Liz Kane - Literacy Day 3

 

“Step one in classroom management: respect the fact that children go to school to learn, and create the conditions that promote their ability to do so. Children are highly distractible and should be supported to focus, so they can learn. Social seating is for social activities.” - Dr Pamela Snow

Consider how the classroom set up can facilitate:

• checking for understanding throughout lessons
• protect and support your student’s attention

Words from specific subjects, as the others they will hear day to day.

Steps for teaching

1. Say the word out loud
2. Child-friendly definition
3. Use the word in context
4. Check for understanding - examples and non-examples

Lesson

Spelling

Words, suffixes, etc

Two Questions we need to ask?]

1. Does the base end in a consonant + y ?
2. Does the suffix begin with any letter except i?

Worksheet to reduce cognitive overload as the task is not to draw a table!

Sentence practice

Reading

Paragraph Planning

Takeaways - Leaderships

• Cognitive Load Theory - implications for leadership: 
• Leadership understanding the theory so they can reduce teacher cognitive overload and then support teachers to reduce ākonga cognitive overload. 
• Strategic Plan space for cognitive overload lens when creating? 
• Environment - what's non-negotiable (e.g. eg moving around school, in class, book work, social vs learning)? Own desks? 
• Resourcing/Photocopying will be needed at times to focus on learning rather than page set-up.
• Where does agency fit in?

• Review, review, review - implications for leadership: 
• When do we review new teacher learning? Admin quote linking back to learning
• Review learning of Structured Literacy in teams?
• Strategy Plan 2027 consolidating 2026 new learning.

• Perky Pace so you ensure you eliminate lagging, stick to the learning, TAPA and preparation - implications for leadership: 
• Making time and space for preparation and TAPA - less admin? How do we free up time?
• Honouring each other's time

• Teacher Knowledge crucial! - implications for leadership: 
• Time to develop Staff or team to develop knowledge, ensuring connection back to the strategic plan

• Whole-class teaching is crucial- whole class, then target small group for Tier 2, not for whole class - implications for leadership: 
• Change our mindset that all ākonga do need small group work; only targeted ākonga get small group
• Non-negotiable

• Dibels/ORF is just a screening tool, not an assessment - implications for leadership: 
• What assessment tools do we use to get our reading OTJ?

Takeaways - LSC DP

• Cognitive Load Theory - implications for LSC/DP
• Front-loading LAs for the Code
• See some literacy classes
• Tutoring after lunch
• Continuing with Reset Room to support expectations

• Review, Review, Review - implications for LSC/DP
• Continuing with reviews of previous learning from RTLB/MOE/colleagues and CAP's
• Create Reset Room clipboards
• Review our processes and systems to ensure cognitive load is not excessive

• Teacher Knowledge crucial! - implications for leadership: 
• Review systems and procedures
• Meet with teams once a term at the end - re caps, expectations and PB4L data to support following term planning
• Transfer science of knowledge learning to start-of-year values, expectations and processes