Woolf Fisher Research Centre

• Design more effective instruction on writing
• Culturally responsive pedagogy in writing
• ‘Intertextual’ approaches to literacy teaching

• Design of more effective instruction in writing
• Based on local needs and local evidence
• Use of school evidence and data

3 phrases

• profiling (2011)
• identify problem
• design a plan
• doing the work (2012)
• is it working (2013)
• measure shifts
• sustain focus
• plan next steps

Evidence

• School-wide data
• Writing samples - 6 students per class to be tracked every 2 months - independent writing 20 mins
• Classroom observations (video of a lesson including student voice)

School-wide date

• Use of AsTTle writing tool
• Training to mark recount
• Moderation of marking

Keynote

Keynote

Tools for Learning - Mobile Phones and Authentic Learning Tasks

Jan Herrington

Questions to ask

• What does the student do? (is it legal?)
• Who uses the technology?
• How long does it take?
• Is there collaboration?
• Is there a polished product?
• Is there a showcase or forum for the product?

http://web.me.com/janherrington/ULearn/

1 -1 Making It work in the school

1 -1 Making It Work in the School

The Helens - Pt England School ptengland.school.nz

Blogs

Google Apps

Parent buy in - Lease net books $15 per month

First learning

Google user name and password

Blogging - managing own individual blog

How to navigate the class site

Netbook agreement

Positive

It’s a learning tool!

Term 1

• infrastructure problems
• student problems solving
• boot camp
• extra support for struggling students - Learning facilitators, uni students
• cluster support and learning
• student reflection

Every single day

• Google - teachers’ dashboard
• blogging incl commenting on others’ blogs
• copy/paste comment onto class comment site on Class blog
• language of success

Reading

• Google forms
• still traditional with extra activities using netbooks

Maths

• Digistore via nzmaths
• Maths Whizz - online programme, with cost
• still using books alongside netbooks

Integrated Topic

• using multimedia on desktop machines - making animations, garageband...
• self assessments
• rubrics on class site
• self reflect against the rubric using google forms

Where to next?

• being cyber smart - dvlping a schoolwide programme
• downloading movies, music, use of Facebook (underage)
• multimedia tools
• using more Web 2.0 tools - Flickr acc

Improv Everywhere

Google certified teachers (look into applying for this!!!)

Collaborating in the Cloud

Collaborating in the Cloud

with John Locke, Jacqui Patuawa and Sonya Horne

Suggested sites to use in classrooms, staffrooms and between staff

• Skype
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Tweetdeck - manages social media account
• Vimeo
• Sharepoint 2010 - Microsoft
• Doodle - online booking system
• Eventbrite

Check out

www.sitehoover.com/ulearn-2011/

Questioning Session 3

Improving Student Questioning

See handout

Core skills that enable us to be capable questioners.

1. Identify the need or problem
2. Identify, understand and use the relevant contextual vocabulary (key words and key phrases)
3. Ask a range of relevant questions
4. Take their questions to a range of appropriate sources
5. Persist, editing questions as necessary until they acquire the needed information

Rudyard Kiplings - the Elephant Child - great poem to introduce open questions (6 of the 7 servants).

What is a good question?

• relevant
• gets you the needed information (open or closed)
• is worded well enough so it can be taken to intelligent (person) and non-intelligent (stored resource - internet, books...) sources. Questions must have all keywords and phrases.

If you are going to answer a poor question answer the asked question, not the one you think the student is trying to ask, then check with the student to see if your response answered their actual question.

Questioning Skill Taxonomy

1. Created statements rather than questions (or a null response)
2. Any non-relevant question (does not contain contextual key words or phrases)
3. Asks yes/no/maybe questions using relevant key words and /or phrases (is, can, does, could, may ...)
4. Uses the 7 servants and the key words to write relevant questions (who, what, when, where, how, why and which)
5. Uses the 7 servants and the key phrases to write relevant questions (who, what, when, where, how, why and which)
6. Using relevant synonyms of key words to edit key questions.
7. Using multiple question words to create a probing question when interviewing an ‘expert’.

Aim is to get students out of Type 1 and Type 2 questions and across the range of 3 ~ 7.

Graphically can use the Waka or Hot Air Balloon.

Strategies to grow effective questioners.

1. provide students the knowledge to support developing good questions (using the matrix)
2. support self assessment of questions (using the matrix)
3. create activities with real needs eg PE gear getting lost
4. support and scaffold students to identify needs
5. create and use a wondering wall
6. model good questions (or poor ones but tell kids and use the matrix to improve the questions
7. probe into questions as they are asked (but strategy 10 is better!)
8. probe into questions that may not have gained the student the answer they were looking for
9. celebrate good questions
10. turn questions into activities, be a companion learner not an encyclopaedia

Questioning Session 2

Improving Student Question

All questions should be celebrated. They’re born of confusion and misunderstandings.

Strategies -

• Encourage questions - task based activity - What they know, what the need to know.
• Celebrate questions
• Create conversation and question design sessions
• Minimise negative signals to questions
• Be willing to walk away from planned lessons, allowing students to pursue relevant questions
• Be creative and be quiet
• Pair/Share,
• Small groups,
• Wondering Wall, explain the link of their question to the topic being discussed and add question to the wondering wall.
• Donut - Inside/outside circles,
• 1/3/6, Question counters/tokens - each student has same number of counters and must ask that number of questions,
• Think mats/Place mats
• Think board,
• Hands down - 60 sec to think of 2 questions,
• Idea harvest - sit in circle with own notes, add others ideas to your list.
• Modeling questions,
• Structure of groups, expect an outcome, - comment of agreement/disagreement, shared understanding
• 3 level guide for reading - come up with 3 questions
• Role play
• Hot seating

Wonder wall at staff meetings!!!

Wondering Wall - explain, have post its available, write down questions, add to the wall, have set time each week to discuss the questions.

When a child asks a statement turn it into a question AND when a child asks a question turn it into an activity!

Giving the answer often stops the thinking

Supon and Wolf (1993)

Why students do not ask questions -

1. lack of understanding of taxonomies
2. time constraints
3. teachers’ fears
4. content coverage needs
5. improper modeling

Questioning Session 1

Improving Student Question

A full day workshop with Trevor Bond

"Questioning is the engine house of thinking." Edward de Bono

"Questioning is our most important intellectual tool." Neil Postman (Teaching is a Subversive Activity) p 140

Thinking doesn't happen without questioning.

2 types of questions

• Expressed questions - to gain information
• Unexpressed questions - to guide thinking. These are the questions we ask in out head, the thinking behind the questions.

Stages of Thinking

• Tacit
• Aware
• Strategic
• Reflective

"Thinking is when you talk to yourself and your mouth stays shut." Edward de Bono

The talking we do most often when involved in seriously thinking about something is a Question/Answer dialogue.

Learning is moving from the known to the unknown. Inquiry learning with questioning at the heart. Take small steps > question > answer > question > answer...

Who asks the questions?

• At home, pre-school - children ask 50% of the questions.
• Pre-school - children ask 5% of the questions.
• High school - children ask 0.02% of the questions.

Instead of PMI, try L&P (Learn and Promise, what did you learn and what do you promise to go away and do?)

It is important to model good questioning!

If questioning is our 'most important cognitive tool, what are the implications for your school and your classroom?

Classroom Implications

• giving teachers strategies - coaching, observing, extending.
• making it safe for students to ask questions.
• it needs to be embedded, not an extra but part of every lesson.
• teach the language of questioning.

School Implications

• consistency - everyone knowing what is expected and when.
• assessment - what will this look like?
• professional development.
• BoT involvement - induction programme, value questioning.
• appraisals.

Welcome

Along with 1200 other delegates, I attended the ULearn 2011 Conference in Rotorua, New Zealand. This blog is a platform to share the ideas and information I picked up at the conference and also comments about how I have used the new learning in my class.