Tag: Growth Mindset

Supporting Learners with Diverse Needs

What changes do I need to make as an educator to help my students grow?

Supporting Learners with Diverse Needs in a Mainstream Classroom: Reflecting on Today’s Professional Conversation

Today I sat in on a thoughtful kōrero about how we can better support students with diverse needs. As a kaiako of Year 7 and 8 learners, I used this time to reflect deeply on two focus areas within my classroom: students who experience attention difficulties and one student who is nonverbal autistic and is beginning to use spoken language more regularly.

We discussed a range of tools and approaches being used across our kura to support neurodiverse learners:

  • Kibeam – a visual storytelling and communication tool
  • Muscle Mat – a shared mat allowing wriggling and movement during seated time without disrupting others
  • Fair Chair – a movement-supportive seat option for regulation
  • Zones of Regulation – a framework for understanding and managing emotions
  • Thin Glass Chromebook Screen Covers – being trialled to reduce visual overstimulation
  • Speech-to-Text & Apple AI tools – supporting alternative forms of expression
  • Worry Dolls – to support emotional wellbeing and provide comfort

While these tools are impressive, my reflection turned to this pātai: How can I meaningfully implement these in my classroom so they support my learners’ mana and individual needs?

For students with attention differences, tools like the Fair Chair and Muscle Mat may help normalise movement and create a more inclusive environment, however, our students don’t cope well with differences and being different. Integrating Zones of Regulation into our morning check-ins and across the curriculum will support emotional literacy and empower students to self-regulate and express how they’re feeling.

For my nonverbal autistic student, tools like Kibeam, speech-to-text, and visual communication supports are taonga that could open up new pathways for interaction and learning. Their recent increase in spoken language is a beautiful milestone, and I’m reminded that communication takes many valid forms — all worthy of celebration.

My Next Steps:

  • Trial a classroom-wide approach to Zones of Regulation, integrating visual prompts and consistent routines.
  • Introduce speech-to-text tools in a low-pressure way, supporting multimodal communication. Record-to-text tools.
  • Work closely with whānau and our support team to ensure my nonverbal autistic student is progressing in ways that feel safe, joyful, and empowering.
  • Continue to provide a voice for the students. It’s pivotal in our development, whether it’s expressed through speech, signs, visuals, or movement in all learning spaces.
  • Celebrate the small achievements.
  • I would also like to create a hub, which has resources or collective ideas we can share to ponder over when  we get stuck in the rut of ‘how do we move achievement for our students with diverse needs?’

Every student brings their own wairua, strength, and way of being. It’s our responsibility as kaiako to create learning environments where all can flourish with dignity, with equity, and with belonging.

“Nāku te rourou, nāu te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi.”
With your basket and my basket, the people will thrive.

This reminds me that inclusive education is not something we do alone. It takes a collective, whānau-centred approach to truly support the diverse needs of our ākonga.

After the koorero, now what?

  • https://sparklers.org.nz/teachers-educators/supporting-tamariki-and-diagnoses/

A Wondering for Us to Contemplate

I came across a question while looking through my research which stated; In your contexts, what would student agency and student engagement look like in the classroom? 

  • Firstly the author needs to determine what student engagement looks like in theory and according to an article in the ‘Education Hub’ this definition is as such; within an educational context, engagement means students directing their attention and energy ‘in the moment’ towards a particular task or activity. In the classroom, the term ‘engagement’ is often used to refer to the extent of students’ active involvement in a learning task.

In our context, students are engaged in a similar way but it is dependent upon the task and what their role in the task is. When asking the question, “What would make you come to school everyday to help you with your learning goals?” There was a myriad of answers ranging from, “more sports, more trips, my friends”, and then the one lone voice (not my own), “learning to help me achieve my goals, oh and making it fun!”

Student engagement at times seems quite dictatorial as our students want to be at school, but being engaged to me means they are part of the planning, and the learning experiences are authentic and meaningful to what they want to achieve. It is generally believed that engagement stems from 3 dimensions, Behavioural, Emotional and Cognitive. According to Schindler, 2017 as shown in Figure 1, For students who are engaged behaviourally, they tend to comply with behavioural norms (e.g., attendance and peer interaction) without demonstrating disruptive behaviour; for students who engage emotionally, they would experience affective reactions such as interests, enjoyment, or sense of belonging, which are helpful to promote their learning in the classroom/school (see Ted Talks Emotional Engagement in Learning for details); Cognitively engaged students are more likely to be motivated in their learning and go beyond the requirements with greater self-efficacy and self-regulation (Schindler, 2017).

Diagram has 3 interlocking circles with smaller boxes off each. Top circle is titled 'Behavioral'. Smaller boxes off it has text- 'Interaction with others' and 'Participation in learning activities. Circle on left has title 'Emotional'. It has boxes off it with text: 'Attributes, interests and values' and 'Sense of Belonging'. The circle on the right has the title 'Cognitive'. It has 3 boxes from it with text: 'Motivation, 'Persistence' and 'Deep processing of information'. 

In this respect, our context would show a few impressions of both Behavioural and Emotional dimensions. Given culturally responsive contexts and learning which our students are involved with developing, including STEAM projects which highlight their talents in the Arts, our students will likely increase their input and not just grow their engagement but we will empower them to seek the knowledge. Growth Mindset will help with this massively. However, when it comes to Agency, what does that look like for our learners? We would hope that we would have the skill to wrap our students up in an embrace where they feel valued, and where they feel that I (their teacher) has high expectations and high belief in them as students to empower them to learn and to believe in themselves as learners.

  • What might students or the teacher be doing?

As an educator, time is never enough, but the good ideas set in and the body does not always keep up with the good ideas. Developing the skills to question, engage, challenge and definitely empower our learners with courage and determination helps. Unpacking and letting go of the habits which were previously built upon makes us determined just to do more. The constant change of the environment, the rigour to which we empower, the iterations of tried lessons and the discussions and the despair when we fail are all but cogs in the wheel of learning. In our context, we have to work extra hard because of the deficit theorising from Society, and sometimes the cruel adverse effects of generational poverty. Unlearning habitual harm caused over the years, causes more angst for our learners, but only to be extinguished by the glint of hope we can see. “Aim High, Be Determined” echoes through the classroom, “Whaia te matauranga, hei āpōpō te angitu, aye Whaea?” a question worth the collaboration and the time. Never lose focus of why we do what we do.

Reference:

Hargraves, V., Dr (2022, October 26). Seven principles to effectively support Māori students as Māori. Retrieved August 10, 2024, from https://theeducationhub.org.nz/seven-principles-to-effectively-support-maori-students-as-maori/

Hargraves, V., Dr (2020, October 20). An introduction to engagement in an educational settings. Retrieved August 10, 2024, from https://theeducationhub.org.nz/an-introduction-to-engagement-in-educational-settings/

 

 

MPI: Day 4 – Numbers

Within Literacy we talk about the importance of vocabulary. Explicitly teaching vocabulary in Maths ensures that we emphasise the importance of using and teaching the correct vocabulary and visual representations. Accordingly why do we need to focus on teaching vocabulary?

  • Students need to learn math terms because they are essential for understanding concepts, communicating ideas clearly, and solving problems effectively.
  • We need to connect math concepts with vocabulary and symbols to help students link abstract ideas with concrete representations.
  • It’s important to use visual representations so learners can see what it looks like.

Here’s an example shared to us by our MPI Team:

You can see here that this particular chart uses the term, brief information to explain and then a pictorial representation of its meaning.  I can see a few of these popping up when developed and not only in Maths.

Random side note: To Math or Not to Math – what is the answer? In NZ, we say Maths, some say Pāngarau, in US, they say Math. It can be confusing as it is confusing for students but how many of us use Maths or even Mathematics as a subject label?

In my opinion, our attitude towards Maths is always based on how we have either experienced it or have been taught it.

This would help with understanding how our students solve problems. I think that communicating our thought process should help this. It would allow our articulation of our thought process and give students opportunities to learn more vocabulary – so user friendly talking frameworks should help.

  • What did I learn that could improve my capability and confidence in teaching mathematics?

Encouraging to see that my content knowledge has not got lost and that I am achieving what my students need me to know. Place Value is tricky and interestingly enough I have a couple of students who use algorithms which is their ‘go to’ strategy  taught to them by their whānau. These students are also those at Stage 6 & 7 in Maths, but they have confusions especially when looking at decimals and place value.

I enjoyed looking at the different components of Number and finding other ways to teach fractions, decimals and percentages. How can you stick to one topic?

I was given more time to look at a plan and incorporate it, so time to unpack what was said, understand what was shared and think about how I might implement it with my class. Fantastic to see the examples and be able to use them to start my implementation or practice and then to create my own.

  • What did I learn that could be used with my learners? 

One reflection I have is that students identified themselves that you can see Maths in all activities we did at the marae and I’m grateful they are making connections with an authentic context. Our trips to the Marae and to the Museum made this connection to our learning, but the Maths development will be huge.

 

Learning is not easy for all and in my view, Maths needs a culturally responsive lens, therefore ensuring that our Rich Tasks and our Problem Solving Challenges are contextual and engage students by allowing them to make a connection to the task. Everything I learned today will help with student learning, but the application of it will enhance student engagement.

My rich task needed to be of multiple entry points with multiple ways to solve it, but my beginning rich task I created borders on an authentic problem solving task (which is fine), but it can be rejigged.

New learning means more reflection

 

 

 

  • What did I learn that could be shared within my wider community, with either colleagues, or whānau/aiga? 

The idea is once I understand and have a better idea of how it works for me, I will hope to develop it with others who may have done DFI, and RPI to further develop our own Pillars of Practice for our school. Then we can have an authentic learning hub which we have taken time and pride in.

Woah! what a lot of thought. Thank you to the MPI team.

Sitting in Draft

Who knew that there was another place to share my thoughts and edit them as needed they became a lot clearer? I think its called ‘my drafts’.  

The empty blog which seems to sit untouched except ‘in the magic space – my draft’, I can take my time to reflect, to think, to ponder and then to write some more. The task required us to reflect on the opportunities you afford to your learners to communicate their thinking and ideas (in the context of Mathematics) so what does this look like?

I think in most instances, I allow a lot of this to happen organically and this has developed over the many years of teaching, mentoring, collaboratively and also as a learner. As a learner, how would I process my thinking without reflecting, without understanding what was being taught and without having the opportunity to ask questions and to validate my thinking with my analogy or my interpretation of what is being talked about or taught? It would cause me confusion if I am not corrected, and it would cause me angst if I was not able to verbalise my thinking or the opportunity to validate my thinking. So, what opportunities would I afford my learners to communicate their thinking and ideas?

Ideally, affording our ākonga to articulate their thinking and ideas would be grown through what they do throughout all their learning. In the beginning, there were habits that needed to be unlearned, and new habits that needed to be enhanced. Talking frames helped at first, as well as open ended questions students could be given to build their ideas and to help direct their kōrero.  So, making sure we engaged students in helping to create a context of  Math problems helped with examples that were given a Māori and Pacific context, eg. Marae or art pieces like the Tivaevae patterns is one of the ways I try to give them time to make learning relevant for them.

How do they process their thinking or how are they given opportunities to communicate their thinking and their ideas? These are some ways:

We use the Talanoa /Manaaki Fono process (adopted from my experiences with Academy Ex). This is where we share any ideas in a safe space like our ako groups  where they are encouraged to explain their problem-solving processes and strategies, and then the speaker shares in our waka group.

The use of collaborative learning strategies is encouraged more to emphasise that Maths and learning in general is a means to collaborate in order to achieve a common goal.

Modelling my own problem-solving process by speaking (think aloud) shows students how to articulate their thought processes as they work through problems. This strategy I can encourage when students are solving problems independently or in groups. Recording an audio record of their thought process.

Having students articulate through pictures, numbers or by writing their strategies (recording) in a group modelling books or into their individual math books where they regularly write about their problem-solving strategies, thought processes, and reflections on their learning has helped. This practice helps them organise their thinking and provides a record of their progress.

Facilitate regular waka or classroom discussions where students share their strategies and solutions. Use open-ended questions to prompt discussion and encourage students to explain their reasoning. Promote a culture of respectful listening and constructive feedback (Ground Rules for Talk)

Asking students to share their strategies with their peers and then blogs. This allows me to give our ākonga timely feedback and reflections. This would encourage them to reflect on their own and their peers’ explanations to identify areas for improvement and growth.

Students who are comfortable to do so will sometimes record themselves digitally showing how they solved the problem, this however is not consistent but is being developed.

I don’t know if there is a right way or a wrong way, but I am developing ways in which to encourage think aloud time and to give our students enough time to process their thinking with confidence and in a safe space.

I think though knowing my students and their quirks, that this is all I should introduce them too as we have been developing this all year round for all of our subjects. These students are not used to being asked their opinions, and they’re definitely not asked to communicate their thinking process or ideas because in their homes, some of our students are brought up to be seen, not heard! Cultural responsiveness needs to be considered but is not seen as only by ethnicity, but also by community norms or what society has deemed appropriate.

MPI – Day 1: Mathematics is Core to Learning

Mathematics is Core to Learning – Kaupapa and Shared Pedagogy 

Where do I begin? In Te Ao Māori, Mathematics and Numbers come naturally in all facets, but how do we teach it so we achieve the higher thinking order for both our students and within our learning as teachers?

Today MPI culminated what I had hoped is normalised teaching and learning in our environment, but also highlighted some of the ‘misunderstood’ habits I have attained since switching between the roles of Leadership and Classroom Teaching.

So, reflecting on the goals of MPI today gives me an opportunity to reflect and to think critically. I’d like to think that there is a purpose to my learning and then fill the gaps in my knowledge and thinking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is an important reminder that there is most certainly a purpose to our Professional Learning.

Dorothy Burt reminded us of the role teachers play in the innovation of Effective Teaching Accelerated Learning. In the early days of Manaiakalani, there were many early adopters who with the (Now) primitive nature of Technology still managed to find ways to engage students with Mathematical and Statistical learning.

During today’s session, my understanding of the kaupapa increased as I discovered more about Jessen’s (2013) point of ‘The notion of acceleration” in terms of increasing the pace of progress, but the part which resonated is the part of her quote which comes from “To achieve acceleration, your students need to learn at rates that are higher than average, so that they “catch up” Jesson, 2013. 

This inevitably comes from what we as learners, teachers and leaders expect from our learners. Our expectations need to be responsive, relevant and accelerated, but I also advocate that it needs to be contextual to allow growth in our learning communities too.

The Pillars of Practise has become common language, which I have heard about through those who are doing or have completed RPI (Reading Practice Intensive). I consider this an issue across the curriculum as there is no common language or framework. From school to school, we all have localised language or terms, and in some instances localised language which differs from class to class. How do we factor this in when students move on to other classes?  The Pillars will be the foundation of our learning along with the pedagogy of all of this. 

Following on from this, I think students can make huge gains over time, but it also needs to be consistent, applied, monitored and reviewed. The hard discussions need to be had and ownership of the learning needs to be clarified.

What does a ‘good’ Mathematician look like? 

According to BES (2007)   and according to my notes:
  • Think logically – have a process
  • Relate problem to known context
  • Know numbers
  • Have lots of strategies to solve problems with understanding

Each could argue the point, but what amazes me is the fact that this could also be applied across the other curriculum areas.

What Makes A Good Mathematician?  

Learners also need to be engaged with what they are learning. Making this contextual and interesting will become a highlight.

With reflecting on today’s session, I’ve often thought of myself as a confident and capable Mathematician until one year whilst having Professional Development imposed on me without the grounding of getting to know me or what I had been doing prior to this professional development. I think making a connection and expressing Maths visually would have been a much better way to make the learning relevant for me and most certainly my practice. I feel I am strong in my capability with Maths, but now it will be my confidence to teach this that will be a core part of my learning here.

There are many resources found today that will be useful to implement, but for my own development,  I’m taking some much needed reading from Kazemi, E. et al. (2016) ‘Listening to and Learning from Student Thinking’ which talks about how I need to give students time to voice their understanding and their strategy to allow me to better understand their thinking and their confusions. It also prioritises gathering data about and with students to ensure equity occurs.

Growth Mindset – As with all the learning we have previously learned, I have always taken what resonates with me or what makes me connect to deepen my understanding and with my cultural lens implement it into our context, with the understanding that students will critically think and ask questions to understand it themselves. This means … sometimes we have to unlearn stuff and then learn new habits. Speed is not Important, so learners have time to clarify, understand, process and articulate their learning. 

Wharehuia Milroy, “Tuwhitia te hopo, mairangatia te angitū!
                                                  Feel the fear and do it anyway!

 

Leadership in Education

Let’s Talk about Leadership

Educational Management vs Educational Leadership – are they the same? If not, how different? 

Educational Management is deemed to maintain the status quo. This ensures everyone does what they should be doing in order to action the day to day running of the school. 

Educational Leadership provides a vision but takes people from one place to another to make it better than before.  All teachers have Leadership Capability, and as leaders this depends on how you want to explore this. 

There is much that people can understand when exploring the views of Leadership theories which include:

  • The Great Man Theory
  • Leadership Trait Theory
  • Transactional Leadership
  • Transformational Leadership
  • Servant Leadership
  • Situational Leadership
  • Distributed Leadership
  • Agile Leadership

According to the sprint: The Cynefin Framework provides a tool that enables leaders to identify an approach which is best suited to varying contexts they’re facing – and then plot an effective course of action for each context.

Snowden and Boone (2007)

 

Servant Leadership in context: Historically whilst being brought up in an extended Māori Whānau (family), we are taught values of being selfless and collaborating with others to serve our community in achieving our goals. As a leader in a school and throughout a career of teaching and leading, the knowledge of serving others and prioritising their needs has been shown with passion, empathy and motivation. Learning to listen, knowing how to focus on student needs and the aspirations of our community first with the aim to empower and develop the skills of others. Servant leadership as an approach early on in my career created the supportive environment we needed and fostered relational trust. As a negative, this type of leadership could seem submissive, but it also led to burnout when teachers expected more from me. Reciprocity was not evident. Change was needed for sustainability and for new roles. 

Transformational Leadership, aligned here with servant leadership, emphasises inspiring and motivating others toward a common goal, while servant leadership prioritises serving others’ needs. This approach focuses on fostering positive change and innovation within communities, inspiring commitment, passion, and a shared vision. Leaders who adopt this approach can drive improved community performance and meaningful change.

 

Pennington highlights the importance of viewing change as something to be led rather than managed, emphasising the need for leaders to connect with people to successfully navigate change. Effective transformational leadership involves sharing the vision with such passion and commitment that it inspires people to embrace the change, leading to increased productivity, innovation, and resilience. Leaders should facilitate collaboration, encourage open conversations, and promote transparency to foster growth and acceptance of change among all parties involved. Pennington stresses the significance of not only discussing changes but also shifting people’s mindsets and communication regarding change.

In conclusion, Leadership is a fluid position which can be adapted according to the context of your challenge. Transformational Leadership mentions inspiring others and having had a great role model lead us through the transformational Leadership in imposed change. I feel as a leader I would like to enact and enable the leadership approach of Authentic Leadership as this approach talks about uplifting your own leadership and being an authentic leader who builds the capability of all those who are alongside you. Transformational and Authentic Leadership can be used to support any one of the focus areas, but for Personal Growth, Authentic Leadership is key. Leadership scares me, but I know I have the skills and the capability. This is a journey of growth for all leaders but I can only talk from experiences I’ve endeavoured. After all “Haere, e whai i ngā waewae o Rehua” Go and follow in the footsteps of Rehua. 

If one follows a great chief, such as Rehua, one can be certain of good food and entertainment.