Criterion 11

Analyse and appropriately uses assessment information, which has been gathered formally and informally.

Key indicators:

• analyse assessment information to identify progress and ongoing learning needs of akonga.
• Uses assessment information to give regular and ongoing feedback to guide and support further learning.
• analyses assessment information to reflect on and evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching.
• Communicates assessment and achievement information to relevant members of the learning community.
• fosters involvement of whanau in the collection and use of information about the learning of akonga.

Reflective question: How do i gather and use assessment information in ways that advance the learning of my akonga?

What is the learning/teaching experience: This week has been crazy busy, the last couple of weeks I have been getting all my assessment up to date and getting report comments underway. I was quite impressed with the assessment I did and the students who I knew, were below the standards, did not surprise me. The writing and reading National Standard I find is a hard one and I have really pushed some of my students so they are on track, some will need extra support next term and I have discussed this with our school SENCO (Special education needs coordinator). The hardest part of assessing the students learning I find is writing. I got some help from my tutor teacher to work out if I am on the right track. The thing with moderating writing is that your interpretation can be very different to that of someone else’s, so getting an idea of below, middle and above from students writing gave me information on where I need to put the students. After talking to my tutor teacher, it was great reassurance to see that I had the same thoughts as him when moderating.

I find writing report comments quite a hard one. Trying to get the right wording to explain the students learning and what they are like in the classroom, and how to start is the hardest part. Other than one, I did last year this is the first lot of report interviews I have had to do. Not many BT’s can say they have been teaching for a year and have only given one report. To help me with the writing comments, my tutor teacher had given me some examples of where to go and then another colleague gave me a ‘report bank’ resource with lots of sentence starters for each curriculum area, which was fantastic to work with. I have eight reports to write with some of the students on track to meet the standards and others not so much.

So What: What did I learn?

• Communication with Colleagues to make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to assessment
• National Standards are tough

Now What? Next Steps

• Research more on how I can help my writers succeed.
• Finish report comments and give them to tutor teacher to read over

For what: What Criterion does this fulfill? Criteria 8, Criteria 11

What is the learning/teaching experience:  This week has been report week. I learnt how to put data in for the report and my tutor teacher guided me on how reporting worked. Things have definitely changed from when I was at school with reports, these ones are so bright and colourful and easy to read. I only had one student that has been at school for 6 months and she was the only one I had to report on. It was a nice and easy way to get into the reporting process. When sorting her data this student was slightly below for writing and reading and on the right track for maths. I was talking with a colleague and when they are below you always think is it my fault, what could I do better etc. But she reassured me that everyone learns at different paces and for this student she was quite inconsistent and that was letting her down and there is still a few weeks to go this term. The family I had the interview with were super lovely and really understanding. They are super supportive of me and they are happy their daughter is enjoying school and is making progress. I showed them examples of why she was slightly below so they had an understanding and gave them a pamphlet of things they could work on at home. It went really well and I feel like I am definitely well prepared for next year when it comes to reporting.

I have to do some small reports for the rest of the students in my class, they are called “New Entrant reports”. These just have basic comments about reading, writing and maths and also a small comment about how they get on in the classroom. There is a part in these reports where you assess the School values and how well they are at doing these. Students do a self-assessment on this also which would be very interesting especially for some of the characters in my classroom.

So What: What did I learn?

• Not to be too hard on myself
• Communication with parents
• How to approach parents in a professional manner when at interviews

Now What? Next Steps

• Understand New Entrants reports and complete these

For what: What Criterion does this fulfill?  Criteria 2, Criteria 4, Criteria 5, Criteria 7, Criteria 8, Criteria 11, Criteria 12.

What is the learning/teaching experience: Some of my students have come back after the holiday and wow what an improvement in their writing it is so amazing! I am so impressed, its honestly the best feeling when you see students take in what you have taught them and they try really hard. I also tested my students that have been as school for a while now on their wonder words 1 list (High frequency words) and some of them have now moved onto wonder words 2!! Very exciting. Now because I have put them up on the wall with their names beside them they can see where they are and some really want to go further so took their wonder words home in the weekend so they can practice and move forward.

So What: What did I learn?

• Seeing things visually for the students helps motivate them.
• When students see their peers succeeding they what to do the same.
• Communicating with parents about their child’s learning and what they can do to help at home.

Now What? Next Steps

• Keep encouraging and communicating with parents
• Create more resources for writing and reading with more high frequency words.

For what: What Criterion does this fulfill?  Criteria 2, Criteria 8, Criteria 11

What is the learning/teaching experience: Had my first school entry assessment get together with a parent this week. I was actually so nervous! It was such a casual meeting just to talk about where this student was at, how they went in their SEA and what they can do at home to help. I guess it is just that worry about what if they aren’t happy with what I say. Not that there was anything negative to say you just never know with some parents. Overall, it went very well and their mum was very happy with how the student is going as am I. Plenty more SEA catch up with parents to go! I call them catch ups as they aren’t very formal.

So What: What did I learn?

• Communication is important with Parents/caregivers and whanau as there is only so much you can do at school, students also need to learn skills at home to be the best they can be.

Now What? Next Steps

• Identify the needs of students and put into my planning as tasks students can do during reading, writing maths.
• Create resources to help with gaps that are missing.
• Focus on students phonological awareness (make time for this)

For what: What Criterion does this fulfill? Criteria 1, Criteria 6, Criteria 7, Criteria 8, Criteria 9, Criteria 11

What is the learning/teaching experience: This week I began doing some iKan testing and it was very interesting seeing how they went with this. I also looked at their school entry reports. Some students were a lot easy to mark than others. As some students have been at school for longer obviously and its interesting these students are all within a month of age but their knowledge and mannerisms are so different.

In Maths we have currently been looking at statistics and which objects have less, more etc. It’s amazing how much they have learned in such a small amount of time. It’s a great feeling when they can talk about and identify it so easily when they are discussing graphs. Makes me feel quite proud. Maths  is definitely not my strongest subject as I didn’t have much experience in maths during my student teaching. It is a curriculum area I feel I am lacking in terms of content knowledge and how to teach it for this age group. Yes, I know what I need to teach, but lack the knowledge and confidence with this area for example where to start, what materials to use, what activities to begin with. This is definitely a goal for me to gain more confidence with my maths teaching. In regards to that I feel humbled that I have so many amazing people to learn from and ask questions.

So What: What did I learn?

• How to read maths testing
• Every school’s assessment is different
• Ask for guidance and help if I need to.
• How different capabilities, students can have at this age.

Now What? Next Steps

• Look into professional development around numeracy.
• Use the NZ maths website to help guide
• Continue to ask questions
• Observe different teachers teaching maths.

For what: What Criterion does this fulfill? Criteria 2 Criteria 6 Criteria 8 Criteria 9 Criteria 11

WEEK FIVE TERM FOUR REFLECTION: REPORTING