School+-+Haddon+PS+-+Melissa

= ﻿ HADDON PRIMARY SCHOOL﻿ = =Hello!= Haddon is a school located 15km south west of Ballarat. The 2010 enrolment was around 215 students. The school entrance is inviting and the colorful displays signal high expectations, school values and a focus on learning. The grounds, sporting facilities and playgrounds are well maintained, and the school has strong community support and joint use facilities. The BER building has provided us with four new classrooms that will incorporate a common learning space and additional computer facilities. We are currently waiting for our 24 notebooks (lease) to use within the new Early Learning Centre. I am the Unit Leader for P-2 at Haddon Primary and have been working closely with Gaye Carrigan to determine the role and impact of Literacy Coaches at Haddon. Early intervention is a very strong focus in our Early Years. We are a high performing school and my focus this year is to improve my leadership/coaching skills. We have not had the benefit of working with a coach in our school setting, so we have been taking very small steps. I enjoy attending the coaching sessions because they have given me the opportunity to network with coaches from other schools.

__** Session one **__

During day one I was very confused about what was expected of me. I really struggled with the term ‘agency’ as I was focussed on putting an exact definition to the term. After reading articles and participating in discussions I was still confused. Now I realise that it is an umbrella term and I am beginning to use agency in different contexts. I would like to think that my students believe they have agency when it comes to learning. Day two guest speakers were fantastic and the tools that we were provided with were great. I now want to go back to school and implement these resources. I realise that I need to question more of what goes on within our school and find out why. As teacher I believe that sometimes we become easily accepting of ideas without questioning them or explore the thinking behind them. I used to think that providing my team with modelling, answers and directing them towards and providing them with resources meant that they gained a good understanding of their previous misconceptions but now I realise that as a unit we need to go further. We need to take action and demonstrate that we understand. I would like to structure our unit meetings so that we bring data to the table, moderate and actively seek and discuss further misconceptions together. I believe brainstorming and mapping ‘where to now’ is important and constantly reflecting on our journey. I’d also like to spend the first 10 minutes discussing what reading looks like in our classrooms, how we teach certain skills? Why we teach skills in certain ways? From data how we know what areas to focus on? etc. I’d like to explore visible and invisible processing. I now consider data evidence to be an area that my unit needs to explore further. I would like use data evidence to its maximum potential, endeavouring to implement more purposeful instruction through substantive conversation. After meeting with Julie Kerr I have confirmed my direction. I am exploring the issue raised within my unit concerning instructional levels versus comprehension (reading for meaning). After meeting with Julie I would now like to explore the Patrick Griffin Model – presenting three students within PLT (high, middle and low achieving students) concerning a particular educational area. I would like to sit in on a PLT at Delecombe Primary School where they are working towards this model. Resources I would like to read and explore include Fountas & Pinnell – reading assessment kit (namely the continuum), Helen Timperley’s teacher inquiry cycle (direct team to com. and pitch appropriately), talk to Gaye about NAPLAN and Teaching for comprehension and fluency (Fountas & Pinnell – delving into unpacking beyond and about the text). // Evidence of impact // - // develop tools around reading for meaning (laminated cards of text examples and activities, posters) // - // Common understandings (making sure our unit is using the same language) for example, looking into what shared reading is (educational readings, PD) // // Who am I? // - // Of PLT // - // Star diagram // // Making thinking visible // - // Then/Now reflections // // Digital learning resource (publish on Wikki) // - // Flow chart // - // Video/film // - // Interesting reading // In the past I haven’t researched and used particular assessment tools to obtain maximum data. I once conducted running records without having a full understanding of the cueing systems students were using. I was further circling cues that children weren’t displaying until I realised I was meant to circle what they are displaying. Now I have more of an understanding in regards to reading strategies and cues. A great resource is PM Reading Assessment – by conducting this assessment on students we realised that retell was an area needing more attention. Term 4 week 1 – My unit have selected a running record and together we analysed them. We now realise as a unit that we need to go further into inferring with our students. We need to explore how we can effectively take the children beyond and about the text. Currently we have a research project up and going – jigsaw reading and each team member is going to report their findings back to the unit.

** Reading: Using assessment data for improving teaching practice. ** I agree, we have known about the potential for using assessment data to improve teaching and student learning but I have never known how to interpret whole school data effectively. I’d like to learn about how to ‘dig deeper.’ As teachers we often go about our own classroom routines and look only at our own student data. Now I think we need to question our own practices more and ask ourselves what do I already know? What do I need to learn? Where do I source this information? It makes sense that teachers should share data and partake in whole school data analysis, looking at trends across the school. I’d like to trial bringing three students (high, medium and low achieving) on a specific learning area to unit meetings and encourage teachers to brainstorm and share ideas on where to now (Patrick Griffin). I realise that Individual teachers don’t always have the answers and this model may promote sharing to obtain the best possible outcomes for our students. Valuable professional learning can come from data and a new set of skills. As teachers we have become good at determining what knowledge and skills our students need but we need to stop and ask ourselves what skills and knowledge do we as teachers need to inform our practice and therefore positively impact our students learning? As a unit we can unpack student profiles by using data and keeping in mind our approaches and programs imbedded in our curriculum. This helps us to identify what approaches/programs are having a positive impact and what requires a different or new emphasis. Now I believe that the co-constructing of evidence is important. In order to deepen professional knowledge and refine skills it requires 3 principles: -a focus on the links between particular teaching activities, how different groups of students respond and what students actually learn (this is how success is judged). -teachers need discipline and curriculum knowledge to make relevant changes to practice. -provide multiple opportunities to learn and apply new information and to understand its implications of teaching practices (1-2 years for change to become an imbedded part of practice, changing assumptions plays a big part and teachers need to see value and have support. Now I think that impact depends on the context in which changes occur. It all comes back to knowledge and skills of students, teachers and leaders.  After reading this article I realise that teachers play a big role in not only promoting change but also determining where change is needed based on data evidence. This process it effective when teachers all have input and when there is participation in teacher professional learning. Its leaders within the school who can create these contexts where this type of practice becomes part of school routine.  Assessment data should be used to guide reflection about teaching effectiveness and what needs to happen next. Teachers must have content knowledge so they can respond constructively to what data is telling them about changes needed in practice. What now? Create a circle of inquiry, research Patrick Griffin and by doing this hopefully I can support how teachers learn so we can support how our students learn more effectively.

I used to think that coaching conversations occurred only in a one on one situation but now I have been informed that other schools are having coaching conversations within teams. I guess this could combat the time issue and could make staff feel more comfortable. This could be a part of building relationships which is important before heading in to coaching too soon. I now need to be given time to align my visions with the leadership team at Haddon Primary School. Note what is a high priority for HPS and find out where our areas of need relate within our unit. I feel like I have no clear direction at the moment as I am dabbling in a little of everything and not always following through. · Learning intensions · Success criteria (rubrics/checklists) · Assessment · Feedback · Differentiated learning (tasks) · Relating reading and writing I would also like create a plan for myself as a coach, outlining goals, steps to achieving them within a time frame. I think these two things would not only give me more direction but also more confidence in myself. Within my unit I would like to be given time to go into my colleagues classroom with a specific foci and then bring this back to either unit meetings or PLTs for discussion. I would like to have coaching conversations within our team but prior to this I would like to practise Coaching conversations with Gaye and have time to liaise with her. I now believe that familiarising myself with question stems will help my coaching conversations to flow smoothly, not only making conversations happen more readily but also allowing me the opportunity to actively listen to the situations staff are in or issues that they may have. I can also see the value in GROW.
 * __ Session 6 __ **

I used to think HOW COULD I POSSIBLY BECOME A COACH NOW! I used to wonder about whether I was ready. Now I think that given time and more routine in my life I could more comfortably fit into this role.
 * __Session 7__**

Qualities I believe make a good leader...



Prior to this course I have been very confused – I realise Haddon PS goals relate to improving Literacy and Numeracy. These are very general goals and there are so many paths to explore and I think this is where I (and my team) get too caught up in a little bit of everything and now need to have a clear picture of our goals and what is the most important thing (pathway) that is going to give us the biggest bang for our buck! I now believe I need the goals (the schools and mine) written on one piece of paper. Joan has provided me with a format that will support this.

 My goal for 2010-2011 is to create tasks that enrich student capacities to apply their knowledge to new situations and go further. I believe in giving students agency in regards to their learning. For example, not labelling bag lockers and allowing children to make their own choices about where to put their bags. It is my belief that in the past I have been too focussed on getting the children to learn skills rather than giving them rich opportunities and enough time to apply them (fluid grouping epiphany). I can see the value in what I have been doing but can also see how what I am doing can be improved. For example, giving children the opportunities to lead discussions within the classroom, making more links between reading and writing etc. I believe I need more of a balance between Meaning Maker, Code Breaker, Text Critic and Text User (Luke and Freebody 1990). I now believe in supporting students to become independent and as a team we have asked our students to have input into what helps them to learn. This information can now inform our tasks within the classroom to cater for all learning styles. By giving students a suppotive learning environment we hope to further build upon our tasks by ensuring that they help students to apply what they know to new situations. We hope to monitor their new understandings through feedback and self reflective journals.

I am feeling good about leadership and now have further tools that can support me within this role. The Leadership Management for Yourself - delegation, deletion and identifying what is most important (keeping it in sight) helps to focus my attention and I am feeling more relaxed about my direction (Stephen Corey). I also like the Managing Complex Change (Ambrose 1987) because this document can help determine the cause of peoples frustrations etc. It is a document that I could not only use to plot myself but also other staff members. 



[|My first attempt at Prezi!]

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