Priority Student Baseline Data 2023

 

Timepoint one data (shared and analysed in this blog post) was captured through:

• Informal teacher observation
• Student voice through google forms
• Assessment (PAT & e-asTTle)
• Recording my lesson

The PAT and e-asTTle assessments were carried out in Week  5. I am really looking forward to seeing an accelerated shift later in Term 3 and Term 4. I believe Term 1 data collection will help me to make clear comparisons at the end of the year.

During Week 7 I prepared some interview questions in the google form and shared them with my class. Keeping the Inquiry focus question in my mind, I prepared some questions that were related to their culture and heritage language. The response allowed me to think deeper and beyond. Therefore, I decided to do something different in my class. I went to the resource room and collected all the Pasifika and Maori-themed stories. Then I created a slide presentation and used my first story from the Island of Tonga followed by a good discussion and activities. Apart from my guided reading sessions I have decided to do these Pasifika & Maori-themed stories every week. I will only use one block per week to do these past traditional stories. The active participation of my students allowed me to further make some new connections. These were my observations after having a lesson with them:

My Tongan students were responsive and at the same time, I could see the eagerness of other learners who were curious to know more about Tongan Culture. We came across some Tongan words and it was really good to see some Tongan students explaining to the class what it means. Furthermore, I got stuck in the pronunciation of certain words, and they helped me to pronounce them correctly.

To my surprise the ones who are usually quiet and shy, even took the ownership and participated in the discussion. This gives me a clear picture that tapping on children's prior knowledge and cultural capital will be quite rewarding and helpful.

Talking about the pictures in the story and making predictions about what might happen next and discussing prior knowledge the learner already has can help a L2 learner extensively (Nation, 2008).

Finally,  the informal observations and my lesson recording will show if there has been any change in participation levels.