Using flexible learning groups within the curriculum

Today I listened to Marc Gibson from Wilgrim school for a toolkit session. His topic was 'Using Flexible learning groups within the curriculum'. He teaches year 3/4 so this made it particularly interesting to see as this is the same level I am currently teaching. 

The maths at the school was done similar to what we currently do it in the hub. However, probably a change was that the children choose the workshops they go to. This is something we could have a think about and discuss how to do this and how to ensure that the children are attending the workshops they need to. We would need to discuss with the children more closely what progressions they need to achieve to ensure the children can choose the correct workshops for themselves.
A few years ago I trialed having flexible groupings for reading and found it affective although the children didn't choose their workshops instead it was me. I would be keen to explore this more and of course, would make some changes about the children having more voice in their learning. 

There were many aspects I liked about how this school runs their flexible groupings and I agree that it does help the children to have a better understanding of their education and also helps with their confidence. I am interested in where to next in our hub with these flexible groupings and how to make it manageable.
Here is a video I enjoyed watching that helps understand why flexible groupings is worth having a go at.

Automony

Well when I saw the opportunity to be on the Power Team to look at autonomy more, I jumped on to do this. I have been interested in this topic for a little while however I have to admit a bit unsure of what this truly means in today's schools. What does autonomy look like and how does this differ at different levels. I had a few questions about this word and so am glad I got to be on this team as I know that student choice is important however I wasn't too sure how to implement it.

We got given 'Amplify-Empowering students through voice, agency and leadership' to read. It looks at students with a strong sense of agency tend to

• work harder
• have a greater focus
• have more interest
• are less likely to give up
• are better at planning
• are more likely to choose challenging tasks
• set higher goals
• have improved concentration when facing difficulties

Autonomy is made up of

Student Voice- students having the power to influence change. For example, providing opportunities for students to collaborate and make decisions with adults around what and how they learn and how their learning is assessed. 

Student Agency- gives students the power to direct and take responsibility for their learning creating independent and self-regulating learners. 

Student leadership- A key thing to remember here is it not a small group of individuals. Student leadership includes listening to and being able to clarify the issues of the students they represent and advocating on their belief.

I think just learning the difference between these aspects has been my first step to understanding autonomy. We met as a group to discuss how this could look at the school and some interesting ideas popped up some would be easy to implement and others may, in all honesty, take some getting my head around. However, I am open to new ideas and after reading this article it states clearly the benefits of autonomy and I think we need to consider this to improve our children's education. We currently have some autonomy going on the school already and so the next step is to educate others and to go forth and make some more changes in the school that reflect more autonomy.

Jo Boaler

Jo Boaler

 This post is a little late as was in my drafts but thought I would post anyway.
I had the opportunity to go to the one day conference run by Jo Boaler, which was great as I had discovered this lady last year. This came about from a problem that I have had for a long time and that is parents negative attitude to maths being past on to their children. Thanks to Jo Earl I was able to read one of Jo Boalers books Mathematical Mindsets. This book was very easy to read and well worth it. 

Mathematical Freedom was the title on one of her very first slides in her presentation. If she put this up a few years ago I would have said I don't think those two words really go together. However the more I thought about it I have since moved on in my thinking how maths can be more creative. It is not just a list of formulas to use and set ways to do things as I thought when I was younger. I have to say that the word creative is one that growing up I would have never put with maths and just by putting that word in front really changes things. I can't wait to use that word more with the children so as it may resonate with more children. I would have liked to have heard that word when I was learning about math. 

The mindset plays an important part according to Jo and on her website Youcubed she has some wonderful videos and things to share with the children which will definitely help to change some attitudes towards maths. I think some parents would also benefit from watching some of these videos and checking out the website.

Concerns I have are really ensuring I find resources to help me with coming up with problems and approaches to maths that follow the ideas I learned from Jo Boaler. The website is a good start and I have begun to look for more resources to help me and soon I will hopefully feel confident to come up with some on my own at some point.

Take away from this course is to work on my approach to teaching maths and keep in mind the statement mathematics is freedom. I am looking at how to ensure there are plenty of opportunities to really get the children to be creative in maths.