MIT Half way point

As term three has started I am currently at my halfway point for my MIT Inquiry. I have spent the first half of the year researching and trialing the best ways to effectively teach literacy. After comparing my Asstle data from the start of the year to the end of term 2 there was a shift in my students progress. This shift I believe was due to; reciprocal reading practices being implemented, and the use of argumentation strategies.

	Score	Consistent Gaps
A	2P	Find, select and retrieve information Make inferences Respond using understandings and information Skim and Scan for information Knowledge of Vocabulary Identification and understanding of main ideas.
B	2P
C	3B
D	2B

The tool I am wanting to design is a website which will be a resource bank with examples of argumentation boards- to help other teachers develop the skills to use argumentation strategies. I will spend this term focusing on developing this tool, to benefit not only the teachers but the students.

The Power of Possibility - Cultivating a growth mindset in YOUR classroom

The Power of Possibility - Cultivating a growth mindset in YOUR classroom.- Lindsey Wesner 

What is a growth mindset? The power of 'yet', using our failures to move forward.
failure is an opportunity to grow

Strategies for a Growth Mindset

• Design Tasks
• Teacher Mindset
• Student Mindset 
• Language of possibility 
• Praise and Award 
• Assessment and feedback

Task Design 

How do I create a task and make sure that it is cultivating a growth mindset?

1. Clear instructions - set up for success 
2. Not a ‘recipe’- Giving students choices, ‘openness’, not one route to success 
3. High expectations- 
4. Differentiated Pace - Moving away from ‘faster is better’, how are we phrasing deadlines?
5. Real-world relevance- getting students ready for the ‘real’ world/ real problems.
6. Critical thinking required
7. Opportunity for reflection- build it into a task design. 
8. Choice of product/ output - 
9. Audience - a Wider audience
10. Choice of topic/focus - Choose the challenging focus
11. Extension and enrichment - Ninja task/ ninja belt
12. Cooperation - multiple perspectives/ challenges our mindset 
13. Scaffolding
14. Value process over product. 
15. Divergence over convergence - Follow passions/ inquiry
16. Assessment methodology- Have to know what success looks like. Co-constructed S.C.
17. Goal creation

• Google forms Differentiated Learning - Build a form that helps to scaffold for students depending on their answers.
• Choice boards- Give students OPTIONS. Give students opportunities to demonstrate their understanding.  
• Google maps- Map things add notes/links etc 
• Draft back extension- Playback of how students completed a task. gives your data/ summary of how much each student has done. Moving away from the product to process.

Part Two

Assessment and Feedback 

Why?

Why are we doing assessment?

Assessment FOR learning 

Using the suggesting mode 

Students need to engage with each comment 

Kaizena- allows voice comments on docs!

Who?

Austins butterfly 

Peer assessment 

Google Form- Create a rubric 

What? 

Assessing the progress 

GROWTH of Learning

Version history - Name the version- First draft / improved/ feedback from Jimmy/ My best work right now.

When?

Where?

Questions over a comment. Questions promote cognitively. 

- Ask students questions and get them to respond with a short video. Formative feedback.

What did you find hard about the task?

How did you work well as a group?

How did you solve this question? (Maths) 

What do you think the answer is? (Could do for our which one doesn't belong). 

Speeches- Looking at different techniques of a speech. 

Praise and Award 

What are we praising? 

Growth Mindset theory- Praise effort and strategy 

Ed Tech Summit - Day One

Jessie Lubinsky- Capes not required 

Key Note Speaker

20% time- giving students time to follow a project they are interested in. Allows students to follow their passions.

Jessie's school created a fund, where students could apply for money through an innovation fund. The framework of the projects was around 'Improve the school community'.

1. Following their passion
2. Celebrate their Stars - (Daniel Kish Story) "Running into a pole is a rag, but never being allowed to run into a pole is a disaster"- using echolocation to ride a bike. Focus on allowing students to celebrate what they have - give them opportunities to do anything. Project Unicorn (10-year-old girl with one arm created a glitter shooter. "You cant be sad if you're covered in glitter".
3. Honour Individuality -Help students navigate challenges.


Next Steps:
Brainstorm how could we improve our school's environment?
Get ideas from the kids- allow them to follow their projects during their 20% time.