How do you eat an elephant? One small bite at a time.

 Reflecting on the last few weeks... I've made a number of "small bites".

Timetable

I've taken a dip into Canva, and created a visual timetable for my groups. Although it looks pretty, and reasonably functional, at first glance... it's actually not as functional long term. 

Here's prototype 1:

The first flaw is that it's not easily modified... for my next prototype, I'm going to make the following adaptation:

• Have the group names at the top along with the icon I use for all group DLO's. (The colours currently reflect the groups also)
• Not have the images on there, so that I can insert it as a background on a Google drawing and change the actual activities more easily.
• It would be good to incorporate the group members potentially, although these are always on the site, listed under the group's DLO.

As an aside... I also need to be able to update my Bitmoji fairly regularly to reflect the current colour... For example, this week my hair is very blue.

Initial Reflection:

After using the tumble for a few days, it has worked well to see the groups in the same order each day. This helps the Teacher Aides to join specific learners in the group and better support their follow-up tasks. I haven't allowed for the different timings on the days that we have jump jam at 10:20am (meaning the third rotation is pushed out to 10:40am.

I'm reluctant to fall into the rabbit hole of Canva again until after my report comments are written.. so I'll leave it until next week! 

Mixed Ability Groupings

I have trialled two different mixed groupings.  The first was based on the next learning steps. I analysed their PAT data... the first glance next steps, and targeted three goals. I found that these groupings were very reluctant to talk in the groups. A number of my able learners are quite timid.

Next, I had a shuffle and ensured that the groups were based around having learners who were able to confidently chat amongst themselves. I had to attempt a bit of a hard sell to one of our Teacher Aides as she was aghast at the thought... It was like trying to sell ice to an Eskimo...

However...

When the first group sat down, one of my lower-ability learners began to share a lot of his prior knowledge with the group. Other learners were spellbound, blown away by some of the things he was saying. It was New Zealand Sign Language week the previous week and we were looking at a text about interpretors. 

An unforeseen challenge, as I attempted to promote discussion using the strategy of waiting them out like a hunter on the first dawn of Duck Shooting Season... settled in my seat, gazing around the table. Alas my fabulous TA began to helpfully prompt some of the punters! I tried to subtly divert the assistance, explaining "I know they know the answers. They have the ideas. I'm just waiting for them to share them." We quickly got on the same page.

The topic of interpretors proved a fabulous discussion topic, for two of my groups, for what should have been an obvious reason... but it never occurred to me. Our demographic has drastically changed over the last few years, especially now that the borders have opened up more post-COVID. Many of our learners act as interpreters/translators for their immediate or extended whanau. They were able to make clear links between their own experiences and the text. The other learners had also seen this first-hand in classrooms too.

Communication

I've been able to have clear and easy communication with the teacher who does the Classroom Release in our hub, meaning that there's a clearer understanding of how the Workbook and site work for planning, accessing and delivering learning. I've been very impressed at how quickly she has adapted to our digital way of doing things and soaking up the pedagogy. It's all very new, after not having encountered Learn Create Share pedagogy before.

There have definitely been a number of other small tweaks, but I'm sure they'll come to the surface of discussion at some point.

My buzzword (or term) for the last week has been "Implementation Fidelity". Whether it relates to our Learn Create Share pedagogy or the adapted Structured Literacy Approach that we have rightly or wrongly created for our Kura... The fidelity of the initial intentions for implementation have been lost. I can draw a parallel with Russell Bishop's "Leading to the North-East" in that we have placed a massive emphasis on developing strong relationships with our learners, and rightly so! However, we haven't placed the same emphasis on ensuring the fidelity of the pedagogy we are implementing within our practice.

The other big concern I have is in the declarative need to "declutter" in order to really hone in on what has been identified as the priority focus... but in practice, every teacher you speak with (particularly in our setting) is feeling swamped with a number of initiatives that are being implemented simultaneously.

What is important?

What is the priority?

What is deserving of relentless aspiration?

Better to be able to savour the fruits of one fulfilling serving, than to get a tiny taste and be left salivating for more that isnt forthcomoing.