Data. DFI Week Four.

Still in Lockdown.The new normal. It is amazing all of the little things that you pick up when you have an authentic need for something. Almost everything that is being covered in the Digital Fluency Intensive is immediately useful. If not in the case of something that I am using then in a conversation with someone who may need it, e.g google drawings last week - although I don't need to use it myself, right now, it is the tool that our teachers are using to plan their lessons. Some of the hints that I have picked up at DFI have been put to good use.

I am excited to put some of the 'Data' new learning to good use as I gather and collate information - my immediate need is my Learning Support register spreadsheet. I could see all of the possibilities of better manipulation and presentation of the data, opening up for me as I worked through the day. I have always wondered how formulas work in spreadsheets!
Also, I enjoyed the tweaks to my Google forms - I hadn't noticed that little add image here button alongside the actual questions.   

Today along with the rest of New Zealand, we reopened our school in an online capacity. I think that by the time it came around to 9:00 this morning, we all just wanted to get on with it!. As I hopped in and out of Google Meets being run by our teachers, I felt very grateful for the technical knowledge that our staff has gained over recent times to enable them to deliver online learning. There has been a massive upskilling for a few, but the recent  couple of years of Manaiakalani PD has certainly taken the fear (and substitution - SAMR) out of the digital delivery of the curriculum.

I love the way new knowledge expands my brain!

Media DFI Week Three - Online Version

Week Three's point of difference was that I was sitting in my dining room alongside 31 others who were also sitting in their own homes. We all seem to have adapted to this strange new world. It is only one week since I learnt how to make the best of google meet and then in such a short time have used it more than I would have imagined (several times a day!) and so quickly become conversant with such things as using the grid extension and then closing the grid to see the screen sharing properly and breaking out into smaller workshops. It was a good feeling in session three, working with colleagues from around the country, even then not knowing how vital these tools would become.

Of course everything that is happening in the DFI course now seems incredibly relevant as we gear up for helping our staff deliver on line learning. What week three's course in particular has reminded me of, is what it is like to be a learner! As I sweated over getting something worth sharing onto my google drawing, I thought about what it must be like for so many of our students. Quite a humbling experience and quite different from academic study because part of what I was learning in the session was exactly what we would expect our students to do. When we consider the varying needs and abilities of our students, how well are we looking after each person's Mana?

It was enlightening indeed to uncover some of the mysteries around my youtube channel (who knew!) and once again a timely injection of information. I feel so much better informed about launching my online videos into the cosmos, after this session. The rewindable nature of our sessions has proven to be incredibly authentic and points out again how useful this is for our children. Having the opportunity to flip and then rewind the learning as we have been using in our practice over the past few years makes me want to celebrate again how good it is to be in a school that values leveraging digital to enhance learning opportunities for all.

Workflow. DFI Week Two

Today's session has been timely as our school prepares for the possibility of students staying home and accessing learning in a different way.

We have been planning for self isolation and school closure over the past couple of weeks; timetables, what teaching and learning will look like across the teams and how we will connect with our tamariki have been the questions that the staff has been focusing on.

We had already decided to use Google Meet in a variety of ways: scheduled workshops, giving feedback on work that students have shared, and generally checking in.

At today's DFI session, along with some useful tips such as tab control and gmail maintenance (!) we practised using Google Meet, which now includes a record function.  This practise was timely and the use of the record button will reduce some steps and will make it easier for our teachers to be able to provide rewind sessions for our students.  Knowing how to use the technology confidently will reduce a lot of stress for our teachers as they prepare to provide home learning for our students. I know that I feel a lot better about supporting our teachers to use Google Meet after today. Inviting, sharing, presenting between screens and leading and contributing to discussions will be necessary skills.

Some aspects of today's 'Learn' focus resonated with me:
How do we know what effective practice looks like?
Would we be able to recognise it? This does not mean throw out the old for the new, but know what effective practice looks like. If we accept that the whole point of the digital world is to be able to do things in a way that we could not do before - what does effective practise look like in a digital world? How can we use digital technologies to accelerate learning for our students?

These are the questions that we ask ourselves constantly in our Senior Leadership Team:
Do you know what Learn looks like in your school?
How do you know?
Do you have a model or shared understandings about Learn in your school?
What is happening in your school in terms of your local context?

Core Business DFI Week One

Today has been a great introduction to the digital fluency world. The history of Manaiakalani was a great insight into how this movement was born and I marvel at the far reaching effects of this dream.

Something that resonated with me was the statement that our computers are a pencil not a book. This spoke to me of the kaupapa around digital technologies in schools being about opening up possibilities for ubiquitous learning, access to information, creating and sharing; not as an alternative to a textbook or worksheet.

I use google docs every day in my professional and personal life. Today I learned some excellent shortcuts and tips that will make working with docs more efficient. eg I had not known that explore at the bottom right of the doc allows me to search for free images without having to use the free images filter on google images.

Some of the 'Create' features within google docs are going to be useful when creating docs.
I was able to explore some of these features. This image is my work in progress.

Other highlights have been having the opportunity to give DFI my full attention, ask for and receive help, and to connect with another professional learning group.

Lead Like a Pirate Blog Hop Week 9. Using Stories to Personalise Data.

Prompt #1
How do you strip down your data and make a connection to it to improve outcomes for students? How do you get dialogue happening around your data.?

There is a lot of research stating that data is important because it shows progress or movement and it informs next steps. It shows trends across the school or cluster and informs resourcing and professional development. This is of course all true, but the real value in the data for our children, are the conversations that come out of it. 

I have what I call 'data meetings' each term.  They are not so much about interrogating the data which is important, but about knowing each child and using our collective wisdom to address their needs. The bringing together of the data into a physical space is about confronting the facts and seeing for ourselves, as a collectively responsible team, who these children are and what we all know about them. 

At the first meeting I discuss the research that I have already shared with the team  prior to the meeting. I may use something from "Student Centred Leadership" (Robinson, 2011), or from BES. At this first meeting I  use a physical data board with the names of the children and their OTJ level taken from the baseline data (end of year previous OTJ). The percentages or raw numbers are looked at against expectations. I then read out loud the names of each child in the well below and below expectation and allow those names to sink in before beginning discussions. 

After that I ask some questions:

1. Are there any surprises?
2. Is there anyone who you think is in the wrong place?
3. Do you know why this child (N) is here?  

Next I ask what we know about the children individually. 

1. Have they performed better in the past?
2. Is there anything we should know that will help us to cater better for this child's needs?
3. What has the previous teacher told you about these children? In lots of cases someone on the team has taught those children in the past. This year, two of the four teachers had.

Then in a more general sense:

1. What have you tried in the past that has had a good impact on learning/engagement/ relationships with children?
2. How involved have you been with their families? siblings? parents?
3. What have you tried that hasn't worked?  

I then compile a list of all of the strategies that the teachers in the room have tried before that they feel made a difference. This is a positive feeling brainstorm as teachers start to unlock and share strategies/ideas that they have used in the past. There are lots of "That's right! I used to do that and the kids loved it! as they remember things that had slipped into the background. When the list is at about thirty shared strategies, I then invite the teachers to choose one strategy that they will take away and try for the next 5 weeks. The teachers commit to this (especially helpful if it contributes to their Teaching as Inquiry).

At the end of the 5 week trial, we have another 'data' meeting. There is no data presented, other than anecdotal feedback about how the trial has gone. At this meeting, I will present some more research supporting the trial. This year I used the ERO document on "Raising student Achievement Through Targeted Actions" (2015). I write up the findings so far, as the teachers discuss what has happened. They then commit to either continuing on with the same strategy with changes, or they select another strategy to try. This process usually re energises the teachers and leads them away from the 'same old')

The final 'data' meeting of the year includes the updated data board. This (hopefully!) is another feel good meeting. "Look at the effects of your specific, targeted actions!" We revert to the percentages to see how much difference has been made. Of course we don't have a control group so we don't know if doing nothing would made an impact, but we choose, based on the great improvements, to believe that we have made a difference.  

Lead Like A Pirate Blog Hop Week 8 - Find The Magic In The People.

Find the Magic in People
Prompt #1
The solution to any school challenge or issue is never just a new program. It is a commitment to the people who are doing the work. It is building a sense of self efficacy in the individuals on your team and convincing them that the magic isn’t in the latest initiative or curriculum mandate - the magic is in them. (pg 94)

​Believe in them, invest in them, build in time for learning and growth, and watch the magic happen.

How do you convey to your staff that the magic lies within them?

We try very hard to value every contribution made by every staff member in the team. We always seek input into new initiatives and often get contributions that may have an effect on the way we proceed, or the system that we are  introducing. We in the Senior Leadership team do not profess to know all of the answers. We are modelling collaboration and collective wisdom just as we expect our teams to do. What we do endeavour to promise though is that together we will work out the answers to the tricky questions.
We are very fortunate that for now we are able to release two teams for three hours every week to enable them to find the magic together. In this three hours we have some time for: professional development; some for looking at practice and systems and how to improve; and also time for planning together as a team.
I am continually impressed by the quality of the professional dialogue that is at the forefront of innovative practices. In the last week of the term I sat with the year 5/6 team on planning day and I was so impressed with the open to learning conversations that were going on. As the team pondered over the driving question for the next project, they demonstrated good will, humour and flexibility throughout our discussions. They examined the driving question from all angles and looked deeply at what it was they wanted the children to understand, and how they would get there. They really did wrangle with the question. As one of the team commented "Who would have thought we would end up here from when we started to look at this idea?" There is definitely magic in these people...

Lead Like A Pirate Blog Hop. Week 6 - Enthusiasm

“Pirate leaders know that they have to bring energy and excitement to each day, no matter what”(LeadLAP pg 69)
How do you ‘fake it until you make it? What strategies do you use that enable you to make a positive choice about your own attitude?

I have used the 'fake it until you make it' mantra for many years. Both as a classroom teacher and  later as a senior leader. I have always been careful in which company I say this because at first impression, it sounds like a duplicitous way to behave. I am delighted to read in LeadLAP (Pg 69) that 'fake it until you make it is an overt strategy.  When I was a classroom teacher, 'faking it' may have meant that I was putting on an "I know exactly what I'm doing" face when dealing with a behaviour issue. It may have meant that I volunteered for something that I wasn't all that keen on doing and then discovered that I was rising to the challenge and enjoying it. The main strength of faking it was when there was 'that' child, who was difficult to like. I have found that 'faking' liking (who is the adult being paid to do a job here after all?) always leads to actually liking. I have never had a situation that hasn't resulted in a turnaround in my own attitude. 

This has been especially useful in my senior leadership role, when some staff, parents, children are harder to bring on board with the way we do things at St. Francis. I don't always feel enthusiastic; I may have started the day feeling tired, but I know that my enthusiastic attitude can make a difference. "Enthusiasm is often the missing element to engagement" (#LeadLAP pg 70)

 I can get caught up in the rush of my job and forget to smile and look enthusiastic. It is amazing what an impact this has on the people around me. I have left some staff or team meetings thinking, "Well that fell a bit flat!" I do know that energy and enthusiasm do make a difference, as hard as it can be some days.

 I try and smile at every parent as I am walking around the school at the beginning and end of the school day. We all know how important it is to feel valued and noticed in our lives. Paying it forward is hopefully the outcome of treating people with respect and ideas with enthusiasm; they then change their attitude into a more positive supportive one. 

The SLT were recently discussing the advantages of being on road duty at the beginning and end of the day. Saying each child's name, asking how their day went and exchanging a few words with their parents. This all helps to build community. 

George Corous has a great blog post about the fact that Every Interaction Matters  As part of that blog post, he has added a powerful youtube video clip about the way that every interaction sets the tone for the day. It is well worth viewing. Every interaction students experience sets a tone for the day.