Teacher Inquiry 2016

19/2/16

2016 BEGINS AND A NEW INQUIRY IS ON THE GO!

Another year has begun and I am more motivated than ever! Our school has been progressing so much it is great.

This year saw a big change in my classroom. We have 30 Chromebooks to use in our everyday learning. That's one device per child! I am so excited and am looking forward to the journey.
As I write this we are in week 3 of the journey. It is time for me to step back and reflect on how this will effect the learning in my classroom.

The major question is based around the inquiry cycle:

How does incorporating Chromebooks with a 1:1 ratio in the classroom enhance engagement and motivation towards learning and raise student achievement?

Week 1-3 of our journey proved to be a real eye opener.

The range of knowledge and skills the students had within technology was huge. Some students struggled with basic skills such as signing into their account. Many would forget their own made up password and struggle with some computer language, such as what is a cursor? While on the flip-side others had so much experience on similar devices they were well equipped to change and personalize themes and profile pictures.

It was clear before they turned on the Chromebooks that one teacher for close to 30 students and 30 devices was going to be a tall order. My solution was simple, turn to my experienced users and call them our Chromebook Gurus. These were children who I knew not only had mastered basic IT skills but also would show our values of Manaakitanga and Trust by helping others who were struggling. Scaffolding would play a key role in this journey.  One thing I made sure was that the Gurus would not touch the Chromebooks but rather show through verbals and gestures how to do certain things. This ensured the user would learn by doing. I even find this hard as a teacher as many times I would like to lean over and click on the buttons just to make sure we were on task faster.

My goal by the end of week 1 was to have all students sign into their Chromebooks and become members of our GOOGLE CLASSROM a free google app that gives me the opportunity to create assignments, make announcements, attach samples templates and then be able to mark assignments by viewing their work they submitted electronically.

Below is a screen-shot of the send assignment allocated within LITERACY CLASSROOM

Here I was able to create an assignment, explain the task, add a template for a brainstorm as well as provide an example of a letter showing layout.

As of week 3 Google classroom was well used by my Whanau and literacy classes. I was impressed that by the end of week 2 over half the class had submitted their first assignment while the mjority of the class completed their first assignment in week 3 and had begun their second.

Here came the few hurdles I observed.

1 - With some still working and struggling on their first assignment while some were will and truly on their second. Do I just write off the first assignment for a select few in order to have everyone working on the same task, or do I persevere with those others and make sure those Chromebook Gurus are close by their side.  I chose the later.

2-Encouraging students to use GOOGLE CLASSROOM regularly to understand the task, refer to the instructions and view examples on this platform. Many were still used to looking on the whiteboard for reminders. On the other hand the students thrived on adding their comments, thoughts etc to a discussion we created on CLASSROOM

These I'm sure would become easier as our journey progresses.

By the end of week 3 the students were using their chromebooks to:

Follow an art lesson of making Rurus by viewing attached videos and pictures as an assignment

• Using Google Classroom to View, Create, Edit, Post assignments.
• Using Mathletics as a Daily 3 rotation in their Maths class.
• Using Storybird for working on writing in our Daily 5
• Using Spellodrome as part of Word Work for Daily 5
• Researching Websites of businesses to begin writing a letter.

Rurus created by students using instructions set on Classroom

What I noticed in the first few weeks

-Engaged children

-Headphones lessening the distractions

-Motivated learners keen to hop on the Chromebooks to complete assignments. before bell time.

-Great Manaakitanga displayed by all.

-Care given towards the new chrome-books

All positives, not once did I see a child on the wrong website or using the Chromebooks inappropriately.

I was really impressed with the extra space that these Chromebooks freed up for our learning areas. As you can see by the photos, the storage is compact and when you look at the wall space taken up by computers the difference is clear!

Compact and Secure Storage

Easy to access and charge

Older computers using precious learning space

How we used to work on computers

Below is a video taken of my class during Spellodrome trial. This is a web based programme made from 3P Learning (Mathletics Team) I found this to very engaing and useful for our WORD WORK rotations.  The children loved the trial, engagement and buy in by the kids was huge. They did not know I was filming at all:

As Term one came to a close, both, my literacy and Mathematics class were using the Chromebooks on a frequent, daily basis.  As I was also learning with the Chromebooks I became SMARTER in how I utilised our Google Apps for Education to set assignments and tasks.

Every Week our Literacy class would submit an assignment for Daily 5. This reinforced the idea of submitting an assignment using GOOGLE CLASSROOM after following a simple check-list.  The Daily 5 assignment would inform me of when they would complete aspects of Daily 5 during the week.  Each group had a set amount of tasks they needed to complete as part of their Daily 5.  This proved very useful for me, as I could be working with my Reading group and check what Student X should be working on at the time.  The class was well managed and during term one it was a rare occasion that I had to remind a student of what they should be working on.

Below is an Example of a Week's Daily 5 Checklist:



Using PDF MERGY, I merge all the DAILY 5 Assignments together as one document that I keep open and on the TV during Daily 5 Rotations


I found this to be a useful motivator especially, during WORK ON WRITING. Before a rotation change I could provide feedback on a student's piece of writing as they were working on a shared doc and I could give real meaning to their writing.  EG 'Wow your ninth birthday sure sounded super with an army theme, I'd love to know what flavour your cake was' The ability to make small comments LIVE not only gave the children an instant audience but also encouraged them to continue with their piece of writing.  I found this was more effective than writing a comment after their writing.

I have included an example of the WORK ON WRITING CHECKLIST as well as a students GOOGLE DOCS of their work on writing for the term. Habits such as adding date when finished and checking off checklist had to be revisited regularly. It is important to date the work so I can track students' miealage.  The work on writing sample is in a space of a month, and all though there is less than what I would see in the writing book I am still happy with the children practising their writing on a computer. A key skill needed for the future.



In term 2 I aim to have a compilation of student's favourite Work on Writing tasks in a shared Ruru Author's book.  This will encourage students to have a reason, audience for writing.  It will also spark some ideas for our less motivated writers in the class.

I have also noticed that we are doing a big bulk of our curriculum subjects on the Chrome Books. I will need to review my class stationary list.

So after one term of the 1:1 devices, where are we at with student engagement and motivation? 

 It is clear the children's motivation with technology as a learning tool is huge in my class. The children thrive on being a community of learners able to self manage their own learning.  I love having the children come in before school to utilise their time to complete tasks on mathletics or finish assignments set on GOOGLE CLASSROOM. 

Having the ability and learned skills to personalise their own google profile gives the students ownership of their own learning. They are motivated by their own inner desire to achieve.  In my writing class, I have two Year 4s who are reluctant writers and struggle with the writing process.  I believe they are motivated by the ICT component however,  providing them with more rich writing opportunities will present a new desire to write.  I am hoping this will be achieved in term 2.

I have observed that the new concept of having instructions presented to them in the form of GOOGLE CLASSROOM often falls short of their needs.  They still often seek clarification by the teacher which cements the need of having the physical teacher in the class. I don't believe teachers will be replaced by technology, however, the younger we expose our students to ICT the more beneficial it becomes in their journey towards a workforce which is heavily reliant on ICT. 

In term two I would like to interview my students to seek their thoughts on using technology in the classroom. It will be beneficial to use what they have learnt thus far to determine where to next and have student voice on their own journey. 

For next year's learners, in term 2 I will have members of my class record tutorials on how to use aspects of the Chromebooks. This will be anything from signing in to their profile to using the touch pad to find spelling suggestions in their work.  This will not only benefit my learners of next year but l also believe this will help consolidate and remind my current students of the skills we utilise on a regular basis. 

The students who have been quite reserved in classroom discussions will often be more inclined to post questions, share their work with the class by using Chromebooks and GAFE as a platform.  As I track my students progress for the remainder of the year it will be interesting to see the progress these particular students make.  

I look forward to what the new term brings as I can easily say all my students are fairly able with their newly developed ICT skills. 

"... inquiry is about challenging teachers’ thinking in ways that promotes their own learning as well as that of their students. For this to happen, teachers need to examine their taken-for-granted practices critically in the light of evidence about students’ learning (Timperley, Wilson, Barrar and Fung, 2007). They should also explore relevant research literature that can challenge their thinking and offer new teaching possibilities" (ERO, May 2011 Term 3 Recap


Nearing the end of term 3, I continue to see positive aspects of having the Chrome Books utilized throughout student learning. The children continue to have a positive attitude towards using the devices, and the classroom equipment such as headphones continues to be well-looked after. The students really take responsibility for how they care for the I.T equipment.

Screencastify

ScreenCastify is a Chrome application that allows the user to record their browser tab or desktop.  This is a fantastic option for students who are looking to create, record and annotate projects (ex. Google Slides, Google Drawings, etc.) that they have created on their Chromebook.  Recorded videos can then be saved and exported to Google Drive or YouTube to be shared or submitted as part of an assignment or formative assessment.  There is a free version of ScreenCastify that will allow you to record projects that are under 10 minutes long. I found this to be a beneficial tool to have the students create tutorials for the students using Chrome Books next year. 

Below is a video of a student trialing Screencastify to explain how to open your Google Drive.

KAHOOT

This term I have utilised Kahoot in my regular classroom programme. I introduced this to my class by creating a Kahoot based around Terrace End School, this lead to us competing in the Kiwi Kids News Kahoot on a weekly basis. Children were encouraged to visit Kiwi Kids news on a regular basis before school and during free time - this website was really beneficial for the children to use their skills to find out more about events taking place in the world. I also found this a useful website for children to extend their interests or become interested and excited towards something they might not have heard much about eg The Titanic.

It didn't take long for the class to create their own Kahoots. They began creating Kahoot quizzes based on their interests eg Minecraft, New Zealand, All about Room 3 etc. It was great to see the engagement that this provided. It also was a great way for the children to create quizzes integrating IT and because they had created their OWN quiz they took extra pride in making sure it was a quiz which had correct spelling and carefully formulated questions.  With the extra care students were putting  towards their questions, I saw an opportunity to incorporate this with our Word Work in Daily 5.  The students were encouraged to create Kahoots based on their homework spelling lists. Below is a video showing how engaging a spelling quiz created by a year 6 student can keep motivation towards spelling Word Work.

KAHOOT is used daily as part of our Maths Maintainece. The children change to their Maths class and immediatly login prepared to take part in our Quick 10. I find that changing to Kahoot for Maths has increased the engagement and motivation the students have towards Maths.

I have integrated Kahoot in our PB4l Team Talks, Our Writing, Word Work, Te Reo and our focus for the term. I highly recommend Kahoot as a powerful tool which keeps students interests high. It was interesting, I had some visitors observe Kahoot based around suffixes and prefixes and their comment was that they couldn't believe how excited the students were to complete a test following the lesson.

Student Voice

As we head in to term 4, I felt it was important to add student voice into my inquiry. I printed off some questions I thought my year 6 students could answer. We enabled the app Clipchamp so they could go off with their Chromebook and record an interview. I didn't give them much scaffolding and was so impressed with the self managing skills to complete the task and then save to their drive and share with me. It is a short clip but having the students' thoughts and opinions come in  to my inquiry was great. 

Student Achievement

Raising student achievement is the other aspect of my inquiry journey. It is important to note the overall raising achievement can not be based on whether utilising Chromebooks was the reason for accelerated learning. However using 1:1 Devices in my classroom practice has seen the following changes which promote the overall environment to achieve accelerated learning.

• Learner agency - Having the ability for students to make decisions about their own learning and direction of their learning has promoted intrinsic desire to succeed.
• Writing - Many students have found it easier to type their pieces of work. They are able to re-read their own typing without getting caught up in the legibility of their work. It also provides a platform for them to plan their writing and check off their planning during the writing process.
• A focused environment -Here is an obvious change in the classroom - the children are using headphones while they work - not just to listen to music but as a way to shut out any distractions.
• Competition - Using Kahoot to re consolidate their learning adds a healthy competition to try and succeed. We use Kahoot across all curriculum areas and the children's motivation to do well and be proud of their successes - as well as identify their own areas to work develop.
• 21st Century Learners - I can sleep easily knowing my students are prepared to use technology effectively and have built up many skills to help them succeed in our ever changing technologically focused world.
• Organisation - Knowing students can independently set off on their current work without getting caught up in looking for equipment or spending time finding their work adds more time to their focused learning is important
• Instant Feedback - There have been many articles about the effectiveness of written feedback and the merit for this. One particular article believes it is more for the parent's benefit. I have found that I can open all the students' documents at once (While they are working on it) and provide instant feedback relevant to them at that particular point of time. This beats having to go back read the teacher's comments, at times, seek clarification try and remember their intentions/point and make changes after the fact.

These points, I believe, have a positive effect on accelerated learning and have a link to the raise in achievement. As I used Chromebooks regularly with all my classes I have included a graphic which identifies the gains in student achievement. I have not included students who have started at TES after term 2.