Making Learning Visible in Mathematics

Hi everyone, my name is Winnie. I'm a teacher and a relieving assistant principal in Sydney, and welcome to my new video. I'm so excited to be talking about this because this is something that I'm really passionate about, because every year that I teach this way for math, a lot— yeah, I've just seen a lot of improvement from kids. A lot of kids who are really highly motivated, really self-sufficient. They're taking ownership of their own learning and it's, you know, very highly differentiated. So it caters for all students' needs. And you can use it in whichever way or, you know, be flexible to whatever your cohort or your class needs. So I'm really excited to share how I do this with my class and Yeah, I'm happy to share the resources with you as well. So let's get started. Okay, so this way I get to really differentiate and set challenging goals for my kids. And it's also a way for me to activate them as learners, as resources for each other, so that they're not just learning from me, but they're also learning from each other as well. So I'll show you how I did that. And then It's also a great way to understand the impact. So what impact I'm having with kids, because the— pretty much the big idea is to maximize student outcomes by understanding how much impact am I having, what do I need to do to change or improve that and help kids grow. Because pretty much like if kids, yeah, when the learning is visible, then, you know, kids know what to do and how to do it and how to be successful. And also for me as the teacher, I know if there's, yeah, if there's been learning or not, and if there's anything that I need to change. And, you know, when teaching and learning is visible, that's when, like, the learning goal is not only challenging but also explicit as well. And this is all from research from, you know, John Hattie and, like, the influence 'On Achievement.' So if you haven't seen that or read it or had a look at it, then I definitely recommend it because it just, it pretty much just places and gets us to think, think of how, you know, what will the students see, and it helps us put us in the shoes of the student. So yeah, just like this here, when teachers see learning through the eyes of the student, when students see themselves as their own teachers, and that's that's ultimately what we want as well. We want kids to be, you know, take responsibility of their learning. We want them to be motivated. We want them to be self-sufficient. You know, we're helping them, yeah, be successful learners, not just for the year that we have them, but, you know, forever as well. So yeah, this is why I'm really passionate about this. So This is how I develop highly motivated, self-sufficient learners who understand what they're learning and how to be successful and where to next. So the first thing that I do is I program by looking at the syllabus, like, and then I have a look at what are they learning, why is this important, what do they need to do to be successful, how will they know when they can move on, and how can you separate it into learning goals. As well. So here's an example of a program as well. So I put in all the syllabus outcomes and then also separate the content into different learning goals too and activities. And I'll find different activities to go underneath, and they can be like all sorts, like videos, it could be, you know, games, it could be different activities, it could be worksheets, it could be whatever it is. So I'll put a whole list of resources there and links, etc. So that, yeah, so that I can refer to it. And it's great because then every year we can, you know, improve on it, adapt it, edit it, etc. And then I also color code the goals as well. So the color code that I use is red for kindy, orange for Year 1, yellow for Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Year 6, etc. Etc. So at the moment I've got Year 3 and 4 and we have stage classes, so that's why when we program as a stage we use green and blue to show, you know, what, yeah, the different content. So that, yeah, and it's really great because that way the kids also know what their goals are because we have them up on the wall and also we know where they're tracking to. Yeah, and I'll just show you that through here as well. So in our program, we have the goals. We also have a list of all of the student names, and I put in numbers as well under each of the goals there. And sometimes we might have helpers as well. It just depends on the cohort, the class. The abilities as well. So in terms of the students, we'll put the list of students down so that when they do the pre-test, then if— so in the pre-test, we will match the goal to the question. So for example, if goal 1 is identifying and naming special quadrilaterals, then question 1 of their pretest, then that's what— that's the activity that they'd have to complete in the pretest. So it's very easy to see in the pretest, can that student do that goal? Is that something that they need to work on? So all the kids who maybe didn't understand that first question, then I would highlight their names and on this list so that I know exactly who needs to work on what goal, and we do that for all the pre-tests. So all of the pre-tests, the question, the goal will be matched up to that question number. So then this goal will be matched up to question 2, this goal 3 will be matched up to question 3 in the pre-test, and usually if You know, if the helpers that I pick will usually be students who have already mastered that concept and they're really, yeah, they have a really good understanding and they're able to peer teach or mark work, etc. But it just depends on your class and your cohort and what your kids are like. So sometimes I'll have helpers, sometimes I won't. It definitely helps having helpers because then you're upskilling them, which means that they are able to help other kids and you're using them as a resource. And it means that they, yeah, they have a deeper understanding of what they're teaching, especially if you're able to, you know, spend some time to teach them how to PE teach as well, which means that there's more time for you to go and help other kids. To. Okay, so I will put up copies of the goals up around the classroom as well so that kids can see them. And I also have a video on math programs if you do want some examples as well. So I put up a whole, whole bunch of links to my programs that you can download and edit and cater for your kids. And I've got activities underneath them as well. So that video there, I'll link it also down below as well so that you can and yeah, have a look. And then, so the pretest is to see where the students are at, and I've used different kind of pretests. I've used like the diagnostic tests. You can use the SENA kit. You can, I've also created assessments where I don't have to mark, which has been excellent. So if you wanna see how I do that there, then, yeah, then you can click on that link and you can have a look at my video and I do give examples of the assessments that I use as well. And for every assessment that we do give, they're linked directly to the goals as well. And then number 3, we gather and use the data. So I have a quick look over the tests. You can either mark it as a class or you, you yourself, the teacher, can mark it too. And then I highlight the students who need to work on that goal on that sheet. So it's very clear and I can see exactly, you know, what the trends are, which groups of students need to work on what, etc. And then, yeah, and then after that, after the pretest, then we either mark it together or we go through it as a class, which is a really good opportunity to do some explicit teaching and to also communicate what the learning intentions are, the criteria, and the learning goals that they'll be working on as well. So, yeah, which is really great because then we can break it down and I can show them, you know, in this question 1 of the test, that's goal 1, and goal 1 is to do this, and etc. And it's just a great opportunity to, yeah, do some explicit teaching. And also, yeah, show what the learning intentions are and why, why you're learning to do that as well. So if you do want copies of learning intentions and success criteria, etc., then I do have it in this video. There I have got links to the learning intentions and criteria from kindergarten to Year 6. So that's for number and algebra. So if you would like that, then there's a link to that video as well. I usually like to question and quiz my kids as well after some explicit teaching to, you know, see if, can they tell me back, can they communicate back to me what are we learning, why, how do you know if you're going to be successful, etc., just to make sure that they know as well. In terms of explicit teaching, So there are different ways to do this, especially with the program, because once we split the program into different goals, then, you know, we can use it in whichever way we want to because all our resources are all there underneath each goal. So what I do is use the data to figure out what is going to work best for my class. So for example, if there's majority or a large group of my kids who need to work on a certain goal. And if there are groups of students who need to work on something else, then instead of keeping the whole class together with me and working on the same thing, then I'll keep that large group with me and then I'll send those other kids off to work on their goals. And so, for example, I might send them a link to the program, and the program might include links to videos and activities to do, etc. So I'll show you how I do that later on as well and how I organize that in the classroom to make it— yeah, and I'll show you the system too so that they know what to do. So pretty much like if there's a group of kids who need to work on a goal, then I'll keep those students and then I can explicitly teach them, and then I'll send the other kids off to work on their own goals independently. Like they could watch videos, etc. So for example, if the program includes links to videos, then I'll post that up onto Google Classroom and they'll click on that and they'll watch the videos and then follow the structure and then complete activities, etc. And then, and then I can check on them later. After I set the other kids off. I can also involve kids in peer teaching as well. So for example, before, yeah, before the end of term, we were doing addition and subtraction, and I had a whole group of kids who were working on algorithms, a whole group of kids working on the jump strategy. So what I did was I did some explicit teaching on how to peer teach. And then I was able to group them together into pairs or threes, and then they were able to peer teach each other the strategies. Because I had a whole group of kids who had, you know, were really good at the jump strategy, so they were able to teach that to their peers. And I had, yeah, other kids who were really good at written strategy so that they were able to teach that to their peers. So it was really handy because then I knew who needed to work on what, and then I could pair them up and they could do some peer teaching, and that worked out really successfully. Another example is if they are all on different goals, then it can depend on what age group you have. So, for example, I know with Year 3s to Year 6 students, then I will happily, you know, give them the program and then send them off to work on it individually, and then I will pull groups. And because they're able to work individually on their goals, and they're able to work through the program and watch the videos, do activities, etc., then that gives me a lot of time to be able to pull different groups to either explicitly teach them or help them or guide them, support them in whatever way that I can. So that's, yeah, that's one way to do with Year 3 to Year 6 students. I know with K-2 classes at my school, a lot of the teachers have been team teaching and like teaching across stages. So for example, the Stage 1 teachers, there are 4 of them and they will split, they will first of all, they'll you know, gather the data as well. They will figure out who needs to be working on what goals. They will split them into groups and each teacher will teach a certain goal. So there's 4 of them, so they will work on 4 goals and they, that way they're able to, yeah, they're able to cater for those students as well. So that's also something that you can do depending on your age group as well. And I know the kindy teachers also, yeah, also do that too. And yeah, and then the fourth example is you can just focus on a couple of goals. So for example, if you know a lot of your majority of your class need to work on, you know, a few kids, yeah, maybe groups of kids need to work on this goal, then you can help them with that, or another group needs to work on another goal, then you can just focus on a couple. As long as, you know, each of the kids in your class are working on a challenging goal, a goal that's going to help them improve, and it's not something that they already know as well. So in terms of learning goals, like, I put them all up around the room as well. So it might look like this. So I'll have like the sheet there with the names on it so that they know what goals they need to be working on. Because, you know, sometimes it's not linear. So it might not— like a lot of the times, kids in my class won't be working on like goal 1, 2, 3. Like they might be working on goal 1, 5, and 6, or whatever it is. So that There will show them what goals they need to work on. Sometimes I'll put up the goals underneath it as well so that they can place their name and they can actually physically move their name to whatever goal they are working on. So if they've finished with one goal, then they can move their name on to the next goal that they've got to work on. And as you can see, I can easily see who is working on what goal, and then I can easily pull together that group of kids and then check on how they're going or do some explicit teaching or whatever it is. Yeah. And then with the activities, I will sort and organize activities into different boxes. So I have boxes that link to the learning goals. So, you know, box number 1 is learning goal 1. So they know that their activities or their sheets or whatever it is is there for them to use. So yeah, it could be like, could be games, it could be worksheets, could be whatever it is, and then I just put it in there into the boxes. In terms of helpers, so if you do have helpers in your class, then they can explain some concepts, they can mark activities, they can, yeah, I've used them to help me mark exit slips as well and to tick off if, yeah, if the student has got the exit slips correct or not, etc. But if you are doing it as the teacher, then with the exit slips, I would give them at the end of the activities of that goal, and that's there to to check for their understanding. So I'll link the exit slips to the different goals that we have. So that says like 2D Goal 1, and then I'll put in like the question, and that's just there to check, okay, so do you understand the goal that you were working on? And if they do, then that's great because that's an indicator that, you know, they understand and they understood that concept so that they can move on to the next goal, and then on that sheet here, then we'll tick it off so that, yeah, so that you can see that they've completed that goal as well. And if you would like a quick and easy way to track student progress as well, I have a video for that too, and I give examples, and you can download it in the description box as well. And then so kids will understand where to go to next because they will keep checking their learning goals. They get to see where they're up to. They move their names onto the next goal. And yeah, so that really helps having— I mean, it's a lot of work. It's a lot of planning. And it's great when you have a stage where you can get everyone to collaborate and plan together, etc. And this system just really works because then kids know what they are learning to do. They know where to go next. They know what activities they need to complete to move on to the next, next goal. And they know that they need to be able to answer that exit slip as well before they can move on. So yeah, so pretty much like that's what a visible learner is. So they're able to articulate what they're learning and why. They can talk about how they're learning learning and the strategies that they're using. They know the next step. They understand the assessment tools that are being used, like the exit slip. They can ask questions and clarify, see errors as learning opportunities, seek feedback, set learning goals. So, yeah, so this is a really great way to develop students so that they're self-sufficient and highly motivated et cetera. And then, so yeah, pretty much like, you know, a teacher's belief and commitment are one of the greatest influences on student achievement. And that just, yeah, I mean, I guess that makes a lot of sense because, you know, we have a really important role to play. And it's really important for us to understand and evaluate our impact. And this way of teaching, I've been able to see you know, are the activities helping them? Like, do I need to do some more explicit teaching? It's a lot of reflection and looking at data and seeing if the kids understand what they're doing. And, you know, that's what we need to do, yeah, as effective teachers as well. Being, you know, evaluators, like where we have a responsibility to help kids grow and learn. And we talk about, you know, how kids learn, and we look at assessment as feedback as well. And we, yeah, make sure that we're challenging kids, positive relationships, etc. Yeah. And that's what, yeah, there's, you know, teaching is complex, it's hard. And this is what we do. So we give them clear learning intentions so that they understand it. We give them challenging criteria so that they're challenged. You know, we know when students are not progressing and they also know as well and they seek feedback and we provide feedback, etc. So yeah, anyway, thank you so much for listening. I do update my resources on my videos, like for example, putting more programs up as we go, putting up more exit flips, putting up more links to assessments, etc. So if you do want to be the first to know when I put up new resources, then you can go to my blog, which looks like this, and you can put in your email and join my mailing list, and I will send you an email whenever I put up whenever I put up new links to programs and resources, etc. And if you do want to see it in action as well, and if you do want to see what it looks like in my classroom, or if you want to see it in another stage, another year, etc., then just send me an email, let me know, and then we'll see if we can do some, yeah, schedule it in or do something about it so that, yeah, because I'm happy for people to have a look and see what it looks like in the classroom. But yeah, anyway, thank you for watching and thank you for listening. Yeah, this is something that I'm really passionate about, so that's why I am sharing this with you, but yeah, make sure that you subscribe to my YouTube channel. I'm @misswinnietang on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and I will see you in my next video. Anyway, I hope this was helpful, but bye!