinking. I think I'd like to apply that to my class and question my students in ways that would challenge them. Allowing their thoughts to grow and their thinking to be conceptualised.

School holiday planning with Mayleen for ALL

Background Details
ALL planning with Team Solutions facilitator - Mayleen Gautusa

Discussion Points
Action plan for Term 2 - continuing cycle 1.

Learning
Learnt acceleration strategies to implement in class with ALL students but also the rest of the class. Front-loading, double-dosing, GRR (Gradual Release of Responsibility) and Visible Learning.

Developmental Priorities
Developmental priorities would be implementing the acceleration strategies in my planning for Writing. Apply the strategies not only with my ALL students but with the whole class.

Next Steps & Commitments
Next steps would be working according to Term 2 outline plan. Working alongside with Mary and Whaea Pene to shift our target students. Use the acceleration strategies in our practice.

Acceleration Strategies

1. Brainstorming/mind-mapping: Expanding on the students ideas and forming paragraphs.
2. Front-loading (preview info): Giving the kids an activity before they do something. Giving them an awareness of what it is they are about to learn so they are able to contribute.
3. Double-dosing: When you give the kids to what they are learning before you teach it. Enable students to learn and experience and experience information.
4. Visible Learning: Anything you work on with the kids, share it (Make a learning wall).
5. GRR - Gradual release of responsibility"I do, we do, you do": 

• I do: Teacher models thinking (DATs), Teacher thinks aloud
• We do: Co-construct sentences with the students
• You do: If the child needs further support teacher an point out (You do it together with the person next to you, or co-construct out loud in pairs/groups/think,pair, share). If you think the student is capable of working on the task independently, you could point out that he/she can DO IT YOURSELF. 

Why A.L.L?

Malo 'e Lelei,

My name is Christine Tupou and I am a Year 7 & 8 teacher from Glen Taylor School. My Teaching as Inquiry looks at Accelerated Learning in Literacy (A.L.L). My ALL group is made up of 7 boys from my class - 2 Maori boys, 3 Tongans' and 2 Burmese. The purpose of my Inquiry is to raise student achievement for my ALL boys in Writing.

Why were they selected?

• Currently writing below expectation and with extra teaching and support, are capable of making the shift.
• The students are on board and have shown interest towards this programme.
• Students are aware of their learning goals and with extra support will be able to achieve these.
• Helping to up-skill their knowledge and learning in writing.
• For the Year 8's - priority is getting them reading for their literacy learning in high school.

Mayleen Gautusa - ALL Accelerated Learning in Literacy - 26th March 2018

Meeting Type
PD - ALL meeting with Mayleen Gautusa from Team Solutions

Motivation
An intervention to accelerate students learning in literacy

How will it help me?
Mayleen came in to run a short introductory session with the team on what the ALL programme is all about. She briefly explained the difference between acceleration vs remedial. I spoke on what I have been doing with my target students so far. Mayleen was able to create a brief discussion on what each teacher has identified as a learning need in their classes. Each teacher was able to share at least one area that needed honing in for some of their target students.

So What?

Cycle 1 of the intervention will no longer be myself but will include Mary and Whaea Pene. This will bring consistency in what it is we'll be teaching the students but also making sure we understand what it is we need to do. Having Maybeen guide us through the intervention will be beneficial and will help us accomplish the action plan and goals we have set for our target students. I am excited about this programme because I really want my target boys to feel successful in the area of Writing.