Thursday 17 February, 2022

Thank you to those teachers who offered and hosted us in their classroom for this morning’s learning walk. We wanted to share with you a quick summary of the teacher practice that supported calm classrooms and engaged students – according to our observations, which was fantastic to see!

• Providing equipment for students without any – removes barrier to engagement.

• Using students’ names

• Explicit instruction supported by representation in various modalities (eg. Verbal and visual information).

• Clarity of instructions that students can revisit. Eg. Students can look up and see written instructions detailing what is expected.

• Room set up is very important. Eg. The teacher being able to easily move around the room meant difficulties could be quickly addressed.

• Movement of the teacher around the room, and teacher energy. Eg. Regular movement to all locations where students are seated. Plenty of energy as evidenced by body language and voice – showing the students that they are worth your full energy, invigorating the learning space.

• Including tasks that use an element of thinking, higher order/challenge

• Regular and individualised prompting, including questions.

• Clear articulation of work that should be completed in the lesson time.

• Holding students accountable to a minimum expectation of work completion, clarity at the outset around this for all students. Eg. “You should have completed Mrs Merlino’s eyebrows in your portrait of a teacher by recess.”

• Chunking up the expectations (Goldfish Principle) particularly for those students who can be forgetful

• Checking for understanding – individualised or in a way that provides useful information

• Tasks for early finishers.

Thursday 17 February, 2022

In today’s learning walk, the focus was on inclusive practices and we were looking for evidence that all students feel included in the learning environment.

The following observations were made about practices that supported inclusion:

• Layout of classroom can support or inhibit inclusion of students. more ‘open’ arrangements with tables arranged in ‘U’ shape can make it more difficult for students to be left isolated physically I the classroom.

• The students who struggle to access the work can usually be found in the corners of the room. Eliminate corners if possible or make these where you go to and check in on them regularly.

• Grouping students physically who have similar struggles can support inclusion as well as make it easier for the teacher to manage supporting all students.

• Notice changes in practice and the impact that this can have on some students. for example, students who have processing difficulties may (do) present very differently during ‘bookwork’ sessions compared with discussion or interactive sections of a lesson.

• With students having difficult, choice in how they access the curriculum is great but it is even better when it is followed up with insistence and support. For example, “great if you want to do that task but what I want to see you get through is……. And I am going to check back with you in 5 to see how you are going”

• Setting small ‘chunked’ goals for students who struggle and then circling back to those students regularly to check in on their small goals before setting new ones supports them to get work done and does not require as much time. Is more effective at engaging students that setting goals and not checking in.

• Students who struggle to access can be very good at avoiding detection and may sit quietly for long periods of time doing any manner of things that are not the intended task (like playing computer games for example – we saw Minecraft, first person shooter games and some others)

• Students who finish work quickly or easily sitting back, chatting waiting for further instruction or the lesson to progress

Ideas and suggestions that we discussed based on the observations

• Pay attention to where you pay attention…. Do you spend more time with particular groups or ‘types’ of students. students are very quick to notice this. If not sure, maybe consider asking a coach to observe your interactions with a class to see if there are patterns

• Set small goals for students who struggle - meet them where they are and regularly check in to see how they are going.

• Have Anchor tasks for students who have difficulty accessing the work so that they do not have to rely solely on the teacher for explanation (videos or other forms of instruction that the student can access independently).