Learning NZSL alphabet with children

As a part of my teaching inquiry, I have been adapting the use of New Zealand Sign Language alphabets to increase my target group's letter identification knowledge. I developed a video where I am signing the alphabet incorporating the use of big alphabet butterfly cards. I play this video everyday in the morning to watch with the children and sign together.

With the target group, they would watch this video everyday on the Ipad accessing from the QR code that I developed. Sometimes, I found it easy for the children to access it on the desktop computers as they could hear better with the headphones.

I am quite surprised about the results that the children have developed through the use of NZSL alphabet.
Here is the data result

Student Name	Start Date	Baseline Data	End Date	End Point Data	Improvement	Comments
Child A	11/6	LD- 4	10/8	LD-17 Sign-14	13
Child B	11/6	LD-9	10/8	LD-17 Sign-2	8
Child C	11/6	LD-28	10/8	LD-45 Sign-39	17
Child D	11/6	LD-5				not collected the data yet
Child E	11/6	LD- 21	10/8	LD-37 Sign-23	16

I am happy to say that there has been a significant increase in children's letter knowledge using the sign language alphabet and their actual development in letter signs. 

One of the main issues that some children face is that it is really hard to transfer this letter ID knowledge in reading or writing. I have been doing some work as a class using NZSL alphabet to emphasize how a word is made up of letters. 

When I am reading a big book of shared reading, and I see the word 'Cat', we talk about the letters C, A, and T in sign, and how the each letter makes sounds. When we put these sounds together, it makes the word 'Cat'. I think in general, there has been a better understanding on this as a classroom as after this discussion, some children go away and come back with the word they made. They are interested and are using their knowledge to explore. 

I would really like to see where it would go using this strategy in reading as well as some children find it really hard to look at the first letter of a word and sound it out. 

In writing, one of the target children has done really amazingly using the developed letter ID knowledge. The child was able to write down all the sounds he heard/sounded out and wrote a sentence on his own. This was his first time to do this. 

I really believe that there is a benefit in using the sign language alphabet. It provides visual support that children can rely on. Some of the letters of the alphabet resemble the shapes of the letters. We often talk about this. 

Using New Zealand Sign Language is beneficial for hearing children. Dr Sutherland from University of Canterbury talks about the benefits of bilingualism (spoken and visual languages) and describes its educational benefits, cognitive development, economic benefits, and growth of communities.

Our children have been learning New Zealand Sign Language since Term 1 and it has been amazing to watch them acquire a new language. The children feel really proud of using this language and understand why we use sign language. Using sign language also helps children develop their fine motor skills and planning of their movement which essentially links to cognitive development. 

Parent/Teacher conference

This time, the parent/teacher conference was done a little differently. There used to be a booking system for parents so that a time frame was chosen by the parents to see the teacher, however this time as we wanted to get more parents and families to come to the conferences with their children, the leadership team developed a more relaxing and casual approach where the parents and family members can drop by anytime they wanted during a set time frame.

When I first heard this was going to happen, I was a little anxious about how it was going to go as I was worried if many parents turned up at the same time, or if I wanted to have a private conversation with some families. We knew that this approach was very successful in the senior classrooms, so it was time to adapt it in our junior classrooms. It was important that we would give it a go.  After talking to a teacher who has done this last term helped to understand how and what I could do if say, a couple parents turned up at the same time.

I had my classroom ready with the children's writing books on the table,  and play equipment ready for the children. I was wondering how many parents will turn up, and was so surprised with a great number of parents/family members came to the parent/teacher conference. It was definitely wonderful to talk to parents who I do not talk regularly, for example, children who are on the bus or whose parents drop off their children at the gate.

I had a couple of parents turned up about the same time, but the parent really respected the space while I was talking to the other parent. I was able to have really meaningful and positive conversations with the parents and family members, it was just such a nice atmosphere. I had a few parents who talked highly about our school, and their love of multiculturalism and what we do at our school.

I had 11 families at the parent/teacher conference, and it was a really awesome turnout. Even though I was worried about a few things prior to the day, I think having it a new way really was not too bad at all, it rather attracted more family members to attend because of the tone that we set in the beginning as a very casual and relaxing conference where their children can show their parents around.

It was great learning for me as this was the second parent/teacher conference after having my own classroom, it definitely developed the relationships with the family and I got to know more about them which was really important for me. I was able to provide individual support that the children can benefit from to continue working with the children and their families.

Using Seesaw as a way to develop relationships with whaanau

Date: 22nd/July/2018 Reflection: Using Seesaw as a way to communicate and build relationships with whanau

The What? A description of the incident/experience with just enough detail to support doing your “So what?” section. Description about who, what, why, when, where

Since we have adopted the use of Seesaw, the online portfolio, the response and the interactions with the whanau have been very high and positive. As I used something similar in the previous centre I worked at, I knew that this was going to make a great change in the way we build relationships with our whanau and let them know how much I know about their children as well as the fact that parents are now able to see what the children are learning at school. For the last few months, I have been encouraging all of the families to join Seesaw so that they can see the updates on what the children are doing. I have been talking about the Seesaw in the classroom, so that the children also understand how this is used by the families. Some children ask me to take photos of their creations, and send it to their family through Seesaw. I would really like the children to be doing this independently in the future. The great thing about Seesaw is that the app is on the family member’s phone so that the parents/family members will get the notifications as soon as I post an item. Some parents comment on posts which create relationship building as some families share stories about their children and interests. Family members who do not live in Hamilton and do not get to see the children often really value Seesaw so that they feel connected in the child’s lives and what he/she is learning/playing at school.

So what? This is the sense-making section that asks you to surface general meaning, significance, your position/viewpoint: actions; emotions (pre-during-post)

I really enjoy the use of Seesaw and how I can develop deep and meaningful relationships with the whanau. As the individual post is private, this opens a way to interact and it results in both us the parties developing each other’s knowledge about the child, I think that is the most wonderful thing about using Seesaw. It is a way to enhance my relationships with our whanau. It lets the whanau know how much I know about the child, and also it becomes a great platform to share new knowledge with the whanau. For example, as we endeavour the play based learning philosophy, it is important to share the significance of the play based using examples I see in my classroom, and talk about why this is important for children’s development. It becomes a platform to get to know each other among whanau and celebrate their children’s learning together.

Now what? This section makes connections from the experience/ incident to further actions. For example, what would you do differently/the same next time? How come? What are key points, lessons to share with your colleagues, network and/or group outside the network? (idea, product, process, concept?) how will you do this?

I will keep using Seesaw and aim to get all of the families to join the Seesaw. I only have a few more families to join. My next aim is for the children to be able to use the Seesaw from the Ipads. They will need to learn the process of scanning the code, and then taking photos, putting descriptions and uploading their post. This is something I would really like to work on with the children.

Power of using visual time schedules

For the past few weeks, we have been using the visuals for time schedule  daily. Recently, in our team meeting, the team leader talked about the importance of incorporating visuals in the classroom, and how these can help our students. I found these visuals on Twinkle and the great things about these visuals are that it is versatile and has Māori translations as well. For some of the wording, I have changed to fit our classroom routines/activities such as Tākaro time, Waiata pipi, and Kōwhai Sports. 

I also made a bag made with paper and it says "Finished" on the front, so that when we finish an activity, a child can put the visual card of the activity into the 'finished' bag. 

Prior to introducing the visual time schedule, I know that some children who are able to read know what is happening during the day. Although I point to the items of the day in the morning and explain what will happen, some children who cannot read probably are not so aware of what will happen during the day, and might be a little bit hard to prepare for not knowing what will come next. 

Since the introduction of the visuals, I feel that the children are more engaged in what we are doing, and I often see children standing in front of the whiteboard discussing what will be next. Removing the visual card and putting into the 'Finished' bag are so satisfying for the children, and this also lets them know what will be coming up next. This also can prepare the children mentally and physically. The pictures are easy for children to interpret and they quickly learnt all of the visuals and are able to tell what these represent. Because I have several children whose English is their second language, I think looking at the pictures and knowing what will happen today can help them prepare and settle into their day. 

I am very happy that this has been working wonderfully, and have engaging children. Now I understand how powerful the use of visuals is as I definitely see the difference in children's engagement, behaviour, and abilities to manage their day using the visuals. 

Inclusive practice- valuing the importance of recognising a teacher's passions through collaboration

This week, I have been working quite hard at promoting the use of New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) to celebrate NZSL week. Prior to this week, I thought about how I would celebrate this week with the children in my class as well as the school. I thought about an idea that each day of the week, a video of a child signing a basic sign will be shared with everyone at school through the use of  the 10am news doc. This way, everyone will have access to the information.

Our children are familiar with New Zealand Sign Language as I talk a lot about it and use it through songs. Having many children are ELL means that signs can help children understand and communicate. They know basic signs like 'eat', 'drink', and 'toilet'. Our children can sing a few songs like 'Te Aroha' and 'One call away' and we are practising 'Count on me'.

Once we filed a video of a child signing, I uploaded the video on our blog so people can go and have a look at it. This was also shared in the Hamilton East School Facebook page which was so fantastic to spread the awareness of the NZSL week and how important to learn one of the NZ's official languages.

The children were so engaged with this sign language learning, and they were eager to learn new signs. It was so great that each morning, we would show the signing video that we filmed the day before so that they know what sign we are learning, and it really empowered our children. I also talked about our blog and how people can go and have a look at the video. We had a comment on our blog, so reading the comment let our children know that there is audience of our blog.

On Thursday morning, we went to the gateway and sang and signed 'One call away' and filmed it and I again uploaded this on our blog and Pippa also uploaded it on the school's Facebook page. The response from parents, whānau, and teachers were just amazing.

On Friday morning, we have decided to do a little concert using NZSL on our deck. Many children and teachers turned up to watch our performance which our children did an amazing job of. They were just so excited about putting a concert on. What was more amazing was that the school's senior children also performed one song in NZSL.

So what does this experience tell me?

To watch all the senior children perform showed that they cared about what we were celebrating and the importance of learning this beautiful language. It showed me how much the leaders of the school valued my passions in learning and teaching NZSL with my class and school. It meant that we are able to practise inclusive practice by learning something new, valuing NZSL/deaf culture, and developing understanding that having access to this language enables to communicate with more people.
I also thought about what our children have learnt through these experiences, and I recognised how confident our children were at performing the song and how engaged and excited they were through the week. In fact, our children are so keen to learn all of the alphabet signs so that they can finger-spell their own names. I like that it has brought a purpose and an aim, and I have to say that our children have achieved so much by performing in front of so many people.

While listening to the senior children perform, it made me feel so grateful to be at this workplace where they value people's unique differences/needs. I feel that when we are able to do this, we are able to support them fully with appropriate support. To me, inclusive practice means knowing the differences between 'equality' and 'equity', and changing our environment to support the child's unique needs before changing the child.

I would just like to thank all the people who have helped me this week celebrate New Zealand Sign Language Week.

Classroom that reflects bicultural practice

In the PL meeting today, we watched this video on the importance of bicultural practice in Aotearoa school by Janelle Riki-Waaka.

Watching this video really inspired me and made me think about what I do as a teacher to ensure that there is bicultural practice in my classroom, and how much I value and use tikanga and te reo Māori.
In the video, she asks "How would I know that I am in school in Aotearoa?"

Interestingly, I was thinking and reflecting about new Maori children visiting my classroom this morning with their mum. They were participating in our morning at time where I sang many Māori songs and did some dances as usual. I was thinking how the mother felt listening to the songs and watching our children really enjoyed singing and dancing to our kapahaka song. For me, as a teacher, I want to make sure that I create a learning environment that respects and value our Māori heritage by practicing it. On our wall, it is obvious to know that this classroom reflects the biculturalism as our wall display include many Māori words/phrases, and children have understanding of what these represent and the importance of it.

Our children know the school whakatauki "Stand tall, Reach high, Tū tangata, Tū māia", and its meaning and significant linking to the beautiful redwood tree at school. Our children are learning about their pepeha and some of them introduce themselves confidently.

Our children are familiar with ngā ātua Māori, and love listening to 'In the beginning' stories. They have great curiosity in Maori legends' stories and have great understanding of Maui.

I use te reo Māori as much as possible in my class, but I think there is room to strengthen my te reo as well.

Reflecting on this video, what Janelle discusses has really inspired me and really encouraged me to think more reflectively on my bicultural practice and move further within my practice.

I will keep working on an increased use of te reo in my class, introducing new waiata to the children, read te reo Maori books (which our children really enjoy especially the books written by Peter Gossage), and adding more sentences for our pepeha.

Changing the learning environment

Throughout teaching in ECE settings, we have always said that the environment is the third teacher. I have always believed in this statement as I know how important our learning environment is for our children.

It is so important to set up our environment so that it is inviting for our children. I want the children to feel that they are comfortable in the environment and that they want to play and explore with the materials and resources that are set up in the classroom.

During the term 1, I really struggled with the fact that we did not really have an inviting reading area. Due to the limited space, I placed some books on top of the puzzle shelf. I never really saw children reading or looking through books, so I would display a couple of books in a basket so it would look a little more inviting, and this seemed to work as I saw a couple of children reading or looking through the books.

I thought that this really needed to be changed as I felt that it was really important for me and the children to have a reading corner.

With the help of our school care taker, I was able to make some space in the corner of the classroom. The bookshelf that we have is a little hard to use for our small children, but it still looks inviting. I placed a couch in front of it as well so they can sit and read books there.

I also wanted this place to be a calm area where children can come and have their own space. It is important to create a space where their privacy is respected, but also at the same time the children know how to manage themselves in this area as it can be hard to see when I am at the jellybean table teaching a group of children.
I placed a doll house with new dolls in this area too.

As we came back in Term 2, some girls were immediately drawn to this area and really enjoy spending time here. I saw our teaching assistant spending time with some children reading, and many children love this area to play with dolls in the doll house, or little teddy bears that I got recently.

I would like to place a mat on the floor for comfort and possibly put some cushions around so that it can be comfortable for the children.

I feel that this change of the environment was quite successful as I see children utilise this area much more than before. I will provide a mat and some cushions in this area to see if that changes anything. I hope to see more children engaged in reading as well.