My Journey with ISTAA Experienced Teacher Accreditation #5

Wow! The past year has been crazy busy as I have worked through the Experienced Teacher Accreditation as well as working on my Masters of Educational Leadership. I've thought about blogging a few times, but just haven't had the time or head space at the end of the day. Now, having reached the end of my accreditation, I thought it a good time to tie up the loose ends here.

Overall
My overall evaluation of the Experienced Teacher Accreditation - Action Research Pathway, was that it was a very worthwhile use of time and excellent professional learning. I went into it hoping to make good use of the year and hopefully learn along the way. I knew I needed to do the accreditation, but I didn't want to spend the year just trying to tick things off a list of descriptors. The action research pathway was the answer to this.

The Challenges
There are many elements to juggle within the Action Research Project, and it takes some time to get your head around it all. You still need to be ticking off descriptors and collecting evidence throughout the year AND it should be related to the action research project. I found myself second guessing myself a lot throughout the process and not really sure if I was on track. There were no success criteria or word counts or any other guide for what was required for parts like the Description, Analysis and Evaluation. I'm hoping I got there in the end, but won't be surprised if I need to revisit some things in order to get final approval.

Going in I didn't really know much about action research, and I still feel a little in the dark about that. I ended up finding some readings through my university which helped to clarify a few things, particularly as I came to the analysis stage. I struggled to understand whether I needed "hard" proof of my findings, or whether it was about interpretation. I feel I ended up with a little of each just to be on the safe side.

My Project
For my project I investigated the impact of Growth Mindset on Year 1 students' academic achievement through formative assessment and feedback. I felt that Growth Mindset coaching would make students more receptive to feedback, resulting in improved outcomes. I used Class Dojo videos as the stimulus for discussion in mini lessons and then followed through with Growth Mindset feedback and statements. I also used parts from "The Growth Mindset Coach" by Annie Brock and Heather Hundley. Following on from this I worked with students on giving and receiving feedback.

Results of my Action Research
I used a Mindset questionnaire at the beginning and end of the project to determine how students' thinking changed throughout. It also showed me students with a tendency toward a fixed mindset, making it easier for me to target them with individualised coaching when they were struggling with a difficult task or unwilling to attempt something challenging. The results from this questionnaire showed that students had shifted toward a growth mindset during the project.

I also looked at students' academic progress during this period and found that their reading levels improved by a greater rate than my class during the same period last year. At the end of the year I will have some comparison data for spelling as well.

Beyond the quantitative results, there were also the experiences of the students in the class. I selected some case studies and found that there were significant results amongst students who began in the lower quarter of the class. For example, one made significant progress throughout the project and was bumped up to a higher level for spelling, reading and maths, and he rose to the challenge each time. Another made HUGE gains with his reading, going from a PM level 10 to 27 in just six months. These results suggested to me that while all students benefited and improved, those who were lower performing and also had elements of fixed mindset had the most to benefit from the program.

I had thought that it would be through feedback that improvement would be made, but now I think that the change in mindset actually impacted in many ways:

• students were interested in feedback and could see that it was to help them learn
• students wanted challenging tasks and were happy to put in the effort to learn
• students realised that they could actually do things if they just stuck at it
• students felt free to engage and contribute ideas, knowing that they wouldn't be shunned if they made a mistake
• as their teacher I didn't give up when they persisted with bad habits, but rather kept working at it with them, knowing that they can change - even if it takes longer.
• I got better at giving immediate feedback when I could see there was a problem, or making a note to return to it soon.
• I enlisted the help of parents to work on some things when the class had moved on to something else
• I made an effort to cater for all students - providing a challenging task for all - even when this made things less streamlined and comfortable.

Going Forward

Having been down this path, I'm afraid I can't go back. I'm hooked! From here on in, I know the Growth Mindset will be a part of who I am and how I teach. I will also continue to work on improved formative assessment and feedback to complement the Growth Mindset coaching and ensure that all students are pushing toward their potential.

Study Techniques for Busy People

On top of my usual teaching load and working through my Experienced Teacher Accreditation, I thought I'd finish off my Masters in Education Leadership this year! I knew that it would make for a busy year, but I don't think I realised just HOW busy things would be. As I started first semester at University, I had to get used to the whole online environment and figure out how to get the readings for my classes. One of my biggest struggles has been finding time to do the readings, so I decided to get creative with how I do this. Here's what I worked out:


Let Siri do the reading 

I don't live too far from work, but each day I have over an hour of commute. Ordinarily I have used this time for listening to podcasts or enjoying some of my favourite songs. I now use this time to listen to the readings I need to get done.

Step 1: Download the readings and send them email you can access on the iPhone or iPad.

Step 2: Go into email, download file and import with iBooks.

Step 3: Change settings. Go into General, then Accessibility, then Speech. Toggle Speak Screen.

Step 4: Open the reading in iBooks. When the reading is displayed, scroll down from the top of the page using two fingers. This will bring up a control bar and Siri should begin reading the page.

Siri doesn't pronounce all words correctly, and I found it amusing that she struggles with some words that a techy 'person' should know - like ICT and "geeking out" and "technologies". Ideally it would be great to be able to teach Siri how to pronounce the words that she is getting wrong. Perhaps this is something Apple will build in at a later point in time.


Annotate the readings with Notability

I got a new iPad for Christmas, with the intention that it could help me through my studies this year. So far I've been really pleased with how it's working out for me, and I LOVE having the Apple pencil. After I have listened to the readings, I need to return to them in order to prepare a response for the assessment of the course. I like to be able to scribble down ideas and highlight the important parts to come back to. For this I use Notability, and then I don't have to cart around a pile of papers everywhere. Please note, this is an app that needs to be purchased from iTunes.

Step 1: Go back to the email I sent the readings to.

Step 2: Import the reading with Notability this time.

Step 3: Go into Notability and respond to the dialogue box - either select the pages you want to import, or import the whole thing.

Step 4: Open the file and make notes using the available tools. I prefer to handwrite and use highlighter, but you could add text or post-its if that is your preference. For my other posts about using Notability, go here.


Build a YouTube Playlist

There have been a number of YouTube videos as part of my course materials this semester. Again, these are things that I would prefer to listen to "on the road" or walking my dog, rather than eating into official study time. Making a playlist to store these, and logging into YouTube on the various devices I use means that I can access the videos easily wherever I am.

Step 1: Log into YouTube.

Step 2: Go to a video you want in the playlist.

Step 3: On the bottom left, select "Add to", then at the bottom of the dropdown box choose "Create New Playlist".

Step 4: Enter a name for the playlist and select Create. Your video can now be accessed within that playlist, in your "library".

Step 5: To access your playlist on your mobile device, log into YouTube with the same account, select the Library tab. Find your playlist and play your video.

Another benefit of logging into YouTube is that it will suggest other relevant videos, given what you have been watching. This can help to provide further exploration and depth when researching the topic.

The next thing I need to find a short-cut for is collecting citations for the texts I use. I have been using the Citation Machine to help with this, but I really should get better at collecting the citations as I go, rather than having to chase that up when I use them in my work.

Do you know of any other time saving study techniques that you could share to help other busy people?

My Journey with ISTAA Experienced Teacher Accreditation #3

Preparing the Project Proposal and Literature Review

I thought I had been going along so well, but these tasks hit me hard. I had been watching/listening to Dylan Wiliam's webinars, reading bits and pieces I had sourced and trying so many new things in the classroom. All these things were good, but I needed to do so much more to actually pull everything together. It was due today, and (spoiler alert) I managed to upload it to my collection in time.

I think part of the struggle lies in the fact that the due date falls right near the end of term, while reports are still being proof read and prepared to send home. I thought my time-management was on track, but it has been very tight to get reports completed and then flow straight into the ETA requirements.

I started with the Project Proposal because I knew it had to be finished about a week in advance in order to get it to my Head of School for signing. My first attempt at this was a bit of a brainstorm event, where I just jotted down my thoughts about what would go in each section. When I returned to it, I padded out the initial ideas. I was very pleased to see that I could have a main question with sub-questions, as I had been really struggling with how I could cover all the things I wanted to explore with just one question. This is what I came up with as the main idea for my project.

Growing our Minds through Formative Assessment and Feedback

What is an effective process to enrich student learning through formative assessment and feedback? What actions can a teacher take to help students develop a growth mindset? How can formative assessment be used more effectively to inform teaching and provide students with relevant feedback? How can peer and teacher feedback (aligned with a growth mindset) be used to progress student learning?

Something I really struggled with when completing the proposal was the section on the collection of data. I feel that there are two purposes at play with the Action Research Pathway. One is to provide evidence of the achievement of Experienced Teacher Standards and Descriptors. The other is to collect data for analysis in relation to the questions of the Action Research project. And, while action research provides an opportunity for a teacher to demonstrate the descriptors, the data collected for the purposes of the project will be quite different to the evidence collected to demonstrate competency. I felt that these two forms of data needed to be separated for the purposes of the proposal, so ended up creating a table with data for the descriptors split under the headings: "Evidence of Standard" and "Data for Analysis". I'm hoping that this will help me to keep track of what I'm collecting and the real purpose for the collection.

Something else that I struggled with, just a little, was considering the difference between "expected benefits" and "expected changes". I'm hoping that my responses were different enough to meet expectations.

Given the nature of my project, I sent my proposal to the Staff Development Coordinator at my school for some feedback. She saw things that I didn't see, and struggled to understand what I meant in some of the sections. She made time to sit down with me to discuss things and I was able to make some changes. I feel that I could have continued to make more changes, but given the time restraints, I needed to get the document into internal mail so that my Head of School could sign it, and turn my attention to the Literature Review.

In the lead up to writing the Literature Review I found myself really loving all the reading, but terrified about putting the first words on a Google Doc. The blank page taunted me so much that I avoided it for quite some time, opting instead to mind-mapping and note-taking. In hindsight, I believe these were important for helping me to gather my thoughts, I just wish I'd started the whole process even earlier! For me, I was concerned about understanding the topic fully and making the connections.

Eventually I sat down and forced myself to begin writing, but even in that moment I was hesitant. I wanted a "sizzling start" that I push so hard for from my students. How do you write a sizzling start for a literature review? And then I re-read Inside the Black Box, by Black and Wiliam, and realised that people don't want to read something dry and academic. We all want to be drawn into what we read. I had a false start that went for three paragraphs, and then, finally I got my idea:

Oliver goes back to his desk and opens his English book. He knows the teacher will be doing the rounds in a minute, but he wants to take a moment to flick through to the next blank page. As he does, he smiles to himself, reading a sentence here and there as he sees the work he has done throughout the year. Wow! I remember writing this, he thinks to himself. I’ve come so far this year. He glances at the feedback at the bottom of the page…

And that's where I left Oliver's story. Full of questions about that feedback.

It probably took about 15 hours of writing and reviewing to finally get the review finished. I got sick toward the end with a cold, and was pleased when I finally got to the end. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to have my peers read over it and offer their feedback. We are all so busy trying to get our reports finalised and everything prepared for the end of school, so I just didn't feel right asking anyone else to read my writing. I also didn't have time to make adaptations based on any feedback they might have given me. I struggled with this since I have been seeing the power of feedback in my classroom, and learnt a lot from the feedback I received on my Project Proposal.

For both of these documents I had a guide for what to do, but no real guidance in terms of what is counted as a pass or fail. I feel I used a little poetic license on the literature review, but am not too sure whether it was too much. It's either my first literature review, or my first in quite some time, and I'm not entirely sure what was needed!

This experience helps me to understand some things about my own learning that can be generalised to my students and how they learn:

1. Students need to have a clear idea of what is expected and to what level
2. Feedback is definitely helpful, but not always practical when tight for time
3. While deadlines are important motivators for completing a task, some students may not produce their greatest work within this timeframe. Some may be interested in polishing their work further after the due date.
4. What ends up on the page is not necessarily all the writer knows about the topic. A lot of information is filtered along the way.

I'm really excited about what I've been learning through my reading and experiences in the classroom, but will save those for another blog. For today I really just wanted to share my journey with the Experienced Teacher Accreditation in terms of completing the necessary documentation by the deadline.

I am a lone ranger in my school as far as the Action Research Pathway goes... Is anyone else doing it??? Please leave a comment if you are.

10th Teaching K-6 Carnival

Welcome to the November edition of the Teaching K-6 Carnival. I've been vaguely aware of all the posts being submitted this month and it has been great to finally sit down and take a closer look at them. This month I share with you a number of great posts to enjoy. Be sure to check them out and spend a little time looking at other posts of interest from these bloggers.

Brain Strain

Melissa Hedding from Finds For Families shares some thoughts on the importance of teaching moral discipline early in life in her post The Moral Intellect. In her opinion, "Obedience and self-control are the first morals that a child learns".

Nightwalker shares his Tips To Improve Study Skills at My English Pages. These are a range of skills valuable to learn for students of all ages. This may be a useful list to send home with students early in the school year.

Gripes and Brags

As Erin explains, There ARE Some Students Who Struggle, But Do Not Qualify for Special Education. Her post provides information to parents in the US so that they may seek additional support for their child.

Rachel Lynette of Minds in Bloom encourages teachers to Get your Students to Tell their Parents What they Learned Today. This is a great post to use when reflecting with the class and to share with parents to improve the discussion about school and learning.

At Technology In Class TIC calls for student-centered teaching in The Failure of Teacher-Centered Teaching in A Serious Man. Here he shares some lessons that can be learnt from the movie "A Serious Man".

Andy Burtone from Andy and Ann reveals The Best Tricks to Make Your Middle School Students Happy. It's such a great read that I'm not going to give you any clues. GO READ IT!

In the News

The arrival of swine flu instigated a renewed vigor in teaching hygiene and disease prevention. Matthew Paulson wrote about Child Safety: Preparing for Flu Season at American Consumer News and Lorenzo Crocker shared 7 Facts and Myths about Washing Your Hands posted at online lpn to rn programs. In Addition Quirky Momma shares Glitter Germs: Preschooler Learning posted at quirkymomma.com.This is a great activity to help make invisible germs more concrete to your young learners.

Innovate - Beyond the Slate

This month Mathew Needleman from the Open Court Resources.com Blog shares Questions About Independent Work Time and Beginning of the Year Pre-Assessments. These resources are helpful for pre-assessing, planning and teaching in the literacy classroom.

Jim McGuire presents a convincing argument for student blogging with his post: Goals and Benefits of Student Blogging posted at The Reading Workshop. He describes just how engaging the blogging process can be.

Over at got audiobooks? John Mastro shares his experience of The Educational Benefits of Audiobooks and Children’s Learning. Whether at school, home or out an about, anyone can enjoy the luxury of being read to through an audiobook.

Though a little late now, Kakie presents literacy resources to send home for parents and kids in September is National Literacy Month - Free Resources! posted at Bur Bur & Friends: Community Park.

Tom DeRosa presents Ultimate Number Line Game: Number Sense on a Massive Scale posted at I Want to Teach Forever. This is a great resource for helping students to calculate mentally whilst learning kinaesthetically. It looks like a lot of fun too!

My contribution this month is Space Spectacular where you can read about the activities and resources we have used during our unit of work on Space.

Look No Further

Top 10 Education Wonks to Follow on Twitter

100 Blogs Every New Teacher Should Read

100+ Google Tricks That Will Save You Time in School

10 Historical Speeches that Every Student Should Listen To

100 Best Open Source Apps for Educators

Top 10 Free Open Courseware Classes for Special Ed. Teachers

50 Excellent Blogs About Education Reform

100 Free Tools to Tutor Yourself in Anything

Why not submit your post for the next carnival?

The Teaching K-6 Carnival is posted monthly on the 7th. I will be collecting submissions throughout the next month, looking in particular for posts that discuss and exemplify innovative teaching and the integration of technology in the K-6 classroom. I also invite some discussion around education related news articles and a few "brain strains" to keep our minds alert and challenged. Please submit only articles of which you are the author and refrain from using this merely as a sales pitch. For full details, please read my call for submissions.

If you have a relevant post that you would like to submit to the next edition of teaching k-6 carnival use our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Support this Carnival

If you enjoyed this edition of the carnival, you can support its continuation by sharing it with others. Link to us, add us to a tweet, stumble or digg us. Thanks!

Technorati tags: teaching k-6 carnival, blog carnival.

Tech Tips Tuesday

The following post was previously posted in a discussion forum as part of my Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership. The tools mentioned have been mentioned before, but this brings them all together in one place and puts them into perspective.

Education and schooling are in a state of constant change as they try to remain relevant to the needs of a changing world. Schooling of today should not look the same as schooling of 50 years ago, nor 20 years ago, nor even 10 years ago. The Internet has brought people together in ways that no one would have predicted possible. New applications for this technology are being created all the time as people invent and reinvent, build and extend on one another ideas. As minds around the world connect, this online collaboration is creating greater synergy and growth.

Web 2.0 allows people to become contributors of knowledge rather than simply consumers of knowledge. As a teaching professional, my world has been enriched through the development of an online Personal Learning Network (PLN). I maintain my own blog Teaching Challenges and read and comment on blogs of other education professionals. On the 7^th of every month I compile a Blog Carnival which outlines great posts submitted to me by educators from worldwide locations. I use Twitter to chat online with other teachers I’ve never met face to face. We talk about teaching and current educational decisions and practices. I also connect with a broad range of teachers through the OZ/NZ Educators Ning and Classroom 2.0. I can bookmark the links I find useful and share these with others using Delicious. At the same time, I can access the bookmarks that other educators have found useful and add these to my teaching toolkit. This sort of knowledge doesn’t fit nicely into a textbook but rather is created by individuals collaborating and sharing their knowledge, resources, experiences and ideas.

When away from my computer, I can use my iPhone to check my email, access the internet and complete the readings for this course. I can watch YouTube videos or TeacherTube videos and listen to podcasts. Every minute of every day I can be accessing information and developing my learning. Most of my learning in the past 6 months has taken place online through internet resources and the connections I’ve made with my PLN.

In terms of my students, developments in technology allow new opportunities for teaching and learning. Interactive Whiteboards are a useful tool for bringing computer applications into everyday use. Online Learning resources can be accessed and used in lessons. Kidspiration, Inspiration and Webspiration can be used to develop thinking and planning through graphic organisers. Students can become “Google Jockeys” researching relevant webpages for students to view during lessons. With My Classes (similar to Moodle but for younger students) I can post information for parents and students, provide games and resources for students to access at home, post photos and videos of student work and even provide homework tips using a webcam or Jing.

Teachers need to be aware of new learning technologies and be open to exploring new possibilities in their classrooms. Schools need to allocate appropriate funding to purchase resources that provide these opportunities to students.

To finish up, watch this video that gives a glimpse of the needs of our students both now and in the future.

Unity of the Head and Heart

What follows is a report I wrote for my Leadership in Learning Organisations course. I received it back with comments that it is a bit idealised, so please keep that in mind as you read. Also keep in mind that I'm still waiting to try out an Educational Leadership role, so most of what I have written is what I will aspire to, possibly not considering all the challenges and road blocks along the way!

Background
ACT schools are currently undergoing a great deal of change as they continue to implement Every Chance to Learn and ensure that they are covering the Essential Learning Achievements through their school curriculum. The introduction of the Quality Teaching Model in the ACT has lead to a further period of transition as schools determine how this will inform school practices. Our schools go through cycles of change as we modify practices in line with the requirements of school and system. Effective leadership is required in order to meet the challenge of change.
The ACT Department of Education has recognised the need to enhance the capability of our aspiring leaders in these changing times. In response they have designed a new School Leadership Framework and are supporting aspiring leaders through the Targeted Scholarship Program and through their own Leading to Leadership Program.
In preparing this report I considered my own experiences alongside contemporary research and the new capabilities outlined in the School Leadership Framework.

Unity of Head and Heart
Today's educational leader needs to develop essential characteristics of both the head and the heart. With the head, the leader takes responsibility for deepening knowledge, creating vision, strategising, organizing people and resources and reflecting upon growth and learning. With the heart, the leader takes responsibility for connecting, communicating, inspiring and supporting others. These traits are necessary for guiding the school community in building and sustaining an enriching learning environment.

Traits of the Head
In The Fifth Discipline (1994), Peter Senge outlines three key elements for improving the growth of learning organisations:

• Aspiration – which involves Personal Mastery (the commitment to lifelong learning and improvement through reflection and adaptation) and Shared Vision (the development and communication of a shared vision for the future and a plan for aspiring to it).
• Reflective Conversation – which involves Mental Models (reflecting thoroughly on and questioning our deeply rooted images and ideas about the world) and Team Learning (dialogue that brings out an intellect unachievable by separate individuals).
• Understanding Complexity – which involves Systems Thinking (the ability to understand the way systems work and use advantageously).

Generally speaking, these are traits of the head. They require deep thinking and understanding both individually and communally.
Today's leader needs to be knowledgeable in current research, principles of education and system priorities. Such knowledge informs the design of a school vision and a strategy for school development. It is vital to keep abreast of contemporary discussion around educational issues in order to maintain relevance to the changing needs of students and society as a whole. A wise educational leader will determine which trends are of most significance and pour appropriate time and people power into these endeavours. Without knowledge and understanding, the educational leader lacks appropriate direction and accountability.
Educational leaders need to engage in regular reflection both on their own practices as a leader and also the effectiveness of the school community in meeting the needs of the students. This is done through the regular School Review process, Principal Appraisal, Professional Pathways and other in-school reflection processes. National testing provides one means of examining the strengths of a school's educational program and with appropriate reflection, leaders can use this information as a guide for change.

Traits of the Heart
In recent years there has been a greater emphasis placed on the social-emotional capacity required for leadership. In their research, Goleman (1998) and his colleagues found that while IQ is a factor in determining what vocation a person obtains, EQ (emotional intelligence) plays a significant role in determining whether that person becomes a leader within that vocation. Goleman extrapolates that emotional intelligence – self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills – are essential traits particularly in the highest ranks of leadership.
Generally speaking, these are traits of the heart. They require a greater capacity for understanding self, a passion for the work and an ability to work effectively with and respond to the needs of others.
Leadership from the heart begins with a genuine care and concern for the individuals in the community. In creating a learning community, people need to be able to come together and experience learning and growth in a supportive environment. It is the responsibility of school leaders to connect with people in the school community and also develop partnerships beyond the school walls. They will see the skills brought to the community through its many members and will encourage and support people to use and develop these.
Leaders who demonstrate a passion for their work inspire others, and with the right nourishment and guidance the community will work in solidarity towards the school vision. A wise leader will consider the positions and concerns of others within the school community and guide them through the transition period when change is required.

In Conclusion
As demonstrated here, there are many traits that are essential for effective educational leadership. Contemporary ideas have expanded to include not only traits of the head, but also traits of the heart. A unity of these elements is required for the development and growth of an enriching learning organisation. The ACT Department of Education and Training has included these elements in their new School Leadership Framework. With any hope, this will lead to the development of a new form of leader with the necessary skills to guide schools through learning and change in the future.

List of References
ACT Department of Education and Training, School Leadership Framework
Goleman, D (1998) What Makes a Leader? Harvard Business Review, 1998.
Senge, P (1994) The Fifth Discipline, Doubleday, New York

Tech Tips Tuesday

This Week's Tip - Get Organised with Track Class
Pat Hensley from Successful Teaching mentioned Track Class last week. As I'm about to start a post-graduate course I thought it might help me to get my stuff sorted.
Track Class is a free online student organisation tool, but I can also see potential for teacher use.
Students (or teachers) can load their classes, upcoming assignments and exams. The calendar helps you to keep track of what is due and when it's due. There's also a section for notes and file storage.
I'm planning to use it for monitoring my studies, but am also considering using it for planning and monitoring student assessment throughout the term. Using a tool such as this could help to spread the assessment workload over the term. I imagine it could be helpful for high school students who teach several classes and need to keep track of which assessment to collect and on which dates.

If you have any other recommendations for useful student/teacher organisation tools, please add them in the comments.