The Lead Learner-Chapter One Setting the Stage pgs 1-5

As soon as I read the question 'Are we as leaders ready to prepare all learners for the 21st century?' I began to really reflect and let that question ponder in my mind because that question never really came into my mind. Instead, I always thought education is evolving due to studies etc..

However, as we do continue to educate our students in the 21st century we do really need to think now just about the present but the future also. The idea of innovative vs traditional.

I did watch the trailer for the movie 'Most Likely to Succeed' that Michael did mention and I thought to myself 'wow' imagine this could happen at our school. However with the professional learning we are undertaking and the ongoing collegial discussions and collaborations we are leading in the direction of a 'High tech High' environment. Whilst watching the trailer it spoke about an aspect of authenticity, curation, product development and collaboration which really resonated with me and I am sure many of us at St Patrick's.

Michael McDowell did mention that 'leaders and their actions have a massive impact on learning' which I agree with. If we are going to inform and assist our staff and students on strategies to use in the classroom for example, we too need to ensure we establish that in our own classroom.

There is a great focus on 'How students learn' and the link with one year's growth which will be a great topic for discussion today.

Chapter 3: Coherence (Part 2) Pg 49-57

As Bern previously stated in the last post “As always I found Michael McDowell very insightful about his
perspectives in a very practical way.” and I can not agree with you more Bern!  The latter half of this
chapter focuses on ensuring that a  as a school, individual teachers have autonomy to make key
decisions in their classrooms to move student learning forward. As lead learners we need to ensure
that our school is equipped with the tools necessary to identify and take appropriate action on
student progress to ensure that students are demonstrating high proficiency (surface, deep and
transfer understanding) and are showing more than one year’s growth in their learning. 

Micheal McDowell reinforces the importance of writing clear Learning Intentions and Levelled
Success Criteria and ensuring that students themselves understand what they are learning and
how they can be successful in their learning. As a staff, I believe that our understanding of the
importance of even having Learning Intentions and Success Criterias in our classroom has
increased 10 fold from when we first began having them in our classroom. I can honestly admit
that when we first started, I did not grasp the impact that Learning Intentions and Success
Criterias could have on student learning. With our heavy PD focus over the past 2 years being on
setting students up for success in the classroom, when Micheal states “Students have a far greater
chance of developing the knowledge and skills to take more responsibility over their own learning if
they know what is expected in their learning” I can whole-heartedly understand and agree with his
statement, now that my own understanding through practical application in the classroom has improved.

Our next step as lead learners is to ensure that as a school, we have clarity in the level of learning
and consistency in the Learning Intentions and Levelled Success Criteria (Surface, Deep and Transfer)
across each grade level in the school. I believe we are on the way to achieving this, however we are
not at the ‘finish line’ yet. The changes in the way we are using our briefing time to share the learning
occurring in each classroom and present Learning Intentions and Success Criteria to gain constructive
feedback has put us further on the track to establishing some consistency across the grade levels.
Having the opportunity in staff meetings to examine different grade level understanding of a task,
like we have previously done in our Multiplicative Thinking, Geometric Reasoning and Reconciliation
Units have also put us further on the track. Leanda’s hard work in the writing of “From the Pit” and
the constant sharing of information in regards to Inquiry Learning and creating levelled Success
Criteria has lead to the establishment of school norms where we are all on the same page in
regards to the language we use, the colours of our Success Criteria (for Surface, Deep and Transfer
learning) and the importance of gathering students ‘Knows’ and ‘Need to Knows’ at the beginning of
a unit to guide our teaching. 

We as a staff have come so far, and when I was writing this post I was overcome with a sense of
pride in our staff. In saying that, we still have a long way to go. Our ‘What Now’ is to ensure we give
the staff more opportunities to develop their understanding of how we can reach that end goal of
“Students demonstrating high proficiency AND are showing more than one year’s growth” and to
continue to create clarity and consistency in student learning across all grades in the school. We
maybe look at creating our own Scale for Skills for the various KLA’s across the grades that devioid
the content or task and focus purely on the skills we want students to develop. The syllabus would
be a great starting point for this. 

Chapter 3 Coherence Pt 1

As always I found Michael McDowell very insightful about his perspectives in a very practical way. I must admit i found the reference to American Sport a little confusing but I will look into his references post blog. His assertion that "What separates 'what works' from what works best' is that the latter focuses on the relentless effort of the adults to enhance student learning by illuminating student prior knowledge and intervening accordingly and providing students the tools to understand and direct their own learning' is key to student growth. We as teachers know that there are many strategies that work and we all have our own Theory of Action as to why we believe that these are the best strategies. I full understand why some teachers will not let go of tried and true methods in favour of 'new' ones however his point about being clear on the focus being, where the learner is now, what misassumptions they may have and do they know where they are going, where they are now and how to get there links into Hattie's highest effect size (Assessment capable learners) What I find really interesting is how this process is not so straight forward as McDowell explains with his example of the effect size of problem based learning on surface learning but quadrupled at the deep and transfer level. i am wondering if this is reflected in NAPLAN results and the link to contemporary methodology.

McDowell emphasises the importance of student growth and in educators being able to have evidence of this growth by highlighting the gap from start of the finish of the learning cycle. Our PL focus on Surface Deep and Transfer seems to be the right path and is supported by his comment, "...educators and students must develop a common understanding of the levels of learning." (pg49)

The second half of this chapter was not as easy to comprehend and i found myself reading and rereading the graphs and trying to make sense of them. The takeaways were that whilst it is important for teachers to have some autonomy there are some key aspects of the learning and teaching that must be coherent across the grade and the school. 'know they impact' was a clear message for me as one can assume that the impact is there but how to we know. The check in through the surveys to see if the atmosphere of the school and the classroom is conducive to transformational learning can be a start for some teachers - where students have some input to their learning experiences.

I believe this chapter sets some challenges for schools. With the changing curriculums over such a short period of time and the number of syllabuses for primary I wonder how we can support teachers to show 'content knowledge, formative assessments, data analysis, best practices and instructional strategies' across all KLAs

week 4 reading

My apologies to all as I have left my copy of the text at school and can not complete the reading this week.

Jen W

How to Create Levelled Success Criteria

 Excellent choice of article for us to read Leanda!

Direct, realistic and a succinct summary of what you have been developing with us,
as a staff so far.
I like the three questions MM posed instead of the 5 we have - more meaningful
for kids and more tailored to learning.
Perhaps we could have these visible in each classroom?

After our team’s experience with house building in the PBL PL  last week
( I will elaborate in meeting) we realised even more,
how important teacher clarity hence student clarity is,
if you want the students to meet the syllabus outcomes.
We can’t give students tasks to solve that ask them to:
‘guess what I ( the teacher)  am thinking or hoping you will produce’. 

As teachers we have to be clear about what we want,
so the students are clear and know where they are heading and can self assess.
This means as teachers it is an expectation we KNOW and USE the syllabus and we are involved in the planning.

Michael’s step by step method from learning intention,
success criteria, driving question and feedback is clearly explained.
We need to give teachers time to read this together, discuss and maybe use these steps,
as a staff, to do some joint constructions for a particular learning cycle as part of the next
steps on from our role as critical friends where we have looked at each others attempts so far.
Let’s put all our minds together creating! Then we will be all on the one page and all staff
will realise that to ensure at least one year’s growth in one year it is an expectation
at St Patrick’s that we use learning intentions and levelled success criteria in all KLA’s. 

What an ideal final sentence: 

  ‘This simple strategy may assist in developing
your learners ability to become their own teachers.’

once upon a time

Once upon a time, teachers decided that it was most important that students were engaged , knew where they were in their learning and where they needed to go next. Every day the team of teachers prepared for the students to be involved in dynamic learning opportunities and gave the students time to self assess.  One day, the teacher noticed many students had evaluated their growth and knew what to do to move forward. Because of that, the assessment of learning had student voice as well as teacher voice. Because of that students became more confident and independent, understanding how they learn best and how to drive their learning forward. Until finally, the teacher’s role became that of an initial activator, feedback giver and instructional supporter as the students became assessment capable learners.   

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time, there was a school who wanted learners to be drivers of their learning.

Everyday, staff would co-construct 'Learning Intention' and 'Success Criteria' with their students.

One day, the school staff identified the need to develop depth of complexity with learners in their learning.

Because of that, staff worked collaboratively to build their knowledge and understanding of how to co-construct levelled success criteria. Basing their understanding around surface, deep and transfer levels of learning.

Because of that, teacher clarity evolved and informed learners about their learning.

Until finally learners were clear about teacher expectations and where able to articulate ‘Where they are going in their learning?, Where are they now in their learning? And Where to next in their learning?

The Lead Learner pages 30-42

As soon as I started reading page 30, Jen's words " We should be doing these activities." kept entering my brain. Constantly in my marginalia the words 'Let's Do This' are written next to the strategies and analysis of the data. Then the statement 'stay small stay focussed' crashes the party and I take a deep breathe and remember the importance of those small words.
Having said all of that I find it intriguing that the examples on page 30 - Ensuring learning intentions and success criteria are differentiated between surface, deep and transfer levels' it seems to have been written just for us. (A similar feeling often enters my head when listening to homilies) We have definitely started to embed the LI and SC in most classrooms so how fitting would it be for this action to be our next sep forward. It also works in beautifully with our focus on ASSESSMENT - FOR, AS and OF learning.
Using the SWOT Analysis and discrepancy Analysis sound doable to me and I would be interested to see how we use it to determine next year's Action Plan goals, as we have often commented on the need to have these goals based on the needs of the staff , rather than only being our perceived needs.
I also like the script found on page 33 and see this as a great opportunity to use when reflecting on the module meetings. This would lead beautifully into the 'Tweets' around the module meeting and would also allow us to see people 'Theory of Action'. Maybe we could add it to the space in the teacher's room so we can all see and engage in it as part of the PL sessions.
All these thoughts come to my mind and inspire me to take action now. Then those small words 'stay small, stay focussed' reenter my mind and I am reminded of the importance of small steps but please let's step together - today!

The Lead Learner Pages 19-29

My Reflections.

I found these pages to be invigorating and really spoke to me as a learner and leader. We are have spoken often about the statement " Because almost everything in education works!" and I think we all agree our desire is to have an impact on our students that doesn't just work but excels.
Working out what needs to be let go and what has the desired impact is a challenge I have daily. I feel like it is a constant battle to block out the external noise and focus on data.Data we gather in our daily discussion with staff and students to ensure we clearly know 'Where we are going?', 'Where we are now?' and our 'What Next?'
When I read the section on page 20 about the difference between behavioural change and structural change, I couldn't help but reflect on myself as a learner but also the challenges all leaders have when trying to change behaviour. It is difficult because we have to challenge and change others 'Theory of Action. The second point that spoke about past experience was interesting because I notice this with the two prac students who are currently in Year 6. The conversations around what makes an impact is constantly occurring and helps me as much as them. I have often thought we teach as we learnt at school and I feel this section summarised my thoughts.
The 3 questions stated before are an easy way forward and definitely doable. I think I will start the journey this week and use the 'Tool for Capturing Data' for Years 3-8 in my room this week. I hope to bring the results to the meeting so we can use it as part of our discussion.
For me personally I really like the : What?, So What?, Now What? protocol and think this would be a great one to use to drive our module meetings as it would ensure they do not just become a 'doing' session but remain focussed on the learning.
I look forward to discussing this section at our meeting on Monday.

Chapter 1 The Lead Learner Pgs 12- 17

I wrote this blog today because it had my name on the Chair and prayer again. when I checked the roster i noticed it says Jenny W.  I have now changed it  but I was worried that it may have caused some confusion so I did a blog entry in case.

 I found that these pages contained so many reflective questions but in a way I feel a need to read the book before answering them as I am unsure about some of the terminology. I still had a go and will look back with interest if my assumptions were accurate. I look forward to suggestions on how these can be achieved and how I can improve my practice in these areas.

I agree that clarity and coherence in a school is critical followed by capacity and crafting. I get the gist of the definitions but not to the level that I am satisfied with. When rating the scores I felt that most of them fell under '0' ie criteria are being discussed by routine implementation is non existent. I felt that 'non existent' was not totally accurate either as I think that there are elements developing eg the school has implementation and action plans but the understanding and focus on these across staff lacks coherence. This I believe is due to the lack of time to collaboratively design these goals, especially at the time it needs to get done. I also think that there are shared practices that are developing well eg the use of data however not in a way that reflects rating +1. They may be routine but are they effective eg the use of EYA data to impact learning. As I said I feel that the school is definitely using more data that it once was and that we are becoming more efficient at doing this however it is probably fair to say that there is room for capacity building in this area.

As an example one just needs to see how much resourcing it is taking to develop consistency with the PPs to build consistency. This thought brought me to the very interesting guideposts; the first being Stay small, stay focussed. Looking at developing Capacity by investing resourcing in a more narrow focussed way leads me to ask, what should we be focussing on and what should we limit? 

I am interested in learning more about Guidepost 3 Avoid Solution Fixation - What is the difference between solutions and success is what I found myself asking and how does reversing this look.

I made a link between Guidepost 4 and our work on Theory of Action. I still think that we can explore this concept further with staff in so many ways and this may lead to the suggested processes to inspect impact on learning. Guidepost 5 Model Learning is developing well especially in our PL sessions. I am challenged however in how to present CEDP designed presentations such as ROSH in a more effective way. Perhaps this is an example of essential content rather than 21st Century skills.

Looking forward to our discussions

The Lead Learner

Chapter 1: Setting the Stage

As I read the opening chapter of " The Lead Learner" I glanced over at my pile of must read books and realised I am one of those leaders/ teachers/ educators/ that are living the tension between "innovation" and "traditional strategies" as I spot my much loved copy of Dylan Wiliam's book 'Embedded Formative Assessment'. As I complete marginalia in our current book and during my every day I frequently ask myself how can I integrate the innovative learning of tomorrow with the traditional strategies that we know build the key knowledge and skills needed today?. I hope this book provides me with some answers and also raises questions that continue to make me refine my thinking and develop my thinking in the area of clarity, coherence whilst developing my capacity and the capacity of my class (teachers and students).

I found the Gavin Hay's reflection on the journey of Marist in  'Voices From the Field' spoke to me - as I too believe within my own learning and in the school system we have at times swung like a pendulum between focusing on content driven practices, skills needed for 21 century learning and are slowly realising the importance of balance between it all. 

I feel I have a long way to go however I do know at the core of who I am as a leader is the desire and core purpose of someone that understands the importance of enhancing the learning of students and staff and try every day to model effective learning in my daily practice and short term and long term decisions. When I completed Figure 1.5 I had a tendency to be more aligned to ambidextrous leadership responses and intend to continue on with activities 1.2 - 1.4 over the weekend.  I look forward to discussing the activities and seeking feedback as we continue reading this book. 

Reflection questions:

What do I know now that you didn't know before you started reading?

I am not sure I didn't know the difference between 'traditional' and ' innovation' but I didn't realise how easy it is to focus on one over the other rather than keeping them both in balance. This book has also helped develop my understanding of the difference between a lead learner and an instructional leader. 

What questions are you facing as a leader? 

How do I as a leader keep the pressure of 'jobs' from impacting me and drawing me away from my primary role as a leader which is ' ensuring all students/ staff are getting more than one year's growth in one year's time? How do ensure the 21 Century skills are taught in authentic settings but also time is given to explicitly teaching them at a point of need bases rather than in a hit and miss fashion? How can I encourage student voice and path a way of autonomy in learning where it is purposeful and allows for the whole group to learn together/ from each other? How can I involve the staff in setting the school goal so they have ownership? How can we find the 'gaps' in the learning and use these to drive the vision of our school so all staff and students achieve more than one year's growth? 

What are the key differences between being an instructional leader and a lead learner?

Some of the key differences between an instructional leader and a lead learner appears in the title themselves. Instructional leadership is one that instructs others - almost like it is from the outside directing inward through observations, looking at data and driving others to continue to improve. Where as the lead learner is someone who leads through their actions - is modelling through the hands on work they do, working collaboratively with the team to solve problems and listens to the ideas of others rather than having to have all the answers. A lead learner has a clarity around the direction of the students/ staff to ensure growth. Building the capacity of all so to ensure learning continues and that self and others are building the PCK whilst maintaining a growth mindset and understanding the importance of life long learning.   Just to name a few differences.

Clarity, coherence and capacity - which one resonates with you? Over the last few years I think my focus has been around developing my understanding of clarity. I believe I have become a better learner, teacher and colleague because my clarity have become clearer. I have also developed my understanding of how important it is to have clarity around where we need to go as learners (staff and students) but also how we can get there. It also includes having clarity around the needs of the students and our next steps. 

I look forward to discussing the next two questions in our leadership meeting on Monday.