Post Grad Pt2: Wk 12 - Responsiblity and Agency

 Digital Responsibility and Agency

Whakataukī

Hāpaitia te ara tika, pūmau ai te rangatiratanga mō ngā uri whakatipu / 

Foster the pathway of knowledge to strength, independence and growth for future generations

What is Student Agency?

For years, I have asked for clarification on this, and to be honest, the easiest definition is when I Google it: Student agency is the capacity of students to take active ownership, make meaningful decisions, and exercise control over their own learning processes rather than passively receiving information. However, Vaughn supports this.

As she defines agency, it is 'the "sociocultural mediated ability to act" (Ahearn, 2001) and is the ability of students to, "give significance to the world in purposeful ways with the aim of creating, impacting and/or transforming themselves, or the conditions of their lives".' (Basu, Calabrese Barton, Clarimont, & Locke, 2009). As cited in Vaughn, M., Premo, J., Erickson, D., & McManus, C. (2020). Student agency in literacy: Validation of the Student Agency Profile (StAP). Reading Psychology, 41(6), 533–558. https://doi.org/10.1080/02702711.2020.1783147 

Insights

With free version it is all public, and doesn't use your voice.

What do people agree on about student agency?

Rangatiratanga - self-determination

Takeaways

Ways to check you are safe online

Reflection

Check Out my Slideshow

EHS Writing Workshop

 EHS - PD

• Three workshops this term covering;

• oral language foundations, 

• explicit writing instructions, 

• modelled, shared and guided writing and 

• building independent writers.

Teachers will;

• Understand the effective writing instructions

• Recognise the role of oral language

• Identify successful wiring classroom practices

• Selecting one practice to implement immediately (after each workshop)

Creating School-Wide Conditions for Great Writers

What have we noticed about Student writing?

• Less lived experienced - Motivation
• Creating ideas to prompt discussion and then writing
• Not always writing for writing sake 
• Clarity around what they should be learning
• Focus on phonics has taken from the larger aspect we taught in reading. (Focus using BSLA has watered down the writing program. - Time for structured literacy)
• Poor spelling 
• Punctuation
• Providing feedback and time allowance
• Sound to letter knowledge
• Lack of Published writing
• Recording ideas
• Knowing where they are and where to next
• Teaching structure and purpose 
• Written work in a book

What challenges are we experiencing?

BSLA - Differentiation & Fidelity

 CoP - Differentiation During Whole-Class Teaching 

Dr Andy Vosslamber

Looking at this text the teacher has identified sustainable and pesticides as vocabulary that needs to be taught to build students' understanding. 

Taking a deeper look at sustainable, where sus = under, tain = hold or stretch, and able = can or is

Yes we have said Reading Comprehension and PhOM and Writing should be taught whole class. But how do we cater for different abilities.  

With Reading Comprehension

The OWLS are great for extending the content (the fifth lesson each week) and will help with extending and the chance to simplify content.

Slides also help every third lesson with more scaffolding to help with story narrative and structure; there are opportunities to slow down. POSSE is also really good to help struggling learners. You can also introduce the text the day before in small group learning.

Grouping students using dibels and hte group that is more capable they could be coming up with coming up with tricky words, they could then teach these to the class. And for QAR, coming up with Author and Me questions.

If the class is flying, use reciprocal teaching.

Square Eyes - text

With Writing 

Writing Tasks links that help structure and be more specific in teaching.

CoP - Fidelity

Dr Ann Castle and Bex Kerr

Look at these words and think about how we teach vocabulary during reading. 

Most Common Prefix and Suffixes  by Scholastics

Implementation Fidelity look like:

• implementing the intervention in the manner it was intended / verbatim
• having the right amount of time
• ensuring the content has been taught in the right way
• following the preserving key principles of the programme: systematic, script, I do, we do, you do
• staying true to the SL main idea

Yes, you can bring in your own teaching style, or what works for your students

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The more the students are activity engaged (we do), the more they are learning - chin it, peer share, turn and talk, choral reading ...

Scaffolding from I do to you do can take a long time for some children. Remember we are building on their strengths.  

We are building automaticity so it takes less brainpower/ lower cognitive load and they can focus on comprehension. Decoding gets in the way of comprehension. Building
fluency makes it easier.

PowerPoints can be done in one day, but if struggling, complete it by day 3. OWLS helps to integrate it.

For excelling students you could use the PhOM inquiry, which can use words from the topic inquiry.

You can do the plays unit before you need a play for a school production, or a unit when it relates to your inquiry. 

Building understanding through oral language and talking aloud to help students understand how to think. As this is repetitive, the aim is to scaffold students so they can do this themselves.

Teaching strategies before, during and after reading:

Reciprocal Teaching is not limited to Year 7 and 8s. They just need to be able to decode the text. 

BSLA: Module 4 - Tier 2 Teaching

 Tier 2 Teaching Support

In this module, we cover the background content that underpins structured literacy teaching within Tier 2. We use the Better Start Literacy Approach Tier 2 lesson plans as examples of the types of activities that accelerate learners’:

• Phoneme awareness,
• Word reading,
• Reading fluency,
• Spelling skills.

This is important or we end up with more students than we should in Tier 2.

What else could be influencing learning: health issues, attendance, a lack of hearing aids, or glasses? 

Remember Tier 2 builds on Tier 1, and students need to be engaged in Tier 1 to be successful. 

Quality Tier 1 includes the explicit and structured teaching of skills that underpin word recognition such as:

• phonic skills,

• phoneme awareness,

• word decoding,

• and vocabulary and morphological awareness skills.

Identifying Learners for Tier 2

Students who are not making the expected progress in acquiring foundation literacy skills will benefit from more targeted Tier 2 or Tier 3 support.

Students may need targeted support in a range of areas related to literacy.
• For younger learners who are struggling to learn to read, Tier 2 typically focuses on building their underlying skills in word recognition. Being able to decode printed words and spell words efficiently is fundamental to reading comprehension and writing processes.
• Older learners may have mastered decoding and spelling skills but struggle to comprehend text or struggle to compose written text.

The implementation of Tier 2 teaching at the appropriate level of intensity and explicit teaching will ensure that students who receive this support will experience accelerated growth in reading and spelling during this period.

It is important to celebrate effort and progress!

After completing Tier 2 and testing what next for students?

What if my student hasn't made expected progress?

• Has the student completed 40 lessons over 10 weeks, of Tier 2 BSLA teaching, as per the provided lesson plans?

• Have the lesson plans been implemented with fidelity by a trained BSLA teacher or facilitator? That is, 4 x 30-minute lessons per week for 10 weeks, incorporating phoneme segmentation and blending, phoneme manipulation, and small group reading in every lesson.

• Does the student have additional needs that may be interfering with their ability to fully engage with the teaching - e.g., has their hearing and vision been checked recently; do they have additional speech and/or language or learning needs that require additional support from a specialist?

Tier 3

It encompasses individualised support based on the individual needs of a student, typically provided by a specialist outside of the classroom setting. This may include, but not be limited to, a Speech-language Therapist, Resource Teacher of Literacy or Learning and Behaviour, Resource Teacher of the Deaf, or other appropriate specialists. Tier 3 can also occur alongside Tier 1 and Tier 2 support for some students. 

Delivering Tier 2

• 4 x 30 minute sessions a week for 10 weeks
• Tier 2 learners should receive both Tier 1 and Tier 2 lessons 4 x weekly.

Some options for delivery of Tier 2 lessons that have worked in a range of contexts include:

• A BSLA-trained literacy specialist runs the Tier 2 teaching. If this is the model that is chosen, it is useful to have teachers or teacher aides within the school observe some sessions so that capacity within the school is being built.

• The classroom teacher delivers the Tier 2 teaching (with support from a BSLA facilitator in adapting activities to suit learners’ needs).

• Tier 2 teaching is shared between the class teacher and the BSLA-trained literacy specialist, or another trained BSLA teacher, in the school (e.g., two lessons per week are taken by a BSLA teacher and two lessons per week are taken by a BSLA literacy specialist in the school).

• A BSLA-trained teacher aide supports the implementation of Tier 2 by taking the rest of the class for another activity (e.g., monitoring literacy stations) while the teacher works with the Tier 2 students. 

It is recommended that teachers keep an attendance record for the students in the BSLA Tier 2 group. It is important that each student receives approximately 40 BSLA Tier 2 lessons prior to their next monitoring assessment.

Remember the reason that we are supporting student's phoneme segmentation and blending skills in Tier 2 teaching is to ensure they are building skills that are essential for reading and spelling new words.

Students are supported to build speed and accuracy when working through the phoneme manipulation chain.

Move from checking sound knowledge to manipulating blocks to make word chains. Then writing/recording sounds on personal whiteboards.

As students grow as learners, scaffolding can be changed, reduced or removed over time.

Reflection

As discussing with a collegue how can we incorporate this into our of an hour of reading and writing when we don't have teacher aide support?

Post Grad Pt2: W3 Innovation Ideation and Prototyping

Whakataukī

He iti hau marangai e tū te pāhokahoka
Just like a rainbow after the storm, success follows failure

Why you should and how you could better embrace ideation and/or prototyping in your practice to find truly innovative solutions.

Build Courage Through Making: Emily Pilloton

• Learn to express yourself
• Celebrate who you are
• Shift power dynamics
• “I fundamentally believe that if girls and women are more involved in, invited into and given more agency to shape the world, that our world will be more beautiful and more equitable and more just, and it will be designed for everyone,” she says.
• Fear is important and can be isolating; we, as women, need to be brave. It is a skill that can be learnt.

5 Tips for Bravery

Emily has countless pieces of advice for those looking to build their bravery and hone their maker abilities. We selected five from her book to get you started. 
• The best way to start is to start.
• Acknowledge your fear, then tell it to go jump off a cliff.
• Practice the hard parts.
• Find your mentors and ask for help.
• Finish what you start.

Why is community important? - By building things for others, we build ourselves up and can become leaders. These ideas will live on for many years. E.g. chicken coop for a farm. 

Using this kind of thinking would benefit neurodiverse people, as they often think outside of the box, giving a range of ideas. From a leadership perspective, we are thinking up ideas to acknowledge students' attendance.  People can be reluctant to share ideas, or have none, how do we overcome this. 

Insights

Design thinking is never believing you have the answer - Ewan McIntosh

Keep ideas flowing, yes and..., how might we..., have many ideas then narrow it down again, set a time limit, stay on topic ...

Different constraints: if your budget was $1, $1000, unlimited, or time limits

What is TPACK?

 

Using TPACK - remember to wear the GREEN Thinker's Hat.

 

After our previous collaborative project, our group will need to be aware of this 'Groupthink'!

Takeaways

Using Tools to help Ideate - https://ideamap.ai/

If we look at Being Brave using this tool, the map is huge, and then we can whittle it down.

You can simplify to something like this...

Although these ideas are hard to read, there are some great ideas here that all make sense and were along the lines of what I was thinking.

Reflection

Now to implement and prototype some of them!

These are a couple I'd love to start with...

BSLA: Module 3 - Teaching Literacy

 

Teaching Year 4-8

This module focuses on structured literacy teaching at the Year 4-8 level. Effective structured literacy
teaching practices are discussed, along with an oversight of teaching within the Better Start Literacy Approach.

Learning objectives

Once you've completed this module, you will be able to:

• Identify the key elements of structured literacy teaching and explain the evidence that supports its effectiveness.

• Describe the principles of Cognitive Load Theory and apply strategies to manage cognitive load in teaching, including understanding working memory and implementing scaffolding techniques.

• Implement differentiated instruction within Tier 1 (universal classroom-level) teaching to meet diverse learner needs.

• Summarise the BSLA teaching approach across year levels, from Year 4 to Year 8.

1. Key elements of Structured Literacy Teaching

These include: explicit instruction in phonics, phonemic awareness, word decoding, reading fluency, listening and reading comprehension, vocabulary, spelling and writing.

Effective instruction is characterised by clear explanations, demonstrations, and supported practice with feedback using scaffolding techniques.

Explicit instruction involves presenting material in small steps, activating prior knowledge, checking for understanding and eliciting active participation from students. Explicit instruction is particularly effective when teaching new content and skills.

What is the research evidence supporting the key elements of structured literacy teaching?

Effective explicit teaching of oral language

Effective strategies for teaching oral narrative skills include:

• Unpacking and reconstructing stories.

• Promoting active participation.

• Using multiple story exemplars.

• Using visuals to make abstract concepts, like the story structure elements, concrete.

Vocabulary teaching

Explicitly teaching children new vocabulary is important for oral language, reading and writing.

• Providing a definition of the word’s meaning in the teaching moment.
• Explicitly teaching the phonological and morphological structure of the word.
• Contrasting the word’s meaning with the word’s opposite meaning.
• Modelling the use of the word in correct context.
• Connecting the word to other related words.
• Using the word in multiple contexts.

Even though some children can learn new words with little exposure, most need to have 35 experiences with a word. Those with language difficulties need more, while those with a high working vocabulary may need less. 

Effective explicit teaching in reading

Explicit, systematic instruction in phonics, phoneme awareness, and decoding skills that also integrates meaning-focused aspects of oral language, reading, and writing is the most effective approach for improving foundational reading and spelling skills.

Phoneme awareness

Explicitly teaching phoneme awareness skills is critical to children’s word decoding and spelling skills. This is most important when children are first learning to read.

2. Cognitive Load 

Effective structured literacy teaching focuses on the cognitive skills children need for reading and writing success. Distracting information is removed from teaching activities, complex tasks are simplified and working memory demands of a teaching activity or learning task are carefully considered.

Germane Load is the learning itself

Extraneous Load is the structure of learning - focus on what is important, this will reduce the load

Intrinsic Load is the impact of the lesson - this reduces anxiety of what might happen or what they might have to do.

Working memory

A child's ability to learn new information is influenced by several factors, including their level of expertise in a subject area. One key consideration is the limited capacity of working memory—the part of the brain responsible for holding and processing small amounts of information over short periods.

To support effective learning, a general guideline is to introduce no more than three or four “chunks” of new information during a session. 

Spaced-based learning and retrieval practice

Spaced-based learning and retrieval practice are key principles in structured literacy teaching approaches. Spaced practice involves distributing learning over time, which enhances memory retention and reduces forgetting (Noor et al., 2021; Narkhede et al., 2024).

Examples of retrieval practice include:

• Summarising or discussing sections of text that have just been read before moving on.

• Review quizzes following blocks of teaching.

• Interactive games and activities that involve memory retrieval.

Spaced based and retrieval practice strategies have shown effectiveness in various populations, including those with language disorders and memory difficulties (Haslam et al., 2011; Gordon, 2020).

Scaffolding for learning success

Two other important ways to scaffold for success in learning include:

• Simplifying the language used: Teachers can use short, simple sentences focused on the key information students require to complete a task.

• Using visual supports: Teachers can use visual aids such as pictures, graphs or visual organisers to support students' understanding of the task.

Leave nothing to misinterpretation or chance in the learning. Articulate sounds clearly so students can learn and practise with the teacher. 

Explicitly teach decoding the word before reading the story. Reinforce what students say by paraphrasing what they said. Link to prior knowledge by sharing to simplify words. 

4. Differentiated learning within Tier 1 teaching

Tier 1 or Universal Teaching involves teaching all children within the class.

Differentiated structured literacy teaching approaches include ideas to adjust content, learning processes, and teaching materials to meet diverse student needs. This might include the use of levelled reading texts, varied teaching activities to teach a new concept, and flexible grouping options. With differentiation, modifications are made in response to learner needs or preferences during and after the instruction.

BSLA teaching poutama and taumata

The scope should address the five key components of reading:

• Phonics

• Phonemic awareness

• Fluency

• Vocabulary

• Comprehension

There is no single "gold standard" scope and sequence. In fact, there are many available, which are often associated with specific approaches, programs or series of decodable readers.

BSLA Building Blocks

BSLA Year 4-8