2023 |
Teaching as Inquiry is no longer a requirement. See Examples of Work for access to DTC and Me (2023 Google Innovator project).
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2022 |
Investigate the use of structured literacy strategies to raise student engagement and achievement in Reading and Writing.
This focus was selected to utilise whole school Structured Literacy PLD. The focus is a part of ongoing work to improve educational outcomes within Literacy. The outcome was accelerated measurable progress for target students within Spelling and Reading. Focus was on explicit and deliberate teaching of spelling concepts following a clear scope. I learnt as much as my students during the PLD and delivery of lessons and now have a greater understanding of teaching spelling and why words are spelt and read the way they are. |
2021 |
Investigate the use of critical literacy strategies to raise student engagement and achievement in Reading and Mathematics.
This focus came out of results at the end of 2020 and the ongoing voice I was hearing from students of a lack of enjoyment in Reading and Maths. This also supports my focus of wanting to continue to evolve my Reading program that I identified at the end of 2020. The most powerful experience was after the 2021 lockdown when I designed a fractions program that included hands on making during Friday 'fun' Maths. Throughout 2021 I used Friday lessons as review to look at what we had learnt and review it using gamification. After returning from lockdown I used recipes to teach students how to find the right measurements for making playdough, icing for cupcakes and armpit fudge. They had to correctly change the recipe to the right measurements for a single serve and then they made it using the instructions. I was able to clearly identify the relationship between enjoyment, engagement and achievement through this inquiry and the outcomes show that learning that is enjoyable and engaging leads to higher outcomes. |
2020 |
How can I adapt my pedagogy to increase engagement through fun, a variety of activities and the use of digital tools to improve achievement?
This inquiry came out of a return from isolation and children who were disengaged after weeks of little to no learning or learning taking place online without the positive feelings of success that come from working with others and seeing improvement within themselves. I explored a range of different teaching styles and programs that created choice and enjoyable experiences for my students and used them as the foundation to design a program that is manageable and children enjoy what they are doing and have positive outcomes. The outcome is that when I plan learning experiences my focus is on how to make the experience memorable and enjoyable for my disengaged learners. I continue to explore how I can further evolve my reading program using Daily 5 as the foundation. |
2019 |
How does writing with a purpose raise the levels of motivation and progress in year 5 boys' Writing?
This inquiry came from poor writing results and an average attitude score of 2.8/5 from asTTle writing over the past 3 samples (2 in 2018 and 1 in 2019). I started by collecting student voice while I was still finalising my inquiry question and I found that my wonderings and thinkings were matching what my students were feeling. My focus is on creating learning experiences with a purpose to create higher quality writing that demonstrates progress and an increase in motivation. As well as exciting writing experiences such as eyebombing and recording and sharing our writing on the class blog. I started a weekly practice with our buddy class of sharing our writing. The purpose of this being we wanted to see if children wrote with more care and pride if they knew their writing would be shared. The results of this inquiry are not available as it is still ongoing. |
2018 |
Increasing comprehension in reading using Music
This inquiry came from 2017 when I started to experiment with teaching comprehension with music. I started to explore this idea after hearing about it from other educators and wondering how to successfully teach a group of students mainly consisting of high energy boys who struggled to self-manage while I was teaching a guided reading group. I explored the idea during 2017 and saw accelerated progress in comprehension and reading as a result. During this inquiry my teaching of this evolved and I reflected on how to teach this in a more scaffolded approach. Once again I saw accelerated progress in reading and comprehension. This also lead to my student writing their own songs, filming music videos and placing 4th in a national competition. How can technology make my documentation more accessible and interactive? This inquiry was based on a school directed inquiry around Reggio documentation. I have strengths with digital technology and I wanted to explore a more user friendly tool to share Reggio learning with an age group that doesn't have as many parents coming in on a frequent basis. I learnt that Reggio documentation needs a balance of media and I struggled to include teacher voice in the blog. As a result I use the blog to record and share learning and printed the posts to create a physical record and added my teacher voice to it. I found that I had consistently high engagement with the website outside of school hours. Student enjoyed going on and sharing what they and others had done with their families and they shared the website with family who lived further away so they could engage with the learning also. |
2017 |
Complete Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Te Ara Reo Level Two
This was a personal goal I had identified when I graduated from University. It was important to me that I develop my Te Reo Māori knowledge and this course assisted with this. I found the course helpful as I was able to go straight into teaching the games and tools after learning them. I have learnt that I am not a natural in language learning however, in the right environment (smaller class, less pressure on tests and more on practice I was able to succeed. I have considered returning and taking a course in raranga or art in the future. Understand how to give my learners the tools to develop a Growth Mindset and thrive from failure This was based on several children in my key group that struggled with fixed mindsets and found failure and change stressful. I participate in a range of courses online, school directed PD and self-selected PD. I learnt a range of skills and how to support my students. As this was my first teaching as inquiry I was not as structured as more recent ones however, I feel that this was a valuable inquiry for my students at that time. |