SPARK MIT's final hui

I cannot believe this is the final SPARK MIT16 hui. Wow time flies when you are riding the learning wave (cheesy I know).

This year has been amazing thanks to the support from SPARK and Manaiakalani. As a result of their funding I have grown as a professional, developed an inquiry that I can see building into a whole school focus and built some fantastic learning networks. I still remember feeling star-struck at our first hui because I was sitting amongst so many phenomenal educators and I could say that I knew teachers from Pt England School (had only seen their amazing work but never met any of the staff in person, until SPARK MIT16).

Today I created a ‘Thinglink’ to give you access to the different dimensions of my inquiry.

I would like to thank Lynne LeGros and the SPARK Foundation for their ongoing support this year. They are amazing people who have students at the heart of their intentions and are always willing to fund innovation and creativity to support our students. Their initiatives are based on the here and now to serve all communities...watch this space.

I would like to extend another thank you to Dorothy, Juanita and the Manaiakalani Education Trust for the opportunity to create a focussed inquiry with funded supports. As part of this programme I was funded to attend ULearn 16 and present my ignite talk which allowed me to gain recognition for my efforts and extend my personal learning networks. Thank you again.

So is SPARK MIT for you?
If you are innovative, committed to raising student achievement, open to feedback, willing to take risks and delve into the unknown… then yes this is for you. SPARK and Manaiakalani funded twelve release days so I could inquire into raising student achievement in reading. The allocation of these twelve days was flexible and allowed me to continue my inquiry whilst teaching full time. They gave me the opportunity to research the importance of oral language and gather data to drive my inquiry. Along with these funded release days I was lucky enough to meet once a term with the SPARK MIT16 group at SPARK HQ. Having the opportunity to meet with like-minded educators and bounce ideas off each other was fabulous. The feedback I received from Dorothy and Juanita was clear, constructive and well informed. I highly recommend applying for SPARK MIT17. If next year isn’t your year to inquire then keep this in mind for 2018!

Spark MIT IGNITE presentations at uLearn16

uLearn16 provided an opportunity the Spark Manaiakalani Innovative Teachers to present their inquiries through an IGNITE style talk. Through these talks the audience heard our key ideas, data, reflections and where to next from each of the inquiries.

I highly recommend following the other amazing Spark MIT inquiries by following this link

Here is my IGNITE presentation from uLearn.

Spark MIT Ignite Talk for ULearn

Whooo.. I did my practice run today. Was awesome to share in front of the Ako Hiko Leaders.

What's interesting is that I practiced this talk many times and it came in under five minutes, yet during my presentation I went just over five minutes... all whilst trying to catch my breath! Even though I am a teacher, public speaking is not my forte lol!

I had some constructive feedback from the team to improve my presentation - shorten a few slides and make sure the 'oral language' stepping stone information is made clear, cull a bit here and there to allow breathing space for myself, share the link to my site.

All in all a timely experience that I can share with my class (esp as they have speeches coming up in the next couple weeks). Bring on ULearn 2016!

SparkMIT Mind Map

As part of my inquiry I wanted to create a Samoan Language resource that would help my target students progress at a normal rate towards the National Standard in reading.  I havebeen thinking about my innovation and am trying to find a starting point, but I can't.  So I have brainstormed a quick pro's and con's mindmap for two things I have in mind.

I really want to create a Google Site but I'm not sure about the formatting and time needed to create it.  Although I do want to use the 'voice-over' approach that I tested on my class site earlier this year. It would be nice to have a welcome on each page that automatically plays.  That is something I can't do that on a blog. I would really like it to be fun and entertaining with a slight hint of gamification but I have no idea about how to do that.  I suspect there would a lot of coding involved??  Eeeek!

At the moment I am leaning towards a google site. . . watch this space!

SparkMIT PLG @ Spark HQ

Welcome to my first official post as a Spark MIT recipient.  Today marks the day we all put a face to the name, a name to an inquiry and an inquiry to a clearly identified problem that is observable and measurable.

This process was completed as a group, beginning with introductions, hearing about each others strengths, a bit about ourselves and inquiries.  Juanita and Dorothy had an amazing set of probing questions that encouraged each one of us to zone in on our identified problem, the problem that fuels our inquiry. To some this may seem daunting, but in fact it is inspiring, thought provoking and comforting.  Yes comforting because it enables clarity and a clear direction of where to next (something we ensure all of our students have too).   Now for the nitty gritty... my inquiry.  

My inquiry is about ESOL students who are not achieving a normal rate of progress towards the national standard in reading.

My target group are Samoan students who are currently in Year 4 and Year 5. I have identified this target group through observation of running records and probe data from 2015. The data shows that decoding strategies are effective and in place but also highlights a lack of comprehension. The main areas being vocabulary and evaluation skills.

The evidence I will be using is reading data from 2015 and 2016. This data will consist of reading OTJ's and a running record or probe test for each student along with a breakdown of their comprehension. These tests will be administered each term to monitor progress in real time.

In addition to these I will also be using e-asTTle reading (formative), PAT reading (summative), blogs (monitor if vocabulary has improved) and the rate of progress for the 2015 cohort when compared with the 2016 cohort.

I would like to create a Samoan language resource site for my school, cluster and wider teaching community, to develop reading skills in a 1:1 digital learning environment.

Before I conclude this post I would like to express my gratitude and thanks to the wonderful Spark foundation team.   Andrew, Lynne, Mary and Sera you are phenomenal leaders in innovation and paving a way forward for many future generations to come.  Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the SparkMIT programme.