The challenges around student centered learning - and overcoming them

Inquiry, curriculum integration, thematic units - these words were tossed around interchangeably when I first took up my new role at this school nearly nine weeks ago - however throughout this term we have begun to make changes around what our school curriculum looks like and how it is played out in action.  This was due in part, to the leaving of both the previous principal and deputy principal within a short time period.  As a result of this, lots of questioning is happening regarding the terminology that is used and what it actually represents.  Through discussions and readings around inquiry and curriculum integration we have decided that as a school what we are currently doing is a thematic approach to learning, rather than true curriculum integration - and that true inquiry where it is led by the students is something quite rare within our classrooms and something that has not traditionally happened.  This has aligned with the minimal focus that has been placed around student voice and student led learning that is future orientated due to other huge factors that have influenced the staff at the school.  The students that I am working with came to me with quite a fixed mindset about what they could and could not achieve and it has taken eight weeks for them to begin to be at a stage where they are able to talk about their individual goals and their progressions towards these.

As year 7 and year 8 students, I think it is highly important that these students are introduced to, and confident working within, an inquiry style of learning both within the "core"/national standards subjects and all other subjects that make up the New Zealand Curriculum.

In order for me to provide my students with this opportunity I have done research over a wide variety of areas - regarding what inquiry is, best practice for student centered learning in areas such as maths, reading and writing and the benefits and challenges of true student centered learning.  A lot of this has overlapped with reading that I did last year around the POGIL styled programme that I was teaching and so this has been most helpful to make comparisons with.

I know that as these students do not have a student centered learning background it is important for me to give them appropriate tools so that they are able to understand and talk about their learning in order to be able to have more guidance over the direction of it.  An interesting reading that I stumbled across today The Benefits and Challenges of Student-Designed Learning talks about true inquiry learning (within a high school context) and letting students have complete control about the direction that they take with their learning and how they present their learning.  It emphasises that from a student point of view, whilst it was exciting to have control over their learning at first it became difficult when they did not have any guidelines.  It also discusses the importance of students having goals when directing their own learning and how this was helpful to them.

This has helped me to have confidence that I am on the right track with these students and developing them to be students who can work within an inquiry style of learning.  At the moment there is both clear guidelines about what skills and knowledge they need to be developing, they are presented with a range of ways to do this which is helping to allow them freedom over the style of learning that works best for them and they are consistently setting and achieving mini goals whilst working towards their bigger goal which is allowing them to achieve success along the way.

One of my goals for this year is to ensure that all of my students have numerous opportunities to celebrate who they are and to experience success in all areas of their learning.  In order to do this effectively, and in order for this to become a smart goal I need to have a deep understanding of who my students are and what influences their lives.  I gained some knowledge of who my students were from a range of factors within the first week: results from last year, poems where they identify their wishes, dreams, and fears, ice breaker activities such as two truths and a lie, and conversations with both the students and their parents.  However, I felt that I still did not know who my students were and how I could help them achieve this success across all areas of their learning.

As we are likely going to have 1:1 devices within our class this year I thought that it would be a good idea to introduce the idea of video diaries/working with web 2.0 technologies to my students.  Each child was provided with some time to brainstorm who they are and to discuss goals with their friends - the only restraints on these goals were that they had to be smart goals and that they had to have a goal that related to school and a goal that related to their personal lives/home.  The students quickly came up with goals that reflected who they are and their priorities, both within the school environment and within their home.  We then videoed the students recording their goals to make them accountable to these, have made an iMovie out of them and will be sharing them on our class weekly.  I have one student who still needs to complete this and then will be posting this up on our class blog - www.sarahssuperheroes.weebly.com

The fact that the student's set these goals before we worked on targets together was quite important to me as it allowed me to gain insight to where these students believed that they are in their learning/schooling without having any adult input/direction.  These goals will be evaluated during this term and the children will set some more goals - these will probably be more learning orientated as after two weeks I can already hear my student's making comments along the lines of areas in their writing and maths in which they believe that they can improve.  It is interesting to note, in reconsidering this, that we have been asked to do exactly this also - set our own goals and be prepared to discuss these and share how we can achieve these with our deputy and associate principals during specifically set aside release time towards the start of this term.

I am meeting with my tutor teacher this week to discuss my own goals and I am interested to see where my goals lie before and after my discussions with him - and how they reflect both my personal learning journey in regards to teaching and my professional learning and development and how these align with the school.  I am sure that the insight that I gain from this will be just as interesting as the insight that I gained when my students set their goals.

Taking a step back to take a step forward

I believe that every once in a while it is so important to step back, and think about everything but teaching, in order to improve your teaching. This weekend I have done just that. I have had a weekend of laughs and shared many special moments with some of my best friends.  In my opinion, it is this that has allowed me to be sitting on a Sunday night, when I could be reading a book, wanting to reflect on my term goals and on the progress of my class as a whole after having only been back at school for two weeks.

Individual goals:

To back myself and not question my ability as a teacher.

I believe that I am well on track towards achieving this goal. I think that having my tutor teacher back at school has really boosted my confidence in this regard as I know I have someone at school whose job it is to "have my back" and who I can trust to provide me with honest, constructive feedback in a way that will help me to develop as a teacher.  In addition to this, I am planning on starting my Masters next year and I know that to work full time and do my masters I will have to trust in my ability as a competent and confident teacher.  What better time to do that than the present.  In conversation with my principal the other day a couple of things became evident. The first was that she truly does believe that I am a capable and effective teacher. If she, as an experienced professional, believes this than who am I to question it. The second is a reflection that I am sure will surface at a later date.

Reflect on children's targets with them - and develop my student's confidence in leading conferencing discussions.

Each week I have a half an hour block set aside where the students have the opportunity to reflect back on whether or not they are achieving their goals in writing.  During this time, the students are required to discuss their goals with other students, find evidence of achieving their goals in their written work and reflect on what new goals they wish to set, if appropriate.  I have found that having time set aside to reflect specifically on these goals has led to the students being more aware of their learning goals during the week and during guided teaching sessions also.  I have found that as a result of the student's sharing where their learning is with their peers, they have become more confident leading discussions about their positives in their learning and their next steps with myself also.

Full class reflection:

As a beginning teacher I am continually reflecting on where each student is at in their learning journey, the special needs of any extension or remedial students and when 'testing' occurs, the abilities and next steps for my whole class within a specific subject, or area of a subject.  Rarely do I sit down and analyse the overall changes that my whole class have made on their learning journey over the past two terms.

Management have just asked us for a class description that both analyses our class goals for the first two terms and requires us to make new goals for the whole class to achieve over the next two terms in reading, writing and mathematics. I have completed the analysis of my class's achievements and areas to continue working on and I have found it so rewarding to sit down and be able to see visible movement across all the 'main' curriculum areas for my whole class.  As a result of this I am also looking forward to creating new goals or focus areas for each of these subjects that I wish to encourage my students to strive towards over the next four months. I have high expectations of my students and because of this they reach my expectations, which leaves me feeling filled with anticipation, excitement and wonder about what the next four months may hold for us.

What a wonderful career to be in, where each day leaves you looking forward to the next, and where there is so much room for hope, excitement and growth.

Thoughts at the end of Term 2

I truly can't believe that we are nearly half way through the year.  It feels both like this year has already passed by so quickly and that I am still brand new at everything.  When thinking about this term there are things that have gone smoothly and things that have made me feel like I am drowning.  Thankfully the things that have gone smoothly have all been inside the classroom and the other things have been outside of the classroom. 

During the term I have had a number of different students begin to test the boundaries and so I have put in place a number of behaviour management systems.  We now have systems in place that both reward individual students and the whole class and that provide consequences for individuals and the whole class depending on the situation.  Having positive whole class incentives has lead to the students providing each other with positive peer pressure to be doing the right thing at the right time always so that the whole class is able to benefit from this.

I have been running gymnastics for school this term and have really enjoyed the opportunities that this has provided me to get to know a number of students that I would not come in contact with on a regular basis if I was not running this programme.  I love gymnastics and so this also provides me with the opportunity to let off steam, contribute to the Lynmore community and take my mind off things that are bothering me.  I am really looking forward to the competition next term and watching all the children that I have been coaching enjoy competing and participating in a setting that many of them are unfamiliar with.

Growth - In order to ensure that I am maintaining a growth mindset I have been thinking a lot about what has been successful and what I can influence to change within the next term. Below I have listed areas that I believe I can influence and begin to work on right from the beginning of next term and that are measureable.

Goals – Term 3

Professional
To begin to more confidently share the knowledge that I have around teaching and learning and specific subjects with my peers.
How will I achieve this?	-          Share my knowledge in team meetings, when observing others and if a colleague is stuck and I can help out in any way.
How will I know when I have achieved this?	-          When I no longer have the mindset of the fact that I am a BT and that none of my knowledge is useful when compared with teachers who have been working for a number of years.
To back myself and not question my ability as a teacher at every moment.
How will I achieve this?	-          Take on positive feedback that I receive from parents, colleagues, students and management and connect it with what is happening within my classroom so that I am able to see that their feedback is genuine. -          Celebrate each success that I have as a teacher.
How will I know when I have achieved this?	-          When I receive feedback from people such as the principal and my tutor teacher and don’t dismiss it as them simply trying to be nice.  When I believe that other people are providing me with feedback that is honest and when I am able to question their feedback and see that it is evident within my practice.
Classroom
Ensure that all of my planning WALTs and learning outcomes are derived directly from my team planning and meet the needs of each student within my classroom.
How will I achieve this?	-          Ensure to have my team planning open when doing my weekly planning each week. -          Use my formative assessments to ensure that the planning is directed at the level that each child is at. -          Use hot spot teaching to ensure that if my formative assessments are slightly off that that child still receives teaching that is differentiated to their individual learning needs.
How will I know when I have achieved this?	-          Sharing my planning with my tutor teacher and receiving her feedback that she believes that this is occurring -          This will always be an on-going goal as my planning changes each week and therefore this will need to change also.
Reflect every week on the children’s targets with them and ensure that they are meeting these and if they are not that there is a plan in place that will help them to meet these.
How will I achieve this?	-         Use Friday’s writing time to ensure that the children have a specific opportunity to reflect on their learning goals. -          Conference with students if they are unsure about where they are in relation to achieving these goals.  Sit down with these children and provide them with resources that will help them to achieve these.
How will I know when I have achieved this?	-          When children begin to independently reflect on their learning goals and are confident in knowing whether or not they have achieved these and what their next step would be.
Develop the ability within my children to lead their conferencing with me about areas in which they think that they could improve.
How will I achieve this?	-          Question children when I work with them in conferencing before sharing my opinion on their work, what they have done well and areas in which they can improve
How will I know when I have achieved this?	-          When the children are able to come up to me and confidently share their positives and next steps before receiving feedback from me.
Stay on top of my marking for strand and independent.
How will I achieve this?	-          Create a timetable for when to do marking of each subject and make sure that I stick to this timetable.
How will I know when I have achieved this?	-          When my marking is always up to date.