Student tracking sheets and attendance

Attendance in my Year 12 Geography class in particular is a bit up and down. Students are away frequently for a variety of reasons including; trades, gateway courses, sickness and truancy. Students missing class regularly was becoming difficult for me to keep track of in terms of where students were at with both their assessments and the work they needed to complete in preparation for assessments.

In order to manage the disparity in attendance I wanted to come up with a way to know where students were at but also for a way for students to know what work they had missed and then could hopefully pick up where they left off in the last lesson. This was especially important for students with really low attendance because it felt like every time I saw them I was having to 'catch them up on work'.

I started to use a "tracking sheet" to keep tabs on students work, where they were at and what they had completed.

Level 2 Geography Tracking Sheet

Initially I used the tracking sheet so I knew where students were at with their work. Orange showed students were away and green meant students had completed the task. This meant when a student arrived in class after missing a few lessons I could easily look at the task sheet and see what they needed to be doing.

However, after a discussion in my department meeting we decided to also use a similar system to track where students were with their assessments - a useful tool to flag students who were falling behind in their work.

We decided to use an department wide colour code to track students progress.

Social Sciences tracking sheet colour code

After this meeting I decided it was a useful tool to use in all of my classes not just for me but for students to see clearly where they were at and what they needed to completed and when. This could be made available to students on the class site and they could then use this at home if they were away from school regularly. 

After explaining this system to my Year 13 Geography class they wanted this to be made visible for them to keep track of where they were at. I was at this point a little concerned that making it public might have a bit of a "shaming" effect but the class reassured me this was not how they perceived it. 

After this positive response I began using this as a tool for keeping tabs on where absent students were at but also for assessments to ensure work was getting done on time in all of my senior classes and sharing this by projecting it on the whiteboard during class time.

Tracking Sheet for Level 2 Assessments

Using student choice and student voice

In Week 5 of Term 1, 2017 I had been having a challenging time with my Year 9 Social Studies class on Wednesday afternoons during period 5 in particular. As this class was right after lunch students would scatter in 5-10 minutes after the bell really unsettled. The unsettled nature of the class was particularly problematic as it would take 2 or 3 attempts to get the majority of the class to even come into the class quietly. Once I finally got the class in and seated it would take another few minutes to give instructions for the "Do Now" task I had set. Giving instructions and getting the class into their learning for the lesson was becoming a major battle. Each week that went by my frustration was growing - a 50 minute lesson had been reduced to 20 minutes of actual learning time. I had to change what I was doing.

I discussed the issue with my HOD and explained this was only really happening during the Wednesday period 5 lesson. The other 2 lessons I had with 9tgn were in the mornings on Mondays and Fridays and the class was relatively productive during this time. Together we decided it might be worth accepting the lesson was disruptive and taking time out from the unit plan during this lesson.

From a previous lesson on identity and culture  I knew this class responded well to having an element of choice with their work. I decided to try giving them options that were related to Social Studies and the content they were learning but potentially a little more engaging.

The next lesson I had with the class I decided to use student voice to plan the next Wednesday period 5 lesson. I explained to the class I wanted to give them a choice at the same time as developing the required skills in Social Studies. I asked students to write down suggestions for activities we could do during Wednesday's lesson that they would enjoy.

While the majority of the suggestions were for things like; play video games and 'do P.E'. There were a number of suggestions I could incorporate into the lesson such as; drawing and listening to music.

I decided to give the class 4 different options some of which were related to the learning we had been doing in class - students were working in groups undertaking an inquiry into a social issue. Student's could blog about their topic, continue working on their inquiry, explain the issue by drawing a cartoon, writing a song or a rap or lastly, students could look at a social issue.

Options given to 9tgn

The options provided allowed students to consider their social studies inquiry in a different way. And providing the option of drawing a cartoon allowed me to include students suggestions. I also got the class to create a playlist with their choice of music which we listened to during the Wednesday Period 5 lesson. 

Current Issue resource

In this first lesson the majority of the class choose to blog or write a song about their social issue. However, a small group of students opted to continue on with their projects. I noticed students were much more engaged than in the previous lessons and settling the class was a whole lot easier. 

After the lesson I asked the class how they felt about the lesson and they explained that having choice and listening to music was a big motivator for them. 

In conclusion, providing 9tgn with choice and flexibility is a useful strategy to motivate students and increase engagement. As I continued provided the class with similar options during the Wednesday lessons I found more often than not students would just simply continue on with their projects but enjoyed the relaxed learning environment provided by listening to music.   

Calling home - Student Achievement Conferences

In week 9 of Term 1, 2017 Tamaki College held their first Student Achievement Conferences for the year. The week prior to the conferences I spent time contacting the homes of students in my Year 9 tutor class in order to confirm conference times.

Parents and caregivers had been sent letters home informing them of the "Teacher Only Day's" and a time had been given for them to come in and meet with the tutor teachers of their children. In order to ensure as many parents and students turned up as possible I began making contact with home.

Of the 23 students in my tutor class I managed to get hold of 14 parents. This process was beneficial as it acted as a reminder to parents but it also notified a number of parents who for whatever reason had not received the letter notifying them of the time.

Furthermore, this second round of calls home allowed me the opportunity to continue to engage with parents, whanau and caregivers of students in my Year 9 tutor class. One particularly positive interaction that is worth noting was with one mother who took the opportunity to explain to me why her son's attendance had been low lately. She explained that she was unable to afford a netbook for her son which meant that he often felt uncomfortable coming to school as he was unable to complete work. After this phone call I managed to talk to one of the DP's about arranging for this student to borrow and old netbook from the school so he could have the correct equipment in class and hopefully would begin attending school more frequently.

After the conferences I realised the value of calling home prior to the interviews. ALL of the students whose parents or caregivers I had phoned prior to the conferences turned up to their time slot. However, only 2 students who I was unable to contact turned up on the day. While calling home in advance seems time consuming especially during the time leading up to the conferences with reports to write etc. The results show it is well worth taking the time to 1) continue building these relationships and 2) to ensure a better turn out on conference day!

Identity and culture

In my Year 9 Social Studies class as part of our unit on sustainability we are looking at culture and identity. As this lesson was being taught early into Term 1 - I am still getting to know the students in my class. The Year 9 unit plan included a particular lesson where students looked at their own identity by creating a "Code of Arms."

As culture and identity is something I see as closely related I felt that a "Code of Arms" was a particularly euro-centric approach to learning about identity. This I felt was particularly problematic approach to take with a class of students who were mostly from Māori and Pasifika backgrounds. Especially considering within this particular unit of work we were attempting to demonstrate the value in sustaining cultures. I decided this was a useful opportunity to give students some choice in which task they would like to use to consider their own identities.  

I initially thought giving 9tgn the option creating a pepeha to consider their identity was a good idea for a number of reasons. Firstly, producing a pepeha fitted nicely with the LO's for this lesson of considering identity but was also a way I could use te reo Māori and tikanga in my classroom in a way that was relevant. I also felt this was an opportunity to include the cultural background of my Māori students in the classroom environment.

However, I knew that 9tgn were also doing their pepeha's in their Te reo Māori class. For this reason I went to see their Te reo teacher to collaborate on this particular lesson. I didn't want to teach students to do their pepeha in a different way nor did I want to interfere with what they were learning in another subject. Their Te reo teacher was supportive of me introducing a pepeha into the social studies lesson but also suggested that I could give the option of producing a pattern as a way to express identity.  She explained this was something that had been learning and using this in Social Studies could then further reinforce this learning. We also discussed how the pattern could be something that my Pasifika students could relate to aswell.

I decided to give 9tgn three different options to express their identity; a pepeha, a code of arms or a koru pattern.

Option 1: Pepeha template

Option 2: Code of Arms

Option 3: Koru Pattern

I found this lesson to be particularly positive for a number of reasons. Firstly, it seemed students in 9tgn really appreciated having choice. This was expressed through student voice at the end of the lesson. I realised this was particularly important to provide this for 9tgn whenever possible as I noted that students were significantly more engaged in the task when they were given an element of choice. Prior to this lesson I had noticed that work completion was a bit of an issue with this class in particular. However, the majority of the class were committed to finishing their pattern, pepeha or code of arms during the double period. Those that hadn't finished seemed to be sending completed work to me after school and so were obviously committed to finishing off the work for homework. To me this is a positive indication that providing student choice and options that were culturally responsive to learners in my classroom was worth the effort as students were far more engaged in the learning process.

Making connections at home

Over the first few weeks of Term 1, 2017 I began making contact with the parents, caregivers and whanau of my Year 9 tutor class. A simple phone call home was a useful starting point in establishing a positive relationship between school and home. I hoped this would open up communication and allow me to feel more comfortable contacting home throughout the year.

This initial contact with home early in the school year seemed particularly important in my new role at Tamaki College where the vast majority of students are Māori or Pasifika. As noted in both Ka Hikitia - Accelerating Success and The Pacific Education Plan (Key documents focused on improving educational outcomes for Māori and Pasifika learners in Aotearoa New Zealand) making connections and building strong relationships with parents, whanau, iwi and communities is a key step in accelerating success of both Māori and Pasifika learners. 

Ka Hikitia - Accelerating Success 2013-107

The Pacific Education Plan 2013-2017

I began calling the homes of students in my Year 9 tutor class. During this process I noticed an emerging themes. A number of the parents and caregivers initially  seemed to be a little stand off-ish and slightly guarded until I had reassured them their child had not done anything wrong and I was simply calling to introduce myself as both their tutor teacher and social studies teacher. Once parents and caregivers understood the reason for my call the tone shifted and the conversation became positive. For the most part the families informed me their children were settling in well and enjoying school. Several parents were extremely pleased I had made contact with them and thanked me for taking the time to call. 

Upon reflection I realised that the families of my Year 9 class were initially slightly defensive and this is perhaps a reflection of the busy nature of teaching which meant often contact with home is made when their is an issue or problem at school. This reflection made me realise how important it was to contact home with positive news as much as possible. In addition to beginning this relationship with home on a positive note, these phone calls also allowed me to find out important information such as health issues and current living situations of students in my class. This type of information would not have been so easy to find out had I not taken the time to call home.

In conclusion, calling home on a positive note early on in the school year has been incredibly beneficial for a number of reasons. Firstly this allowed me to introduce myself, find out additional information about some students and hopefully made myself more approachable for parents and caregivers in my tutor class. This experience in particular further reinforced the idea that calling home with positive feedback is especially important as parents unfortunately are used to being contacted only when something is wrong.