Kohia 10/5/18 - Attention and processing - Frances Steinberg

Here are my notes from my course with Frances Steinberg on attention and processing:

Everyone has preferences about how they process information.

We go through steps of processing:
Reception
Perception
Storage
Retrieval
Response
Evaluation

Ovelaying all these steps is attention.  If someone struggles with attention they will have trouble with processing.

When someone is having trouble with attention you have to differentiate between 'can't' and 'won't.' Always err on the side of 'can't.'  Then the worst you will do is give them a little extra support.

Be fair.  Not equality, but everyone getting what they need to be successful.  Can demonstrate this by getting the tallest and shortest child to reach something on the board - is it fair for the tallest student to use a stepladder to get to it?

Attentional and processing issues

ADHD
Inattention
Hyperactivity
Impulsivity

Persistent across activities and settings.
More common in boys - at present 2:1 male/female ratio.

Symptoms get worse when behaviour expectations exist but are vague like "play nicely," "do your work" but better when there are specific instructions like "sit in this spot and do not touch anyone."

Medication is a common treatment for ADHD in NZ but medications do have side effects.  Stimulant medication has no effect on academic performance.

There are other treatments people try such as psychotherapy, kinesiology etc.  There is no research to say the Dore programme works.

Attentional Controls
Mental energy control 
How much energy we have to pay attention.  Controlled by reticular activation system and locus of ceruleus - these areas of the brain are fully developed by the age of 2.

Processing Control
How we control the information that comes into the system - what should we pay attention to and how should we deal with it?  Keeps developing until about age 10.  Controlled by diverse sites near receptors.

If someone can't tell what is important you need to highlight relevance.  Even literally, in information, highlight the important bits.

Minimise distractions.  Can use headphones with white noise.
Cardboard partition to separate off from other students when working.
Reduce amount of information presented - e.g. fold worksheets that have several parts at once.
Put say 3 maths problems on a page not 10.
Intensify experiences - eg. dramatic voice to introduce stories, how many maths problems can you do standing on one leg?
Change rewards frequently.

Production Control 
Paying attention to the things we do eg. moving, thinking, motor skills.
This is controlled by the prefrontal cortex.  This area of the brain has a huge burst of activity around puberty.  Continual development until age 35.

Inability to anticipate the 'what ifs.'  Poor previewing.  Poor motor prediction e.g. running through a space between two desks that is too small for them.

No inhibition - taking a pause to consider if they should be doing/saying it.
OTM, OTM - 'on the mind, out the mouth.'
Can't inhibit their motor movements.

Struggle with time management.

Poor reinforcability - can't learn from experience.

So what do we do to help students with weak production control?
Work backwards from goals.  Eg. modelling - if you want them to organise their materials, show them what organised materials look like.
Practise estimating/predicting.  'What do you think would happen if you ran across the road without looking?'

Monitoring by other people.
Stop/think/act system - on cards
Utilise external controls - e.g. tick list

Structure with tight constraints.
Need to know rules and consequences.
Help with time management - don't give them an assignment that's due in a week - break it down - this is what you have to do on Monday etc.

If you want them to read something, get them to read down to a paperclip (or post it sticky note) on the page. If they understand what they have read, get them to take paperclip off.

What else could produce attention difficulties?
Eating difficulties
Not getting enough nutrition.
Excessive food intake, particularly rich and fatty foods.
Imbalanced intake
Food reactions and allergies.

Sleep disorders
Insufficient sleep
Sleep Apnoea

Chemical effects
Lead poisoning
Chemical poisoning - herbicides and pesticides
Drug effects - antenatal and postnatal

Foetal alcohol syndrome
Perseveration (won't leave a task)
Impulsive, socially inappropriate behaviour
Poor impulse control
Moody, roller coaster emotions
Talkativeness, parroting other people's speech patterns.
Expressive language better than receptive
Fine motor skills affected more than gross motor skills
Difficulty with abstract comments - e.g. 'Play fair.'

To help children with foetal alcohol syndrome:
Keep instructions concrete - not abstract things like 'get down to work.'
Keep things consistent.
Repeat
Simplify
Increase supervision
Medication for symptoms

Family dysfunction

Screen time - affects higher level functioning
For children under 3 there is no amount of screen time that will not affect the brain.
3-5 20 up to mins per day.
5-10 under an hour a day.
10-16 under 2 hours a day.

Aptitude and processing problems
Students will not pay attention if they are under or over challenged.

Processing difficulties
Can only be in one modality - for example visual, auditory, kinasthetic
Some have difficulty with one of the modalities individually but when they're combined they can't cope.

General strategies for processing difficulties
Use what they are good at to compensate for their difficulty. Eg. they can dictate their stories at times. If they can't, for example, write,  let them learn a different way.  Still practise writing but let them do their learning another way.

Isolate weak modality
(E.g. when reading, block off everything else).  Practise the weaker modality by itself.
Blend modalities (e.g. reading with a metronome in the background).

Reception 
Detection - can you see or hear it?
Symmetry - is it the same on both sides?  Put their good eye/ear towards the teacher.
Discrimination (can you tell it from something else - eg. b, d, p, q confusion).  Not seeing spaces between words. 
Auditory discrimination - can you tell the difference between 'p' and 'b.'

Strategies for helping with reception
Correct or compensate - eg. getting glasses, a reader, telling them the information.

Perception
Salience - what is important?
Figure/ground relations - spatial perception

Comprehension - do you know the meaning?
Combination of experience and memory
Strategies
Provide background experience
Enhance memory function

Fluidity - can you proceed in a timely fashion?
Strategies - give them more time to complete the same amount of time.
Give them less work to do in the same amount of time.

Delays in processing
Strategies: Use a buddy to help them follow directions.
Give warning about questions that are going to be asked "In one minute I am going to be asking you who is the prime minister of New Zealand."

Response Production/Motoric
Gross motor - coordination posture, spatial processing
Fine motor - small muscle control
Graphomotor - writing skill
Oromotor - speaking skill

Strategies: Practice - the single element needs to be practised perfectly - even if it's just a vertical line.
Compensation with strengths

Autism Spectrum Disorders
Aspergers no longer exists in the current DSM.
- Deficits in social communication - eg. how to initiate conversations, how to respond in conversations.
- Poor eye contact
- Body language not coordinated with body language.
- Trouble dealing with change.
- Limited, fixated interests.
- Over or under reactive to sensory input
These to the point where they affect your functioning.
4:1 Male:female ratio

Strategies for helping with language difficulties:
Use literal language.
Visual reminders with 'no' symbol for things that you don't want them to touch etc.
Visual timetable.
Transitions (e.g. school holidays) clearly signalled.

ANZAC stories

I have been making an effort to put up lots of the children's stories in my classroom so that they can read their and each other's work.  We had ANZAC ceremonies at school last week and the children put out crosses to represent soldiers from the local area.  They wrote and illustrated stories about the experience and I was proud of the way they turned out.  The illustrations were done with crayon and dye.  

Writing observation 29.3.18

My tutor teacher Mary observed me teaching a
writing lesson. Here are her notes from her observation:

Put up your hand if you have a dog at home.

Chn interested and engaged “ I have a puppy” I have a dog’
I have a cat:

Gave specific instructions –

I want you to turn and talk to your partner about your dog
or a dog that you have seen.

I like those people who followed instructions.

Have a think

T modelled “My dog is …….”

chn: my dog is black

my dog is spotty T had modelling book with dog
picture and lines.

What is the word

Capital why ? because it is starting ZM because it is
the starting letter.

Who can come up and write the first word? Avah

Dog is not on the word card.
who can hear the first letter. What letter can we hear in the middle.
HR d-o-g.

Who can write the word is? AS

Good boy for remembering your finger space.

Is is in the red box.
LV what sounds can you hear and write in spotty.

Used te reo to praise. Ka pai.

What do we put at the end of the sentence?

Lets read it all together.

I am going to write one more sentence.
What colour is my dog? approximated and wrote
black and white. Chn all putting hand up and offering
letter sounds

What box is the word and in?

Re focussed students by pointing to visual chart.

Lets read our whole story together.

Chn still listening, attempting to
hear letter sounds.

T told them about the magic e
letter at the end of white.

T gave out books and reminded chn
what side of the page they had to write on.   
Reminded some chn of their goal for today
LV – remember to write a nice long story.

Get out yuor alphabet card .
Chn knew exactly what was expected of them
and settled down to work quickly.

Positive encouragement for chn who got straight
down to work. Gave date stamp to tables working quietly.

Much positive encouragement to chn working quickly,
conscientiously. All chn on task. and keen to write.
BH – look at my dog. S saying to herself “My dog is…. “

Praised A for using adjectives my puppy is cute and soft.

Nice atmosphere with calm thinking and
writing going on. Good vibe. Chn very keen and on task.

AS tell me the sentence you are writing “I have a dog”
T helped him HR the word have.

Can you write me one more sentence.
Great brain storm of describing words.

angry, fluffy, pretty, pink, can play, fast, cute.

Variations. My dog is cute. He went to play. He is hiding in a shoe.

My dog can woof.

Gave praise for writing 2 sentences

L – good describing “ my dog is spotty. My dog is soft.
I like my dog” – 3 sentences. – over and above what was asked.

Good sounding out those words, S

Reminded what goes at the end of your sentence

Conferenced students individually.
All chn brought writing to T when finished.
Routines well established. T checked story and
chn placed in marking box. Chn went to next task quietly.

Lovely manner with students. Called over E - how are you feeling?
I am worried about you today - did you have a late nite?

E - I am tired. - go and lie down - E asleep within a minute!

Obviously has a very good
relationship with students. Caring and reciprocal.

Greedy Cat

 At one of the seminars I went to at Kohia the presenter demonstrated how big books could be used effectively in the classroom.  She stressed the importance of having lots of student work displayed and talked about how big book activities were a fun way to get children to read their own and others' work.  Since this seminar I have been making an effort to display work my class have created in response to big books.  I was proud of these drawings and stories they created on Friday in response to Greedy Cat.

When the children came in on Monday and saw their stories and pictures displayed they spent a lot of time reading them.  It was great to see them responding to the work.  

Maths PD at Kohia 14/3/18

These are my notes from the maths PD session I attended at Kohia on 14/3/18.
The presenter was Lucie Cheeseman.

Give one - get one strategy. Activating prior knowledge.

What does it mean to be numerate?

To be able to use maths in everyday life.

To problem solve.

To be mathematically literate.

Less emphasis these days on the right answer, more how did you get the answer?

Efficiency - we need to ensure, even with little kids, that they are solving problems efficiently.  
Unpack the word ‘efficient’ with little kids - we are looking for the quickest way, the way that
is going to take the smallest number of steps.  

Eg. Why would you count from 1 when you could count on from the bigger number.

Pictures and diagrams just as important as mathematical equations.

Knowledge and strategy are interlinked.

Ask questions, rather than give statements, so that children are doing the thinking,
not being dependent.  For example, show a number, say 11. “How could you show me this number?”
Children can choose which materials they use, which are most efficient for showing the number.

If you can answer in 4 seconds, that’s knowledge.  Longer than 4 seconds to process
you’re using a strategy.  

Kids learn more from each other than us.  This is a good reason for mixed-ability grouping.

To be meeting the standard after the first year at school they need to know the numbers
1-20 securely, to understand the place value not just read the numerals.

STAGES

Emergent

Stage 1 - 1:1 counting

Stage 2 - Counting from 1 on materials. A lot of kids will move straight from Stage 2 to Stage 4.  

Stage 3 - Counting from 1 by imaging (need to be working with relatively small numbers).  

Stage 4 - Advanced counting - AFTER 2 YEARS Counting on from the bigger number.

Encourage them to use their fingers to track their counting on. They need to be able to count
on or back from the bigger number using numbers 0-100.  

Stage 5 - Early Additive AFTER 3 YEARS

AT AFTER 4 YEARS.

They would solve a problem like 9+5 by splitting the 5, by knowing that 9+1=10, 10+4=14.

Stage 6 - Advanced Additive - Solving problems like 132-59.

Can show difference between two numbers with sets of counters.  Subtraction is not always
taking away or finding what’s left.

Set up examples where the algorithm is inefficient.  Like 1007-999 - it’s more efficient to
know that 1 makes 1000 and 7 makes 1007, 7+1=8, rather than using the algorithm.  

Book 1 of the Numeracy Project books has all the strategies and the expectations at the
different stages.  

Components of group teaching
Knowledge check - opportunity to activate prior knowledge- should be quick and pacy.  
Can have cards and get kids to read the number. “How many more do I need to make 10?”
/Quik pix - for example subitising images. You don’t necessarily want the kids to count.  
They can look at tens frame and get a sense of how many there are. Sketch when image is gone.
About 90 seconds to draw what they see. Site good for occasional maths chat - Maths Eyes.
When they’ve got the hang of that they can add numbers to their drawing to explain it.

Mathematical word problem - NZ Maths is good for word problems Eg. Pete the Cat -
good picture book series for mathematical ideas - link to word problems.  
Launch problem, hook children into problem. Example problem - additive strategies -
Pete the Cat and his brother Tom have 10 buttons to share between them.  
What are the different ways their buttons could be shared?
The teacher’s role during problem solving is to monitor, to ask deep questions,
but not to rescue children when they are struggling. “Spray and walk away.”  
Can physically take children to another table to see another group’s strategy.

Parallel problems - differentiation - same problems, change numbers.

Use cards with job descriptions for people in the group - can put on lanyards to start with.

Use of materials - children choose which materials will be the most efficient for solving
the problem.  
Can give them play opportunities first - eg. using toy cars as maths materials.

Thinking groups = collaboration

Modelling books/thinkboards - these should be a record of student learning.
 A thinkboard is a piece of paper divided into three sections:
“Clues,” “Mathematical Proof,” “Reflection - where are you in the learning pit?”  
Co-constructed WALT or LI - at end “Were we counting from 1 or were we counting
on from the bigger number?  Were we skip counting?” Then they leave the teacher with
the idea of what they were learning.

‘We’re a whanau,’ not ‘we’re a team.’  Supportive rather than competitive.

$2 shop microphone for child sharing thinking.  Teacher needs to make strategic
choices about which groups will share and the sequence in which they will share.  

Teaching Channel - good youtube channel for PD in different curriculum areas.

Take away: These are some ideas I'd like to use from this PD

Co-constructing WALT at end.

Try Quick pix for maths warmup.  

Use cars as a maths context.

‘Thinking thumb’ when you’re ready to share.

Can use ‘what’s the pattern?’ rather than ‘what’s the answer?’

Choral counting - record on board and get children to notice the patterns.

When pairing up kids think about personality rather than maths ability.
 Don’t change the pairs all the time, give them some stability.

Finger on the arm as a signal ‘I need more thinking time.’

Revoicing - making what they said more succinct.  Remember to go back to kids
‘Is that what you meant?’

Class Dojo mindset videos - make links to them when kids are struggling.

Independent activities - purpose to these activities

Construction

Pattern blocks

Jigsaws

Threading

Focus or task card to support it.  

Number investigations - eg. have a number and they tell you all they know about that number.  

Maths detective activities for a guided reading book - make up a task card for a book.  

Maths detective box for little ones - make a box of some books with a magnifying glass
and they can find numbers and other maths in the books.

Spot the Difference books.

Simon Says/Boppit game

Memory

Memory match - one group per day, promote to parents too.  

Board games

Ipad games

DMIC PD 26/2/18

We had a PD session on DMIC in our staff meeting on Monday where we practised working on a maths problem collaboratively at different levels.

Key messages from the session were:
- The maths problem needs to be challenging enough that no one child can solve it on their own - they need to work collaboratively.

- The teacher needs to have high expectations of all students.  These can be used to motivate - e.g. 'I'm going to give you a really tricky problem because I know you are capable.' This can empower children.

- The problems need to be engaging.  For example use a cultural context or something that the children are into.

I found it useful to have the facilitator clarify some points about how the maths lesson should be set up and structured.

- The groups should be pre-organised and written into the modelling books.  Year 0-2 children should be in pairs, or if a child is a non-counter, buddied up with two counters.

- The half of the class that is not working with the teacher should be engaged in quiet, meaningful work, but DMIC does not specify exactly what this is.  It could be a problem they have worked on with the teacher the previous day but with the numbers changed.

- The warmup is not a chance to teach the strategy that will be used in the problem but a chance to work on number knowledge etc.  It can be something unrelated to the problem, for example choral counting.

- The teacher should keep a journal with anecdotal notes about how the children approach the problems.  This 'professional noticing' helps teachers to understand where children are at.

- Maths planning should be shared in team meetings.

- Role playing can be used to set up the routine parts of the sessions - for example children can role play speaking in a clear voice to the class (and what happens if they mumble when presenting).

- For juniors, when a group is presenting, the teacher draws what they are saying.

- Connect back to the big idea at the end.

- Connect to the context - if the answer is '435' - '435 what?'

Kohia PCT course 14/2/18

Today I attended the first session for the PCT course for 2nd year teachers at Kohia Education Centre. I did not attend the first year part of this course so it was interesting to see what was covered and I can see it will be valuable to connect with other teachers at a similar stage in their teaching journey. Below are my notes from the session:

Choose a picture and introduce another person not yourself - less social risk.

Teacher sharing little stories from morning tea - introduce new vocab - e.g. eating
lamingtons at morning tea…

Making parents feel welcome - share culture, what their child is good at, taking
away parents’ fear of school.  

Make sure evidence in portfolio links to PTC.  

Make sure reflections are targeted and critical - have a “so what.”

Can follow this structure: Description/Interpretation/Outcome

Make sure there is a narrative to follow.  

Deliberate Acts of Teaching

Questioning ‘“I wonder…”

Feedback - specific!

Record yourself….see how much you are questioning.  Effective questioning?

How much are you using the deliberate acts of teaching?

Can reflect on this.  

“I wonder why…” gives the impression that there’s not a right or wrong answer.

Importance of wait time/thinking time.

Can talk the night before about what children could write about the next day.  

Push number knowledge.

Setting up for success

“It’s your lucky day” - system for monitors - lucky day person gets to tidy library corner,
do lunches etc.  
Have alliterative name.

Set up better system for early finishers.

Morning routine photographed and put in steps.  Can send home to parents.  

Establish one out of reading, writing and maths first, then bring others in.  

Literate environment

Oral language is a prerequisite for writing.  

Rich oral language

Classroom filled with texts

Motivating area to inspire writing - eg. area that

Kids need to see good models of handwriting as well as typed words!
 Handwritten poems, for example.

Writing lessons should be about writing skills not content knowledge.

Writing topics need to be open enough for all children to access.  

Approaches to reading:

Reading to

Shared reading - modelling decoding, making meaning, thinking critically.

1st reading predicting, links to prior knowledge, reading for enjoyment.

Follow up could be dramatising the text!

Visual language - follow up

Innovating text - writing sentences based on the sentence structure in the book-

Eg. Brown Bear, brown bear what do you hear?  Honour, Honour, what do you hear?”

Shared reading book - sample weekly plan for Grandpa, Grandpa

M - WALT use our prior knowledge/make connections

Focus: what do you like doing with your grandpa? What makes grandparents special?

T - WALT understand punctuation

Focus: Full stop, question mark

W - make word families

Focus: -et word family

Th - WALT read fluently/think critically

Focus: What did the author have to know about fishing to write the story?

F - WALT be creative

Focus: Make a collage about your grandpa

What Does the Tide Bring In?

Where did your feet take you in the holidays?

Portraits?

Sand names?

Monkey’s Shoes

M - would a monkey really wear shoes?

Vocab around shoes

T - Introduce word ‘pair’ What else comes in pairs? Solve maths problem about pairs of shoes

W - Punctuation

• Bring in a whole lot of shoes - classify the shoes.
  
  

Th - Make a list of ‘sh’ words

F - Design and make your own shoes - make an advertisement for your shoes. Identify positive

features of shoes - oral language - “These shoes are flexible and will make you run fast.”  

Guided reading

Tumble - a couple of activity they have to do: Browsing box, poetry book

Then...as long as you’ve done good reading to, shared reading, guided reading...they can choose

puzzles etc. Put say five things on the board. Playdough, cutting, construction, writing table

(make little books).  Blocks etc (learning to share).  

Lego - challenge to make things from the big book.  

Consequences for noise etc - “Pack up that activity and go to the library corner.”

Independent reading

Poems/songs

Another way to get children’s eyes across print!

Use nursery rhymes

Skills flow - match sentences with a picture.  

Kids listen to sentence, repeat sentence, match it with a picture.

Then describe pictures in writing.  

Eg. Before school I put up my star name.

After lunch I read quietly from my book box.  

4-6 pictures.

Book recommendations:

The Time it took Tom - good maths picture book

Row, Row, Row your waka

Discovery Time: Learning Through the Key Competencies

The Essential Oral Language Toolkit

Takeaway:

The main messages I got from today's session is the importance of reading to children (something I do a lot in my classroom), the importance of sharing stories about ourselves with the children (something I need to do more) and how to structure a week's worth of shared reading sessions around a big book.

I will try following Andy's structure for planning activities around the big book next week and see how these activities help the children engage with the text.

Another message I got from today was that it is important that children see good models of handwritten text in the classroom. I often spend time typing and printing things to feel like they look 'professional' and this was a good revelation for me!