Hannah Moran's Professional Blog

My inquiry focus for this year is: Will visible/feeding vocabulary with directed discussion increase kids language acquisition and participation within class discussions and be seen in their mathematical language? This integrates with the Manaiakalani CoL achievement challenge #6 which is: 'Lift the achievement in maths for all students years 1-13.' This has been a super busy term so I set out with small achievements. I decided to work closely with my Priority Learners - these are my learners who struggle to stay focussed and share their ideas in mathematics and are below standard. I worked on getting these students included and participating, speaking up about others ideas and being the scribe of the group. This was hugely beneficial and these students felt a sense of ownership to participate. I plan on continuing what I am currently doing next year but identifying these learners earlier, hoping it will impact these learners to make a shift in their

During the school holidays, last week my brother (Zac Moran) and I were invited to go and speak in a lecture of studying teachers on their final year about 'Teacher Life' and Literacy in the Classroom at the University of Waikato. This was a huge privilege to speak to studying teachers about how awesome this profession is, while also sharing a few 'Tips & Tricks.' Thank you to Marianne Robertson and the University of Waikato for this great experience and taking me outside of my comfort zone! 

What value have I added to my children so far? Looking at the data I collated at the beginning of the year to where my class is now is very rewarding based on the confidence my students have gained to share their ideas and  talk  in mathematics.  My students have gained confidence to share their ideas in mathematics and speak up when they don't understand. When I say it's time for maths, you hear an outpour of 'YAY' filling the classroom which is a huge change!  Students are able to understand a range of mathematical language and are beginning to notice these words when appearing across all curriculum areas, eg diagonal and recognizing this, understanding the meaning. Students can confidently attempt to answer word problems as they understand the language and can then decide the best strategy to implement! I am still working on getting the students to use this vocabulary themselves, rather than just hearing it from myself which is a work in progress and a go

Will feeding vocabulary with directed discussion increase kids language acquisition and participation within class discussions? This associates with the Manaiakalani CoL achievement challenge #6: 'Lift the achievement in maths for all students years 1-13.' I still find myself regularly gifting vocabulary to the students hoping they retain some of this eventually and it becomes a part of their own vocabulary. To simplify my inquiry, I have split it into 2 sections; language acquisition and participation within classroom discussions. Current Vocabulary: RED: Unknown words GREEN: Words they knew This was a huge shock to me as I saw so many holes (red spaces) where I am probably using these terms with the students being clueless about what I have actually said. Once I begun to fill the holes of unknown words, it came to my attention that I'm still not improving their own language acquisition as they're still saying te

I have found the mathematical challenge a struggle to start off with during my inquiry. I had to get the students to be filmed and say a sentence and this was when I was beyond shocked - some students couldn't even string a sentence together?! How am I expecting the kids to improve their language acquisition in a targeted subject area when they are struggling in social situations and find it a challenge to communicate? This made me 'rethink' what I was aiming to achieve.  I have realised that their communication skills with peers is crucial.  I realised my over-arching goal was going to be too challenging for my learners and have decided to narrow it down. I will still focus on mathematical language, meanwhile enforcing students to simply be able to converse and discuss their ideas with confidence. This is a huge focus - I am aiming to have students conversate in mathematics and it's a bonus if it is about maths currently! Now... I am attempting to use vocabulary aro

My inquiry focus for this year is: Will visible/feeding vocabulary with directed discussion increase kids language acquisition and participation within class discussions and be seen in their mathematical language? This integrates with the Manaiakalani CoL achievement challenge #6 which is: 'Lift the achievement in maths for all students years 1-13.' Here is a slideshow about my inquiry..