Wk 32-How have I changed my practice during your Postgraduate DCL journey?

To reflect on my year, I will be using the Reflective Practice Model of Osterman and Kottkamp, (2015, p70).

When I reflect on the past 32 weeks and the changes to my class program, and my knowledge and understanding of great pedagogy and leadership it is a source of amazement and pride.

Problem identification:
I was always an early adopter, an agent of change.  A teacher waiting to challenge and disrupt an educational establishment organised by silos and tick boxes.  I read what I could inspired by blogs/sites such as Edutopia, Mindshift, TED Talks, Tech Thought and Educational Technology and Mobile Learning to name but a few.


But, very like our classroom learners, for me at least there is nothing like that 'hands-on' learning.  Where you get to play, make mistakes, try again work with your peers.

My problem was that I was limited to what I read.  I had a couple of colleagues (would later join me on my Mindlab journey) who shared my passion for digital and collaborative learning but we had limited opportunities to collaborate and share ideas/pedagogy.  We were in  different year levels and teams within a large Primary school we rarely shared what we knew, what we pondered and the impact our ponderings were having on our classes.

Stage 2:  Observation and Analysis:

I observed through Blog posts and discussions with teaching professionals outside KKPS that there was a movement a groundswell of change in the teaching profession and the pedagogies being used to engage and deepen our learner's understanding.  

I knew there was a big wide world out there beyond National Standards and levels achieved in Reading, Writing and Maths.... a world where 21st Century Learning pedagogies mattered, I knew that in 2020 New Zealand would introduce a new digital curriculum.  I knew that there was lots of talk about teachers being a "guide on the side" and not a "sage on a stage".  I had read about Makerspaces, and coding, and stop motion, and lots more... in fact in my 2016 appraisal doc I created this visual and pondered the question how does this all fit together?

Taken From my appraisal Doc 2016

Stage 3:  Abstract Reconceptualisation:

Mindlab gave me the opportunity to understand concepts and ideas that I'd known in theory.  Yes,
I'd heard the terms but I really didn't know what they meant or how on earth I was going to learn about
them or teach them.  Each week a little piece of the puzzle joined together, each week the picture grew
bigger and bigger.  As we joined the pieces I began to see how each of these tiny elements can work
together in building a 21st century classroom.  Finally it all made sense.

Stage 4: Active Experimentation:

One of my biggest fears was always the 'how'.... not the 'why'.  I knew the why and through reading blogs
and articles and watching TedEd I even knew the 'what'.  I knew the terms coding, maker space, 21st
Century pedagogy, learner agency, Modern Learning Environment  and so on.  But how am I going to
teach this?  How do I introduce coding?  What is a Makey Makey?  and how could I possibly use that in
my classroom?

Each Thursday night Karen, our Mindlab tutor shared, excited and engaged us with new pedagogies and
the theory to back it up.  Scratch was no longer something I did to an itchy bite, Stop Motion was no longer
reserved for the Lego movie, collaboration took a new purpose and I began to understand how children
learn.  Each Friday morning I introduced my class to what I'd learned the night before.  Within a matter of
weeks we were all coding using Scratch, we made Stop Motions to illustrate books we had read, or
concepts in Maths.

The transformation in my practice is extreme and the engagement in my children has grown exponentially. 
To top all of that so has my confidence to lead from right where I stand, as a passionate collaborative teacher
of a year 4 class.

Reflecting back from our first few weeks at Mindlab, I think about the TPACK and SAMR models, which
we learned in theory and now can see what huge strides I have made in engaging children in
authentic and purposeful collaborative and digital pedagogies.  I'm hitting the TPACK sweet spot and
and striving for some of my class's learning to be redefining what they can achieve.

Osterman, K. F., & Kottkamp, R. B. (2015). Reflective practice for educators : professional development to improve student learning.(2nd ed.) New York: Skyhorse Publishing.

Puentedura, R. (2010). SAMR and TPCK: Intro to advanced practice. Retrieved from http://hippasus.com/resources/sweden2010/SAMR_TPCK_IntroToAdvancedPractice.pdf.

Wk 31-How my inquiry impacts on my future inquiry/practice

Step 1: What is the actual impact after the 'Take Action' phase?

In order to reflect on how my inquiry impacts on my classroom practice and future inquiries I would like to start by re-stating my inquiry question "Could a flipped classroom model help to provide a personalised programme for Learners in Maths or Reading in Toutouwai, and as a result have a positive effect in raising engagement and achievement ?  

Initially,  I believed that there was a huge potential for Flipped Learning to be an incredibly powerful tool in my kete.  Having read many research papers into the flipped model, I initially believed that it would be a great fit for my classroom.  I loved the fact that it would really help to:

• personalise learning for all ākonga
• support those learners who needed extra support
• provide challenge and stretch for those who needed it
• create stronger home/school links with whānau
• engage my ākonga
• promote learner agency in Toutouwai 
• provide specific instruction to those who needed it

All of the above fitted in well with our whole school PLD in to Relationship Based Learning based on the work Russell Bishop (Culture Counts).  Flipped Learning is a culturally responsive pedagogy promoting all of the above.  As my relationship with the tamariki was the significant one, I felt it best for me to record guided videos and not just curate the from a number shown on You-Tube.


Step 2: How is the actual impact different or similar to the anticipated one?

I still believe strongly in the huge benefits of Flipped Learning however I had not taken into account the huge amount of time needed to effectively record and edit videos for flipped learning to occur.  As a mum of 4, full time teacher who has many other hats in our school community the opportunity to spend time recording videos was almost none-existent. 

The kids were thoroughly engaged with the videos I made and found.  They fed back to me that they enjoyed being able to progress at their own pace.  My mathematicians really enjoyed not having to wait for the teacher each time a new piece of learning occurred.   They benefited by coming to group guided sessions ready for discussions and with questions of their own.

My reading groups too enjoyed the videos that I curated for them but due to constant disruption to our class programme and with limited class devices I did not see gains in their academic levels. 

Step 3:  What is the impact on future inquiry/practice?

I am a passionate teacher who really believes in the power of agentic personalised learning that is culturally responsive to the tamariki in my care.  I still believe in the power of providing personalised programs.  I believe in the power of strong positive learning relationships.   I can reflect honestly and say that my inquiry into flipped learning has one main barrier and it has nothing to do with the children's ability to engage with the videos or to learn through them.  The barrier is quite simply TIME.

Going forward the search continues for other pedagogies which are both culturally responsive and promote learner agency but that do not require as much time to be invested in them. 

Curating videos and creating videos for some class lessons is something I will aim to do over the coming months and years, but to say that I am committed to a flipped program would not be accurate.

http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Teaching/Future-focused-learning/Flipped-learning

Wk 30-The data you have collected so far and how I am analysing it?

My inquiry question is "Could a Flipped Classroom model help to provide a personalised programme for learners in Maths and Reading in Toutouwai, and as a result have a positive effect in raising engagement and achievement?"

There are 2 types of data that I collected:

Initially, I surveyed children and their families using a Google Form. I wanted to be certain that this was a feasible inquiry. As Flipped Learning requires children to log in prior to a guided lesson I wanted to be sure that all children would be able to have access to the videos and information shared. I was also curious to find out how children and whānau felt about learning on-line. From previous anecdotal conversations with children and their families I knew there were some families who were ethically opposed to logging in at home, preferring that their kids read books, climbed trees or built with lego. This data was very much Qualitative data. It expressed individual's opinions, beliefs and tried to give a deeper understanding of their mindset towards technologies.






During the course of the Inquiry I kept notes in relation to conversations I had had with the children. Did the videos make sense? What could I do to make them better? What did they like or not like?

At the end of the Spiral of inquiry I used a Google Form again to collect Qualitative data. How had the learners enjoyed using video clips for their learning? Had they felt more engagement and ownership of their learning?

The Qualitative data collection had really served to consider the aspect of ENGAGEMENT.

I also collected achievement data at the beginning and have again at the end of the inquiry. I used a Maths Asttle test to show children's understanding of number concepts in maths. This was a standardised test with which I could measure progress in ACHIEVEMENT. I also used Running Records, Sight Word Tests and Phonic recognition checklists to assess my readers.

At the end of the Inquiry I have re-tested using Asttle, and Running Records. I am able to make a comparison of scores achieved early on and now at the end.

What my data told me?
Qualitative Data observations:

• 83%/ of children in Toutouwai had access to a device at home for learning- meaning that 8/47 had no means to access Flipped Learning at home
• Only 6.5% would not be allowed to access learning at home
• A staggering 32% did not have their screen time limited
• 96% of children enjoyed learning on Digital Devices- HIGH ENGAGEMENT
• 28% of children scored learning by video clips as 10 on a scale of 1-10
• 68% of children scored learning clips as 5 or more on a scale of 1-10 (where 1 is not enjoy and 10 is enjoy)
• Engagement is clearly a factor. When asked about specific groups of videos- Khan Academy, Number Rock and Math Antics, children expressed overwhelmingly that Number Rock helped more than Khan Academy and Math Antics. Number rock are maths concepts set to song and animated with cartoons.
• When asked do you "Own your Learning"? (KKPS Value linked with Learner Agency) children scored themselves highly on a scale of 1-10

Quantitative Data Observations

• Children made progress in all areas at the rate at which you would expect. Meaning that significant achievement had not occurred- Not accelerative progress.
• It would be hard to justify that the Flipped Learning had accounted for the progress made. It could've been the combination of a well planned and structured programme in Reading and Maths.

Overwhelmingly, feedback from student throughout the inquiry was positive. There was high engagement observed in both the Reading and Maths groups. ENGAGEMENT was high, as noted in both Google Forms and anecdotal notes.

Considering causation and correlation, whilst there is a correlation between the scores before and after using Flipped Learning, I can not make a statement that proves causation. Therefore I can not infer that Flipped Learning has increased ACHIEVEMENT.