2024 CoL Teacher Inquiry: Bursts and Bubbles

What an amazing learning journey 2024 has been!

I am very thankful to have inspirational and collaborative by my side.

Here is a reflection of my learning journey this year and a summary of my 2024 Inquiry.

This year my focus was to inquire….. Will the emphasis on using precise vocabulary such as adjectives, nouns, and verbs at the draft stage lead to improved writing proficiency?

I identified this as my focus when I noticed…… that my ESOL learners rarely used nouns, verbs and adjectives in their writing. 

To build a rich picture of my students' learning, I used …… various evidence and data, such as baseline assessments, learners' writing, vocabulary tests, and students' voices. 

The main patterns of student learning I identified in the profiling phase were:

1. lack of phonological knowledge.  

2. Unable to follow the structure of writing.

3. Needed lots of support with the elements of writing

I realised that before I taught my learners how to use nouns, verbs and adjectives, I had the huge task of teaching them how to spell and write.

Profiling of my teaching showed that I had strengths in …. producing a sample piece of writing with the class and providing them with an electronic and a hard copy to refer to.  

But with that, my students would likely make more progress if I developed and built on my structured literacy approach. 

The changes I made in my teaching were …. I incorporated 

1. The Code and The Code and Dictations + Blended Review Books by Liz Kane. 

(This book outlines the importance of a structured and syste/matic approach to teaching phonics)

2. Heggerty Phonics Awareness Book by Michael Heggerty.

(for phonological awareness).

3. Alongside that, I taught and created a site for teaching my learners about nouns, verbs, and adjectives. 

The easiest things for me to change were….. 

1. Adapting the 2 Code books, as this allowed 5 colleagues from our kura to meet now and then and plan lessons together.

2. Adapting Heggerty lessons daily as the lessons are well structured.

3. I started using different learners' writings as sample writing for my class. This motivated most of my learners to produce much better pieces of writing.

The hardest things for me to change were….. 

1. Getting all my learners to use nouns, verbs and adjectives in their writing all the time.

2. Learners who used voice typing, just because of their accents or speech struggled. This is because when they say something, the device hears and types something else. AND

3. Bringing whanau on board to assist learners at home. 

Some changes I made along the way were ….. 

1. Did The Code and Heggerty every morning.

2. Introduced Butterfly Card for those who struggle with voice typing.

3. Encouraged learners to keep sounding out words and continue writing even if the spelling is wrong. 

4. Introduced 10 - 15 minutes of Power Writing every morning.  

Overall, the changes in student learning are very rewarding, as the data reveals 80-85 percent progress. Not only overall writing, but now learners are selecting precise nouns, powerful verbs, and colourful adjectives that bring their writing to life.

This inquiry has helped me to refine my practice, which has made a real difference in my students' growth and success.