We are sharing with you our story so far, from a variety of perspectives (principal, lead teachers, teachers, C21 Learning Ltd and children) and have included some examples of what we did and what is happening for the children as a result of the changes we are making. We know it is early days, but we are feeling excited! We have already noticed positive changes as children and teachers start viewing themselves as writers. We hope our story encourages others to not give up or give in to what others might say or what the Standards may infer when looking at decontextualised data. We hope that by sharing our story we open doors to collaborating with colleagues in schools around New Zealand.
WHAT WE DID. Fallon Braithwaite
Trudy joined us in 2013 with a focus on the key competencies of ‘Thinking and Using Language Symbols and Texts’ and ‘Managing Self’ through the context of ‘Visual Language.’ The work we did with Trudy in 2013provided us with a strong foundation to move onto the writing focus in 2014.
We began the process this year by holding a teacher only day. The aims and objectives of the Professional Development were shared and teachers began by writing their own pieces to put themselves in the shoes of writers. What happened from here was a series of events that unfolded due to motivated teachers that were able to think differently about the way they had traditionally taught writing, and capable children who were ready and willing to indulge themselves in writing that was joyous and purposeful.
Teachers were involved in whole staff meetings where the process of an engaging lesson was modelled by Trudy. Each meeting would begin with its own ‘emotional hook’ to engage and motivate us all, followed by a structured meeting that was set up to mirror a successful classroom lesson.
Demonstration lessons were carried out by Trudy across year levels with all teachers participating in a pre-observation discussion, carefully focused observation, and a feedback discussion session. This allowed teachers to question Trudy’s choices in her lessons and to ask specific questions related to planning and deliberate acts of teaching. Staff respected that Trudy could ‘put herself out there and walk the talk’.
Lead teachers were involved throughout this process and were coached by Trudy so the process was sustainable and could be used across learning areas. Teachers were observed using the same observation process. The detail in the feedback and discussion made the teachers learning visible and naturally revealed their next steps.
WHAT HAPPENED
Following this staff development was a change in teacher motivation. Teachers could literally see the changes happening with their children’s writing right before them. Children (including the boys) were hooked into writing; – they were willing to write and were beginning to feel proud of what they had produced and were keen to share this with different audiences. Children had good oral language!
How had we never noticed this before? The children had all of the ideas just bubbling in their heads waiting for us to unlock their potential. The children we were teaching had not changed. It was teacher practice that was making the real difference here and teachers could see it. Children who didn’t see themselves as writers began to take risks and begin.
We noticed changes in each other as teachers of writing too. It was no longer the subject that everyone struggled with; in fact it became, and continues to be, a popular topic of choice for conversation with a positive successful tone. Teachers are keen to absorb new ideas and will try these out in their classrooms. There is a real buzz.
An Example. Trudy Francis
Earlier I mentioned that the children were really interested in how their brains work and how writers think and work. The following example shows how a 5 year olds writing changed as a result of our changes in practice. We have for you a before and after example. The first example shows a simple sentence about playing on an Xbox. Does this look familiar?
The second piece (including the drawing) was created 3 weeks later in term one. We started the lesson with an emotional hook. The hook activated the sense of sound as the children listened to a recording of a wolf howling. The children’s faces lit up with curiosity and excitement. They shared their initial thoughts and ideas with a buddy. Then I challenged them to describe what they saw in their ‘mind picture.’ To help them notice the details they had to try and put a similar picture in their buddies head by orally sharing what they saw. It was amazing how varied the children’s interpretation was and it was a great example of each child finding their own significance from this experience. I introduced the idea that writers in the ‘real world’ do this too. I showed the children a picture of a brain and we shared our first ideas about how the brain helps us learn. The very big word ‘metacognition’ was explored and I introduced three simple questions which help us think like writers. What do we need to do first? We need to draw our mind picture, and the drawing needs to describe what we saw.
Then we shared our drawings and I modelled how to use words to describe our wolf. The children were challenged to select something they really wanted to say about their wolf and describe this using words. Their metacognitive questions were…‘How am I going?’ Which words describe my wolf the best?’
Yr 1, 5 years old 28.2.14
My werewolf he’s super tough he attacks
bad guys
My werewolf is going aooo aooo
After the children had completed their first draft they shared their writing with buddies. The buddies were encouraged to use the last metacognitive question ‘How did I go? Does my sentence describe my wolf?’ This part is important as it encourages reflective thinking and provides some feedback.
When the wee boy in this example shared his piece he read it with pride and his voice danced across the words dynamically. I can still hear him say… “My werewolf is going aooo aooo”.
WHERE TO FROM HERE?
Creativity has flourished since the beginning of the year, with many pieces of writing from across the school being celebrated and honoured. We have been thrilled by the changes in motivation of teachers and children and the quality of the writing. The most significant and consistent change in the quality of the writing would have to be the children’s ability to ‘hook’ the reader, the sincerity of voice and the vocabulary they are choosing to communicate their ideas. These kids have something to say, and they want to say it.