Establishing the foundations to go forward with formal learning.

Student engagement by establishing foundations to go forward with formal learning was chosen as our whole school inquiry at our TOD in February. During our syndicate meeting our COL teacher Robyn Anderson asked us questions regarding how it was for us as teachers and our students coming back to school and establishing our class routines after being out of the classroom for an extended period of time.

Going back into the classroom after the Covid-19 lockdowns was like walking into the unknown, not only did we have to wear masks all day but everyday we didn't know how many of our students were going to come, if the same students would come each day. Our attendance was very erratic, but we were determined to give the students present the opportunity to learn. Right away Robyn and I decided we had to just do what we know to do best and that is teach the students that are there and meeting their needs.

Establishing connections with the students which in turn increases engagement was a priority. We did this by starting formal learning from day 1. Ensuring there was a familiar routine and structure seemed to work well for the students that were present. Having face to face interactions with classmates was important. Robyn and I continued with what was working for our class pre lockdowns, which was pair/group discussions. At first there was a bit of apprehension, the reality was that many of the students had not engaged with online learning since August 2021. We scaffolded them through formal learning conversations, which in turn lent to them forming bonds with each other then passing that knowledge on to students that joined at a later time. Working collaboratively gave the learners a sense of belonging.

Our class mantra whether attending lessons in the classroom or online is to 'keep our learning going'. Establishing foundations by sharing our expectations as well as ensuring the learners knew the purpose of the tasks, rather than doing work for the sake of working, kept the students engaged and focused. Robyn and I began Hybrid teaching - in class teaching and online learners in the class interacting with not only the teachers but working collaboratively in groups for example by having Google meets with breakout rooms with their reading groups.

Keeping to our timetable no matter where the learning was has meant that everyone knew the expectations to have their work finished and placed on the finished worksheet. This way the online learner still had visible work in the classroom. One change that Robyn and I made was to ensure our DLOs aligned so that they all looked the same but more importantly had the same message no matter what level they were targeted at. A change that proved to be a game changer when I was forced to isolate and Robyn needed to keep the learning going in the room.

In these uncertain times we have to be more flexible with how we are teaching aka hybrid and an unpredictable roll. Robyn and I are continually reflecting and having professional and informal conversations about student engagement by establishing foundations and continuing to go forward with formal learning to 'keep our learning going' no matter where that learning is done, as long as the students are engaged and working with a purpose.

To view Robyn Anderson's blog Powerful Peers.

Extended Learning Conversations Observation

Today I had the opportunity to sit and observe my teaching partner Robyn Anderson. Even though I teach with her every day I wanted to observe her reading lesson with extended conversation to explicitly notice what techniques she uses so I could incorporate them into my reading program to enhance the extended learning conversations within my groups.

Initially the groups decide a leader who starts the first discussion which is about prediction. After the reading group has looked at the text the leader then asks "What do you predict this text will be about?". One by one they have a learning conversation which is recorded saying what their predictions are and they reason they have predicted that. This ensues a rich learning conversation which at times can produce differing opinions.

We then look at inference. The group looks at the pictures in the text and then discuss what they can see by verbalising it in a concise way - I can see ... so I can infer that ... this could also be making connections with their predictions.

Understanding new words is a crucial in reading a text to give a clear understanding of the meaning of what they are reading. This is where the definitions come into play, making sure that the definition of the word they are looking up aligns with the text with

Reading the text. As a group they discuss how they want to read the text. Do they read this text alone, with a buddy or reciprocal reading? While reading the text, if there are any words that are interesting, important or unusual, write those words on your Vocabulary/Questions sheet. The whole group has access to this sheet.



After reading the text the group then answer the question that are on the working sheet. The leader reads the first question to the group then they record their responses in the comments tool. Leader then starts the learning conversation by asking group members "What was your answer?" then asks another member of the group if they agree with the previous person. They need to respond with yes/no because ...



From walking around different reading groups and watching their interactions, I observed students that wouldn't usually engage with reading being totally immersed in the text and actively participating in the learning conversations. The depth of the conversation was evident in the discussions.


Even though I have been using this process in reading, observing Robyn practicing extended conversations has really shown me how I can increase the connections my reading groups when reading a text.

To view Robyn Anderson's blog Powerful Peers