4/9: Reflection - 2017 Inquiry Update

Reflection: 2017 Inquiry Update

4th August 2017

At our Staff Professional Development Day on Monday, part of our day was spent in groups with people completing similar inquiries. I was in a group with inquiries based around student engagement, motivation and relationships. The idea was that by being placed in a group with people completing similar inquiries that we were able to share our progress and gain some new ideas from others. Below are some questions that our discussions were based off and will give more of an insight into my 2017 inquiry and how I am progressing.

2017 Inquiry: How to develop my L2 class into self-motivated learners

Why did you identify this as an area for inquiry?

I identified this an area for inquiry as I had previously identified that this class is very dependent in their learning styles. Some examples include students unsure on how to take notes, asking the teacher straight away rather than trying to problem solve or even check notes etc.

How will the inquiry impact on student outcomes?

I would like to think that throughout this inquiry process students will learn important skills or tips that will allow them to succeed in other subjects and even help with skills moving into year 13 and onto university.

Is the inquiry important and relevant in terms of improving student learning?

By students gaining more confidence in themselves and their own ability they will start to become more independent learners which may allow them to work more efficiently in my class but others as well.

Is the inquiry able to be supported by evidence?

Yes I will be able to collect some qualitative data. This may be in the form of student tracking sheets (are students up to date on work), teacher observations (student on task behaviour), noting who is asking for help & seeing if they have tried to problem solve before asking. 

What evidence have you gathered/utilised for far?

I have used student voice and incorporated it into my planning (more about this in the next question). I have also had a teacher observation at the start of my inquiry in which different strategies I already had in place. These included encouragement and guiding students to find the answer rather than telling them the answer. My reflection on that lesson observation can be found here.

Have you gathered student feedback? What did that tell you?

Student feedback I have gathered was in regards to preferred learning styles and tasks after completing our 2.2 assessment. This not only helped me evaluate the effectiveness of my teaching throughout this unit but I could also see preferred the learning activities. The results told me that students liked learning through notes, practical labs, practice paragraphs, worksheets & class discussions. By seeing these results I was able to ensure most learning tasks were taught through these preferred learning styles.

*Need to do another student voice survey to see if results are still the same

Could it be improved by phrasing it as a question?

I originally phrased my inquiry as 'how can I create a culture of independent learning in my classroom?'

What strategies have you trialled in class so far?

I did a small spiral inquiry to start about what actually is an independent learner. This involved research, readings and talking to and observing other staff members about what they are doing within there own classrooms to develop independent learners.

So far I have tried a few minor strategies to help increase motivation of learners in my class. This has included:

• setting clear deadlines with punishments if they are not met
• guiding students towards the answer rather than telling them
• 'dangling the carrot' - providing motivation through credits & practicals
• ensuring students understand the why
• time allocations to complete tasks vs having a list of tasks that need to be completed within the lesson

After this discussion on Monday I have started using Google Classroom with my Level 2 class. Students are responding positively as all tasks, assessments & announcements are all in the same place. I will write a future blog post updating on this.

So where to from here?

Throughout the discussion and after meeting with Alex I have gained some other strategies to try with my Level 2 students. These include:

• Continue unpacking the why - unpack the assessment right at the start of the unit to help provide more direction & then students can create their own links
• Timetabled tutorial times - this will help to establish expectations and routines. Hopefully students will have learnt their lesson that if they don't turn up and make the most of these opportunities they will not get extra time when they ask via email etc. Can also timetable these for students and parents to see so times are clear
• Ask 3 before me - students need to look through 3 different sources before asking the teacher, these sources could be google, notes or a peer
• Create a checklist that students need to check prior to handing in work whether it is a homework task or assessment. This would start as being constructed by myself before co-constructing and students creating their own.
• Differentiated learning vs independent learners
• Gamification? Can create psychological hooks for students - e.g. level up, key to unlock extra or reward when reaching a certain level, clan working together as a common goal working against another clan, progression bar