MIT 2017
Sandy Lagitupu
Pt England School
Manaiakalani
Links:
Improving critical thinking skills through the use of code and deep dialogic discussions
This inquiry will focus on using coding and robotics to improve problem solving and critical thinking skills for our Extension (GATE) students. Currently the majority of our Extension students lack the skills to use this type of technology effectively. This is because coding and robotics is not officially being taught across our school as part of the curriculum.
In July 2016 it was announced that digital technologies will be fully integrated into The New Zealand Curriculum from 2018. This inquiry will be an opportunity to lead the way with the implementation of the new digital technology curriculum strand through this pilot.
Troy England
Papakura High School
Kootuitui
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How Positive Feedback can increase Students Self-Efficacy
My inquiry will focus on how positive feedback improves self-efficacy and esteem in students writing. Will providing positive comments on student work hopefully increase their confidence in their ability to write quality reflections and explanations in NCEA Physical Education? I want to use a range of different digital tools to provide various forms of feedback, catering to all my students needs. Affirming students with positive feedback gives them a sense of appreciation, which will hopefully raise confidence in their writing ability and increase motivation to complete tasks. With increased self efficacy in their writing ability, students will be confident to post work to an authentic audience. Connecting to a wider audience is a vision shared by the Manaiakalani Outreach programme which is valuable to learners in order to bring new knowledge into the classroom and increase learning opportunities.
Dorothy Apelu
Tamaki College
Manaiakalani
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How does blogging help college students see themselves as members of the global community?
I will be inquiring into improving engagement and learning outcomes for year 9 social studies students through the use of student blogs.
A key focus of my inquiry is to streamline learning transitions between the primary school and the college. We are also moving towards an integrated project based curriculum, which will allow opportunities for students to engage in and reflect on their learning. I would like to try quad blogging as students will be able to reflect on their learning, share this learning with others as well give and receive regular feedback. This will create an authentic audience and is essentially student focused.
Hinerau Anderson
Tamaki College
Manaiakalani
Links:
Using Visible Teaching and Learning to Shift Educational Achievement
My inquiry is to accelerate learning at Tamaki College through the development of a Visible Teaching and Learning Framework, to raise students achievement and shift thinking around effective and consistent pedagogical practices including Learn, Create and Share.
This is outlined here: https://goo.gl/D1seir
Kelsey Morgan
Gilberthorpe School
Uru Manuka
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Creating purpose and authentic audience in Numeracy
My inquiry is looking into creating purpose and authentic audience in Numeracy. I am aiming to improve student outcomes by creating multi levelled groupings across numeracy stages, where student purpose is to help support their peers in learning. This provides them with an authentic audience and purpose.
Andrea Tele'a
Pt England School
Manaiakalani
Links:
Beyond 9 - 3
I propose to explore home learning for year 7 & 8 students. How can we support ubiquitous learning to become a daily practice from school to home? Manaiakalani encourages and supports expanding the hours of learning beyond the start and end bell of the school day. Are our students taking advantage of this open all hours access to their learning? What can we do at school to motivate and maintain this opportunity to accelerate achievement?
Angela Moala
Pt England School
Manaiakalani
Links:
Hooking Readers Through Multimodal Texts
I will inquire into ways to engage a target group of year four learners through the use of multimodal texts that will provide avenues for the students to go deeper with specific knowledge and wider in their understanding of general knowledge. To do this, students will focus on an overarching reading topic for a period of time that will provide avenues for the teaching focus to go deeper each week utilising multiple texts available to the students. These texts will provide opportunities for constructive dialogic conversations during micro-group learning sessions. Students will have checkpoints along the way as they work on a create task to share with their classmates and on their blogs. In addition to using the multimodal texts with my students, I will explore ways to compile an evolving database of multimodal texts.
Alicia Craig
Ohaeawai School
Kaikohekohe
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How does strategic collaboration used in conjunction with visible learning and digital tools lead to accelerated student achievement across our school?
I would like to further investigate how planned and strategic collaboration in conjunction with visible learning and digital tools enables accelerated achievement. This has come as a result of my successful inquiry and working collaboratively this year to accelerate progress for our priority learners, especially in reading. As the leader I would scaffold and empower our staff to make changes in their practice, in a supportive way, to achieve the same learning outcomes and achievement for all our learners. As well as increasing digital instruction through visibility and providing challenging learning opportunities. This also fits in and supports some of the recommendations made by Woolf Fisher Research team. Engagement in high quality teaching and learning activities will be more evident in the Woolf Fisher Research for 2017. Robust and strategic conversations between teachers about learning will allow acceleration to occur.