Reflection of my RPI journey

Looking back over the 9 sessions, I feel this PLD has changed the way I think about my role as a reading teacher. I have always valued reading in my classroom, but these sessions have made me think more carefully about why I am doing things and how they help my students become better readers. One of the biggest things I have taken away is the importance of knowing my learners as readers. I am now thinking more carefully about their interests, experiences, reading behaviours and the types of texts I choose for them. I want students to see themselves in texts, while also being exposed to different cultures, experiences and perspectives. The sessions on small-group reading, vocabulary and higher-order thinking have also influenced my teaching. I want to be more intentional about building background knowledge, explicitly teaching vocabulary and asking questions that make students think beyond what is directly written in the text. I have also changed the way I think about what happens after reading. The ideas around Create and Share showed me that reading does not have to finish with comprehension questions. Students can use what they have learnt to create, discuss and share. For example, after reading Bak Choy, my students created a skit recreating the scene where Jacob fell into the water and interviewed the bystanders. This showed me how students can demonstrate their understanding in different ways. Overall, these 9 sessions have helped me become a more intentional reading teacher. I am thinking more about how my texts, teaching, questions, activities and assessment all connect. Moving forward, I want my reading programme to give students more opportunities to read, think, discuss, question, create and share. Most importantly, I want my students to see reading as more than just a school task. I want it to help them learn about themselves, understand others and explore different worlds.

Create put into practice

After putting the “create” ideas into practice, I could see how much more engaged my students were when they had the chance to use what they had learnt from a text. We read Bak Choy, and instead of just answering questions, the students chose to create a skit based on the part where Jacob fell into the water. They decided to recreate the scene by acting as different characters and interviewing the bystanders about what happened. I really enjoyed seeing the students take the text and make it their own. They had to think about what the characters may have said, how they would have reacted, and what information from the story they needed to include. It also gave them a chance to work together, share ideas and be creative. I noticed that some students who are usually quieter during reading discussions were much more involved when they were acting and creating. It showed me that students can sometimes demonstrate their understanding in ways that are different from simply writing answers. This has encouraged me to continue using more “create” activities in reading. I will still make sure the task has a clear purpose and is connected to the text, but I want to give students more opportunities to choose how they show what they understand.

Day 8: The Power of Create

Today made me think about how I can give my students more chances to use what they have learnt rather than just read a text and answer questions. I realised that “create” can give students a real purpose for their learning and allow them to show their understanding in different ways. Next week I will make my create activities more closely linked to the texts we are reading. For example, after reading about a character, students could create a diary entry, comic, video or poster from that character’s point of view. I also want to give students more choice in how they show their learning, such as choosing between a Google Drawing, slideshow, video or written piece. I will also build in more opportunities for students to work together and support each other. This could include pair or group projects where they share ideas and strengths, linking to tuakana-teina. Another change I want to make is to give students a real purpose for their creations. Instead of simply asking them to make a poster, I could ask them to create something that teaches another class what they have learnt. This makes the task more meaningful. I also want to make some of my reading units longer so students have time to really develop an idea and create something meaningful. For example, after reading several texts around a topic, students could use information from all the texts to create a presentation, poster, digital book, a short film or other product that shows what they have learnt Overall, I want to move away from “read it, answer it and move on” and give students more opportunities to read, learn, create and share.

RPI Day 7 Reflection "Thinking"

Today’s PLD made me think about the types of questions I ask my students when we are reading. I realised that I sometimes focus too much on questions where students just find the answer in the text. Today's learning reminded me that I also need to give students opportunities to think more deeply, share their opinions, and explain their thinking. One thing that stood out to me was the idea of reading "between the lines" and "beyond the lines." I want my students to think about what the author is trying to say, not just what is written on the page. This means giving them opportunities to make predictions, make connections, and think about different points of view. I also liked learning about the three ways to build higher order thinking into reading lessons. Modelling my own thinking, planning meaningful follow-up activities, and giving students time to have discussions all help students think more deeply about a text. The Zoo Debate activity showed me that good discussions need to be planned and that students need regular chances to practise sharing and building on each other's ideas. Another thing I will think more about is using Bloom's Taxonomy when I plan. It reminded me to include tasks that go beyond remembering facts and encourage students to explain, create, and justify their ideas. I also liked the idea of using provocations to start discussions. I think this will help students who are unsure how to join a conversation and give them a starting point for sharing their ideas. Overall, today reminded me that reading is about more than understanding the words on the page. It is also about thinking, questioning, and talking about ideas with others. What I will take back to my classroom Ask more open-ended questions that make students think more deeply. Give students more time to talk in small groups and share their ideas. Use provocations to start meaningful class discussions. Plan follow-up activities that ask students to explain, create, and justify their thinking. Model my own thinking more often so students can see how good readers make sense of a text. Use Bloom's Taxonomy when planning to make sure I'm giving students different ways to think about a text. I think these small changes will help my students become more confident readers who are willing to share their ideas, think more deeply, and support their thinking with reasons.

RPI DAY 6 Reflection

Today’s PLD made me realise just how important vocabulary is for learning. The more words students know, the easier it is for them to understand what they are reading, share their ideas, and make sense of new learning. It really reinforced the idea that vocabulary plays a big part in reading comprehension. Something that stood out to me was that knowing a word is not as simple as knowing its definition. Words can have different meanings depending on the situation, and students build their understanding of words over time. This made me think about how often I expose students to new words and whether I am giving them enough opportunities to use those words in different ways. I also reflected on my own practice. At the moment, when we come across tricky words, we often look up the meaning, but today's learning reminded me that vocabulary teaching needs to go beyond that. Students need opportunities to discuss words, work out meanings from context, and look at parts of words such as prefixes and suffixes, can we maybe use it in a sentence or part of our writing? My students already do some of this through our You Can Spell programme, but I think I need to be more explicit in showing them how these word parts can help them understand unfamiliar words. I also enjoyed the activity where we had to explain and justify our thinking. It reminded me that students need regular opportunities to share their opinions and back them up with reasons. This is something I can build into my reading discussions more often. What I will take back to my classroom Spend more time talking about new words before and during reading. Encourage students to use clues from the text to work out the meaning of unfamiliar words. Be more explicit when teaching prefixes, suffixes, and other word parts (maybe through warm ups or even setting up tasks as homework) Give students more chances to explain their thinking and justify their answers. Revisit new vocabulary throughout the week so students hear it, use it, and remember it. Overall, today reminded me that building vocabulary is not a one-off lesson. It needs to happen regularly, and the more opportunities students have to hear, discuss, and use new words, the stronger their understanding will become.

RPI Day 5 Reflection

Today’s PLD made me think more carefully about how I plan my reading programme and independent tasks for students. One thing that really stood out to me was that follow-up tasks should not just be activities to keep students busy while I work with a reading group. The tasks should actually have a purpose and connect to the learning intention and success criteria. I also reflected on how important it is to make learning easy for students to access. We talked about class sites and making sure students can find what they need quickly without getting confused. It made me think about how clear my own class routines and online tasks are. Another thing I thought about was whether students really know what to do when they are not working with me. This reminded me that strong routines are important so students can work independently and stay focused while I am conferencing with groups. I also liked the discussion around linking learning across different subjects. It makes sense that if students are learning poems in reading, they can also explore poems in writing. This helps make learning feel more connected and meaningful for students. Lastly, we talked about using digital apps in a meaningful way. Technology should help students think, learn, and engage with the task instead of just giving them something to do. I have been using epic but its mostly for student to use it as enjoyment and reader mileage however I now know there are more features to this reading tool that I can use explicitly to link the stories they read on EPIC to the topic of inquiry or the texts they are reading during guided reading sessions with me. Action Points Make sure independent tasks clearly connect to the learning intention. Check that my class site is simple and easy for students to use. Strengthen classroom routines so students know what to do independently. Continue linking reading with writing and other learning areas. Use digital tools and apps more purposefully during learning tasks.

Small Group Reading Adjustment Reflection

Over the past few weeks, I started using some of the small group reading ideas during our ANZAC unit, which my mentor Josh helped our team to create. Before reading the text Lest We Forget, I showed the students a video about ANZAC Day and got them to take notes while watching. I noticed this helped a lot because students already had some understanding of the topic before we even started reading. During guided reading, I tried to slow down more and pay attention to how students were thinking and responding to the text instead of just focusing on finishing it. I noticed students were more engaged because they were already interested in the topic and had some background knowledge. I also made sure the follow-up tasks connected properly to the reading. After reading the text, students did inquiry work around the “who, what, where, and why” of ANZAC Day. They also made posters about some of the fallen soldiers mentioned in the text and learned more about their lives. Later, they wrote poems and letters from the perspective of a soldier. I found that these activities helped students connect more deeply to the topic and really think about what soldiers may have gone through. Something else I noticed was that students were sharing more ideas during discussions and using information from the text to support their thinking. Because all the learning connected together, the unit felt more meaningful for them. Overall, this unit reminded me how important it is to build background knowledge first and make sure reading tasks actually connect to the text and learning. I could see that students were more engaged and got more out of the learning because of it.