October+2011

What is Happening in Term 4? - Issue 3 October 2011
** Welcome ** to the third newsletter of the year from the Teaching and Learning Coaches. We would like to share with you some of the work that the coaches have undertaken and our plans for Term 4. Eltham High School has been involved with a number of AIZ professional development programs, including The Feedback on Teaching and Learning Questionnaire or FTLQ. In this program teachers and students answer survey questions about the nature of class work, student skills development and classroom culture and organisation. Teachers then have feedback from students about their experience of the teacher’s practices and a comparison between the students’ experience and the teacher’s perception of students’ experience. Teachers are then able to use this tool to target specific areas they wish to improve, work with a group of teachers or a coach to support this, and measure change over time in the targeted area. A number of EHS teachers have been involved with this program in 2011 and will be doing the follow up survey with their classes in term 4. The Coaches have developed a similar, more streamlined tool, that teachers can use at any time with their students, through Survey Monkey. This survey is a quick, easy to use tool that can provide teachers with immediate feedback, and allow teachers to target specific areas they wish to improve. Teachers who would like to use this tool should see one of the Coaches.
 * AIZ and Feedback on Teaching and Learning Questionnaires **

The On Demand testing Reading and Number will again take place during Term 4. All year 7 to 10 students are to be tested, with results uploaded to the SPA program. These results will help teachers in a number of ways. Teachers of English and Maths, as well as other KLAs, can use the results when writing their end of year reports. The results can also be used by teachers at the beginning of next year, when planning for their new classes. The Reading tests will be conducted in English classes and the Number tests will be conducted in Maths classes. They will be done over a three-week period during October or November and may involve some classes being swapped into computer rooms to allow for the tests to be completed. We thank staff in advance for the continuing support given to enable this important event to happen. VCAA is continuing to add to and improve the available tests. English teachers may be interested in conducting Writing or Spelling adaptive tests or other diagnostic tests. Maths teachers may be interested in conducting adaptive tests in Measurement, Chance, Data, Space or Structure. Diagnostic tests are also available. These English and Maths tests are available for all year levels up to Year 10. Further information about these tests and instructions for setting them up are on the Coaches Wiki at http://elthamtlc.wikispaces.com/. The Coaches will also conduct In House PD on running alternative On Demand tests for interested teachers of English and Mathematics.
 * On Demand Testing **

In Term 3, coaches met regularly with Anna Panas and the VCE coordinators to discuss ways in which we can support them. We have presented data on the current VCE students by House, coupled with the performance data for those same students from their Year 9 Naplan testing (at this stage, their most recent data, although this will change - see **On Demand Testing**). After a brief PD session, coordinators are now able to quickly access an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of a student from their House group in the areas of Literacy and Numeracy. We will soon collate the Naplan data from the current Year 10s to be used as they move into VCE next year. If you are interested in exploring the existing Naplan and On Demand data on SPA (which stands for Student Performance Analyser) go to: [] Username: Elth02 Password: Elth02
 * Using Data to Support VCE Achievement **

In-house Professional Development will again continue to be offered through the Staff Meeting Calendar in Term 4. In response to specific requests, some new PD will be offered by various members of staff. The PD Calendar will be available in Week 1 of Term 4, and staff will again be asked to sign up for specific sessions. If you have a request for PD, or wish to offer a PD, please contact MCR or WIG.
 * In-house PD **

This year I have been enrolled in a Literacy Coaching Course through the Bastow Institute. The course was designed to support and develop Literacy Coaches in a range of different settings. Increasingly individual schools are training their teachers to become Literacy Coaches within their own school contexts to assist with implementing a whole school approach to literacy improvement. I have worked closely with a team of Secondary teachers from Doncaster, Lalor, Sale and Balwyn. We have had workshop days in each of these schools and it has been valuable to see similar and various approaches to improving literacy across the system. We have shared resources and ideas and have planned together. The professional reading component of the course has been extraordinary but rewarding and relevant. There will be professional learning opportunities this term where Literacy strategies and resources will be shared. If however, you’d like to have a look at some of the ideas that we have studied in the course, a whole wing of the coaching wiki has been developed so that the resources can be accessed at a time that suits you. Once in the elthamtlc wiki there’s a link to Literacy on the left hand side or follow this link now. I am very keen to share what I’ve learnt this year with you all. The materials have been engaging and it has been the best professional development that I have undertaken in a long while. The applications for Bastow Courses in 2012 are coming up soon – I’d encourage everyone to have a look and see if there is a course that might interest them. Melissa Hughes
 * A Whole School Approach to Literacy **

On 4 August 2011 Rai Jones attended the first of John Munro’s sessions on Adolescent Learning. Munro’s definition of learning //is the connecting of ideas in our mind//. Munro argues that we need to understand how pre-existing knowledge supports students to make connections with new material. Students draw from eight types of pre-existing knowledge to make connections: experiences; abstract and conceptual knowledge; actions and skills; attitudes; identity; how to think and learn; emotions, motivation and self-efficacy; and, cultural valuing of the knowledge Munro’s research has a number of implications. As teachers, we can scaffold students towards making effective connections between ideas. New learning situations are connected to past emotions through the work of the hippocampus. This points to //the importance of connecting positive emotions to learning experiences// in order to support future learning. Munro argues that the last two minutes of class are critical to facilitating positive states for learning next lesson. Munro also argues we need to build a culture of valuing knowledge, and bridge the gap between experiential knowledge and abstract knowledge.
 * Adolescent Learning by John Munro **

The coaches have been involved in raising awareness of the Powerful Learning strategies that the NMR have promoted across all year levels. One area of emphasis is Questions and Questioning. We ran a series of workshops on this important topic and, over the term, they were attended by a majority of staff. This has been a learning experience for the presenters – we are becoming better at opening up discussions in ways that allow the many different views and levels of experience of staff to be heard and considered by everyone.
 * NMR Powerful Learning **

At the VCE teachers meeting on Tuesday 18th October Linda McLeod and Marian Stoney will be conducting a workshop for teachers to share strategies that can be used to improve student performance in exams. Continuing the term 1 focus of VCE specific Professional Development to identify needs and strengths in teaching and learning strategies, specifically the use of question styles and instructional verbs, this workshop will focus on what is required at year 11 to best prepare students for year 12.
 * VCE Teachers’ Meeting **
 * Why do we have exams at year 11?
 * How do we structure our exams? What questions and questioning styles do we use?
 * How do we prepare students for exams at year 11?

The eLearning team completed a draft eLearning plan and will present to the CDT for feedback at the first meeting of Term 4. The investigations into a 1:1 program have focused on a model that would be sustainable for the future beyond the current funding. The first stage will consist of the current year 8s and 9s receiving a portable device in 2012. The year 11/12 students will use the existing machines in order to meet the requirements of the NSSCF. The junior school students will be provided access to the labs and laptops. Infuture years models are being investigated that would allow students to purchase a preferred machine. A final decision on a device has not been made. A small group of year 8/9 students will take part in a trial of various machines in early Term 4 to gather student opinion. After sampling Clickview and Digital Video Commander, we have decided that a trial of Clickview will be beneficial to the school with a view to introducing this next year. The use of Read Write Gold will be introduced across all curriculum areas in 2012. This program will be available to all students to aid numeracy and literacy.
 * eLearning Team **

We would like to acknowledge the hard work of the group of teachers working with the NMR Ultranet Coach.