Creating Growth Mindset

As I am in Room 5 today, I am going to share with learners about developing neural pathways.  Also, I am going to share how learners can grow their brains.

Creating shared understanding

Yesterday, I went into Room 4 to develop a shared understanding about bullying.  As I had a bit more time,  I showed Room 4 how your brain develops neural pathways.  One learner exclaimed with excited, that's what happening in my brain right now as I am learning about my brain.

Also, we looked at the power of the brain to help us or hinder us in our learning.  Yoda helped us with this.

Findings from Year 5-6 Wellbeing@School

When I analysed the data from Year 5 and 6, learners ideas were very different from our Year 7 and 8.    Almost all learners feel they belonged and mostly their ideas around school wide climate, teaching and learning, community partnership were positive.   The areas that we need to consider pro-social student culture and strategies to continue to develop.  Also, this is an area that  Year 7 and 8 need to develop further.

What's my thinking now?

 After looking at the results of this, I feel that, I need to scan deeper into this issue.  

• My thinking is... what do staff think as a group and as individuals?   As a staff this week, we are going to complete self-review on wellbeing@school both as a group and individually.  
•  Also, I have questions, is this just a Yr 7 and 8 problem or does it go throughout the whole school.  So I have created a survey for Yr 5-6 to complete online.  

Results from Yr 7 and 8 Survey - This is what the data says.

Positives are that many Yr 7 and 8 learners believe:

• Teachers think they can all achieve
• The school teaches behaviours that are ok and not ok
• Whanau feel welcome at school, and teachers and parents respect each other.
• Violent behaviours don't happen very often at school.

The areas that the school needs to be concerned with are that some Yr 7 and 8 believe:

• They don't have a say in what happens at school
• They believe they don't belong at school
• That teachers treat them unfairly
• That learning isn't interesting for them
• They don't safe feel getting to and from school
• That students don't treat others or teachers with respect
• That students let others be hassled and they don't ask others (other students or adults) for help
• That students are bullied at our school

Next Steps

I think that children are focusing on reading as decoding. The mechanics of reading - learning to read rather than reading to learn.  This is the fundamental change that I believe happens in Year 3 or 4 depending on children's reading ability.  

Also, I'm interested in the emotional links to learning. I want to continue to scan further by Year 7 and 8 learners to complete a wellbeing@school survey.  To gain an insight to whether learners have a growth mindset.

Summary of Student Voice

From the surveys, here is what the children are saying.
I find  reading hard when there are:

• Trick words;
• Word I can't sound out;
• Noises or distractions;
• New words I don't know;
• Old books.

Also, when I need to:

• summarise stories;
• think about the picture;
• use a range of strategies.

I need to learn to:

• Know more words;
• Use different strategies to read words;
• Read hard words;
• Explain things in my own words;
• Focus on my work;
• Sound out;
• Read fluently;
• Point to the words;
• Answer hard questions .

To help me read I:

• Sound out or chunk words;
• reread, skip words and /or read on;
• Think what would make sense;
• Ask for help.