Structured Literacy Journey

  Bex's reflection on the Structured Literacy journey

I was at a stage in my teaching where I knew that that was possibly more I could do for the struggling readers/writers, but I wasn't sure where to start. I began my journey with Structured Literacy when a couple of friends started talking about it. This interested me, and I made sure that I researched and read the Science of Reading. I then looked at lots of different research and resources that Sara and Nelly had shared with me, but my mind was spinning. 😵‍💫 

I then discussed with Tara about structured literacy and her thoughts around it, and where I wanted to go. At the beginning of my pathway, I needed to find some stops to help my learning. I was very interested in Liz Kane, but her Dunedin and the South Island workshops were full, so I went to Ideal and Carla McNeill. I noted that she had a workshop running and signed up. 

That day was very overwhelming, but it made sense to change my literacy program. We signed up for the iDeaL platform, and I started to explore that. It was a very intense website, and took lots of time away from school to work out. I decided that I needed to see Structured Literacy in action and had done more reading and research around Liz Kane; I also purchased the code and looked at that, but I still needed to see it in action. I chose four children in year two that I thought would benefit from Structured Literacy. I talked to their parents in that group and told them what I was planning, that I was in the learning phase, and would like their buy-in to move forward. I assessed them and knew what they needed but didn't know where to start...Hence why we visited Grants Braes.

Mikaela and I talked and decided that a trip to Grants Braes saw it in action. We organized it and spent the morning going over the school to observe the teachers at the different levels; we saw the Haggerty and PA in action. Then we saw the code in action. I took this back to school and implemented the Code and LLLL assessment to see what I needed to do with my intervention group. We focused on sounds with handwriting, to begin with, and then moved to words. Sounds - words then moved back and forward a few times until they had secured their first sounds. I only sent one book home a week, and it was that we had practiced for the week. I was mucking my way through, and I was seeing progress. Slow and steady, learning as I went, and the kids were having success, and I saw it coming into the classroom. 

At this stage, I recognized that the Totara group would benefit from some spelling lessons. I tested their spelling and saw they needed to return to year one of the Code. From here, I taught them the spelling rules they needed to include and introduced them to the iDeaL platform for learning spelling rules. I began to see results in their writing and spelling. This also helped their reading, and the difference in their confidence was visible too.

Around this time, I noticed that my intervention group of children was gaining confidence and ability. Their writing in the class had shot off, and the boy who would sit and cry in the corner was now eager to write and would write any chance he got; this was a massive improvement for him and made me very confident with the program we had created.

Towards the end of Term 3, the difference in the groups that I was taking for spelling and structured literacy was terrific, and this showed in their end-of-year results; it was enough for me to think about rolling it out across our junior team. So, with our little resources, we took the term 3 holidays to roll it out, group the children, and start with a structured literacy program. My fellow teacher was enthusiastic about it and was beginning to get some of her own resources, and the teacher in the NE room loved the structure and immediately saw improvements with her kids. It was a success, and we had parents on board, which always made such a difference.

Early in Term 4, Mikaela and I held a Structured literacy workshop for parents, where we unpacked what we had learned from the last year and why we wanted to roll it out. We had such a great take on the idea from all of the parents that came.

At the end of the year, when I came to test the children, we used the PM+ Running Records for my intervention group, and they had all made accelerated progress with seeing them 20 mins a day, 4 days a week. It was empowering, as it worked for everyone and gave such a good base.

The BOT was happy with the results, and we got approval to roll it out across the school in 2022.

In 2022, we rolled it would across the school. At this time, other teachers were learning, and we had three teachers learning about Structured Literacy and how to use it in the classroom. This was an excellent opportunity for me to help those teachers learn and walk through their journey.

As we moved into 2023, with everyone on the same page, it was decided that the tuakana team would use the iDeaL platform for spelling and use decodable for reading until they reach concept #22. Then we can transition them to the PM+ reading system and focus on comprehension.

The results that I have seen through the iDeaL platform for spelling were remarkable and gave a clear graph of where they were and their next learning steps. This has transferred to their writing and their reading.

Now that I have sorted using iDeaL for spelling and writing, my next steps are to take it into their reading. I have been to Holy Family Wanaka for their open day and asked many questions about how to take it to read. They use the LLLL readers; iDeaL has linked these to their scope and sequence. I am using this for my planning, which helps connect them. As they pointed out in Wanaka, you can use any decodable to teach reading but stick to the scope and sequence of iDeaL.

Here is a link to the Structured Literacy Site that Tara, Mikaela and I started at the beginning of the our journey.

Ski Camp Leadership

 My first year leading the ski camp was full of unexpected surprises.

The weather was the first one. Since we went in August, there has been a lot of rain around, and with the 65th birthday of the field, they were trying to preserve the snow for this event.

We went in the week when the celebrations were. This means that the field was packed; we had two days where the area was closed, and in my planning, I didn't think of this scenario or what to do on a rainy day. This was completely unexpected, and on reflection, I will plan some activities when the ski field is closed.

There were some things that I know for next time:

- Set all my cards on the table.

For example - Safety on the field, parents' responsibilities, and expectations of where the children are allowed on the field. 

I ran a meeting before the camp for the parents and helpers attending and set out the expectations verbally; I may have done this as a written copy with them signing it. I was just doing what Chris had done the previous year. 

I did doubt myself a lot on the ski camp; I was worried that I would make a mistake, make the wrong call, or people would disagree with me. I have more faith in my ability and make the best call for everyone and the best decision for the group.

The positive was that many children pushed themselves to get to that next level, that next run, or go on the chair lift. The team bonding was lovely, and they loved playing board games, exploring in the snow on the first afternoon, sledding, creating snowmen, laughing, and sharing a joke. 

My takeaways from last year:

- Make it clear that I have the final say on where the children can go on the field.

- Have more faith in my decisions.

- Have activities for when the field is closed.

- More interactive, engaging evening activities - board games were suitable, but the environment was too noisy.

- Go through the RAMS with a BOT member, open school docs, and use school docs alongside. 

- Send out the ski camp booklet earlier so parents can get the necessary things.