Maths Problem Solving: Spiral of Inquiry

This year our inquiry has been around Problem Solving in Maths. In our habitat (team) we have trialled and changed a lot of our practice to best suit our learners (students).
Looking back, we started out doing problem solving as four different classes with our home class and over the terms this has evolved. We now are problem solving altogether. Our learners all get the same problem.

The learners are also divided into alphabet groups based on Kagan theory of group work and collaborative learning. Until yesterday, I learned that Kagan groups have 4 in each group, not solely based on ability but also taking into consideration their Key Competencies. Each learner is given a specific role and is meant to be purposeful. Groups are meant to change every term (note for next time).

All learning coaches collaborated and had a turn at launching the problem one day of the week. Once problem is launched, we then sent our learners in their alphabet groups to each learning coach to work with. Once they had some time to work on their task, we gathered our learners up again and selected a few learners to share and others to reflect. Here is what we presented as a team yesterday for our Inquiry.

Some of the things, I'd like to work on next year are: looking more into the Kagan collaborative learning groups. Looking at other strategies to help our ELL learners. Improving our word problems to be more in the context of real life based. 

PB4L: Positive Behaviour for Learning

Since being here at Omiston Primary School, I have been learning about how Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) works and what it looks like here. A learning coach from each habitat meets fortnightly as part of the PB4L team and discusses all areas of behaviour management and come up with strategies to keep it positive in our school.

According to the PB4L site on TKI it's a 'long term systematic approach involving ten initiatives'. They include: whole-school change initiatives, targeted group programmes, and individual support services.

We relate this approach to our school's vision principles: Curious, Collaborative, Capable and Connected. We divide the term that focus on: Learning, Playing, Meeting and Well-Being.

For example this term we had Curious Learning. On one week, during our hui (assemblies) will have a focus on Curious Learning and what that looks like. Then the following week in our whanau meetings, we go over the focus again and unpack and co-construct the language of the Matrix. We design activities for our learners to discuss and participate in, in smaller groups and with mixed year groups.

Our reward system is school wide. Here it is done by giving out 'Caught Being Oresome' tokens. If learners are awarded them, they then put these tokens into their whanau jars in their habitats. These are counted up weekly by our learner leaders. We also have special tokens that are worth "10 tokens" that are given out to learners to recognise their efforts.

Through this programme, we as educators are encouraged to keep things positive and have constructive worthwhile and long term interventions for our learners.