We called Carolyn from Koru School on Thursday. Brittany has written an excellent summary of the call if you're interested in specific details. I enjoyed the call; it was interesting listening to the way reading is approached in Koru, and Carolyn really had a great grasp of the overall reading plan. I am really looking forward to meeting her in person and seeing the school.
I have booked our tickets from Auckland to Christchurch (Air New Zealand), Christchurch to Wellington (Tranzrail) and Wellington to Auckland (Air New Zealand). However, I have to say I am enormously peeved off at Air New Zealand right now. Through chance, I learned that they may have changed their baggage policies, so I looked it up. Sure enough, only ONE bag allowed (for checkin). I checked United and Qantas to see if they had changed, but no, they still have TWO bags. Further, ANZ has changed our seats! I looked at them yesterday, and Kelli and Brittany were relocated across the plane. I reorganized them, then called ANZ. Most unhelpful. Apparently, if you book together, you HAVE to sit together. Side-by-side - or else you're manually moved. It doesn't explain why Kelli and Brittany, who were side by side on the return trip from Auckland to LAX were moved elsewhere (away from a window). I have to say, I was rather annoyed, and let ANZ know both in the phone call AND in an email I sent. They changed the policy in late May, apparently, but didn't see fit to make any big announcement or anything. Oh well, we'll enjoy our flight because it'll be the last ANZ one for me!
(Off Soap Box now). Six and a half weeks to go now! Things are firming up nicely. This coming week we'll be focused on the presentation Brittany and Kelli are making at Posters-at-the-Capitol next week. Should be a good day.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Snow Friday
The four of us met today and caught up with where we're at. Brittany and Kelli have done a lot of work on their poster for the Posters-at-the-Capitol, and they only need to add a discussion, do some editing (which Jody is going to oversea) and then plan it out on a PowerPoint slide ready for printing. They have the beginnings of a great paper that perhaps KRJ might like to publish. Both Jody and I are very proud of what they have accomplished.
One thing that stood out to me as a result of Kelli's research so far is that New Zealand teachers use a lot of teacher made materials to instruct in reading. That is to say, they use non-purchased materials 64% of the time and purchased materials 36% of the time. Kentucky teachers, on the other time, use purchased materials 100% of the time. This is something we definitely will be following up with further investigation. Another thing that stood out to me (again, Kelli's research) was the difference in the focii of the interventions. Kentucky focused more on phonological awareness as an intervention, whereas New Zealand focuses more on comprehension. This is something we will keep in the back of our minds too.
Our schedule, as I mentioned in my last blog, is firming up, and I feel comfortable now that it's falling into place. We have a great range of schools to visit, and I think we're going to be overwhelmed with data once we get to those schools!
We discussed our travel, and there is unanimity in the thought that instead of flying from Christchurch to Wellington, we'll go via train and ferry. The cost is about the same, and since we have a full Sunday in which to travel, we may as well see as much of the country as we can. Brittany is going to have to bring her seasickness pills! ;-)
Our next step is to email all the schools who have firm dates and send them a couple of documents: one with information about ourselves, and the other with an outline of what we hope to achieve during our visit.
One thing that stood out to me as a result of Kelli's research so far is that New Zealand teachers use a lot of teacher made materials to instruct in reading. That is to say, they use non-purchased materials 64% of the time and purchased materials 36% of the time. Kentucky teachers, on the other time, use purchased materials 100% of the time. This is something we definitely will be following up with further investigation. Another thing that stood out to me (again, Kelli's research) was the difference in the focii of the interventions. Kentucky focused more on phonological awareness as an intervention, whereas New Zealand focuses more on comprehension. This is something we will keep in the back of our minds too.
Our schedule, as I mentioned in my last blog, is firming up, and I feel comfortable now that it's falling into place. We have a great range of schools to visit, and I think we're going to be overwhelmed with data once we get to those schools!
We discussed our travel, and there is unanimity in the thought that instead of flying from Christchurch to Wellington, we'll go via train and ferry. The cost is about the same, and since we have a full Sunday in which to travel, we may as well see as much of the country as we can. Brittany is going to have to bring her seasickness pills! ;-)
Our next step is to email all the schools who have firm dates and send them a couple of documents: one with information about ourselves, and the other with an outline of what we hope to achieve during our visit.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
First Week of Trip!
I am delighted to say that the first week of our trip is inked in! Things are starting to look much more settled, and I'm really excited about that. We've had a lot of really helpful responses to our emails, and I feel more and more sure that we're going to have a really fulfilling experience in New Zealand.
Today I managed to get hold of some certificate holders and paper so that we can give schools a sign of our appreciation. I also ordered some flash drives - we're already collecting a lot of information and I sure don't want to be losing any. I pulled out the camera today and Brittany swept her expert eye over it this afternoon. It's a lot easier having a Brittany than reading a manual! ;-) We took photos of ourselves and wrote up a paragraph about each of us so that we can let schools know a little more about who we are. I also put together a document outlining what we would like to do when in a school or university. Jody is going to look over it and add anything I've missed.
Tomorrow we're all meeting to discuss where we're up to - at least we will be if we don't get snowed in again (it's started to snow, and the prediction is 1-3 inches... if that happens, I'll probably be stuck in my house tomorrow!!!).
Today I managed to get hold of some certificate holders and paper so that we can give schools a sign of our appreciation. I also ordered some flash drives - we're already collecting a lot of information and I sure don't want to be losing any. I pulled out the camera today and Brittany swept her expert eye over it this afternoon. It's a lot easier having a Brittany than reading a manual! ;-) We took photos of ourselves and wrote up a paragraph about each of us so that we can let schools know a little more about who we are. I also put together a document outlining what we would like to do when in a school or university. Jody is going to look over it and add anything I've missed.
Tomorrow we're all meeting to discuss where we're up to - at least we will be if we don't get snowed in again (it's started to snow, and the prediction is 1-3 inches... if that happens, I'll probably be stuck in my house tomorrow!!!).
Sunday, January 16, 2011
New Year
The Spring semester starts on Tuesday, and that means we are heading like an unstoppable freight train to New Zealand in 8 and a half weeks! So much to do!
Our calendar is starting to shape up, although there are still some schools we need to schedule. We'll be doing some serious emailing this week for sure. We have received most of our equipment, minus a laptop, so we'll be having to familiarize ourselves with it (especially the voice recorders; these need to be "trained", with software added to our laptops for voice-to-text conversion). Now we need to hear from the second grant awarder so we can order a few other things. Eight and a half weeks!!
I've been reading more of the international research reports (TIMMS, Pirl etc... ) and it's really standing out to me that there seems to be a definite trend in all subjects. The USA is statistially significantly ahead of NZ in all 4th grade tests, but then in 8th grade there is no difference. By 10th-12th grade, NZ is statistically significantly ahead in all subjects. Why? Do NZ teachers teach more "lifelong skills"? Do teachers in the upper levels teach differently? It's not a case of money; the US puts more in that NZ does, and it's not a case of only testing the best students (the international tests addressed those problems more than a decade and a half ago, even though you'll hear people still saying "Oh well, they (other countries) don't educate ALL students" - we've got to address that as it's a copout, and simply not true.). So, what's happening? That's a question I'm taking with me to NZ. I doubt if I'll come up with a definitive answer, but maybe I'll get some ideas and insights.
Well, expect the blogging pace to pick up this semester!
Our calendar is starting to shape up, although there are still some schools we need to schedule. We'll be doing some serious emailing this week for sure. We have received most of our equipment, minus a laptop, so we'll be having to familiarize ourselves with it (especially the voice recorders; these need to be "trained", with software added to our laptops for voice-to-text conversion). Now we need to hear from the second grant awarder so we can order a few other things. Eight and a half weeks!!
I've been reading more of the international research reports (TIMMS, Pirl etc... ) and it's really standing out to me that there seems to be a definite trend in all subjects. The USA is statistially significantly ahead of NZ in all 4th grade tests, but then in 8th grade there is no difference. By 10th-12th grade, NZ is statistically significantly ahead in all subjects. Why? Do NZ teachers teach more "lifelong skills"? Do teachers in the upper levels teach differently? It's not a case of money; the US puts more in that NZ does, and it's not a case of only testing the best students (the international tests addressed those problems more than a decade and a half ago, even though you'll hear people still saying "Oh well, they (other countries) don't educate ALL students" - we've got to address that as it's a copout, and simply not true.). So, what's happening? That's a question I'm taking with me to NZ. I doubt if I'll come up with a definitive answer, but maybe I'll get some ideas and insights.
Well, expect the blogging pace to pick up this semester!
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