Monday, November 13, 2023

2023 CoL Teacher Inquiry: Bursts and Bubbles

I'm delighted to share my amazing journey of CoL with you all. As we arrive at the end of 2023, it's a moment to reflect on the insights gained and anticipate the possibilities ahead!

Here is a short reflection of my Inquiry Focus for 2023 and following that, there's a summary of my 2023 Inquiry in the form of a Google Slides presentation.

My Inquiry question for this year was:

Will a focus on cultural visibility and prior knowledge accelerate student confidence and capability in Reading?

By intentionally integrating cultural visibility and leveraging students' prior knowledge, educators create a more inclusive and engaging learning environment. 

I identified this as my focus when I noticed that certain students were not utilizing their prior knowledge and lacked confidence in reading or sharing their cultural stories.

To build a rich picture of my students’ learning I used the evidence and data from the PAT Reading Comprehension, e-asTTle Reading Comprehension assessments, student voice, and baseline observations. 

During the profiling phase, I noticed my target students prefer to sit silently but all become nervous if asked to read a paragraph. With my inquiry in mind, I stepped back and watched how they interacted with others when working in Reading groups. Actually, they were very quiet, did not want to read loud and there wasn’t much interaction between them.

After taking a mini-lesson with my focus group, profiling my own teaching provided valuable insights. For example:

  • I used a number of deliberate acts of teaching.
  • At some points, I felt that I could have asked more questions.
  • Also, I should have given them enough waiting time to answer the questions.
  • I did more talking as well.

The changes I made in my teaching were ….

  • I am not going to rush through the lesson. 
  • Conduct small group reading instruction to provide targeted support. 
  • Establish clear, measurable learning objectives for my reading lessons. 

The literature/expertise that helped me decide what changes to make are summarised in my blog in detail. 

An integral part of my inquiry was an extended discussion whereby my students do predict, summarise, question, and clarify. I got this idea from Vygotsky's theories. 

Overall I would rate the changes in student learning as….positive, with noticeable improvements in engagement, comprehension, and confidence. 

The evidence for my rating is that…. I have observed increased participation during discussions, greater depth in understanding demonstrated by students, and a noticeable boost in their confidence when expressing ideas and sharing their thoughts.

The most important learning that I acquired about reciprocal teaching in my class is the power of collaborative learning and shared responsibility among students.

Remember friends “Teaching with cultural responsiveness means understanding that every student is a story waiting to be heard and valued”.


No comments:

Post a Comment