Monitoring - Check in

After our last PLG we were asked to describe and explain the changes of tweaks that we have made in our practice along the way. This blog post will outline some of the tweaks and changes that I have made along with another observation that I have had from my coach from RPI and what changes I made from that observation.

Ground rules for talk
I have continued to work on tweaking and changing this to fit in with my students. We have spent a lot of time during guided reading sessions talking about how we can make this work effectively. I have listened to what my students have shared and changed up how we use this so that all of the students are feeling successful. One key thing I have added in is a reflection for the students to fill in as a group and rate how well they have done with this for the week. From there we have had group discussions around how we can make this work more effectively in the classroom. I have also continued on with either a picture prompt or would you rather question at the beginning of guided reading sessions so that we can go over ground rules for talk and getting the whole group involved. 

Response to Text & Vocabulary Tasks
I have continued to shape and develop these tasks each week for after guided reading. I have now incorporated the vocabulary tasks into the response to text task. With the spotlight task I used to have the students do this collaboratively but was finding that some of the students were reluctant to share in a larger group so I have made this an independent activity for each of the students to complete before coming to guided reading sessions. This then allows the students to think about it before we come together as a group and ask questions if they need clarification. After reading the students then work together to find the meaning of each of these words from the text. 

Observations
As part of RPI we have been asked to have our coach come and observe lessons and provide feedback on what we can focus on in our practice to make guided reading sessions better. From one of my observations I found that there were a few students who would sit back and allow the other students in the group to answer all the questions. They were focused during these sessions they just didn't have the confidence to share with the rest of the group. One of the key things Toni and I talked about was gifting these students some of the questions as they are reading so that they have had time to frame their answer and are not just put on the spot. One change that I have made it writing down some of the key questions for these students to have in front of them while they are reading to see if that can help with confidence in sharing with the rest of the group. This as been working with some of the students but I will continue to do this so that all of the students feel confident to share in the group.

Next steps
I will continue to implement these changes to my practice and monitor some of the things that are working and some parts of this that might need continued change throughout the rest of this term and into term 4. 

Reflections and tweaks explained

 Explain the reflections and tweaks you have made along the way and the reasons why you made these changes. Share your evidence for these decisions.

This year has been interesting with my inquiry and I have found that I have needed
to be adaptable along the way. While my focus question has continued to look at reading achievement I have also focused on well being as well as reading for enjoyment. The reason for this change was looking at term 1 and all of the changes and interruptions we were having the most important thing for me and my class was student well being and trying to get all of my students to come back to school. I made this the focus for the whole of term 1 as it was a very uncertain time for everyone and I wanted to make sure that my students were doing okay and felt comfortable to come back to school. So I guess you could say reading took a bit of a back seat, we were still reading as a class just in more spaced out groups with masks on and it was hard to have those detailed conversations. 

Through this change in direction I also found myself thinking about reading for enjoyment and enhancing this. As it was a lot harder to have reading groups and being able to share it became really important for my students to want to be able to read by themselves and select books for enjoyment rather than just being told to read something. Social distancing meant that my students were working a lot more independently so therefor the change to my reading program came about. We started going to the library and students had a lot more choice. Reflecting on this has shown a really great outcome my students now love going to the library and ask for SSR (Super Silent Reading) as it is a change for them to unwind and explore what they are reading. 

I have continued to focus on linking reading and writing which was another thing that came out of the all of the changes this year. I think this has had a great impact on literacy for my class and I am finding that my students are able to link these together and begin to use different vocabulary in their writing. 

I have made all of these changes to ensure the best for my learners. I think by being able to be flexible and reflective at every step has helped shape my program this year and although it might have not been to plan for my original inquiry I have found some key things that I would add into my inquiry next time and would really like to explore this in a lot more detail again with my class next year.