During our TPL we have had four days in the PLATO program presented by ACEP (Australian Centre for Effective Partnerships.) During these four days we have worked on becoming more familiar with the E5 Instructional Model and using it to assist with our TPL inquiry.
On the first day we lokked at:
Engaging with e5-individual focus:
Self assessment, looking at each domain. What capability do you wish to work on in your practice?
We chose to focus our inquiry on the Engage domain particulary the capability of developing shared norms.
During these sessions we have come to realise that e5is not the big scary beast we think it is but rather a common language that teachers can use to reflect on and discuss our core business of teaching. One of the things that stood out for us was the statement that if everyone in the state was working at level one across all domains, what a fantastic group of teachers we would have. E5 is not to be seen as a ladder that we must climb to be an effective teacher.
During day one we worked on refining our question in order to guide our TPL inquiry.
On day two the focus was to look at project management tools and the need for planning to evaluate the impact of the TPL on our own teaching. In order to do this, we started with examining our own practice and placing ourselves on a level within the e5 model in our chosen area of engagement and shraed norms. Other tasks undertaken on the day were brainstorming our key tasks and unpacking them and allocating various tasks to members of the group. We aslo produced a document outlining our project plan.
Day three was reflection of our progress and evaluating outcomes so far. We had time to reflect on what we had achieved so far and where we could go from there. We revisited our e5 learning goal form day two. We looked at the modelling of and pratised a coaching conversation about e5 learning goals. We also participated in substantive conversations about teacher practice.
Day four was about Sharing the Learning. It gave us opportunities to share what we had done, ask questions and give and receive feedback on what we had achieved. We were chosen to show the group the presentations we had given to our staff as well as our blog. We received positive feedabck from this as no other teams had presented to their whole staff at this stage. There was time given to reflect on our e5 learning and how we had progressed throughout the year. To assist with this we were given a proforma about Observing Teacher Practice through an e5 lens.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time at PLATO and found it to be some of the best PD we have had in a long time.
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Macclesfield Primary School
In 2002 a new open plan building was built. This was designed by MYNX architects who have designed the new Boronia K-12 buildings. Prior to this they had 230 students with only one permanent building and the rest were portables.
The main flexible learning building had 6 classroom spaces surrounding an internal Gallery space. This area had no permanent furnishings so things could be moved in and out as required by both students and teachers. This makes it truly flexible.
There were also a mix of year levels in this space rather than having all classes from one or two levels working together.
There were very large sliding doors with no windows leading to this Gallery space that could be opened or closed depending on the need of the classes at the time. When we were there one whole side was completely shut off.
The principal had told us before we saw the space that there were no teacher areas within the classroom. However we did notice that all classroom areas had a teacher desk and shelving at the front of the room. This is probably because any teacher space allocation had been taken over for programs such as Quicksmart and Reading Recovery.
The most interesting thing we took from this visit was that the Principal said it is important to ask "What's the Teaching and Learning going to look like?" rather than worrying about the physical layout and furniture.
Their focus from now on is:
* Changes in Pedagogy.
* Teacher Skills.
* Improving skill sets in ICT, assessment and collegiate teaching.
* Ongoing building of team capacity.
* Changes in physical set up that are required to support the points above.
The main flexible learning building had 6 classroom spaces surrounding an internal Gallery space. This area had no permanent furnishings so things could be moved in and out as required by both students and teachers. This makes it truly flexible.
There were also a mix of year levels in this space rather than having all classes from one or two levels working together.
There were very large sliding doors with no windows leading to this Gallery space that could be opened or closed depending on the need of the classes at the time. When we were there one whole side was completely shut off.
The principal had told us before we saw the space that there were no teacher areas within the classroom. However we did notice that all classroom areas had a teacher desk and shelving at the front of the room. This is probably because any teacher space allocation had been taken over for programs such as Quicksmart and Reading Recovery.
The most interesting thing we took from this visit was that the Principal said it is important to ask "What's the Teaching and Learning going to look like?" rather than worrying about the physical layout and furniture.
Their focus from now on is:
* Changes in Pedagogy.
* Teacher Skills.
* Improving skill sets in ICT, assessment and collegiate teaching.
* Ongoing building of team capacity.
* Changes in physical set up that are required to support the points above.
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Student Focus Group Years 5-8 Wednesday 27th July 2011
On Wednesday 27th July a group of year 5-8 students met in E-space at BHC to undertake the visioning activity that staff and parent groups had already participated in. The students also viewed the "flythrough" of our new buildings and photos of various furniture items that the TPL team had seen used in open learning spaces at other schools. The groups were led by Sandy Johnstone and Chris Kors. It was an extremely positive afternoon enjoyed by both students and staff, who are keen to be involved in more activities. Following is an overview of the students ideas.
INTERESTING QUOTES
"Tick of approval from Education Department for new K-12 school in Boronia which assures teacher,student and student safety at all facilities"
"Our logo is U K-12 because the school is for you."
"Friendly and inviting school."
MAIN AREAS OF COMMENT
*Subjects/Learning
*Buildings
*Uniform
*Rules/Safety
*Technology
*Care of the Environment
SOME IDEAS FROM THE STUDENTS' WORK
Completely different colour for our uniform because it is a new start.
The suggestion of hoodies was a recurring theme. Jeans and Summer/Winter uniforms were also mentioned.
VALUES
When asked to include values for our new school respect featured in almost all groups. Contributing, Participating and Motivation were also included by many groups as were sharing,caring,kindness, truth and honesty and love of reading.
All expressed a desire for the school to be safe for all students, staff and parents.
In general all were excited about the new facilities and hoped that learning would be fun.
They also had some interesting ideas for dividing the school into various groups. Two groups mentioned Kinder and prep together, yr1-4 and then yr5 and up. Another group mentioned the concept of a senior school but did not mention which year levels this was.
MAKING LEARNING REAL.
They expressed an interest in Cross Age Tutoring, Work experience and training programs and a student run cafeteria.
INTERESTING QUOTES
"Tick of approval from Education Department for new K-12 school in Boronia which assures teacher,student and student safety at all facilities"
"Our logo is U K-12 because the school is for you."
"Friendly and inviting school."
MAIN AREAS OF COMMENT
*Subjects/Learning
*Buildings
*Uniform
*Rules/Safety
*Technology
*Care of the Environment
SOME IDEAS FROM THE STUDENTS' WORK
Completely different colour for our uniform because it is a new start.
The suggestion of hoodies was a recurring theme. Jeans and Summer/Winter uniforms were also mentioned.
VALUES
When asked to include values for our new school respect featured in almost all groups. Contributing, Participating and Motivation were also included by many groups as were sharing,caring,kindness, truth and honesty and love of reading.
All expressed a desire for the school to be safe for all students, staff and parents.
In general all were excited about the new facilities and hoped that learning would be fun.
They also had some interesting ideas for dividing the school into various groups. Two groups mentioned Kinder and prep together, yr1-4 and then yr5 and up. Another group mentioned the concept of a senior school but did not mention which year levels this was.
MAKING LEARNING REAL.
They expressed an interest in Cross Age Tutoring, Work experience and training programs and a student run cafeteria.
Silverton Primary School
Silverton Primary School was built in the 1970's with open learning spaces that were soon turned into traditional rooms. In 1993 Tony Bryant (Principal) took over and opened the rooms back up. It currently has 430 students with 68% coming from non-English speaking backgrounds.
Each learning community was about 400square metres with four homegroups and four teachers. The students work together for some activities and then as a homegroup for others. The students moved around the learning centre to work on different subjects rather than each homegroup being attached to specific area. This meant that the students and teachers had ownership of the whole area.
As we have seen in many other schools acess to technology is vital in the Open Learning Spaces. At Silverton Primary there are 600 devices including I-Pads, Desktop computers with Touch Screens and Netbooks available on demand for 430 students.
"Discovery Time" runs in four two hour blocks per week. There are no themes and Kids come up with their own project ideas. In the other times they run the usual literacy and numeracy workshops as well as specialist classes.
From 9:00-9:30 each Monday morning all staff and students work in "Mentoring Groups" where groups of 10 multi-age students work with an adult in the school. These include Canteen staff, maintenance, ICT techs etc.Students usually remain with the same group for 2 years.
They also have "Early Bird Reading" where 70-80 P-4 students come to school early (8:40-9:00am) and read with grade 5&6'S who have been trained in reading with younger students. They have found this has improved the reading of students across all year levels.
In addition, weaker maths students meet in a small group 20mins prior to a maths lesson to cover terminology, equipment and pre-knowledge required for the lesson. These sometimes take place during recess. These students have shown improvement in their self esteem and attitudes to maths.
There is also a radio station that transmits 24 hours a day to a 1Km radius with programming produced by the students and an in school TV station.
As we have seen in all open learning spaces there were a variety of seating options including beanbags, couches, cushions and lapdesks as well as the traditional chairs and tables.
Each learning community was about 400square metres with four homegroups and four teachers. The students work together for some activities and then as a homegroup for others. The students moved around the learning centre to work on different subjects rather than each homegroup being attached to specific area. This meant that the students and teachers had ownership of the whole area.
As we have seen in many other schools acess to technology is vital in the Open Learning Spaces. At Silverton Primary there are 600 devices including I-Pads, Desktop computers with Touch Screens and Netbooks available on demand for 430 students.
"Discovery Time" runs in four two hour blocks per week. There are no themes and Kids come up with their own project ideas. In the other times they run the usual literacy and numeracy workshops as well as specialist classes.
From 9:00-9:30 each Monday morning all staff and students work in "Mentoring Groups" where groups of 10 multi-age students work with an adult in the school. These include Canteen staff, maintenance, ICT techs etc.Students usually remain with the same group for 2 years.
They also have "Early Bird Reading" where 70-80 P-4 students come to school early (8:40-9:00am) and read with grade 5&6'S who have been trained in reading with younger students. They have found this has improved the reading of students across all year levels.
In addition, weaker maths students meet in a small group 20mins prior to a maths lesson to cover terminology, equipment and pre-knowledge required for the lesson. These sometimes take place during recess. These students have shown improvement in their self esteem and attitudes to maths.
There is also a radio station that transmits 24 hours a day to a 1Km radius with programming produced by the students and an in school TV station.
As we have seen in all open learning spaces there were a variety of seating options including beanbags, couches, cushions and lapdesks as well as the traditional chairs and tables.
Silverton ps
View more presentations from SandyJohnstone.
Monday, 25 July 2011
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Ashburton Primary School
Ashburton Primary are currently undergoing a major building program which will include Open Learning Spaces. They are trialling some open spaces that have been converted from old traditional classrooms with Inquiry Based Leasrning projects. In these open learning spaces they have different seating options available to students as we have seen at all schools with flexible spaces. They make a point of not having enough chairs and tables for every student in the room; instead they have beanbags and couches as well as traditional seating.
One of the most interesting things at Ashburton was the current LOTE program. They have had difficulty getting a teacher and are in the process of deciding which language would be the best to go with. In the mean time they have "World Wide Frenzy with Dr. McEnzie" which has the students "travelling" around the world investigating the culture of countries all over the world.
Again there was an emphasis on providing joint planning time for teams.
There was also a recognition that homegroup teachers do need time alone with their particular group each week to build relationships.
We also discovered some new contacts which will help with our investigations in term three.
One of the most interesting things at Ashburton was the current LOTE program. They have had difficulty getting a teacher and are in the process of deciding which language would be the best to go with. In the mean time they have "World Wide Frenzy with Dr. McEnzie" which has the students "travelling" around the world investigating the culture of countries all over the world.
Again there was an emphasis on providing joint planning time for teams.
There was also a recognition that homegroup teachers do need time alone with their particular group each week to build relationships.
We also discovered some new contacts which will help with our investigations in term three.
Mt Ridley College
Mt Ridley College opened in 2009 with 150 students, in 2010 they had 500 and 1040 in 2011. It is currently P-8 but grows by one year level each year, they will be P-12 by 2015.
The 5-8 Learning Community worked as one group for Numeracy, Literacy and "Neighbourhood" (An integrated program with Inquiry Based Learning). All other subjects operate as 5-6 and 7-8. Once again this is successful because of a large number of adults in the classrooms. They have a large number of graduate teachers which gives them extra funds in the budget to employ extra support staff.
This year they have a TPL team working on planning curriculum for next year's year 9's. They will be a stand alone Learning Community with many of the activities based around careers etc that are traditioanlly done in year 10. The idea is that they will be better prepared for starting some VCE studies when in yr 10.
![]()
They have made a clear distinction in their leadership structure to separate Curriculum planning etc from Student management.
The 5-8 Learning Community worked as one group for Numeracy, Literacy and "Neighbourhood" (An integrated program with Inquiry Based Learning). All other subjects operate as 5-6 and 7-8. Once again this is successful because of a large number of adults in the classrooms. They have a large number of graduate teachers which gives them extra funds in the budget to employ extra support staff.
This year they have a TPL team working on planning curriculum for next year's year 9's. They will be a stand alone Learning Community with many of the activities based around careers etc that are traditioanlly done in year 10. The idea is that they will be better prepared for starting some VCE studies when in yr 10.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)