Take-Away Revision

Posted on by stbernsteaching

A ‘Sharing best practice’ post by Sarah Fox (Food Technology)

Reading time: 2 minutes

‘I’m looking forward to revising for my exams!’, said no student ever.

Revision is a fact of life for students preparing for exams and for many it may seem like an insurmountable obstacle.  Building revision time into your scheme of work, teaching students effective and efficient revision strategies and lots and lots of exam practice will all help but the fact remains – revision is about hard work.

Once students have faced the fact that revision is a necessity if they wish to achieve their best results, then offering them support, encouragement and resources is the teacher’s next job.

One of the ways in which you can do this is to provide them with a ‘Take-Away Revision Bag’.

Goody bag 2

In the bags go…

  • ‘What is the examiner looking for from each question?’ guides
  • ‘How to answer different types of exam questions’ guides
  • Revision booklets
  • Past papers
  • Worksheets
  • Factsheets
  • Pen and Pencil
  • A highlighter
  • Blank revision cards
  • Post-its
  • Sweets
  • A personal message from me

Goody bag 3

Once students have been given their take-away bag they can add to them, or use them to keep all their revision materials and notes together in one place.

Students then bring elements of the bag to each lesson to use.

The bags also  mean they are able to work through different tasks at their own pace and plan their own revision.

Goody bag 4

I am then able to use the time gained from having pre-planned the revision activities to analyse their exam answers to target further revision on required topics or to focus on the needs of individual students.

The students were delighted by their revision ‘gift’ and it gave them a lift when undertaking the hard work that was being demanded of them.

Goody bag 1

Why not offer your students a take-away!

Learning with Games

Posted on by stbernsteaching

A ‘Sharing best practice’ post by Sarah Fox (Food Technology)

Reading time: 2 minutes

‘To play or not to play?’, that is the question.  Are games a valuable tool in the teacher’s arsenal of learning strategies or are they a distraction and trivialisation of education?

Go fish

Figure 1: Go Fishing: hook yourself a question and provide an answer.  Get it right and keep your catch.  Get it wrong and the fish goes back in the pond

There are those who would argue that we as teachers are ‘educators not entertainers’ and there are indeed times when we need to remind our pupils of that.  However, there are also times when the enthusiasm and engagement engendered by ‘playing’ a game in class can be harnessed to serve the teacher’s purpose, whether it be to acquire knowledge, reinforce learning or to develop critical thinking skills.

Jenga

Figure 2: Jenga.  Take a question from the pile and a block with a points score written on it.  Answer the question and score the points.  Get it wrong and no points are scored and the question goes back in the pile

As teachers our priority is to ensure that the learning behind our choice of teaching strategy remains the key focus of our lessons and games do not become an end in themselves.

Guess who - what's for dinner

Figure 3: Guess What’s for Dinner? Swap the cards in the ‘Guess who?’ boxes for food related words and concepts and then take it turn to question your opponent until you have worked out what the answer is

Games do have many educational virtues to commend them, not least the development of social skills such as cooperation and teamwork  but perhaps above all, it is the sense of engagement they can foster that makes them a useful learning tool.

Labelling game

Figure 4: The Labelling Game  Compete with a friend to produce the most detailed ‘Nutri-Man’ and ‘Healthy Hands’

Taking the principle or format of some of the most popular or simple games that have stood the test of time and adapting them to the classroom can be a very effective teaching strategy.  Simplicity is key to making such games work.  Take a familiar format from a traditional game (snakes and ladders, hangman) or one from the popular culture (Who wants to be a millionaire?, Top Trumps, Guess Who?) and you have a head start as pupils know how to play the game.

A carousel of such games (as shown in the pictures) can make an engaging revision session.

Why not visit your local charity shops and pick up the games people no longer want and re-purpose them in your classroom!

Featured image: ‘Dice, game’ by OpenClip-Art Vectors on Pixabay.  Licensed under CC0 Public Domain

 

Beyond Growth Mindset: Two videos.

Posted on by stbernsteaching

Two films to help us all reflect on how we develop ourselves as teachers and our pupils as learners.

teacherhead

In the last couple of weeks I’ve come across two excellent videos that present ideas that I think are incredibly powerful for helping students and teachers think about learning.  Some times, when people talk about growth mindset, it’s so incredibly nebulous that I can’t quite imagine what’s going to change.  Simply urging students to adopt a new mindset or tinkering with your language or merely embracing a  generalised GM spirit – are unlikely to cut through to the technical issues of effective learning.

Video 1:  Six Strategies for Effective Learning. The Learning Scientists.

This video from the Learning Scientists – working with the Memorize Academy – give students (and teachers) some very clear, practical advice based on the findings of cognitive psychology.  It makes the abstract ideas of interleaving and dual coding come alive.  In my view, if students are taught to adopt these strategies, they will see that effort…

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Improving pupils’ handwriting

Posted on by stbernsteaching

A ‘Sharing Best Practice’ post by Sarah Barker (English)

Reading time: 2 minutes

Teachers are expert at deciphering poor handwriting.  Whether it be the last footsteps of a spider who has dragged its eight, ink-stained legs across the page of an exercise book, or the text that has taken leave of the lines  to wander freely about the page in defiance of the laws of gravity.  However, there are times when even the most skilled and experienced of teachers is left stumped by what a pupil has written.

Expressing oneself clearly in writing is a skill for life, not to mention the desire we have to ensure that the examiner will be able to read our pupils’ answers!

Improving handwriting, especially when a pupil is well into their teens is a challenge and requires real effort and concentration once writing habits have been formed.

K Before

Figure 1. A pupil’s handwriting BEFORE handwriting practice

One strategy promoted by the English Faculty to develop ‘automaticity’ in handwriting for pupils in all year groups, is to go back to basics and consciously and deliberately practise some of the basic building blocks of handwriting as an activity in its own right.

Separating out the task of improving handwriting from the challenge of writing a considered evaluation of an extract from Shakespeare, works to the benefit of both endeavours.  Improve the physical skill and then apply it to the intellectual challenge.

k-after.jpg

Figure 2. A pupil’s handwriting AFTER handwriting practice

So, you might open an exercise book to see that a 15 year old boy spent the first few minutes of the lesson ‘writing’ lines of ‘mountains’ and ‘valleys’, followed by a line of breaking waves.  Or in a 13 year old girl’s book lines of ‘a’s, ‘c’s and ‘d’s have been carefully scribed as the first part of a homework assignment.   In this way the basics of a legible script are developed and when applied to the written work to follow, handwriting improves, the pupil feels a sense of pride and the teacher breathes a sigh of relief that they  (the examiner, the college admissions tutor and the future employer) will be able to read what has been written.

 

Featured image: ‘Font, lettering’  by Victorian Lady on Pixabay.  Licensed under CCO Public Domain

 

Word Triangles

Posted on by stbernsteaching

A ‘Sharing Best Practice’ post by Caroline Hill (SENCO)

Reading time: 2 minutes

Supporting pupils with learning needs around literacy and dyslexia is a challenge most teachers face.  For some pupils the need to master key words is the issue, for some it is the technical vocabulary required for a particular subject and for others it may be the growing volume of vocabulary demanded by new exam specifications.

image1

One simple strategy that can support pupils in this is the use of word triangles.  Quite simply these are triangles, subdivided into three sub-sections which contain: 1) The key word to be learnt, 2) the definition of the key word, 3) a visual representation, prompt or reminder of the word.

image4

Pupils can be engaged in the production of the cards or they could be prepared for them, as their needs require.  Once a series of cards have been produced, challenge can be increased by cutting up the cards and using them like jigsaws, reinforcing the learning of each word and its definition.

image3

A bank of such cards can then serve as a valuable revision resource or as an activity which can be used by a teaching assistant in lessons to reinforce learning if working with the child in class, or used during one-to-one/small group interventions.

image2

Featured image: ‘Abstract/Mosaic’ by Vanntile on Pixabay. Licensed under Creative Commons Public Domain CC0

Scaffolding and Differentiation

Posted on by stbernsteaching

An Action Research project by Teresa Howe

My action research project was born out of a realisation that as a primary trained teacher I would naturally scaffold and differentiate for the pupils in my class. I could quickly establish their needs, and therefore adapt my teaching style and resources (often overnight). Transferring to teach in a secondary setting, teaching Year 8 and 9 English as well as SEND pupils in a nurture class, highlighted that scaffolding and differentiation were paramount in lesson planning. I felt that my skills in Scaffolding and Differentiation needed refreshing. I was also aware that there were many approaches that I still had to learn and try.

Rebecca Alber in her blog post ‘Scaffolding lessons- six strategies’ on Edutopia.org explains both the difference and connection between the two clearly. Scaffolding is ‘breaking up’ the learning into chunks and then modelling or explaining the tool to help. For example, when scaffolding for reading you may do one or many different things prior to work on the text. You may discuss the nature of the text and key vocabulary. Alternatively, you may chunk the text and read and discuss each part as you go. Differentiation might involve you giving a different piece of text to a pupil, or you may give a shortened or altered version. You may also modify the writing task associated with the text.

In my opinion, there are many approaches used in primary teaching that are useful tools in secondary teaching. The most important approach, I feel is flexibility. It is having the confidence to adapt and change set lesson plans to best suit an immediate pupil need.

I heard a fabulous example of this given by a PGCE tutor, who observed a student using a block of post it notes. During a task, the student would assess the progress of pupils and jot a note of help/advice/challenge to pupils and pop it on the desk next to them.

The student explained this as ‘instant differentiation’.

One of the classroom management tools I find very effective, no matter what level a pupil is working at, or whether they have a particular learning need, is a visual lesson plan displayed to the class giving a brief LIST of the steps or activities to be completed in the lesson. This helps pupils (and you) to focus on what to expect and acts as a reminder as to how far the lesson has progressed. I have used this with all my classes, small groups and when teaching individuals. It has  worked especially well with challenging groups of boys who have a reading intervention with me.

I’ve also found this useful when needing to ‘change’ the lesson content / order / recording method to suit the needs of the group (flexibility). The pupils appear to appreciate that their needs have been taken into account when you are crossing through your ideas and writing the new ‘agreed’ task.

Scaffolds and differentiated tasks, including visual aids, benefit all pupils. I’ve found that when pupils become familiar with the variety and range of activities that form part of your everyday lessons, they are not seen as ‘the easier option’ but rather, a different way of working. A good way to introduce this is by using a ‘tick-tack-toe’ or ‘noughts and crosses’ grid. This gives the pupils a choice of 9 activities (on a 3X3 grid). They have to choose 1 activity from each row but they make the choice. (You select tasks that you know give all pupils in your class the ability to access the lesson and use prior learning). Other consolidating or starter activities could be loop games, matching activities or sequencing tasks.

Since starting my action research, I have become more interested and stimulated by the needs of Dyslexic Pupils, primarily, when I began working with a statemented pupil and others who showed strong dyslexic tendencies, particularly with regards to literacy. As a result, I adapted my activities (scaffolding and differentiation) for intervention with these pupils and assessed their impact. The area that is crucial for such pupils before expecting them to complete tasks is to ensure that they are organised in preparation for both their learning and then recording. The lesson plan plays an important role, as does giving them model answers and creating opportunities for shared writing. Mostly for me, this would be teacher/pupil shared writing which proved very successful with groups of boys. Shared writing is not cheating but a way in which a group can learn from and teach each other.

One important fact became evident from my initial work with groups.  I was not always ‘chunking’ information into small enough steps, I assumed too much as far as the skills a secondary aged pupil would have. I found myself revising initial tasks set, chunking information into smaller steps. I ensured step by step instructions with model sentence starters. Diagrams and mind maps proved to be essential in allowing the pupil to both access and complete the task. Another crucial discovery was that the time needed to complete an extended task was at least doubled. I became more realistic about the quantity of work output as well as the amount of practise time needed before independent work would follow. Consolidation exercises, such as loop games, were essential in raising the self-esteem of dyslexic and other SEND pupils.  All of these scaffolds and differentiated tasks contributed to the groups progress.

Conclusions

The most ‘obvious’ point I learned when trying new approaches in my teaching is to not expect the pupils to ‘know’ what or how they want to do something – without first giving them choices and ideas. With a few hints and scaffolded activities they develop the confidence to ‘have a go’ and follow their own instincts. They know that, using my lesson plan, I will keep them focused if they go ‘off piste’.

The resounding success was the lesson plan/structure.

Next Steps

During my research, particularly of the US websites, I regularly heard the phrase ‘having a growth mindset’. I liked this quote which made its meaning clearer for me.

Carissa Romero’s Tch blog post:

“People with a fixed mindset believe intelligence is innate. This belief can make school a threatening place. It becomes a place to go to learn how smart you are — or how smart you’re not. People with a growth mindset, on the other hand, believe intelligence can be developed. For these students, school can be an exciting place, as it provides them with an opportunity to learn and develop their intelligence.”

This will be the focus for my on-going research, with the hope that my teaching provides children with positive support and I contribute to school being an exciting place.

HELPFUL WEBSITES

http://www.mentoringminds.com/blog/how-to-pair-scaffolding-and-differentiation/

http://edglossary.org/scaffolding/

http://www.edutopia.org/topic/learning-styles

https://www.teachingchannel.org/growth-mindset/?utm_source=newsletter20160903/

Featured image: ‘Scaffolding’ by 3112014 on Pixabay.  Licensed under Creative Commons CC0 Public Domain

Learning Maps

Posted on by stbernsteaching

An Action Research project by Matthew Yandell (P.E.)

Focus

My action research focus, ‘The use and impact of Learning Maps’, was chosen following a visit to a local secondary school.

I was inspired by the school’s use of Learning Maps as a way to promote consistency and engagement within the school community.

I felt their approach to learning and innovative teaching methods were a model for St Bernadette’s to take inspiration from and add to the work already being undertaken at to develop ‘consistent’ and ‘excellent’ practice across the school.

Learning Maps

‘Effective planning and lesson design is the starting point for quality first teaching and learning. In schools that excel in this, it is viewed as a series of decisions which build a planned series of learning episodes. The choice of appropriate learning objectives is supported using the Primary or Secondary Frameworks or subject specifications.’

 Personalised Learning – A Practical Guide (Department for Children, Schools and Families).

A Learning Map focuses on key aspects of a unit of work (normally a termly focus area). This is then broken down into termly maps for each year group, in each faculty. Each map has the same key areas on it which helps teachers, pupils and parents understand learning objectives and ensures consistency in teaching and learning across faculties.

The key areas of each learning Map are:

– 3/4 Driving Questions (which are used to challenge pupils’ understanding)

– 6/7 Blocks of learning (which would be the key foci for the topic)

– 6 Essential areas of understanding (6 things that you would like pupils to know by the end of the topic)

– 10 key words for the topic

The main driver behind the introduction ‘Learning Maps’ was to establish consistency of practice and expectations within each faculty.

I saw an opportunity for us to introduce this approach in order to promote our consistency and engagement between teachers, faculties, pupils and parents. Our school typicality has improved greatly over the past few years and the quality of lessons has improved with it. I feel this is partly down to consistent practices and expectations of both staff and pupils.

Within the PE department we have a clear and consistent introduction /starter to our lessons and all pupils understand that regardless of which teacher is teaching them, the lesson starter will always follow the same format. This consistent practice contributed significantly towards the PE faculty being graded as ‘Outstanding’ in our most recent review. By implementing Learning Maps in addition to our current practices, we will I believe, provide pupils with a consistent resource to use at the beginning of each lesson to enhance their learning.

Another benefit of using subject specific Learning Maps is the way in which it can engage parents. The easy to follow information helps parents to understand each individual subject’s curriculum aims for each term. This can then be used to enhance the learning experience at home as parents have the opportunity to become involved in understanding and supporting their child’s learning.

Learning maps have the potential to further strengthen bell work/starter activities and develop independent learning further.

“Teaching and learning is most effective where teachers are enthusiastic and knowledgeable and have the confidence to stand back and encourage pupils to become independent learners”

The Children’s Plan.

Staff trial

I discussed this idea at one of our ‘Raising Achievement’ meetings with the Second in Learning from each faculty.  They felt the idea and concept was good, and that the consistent approach would benefit our learners. They also felt that with the changes to the curriculum and levelling in school, this new approach could benefit learners understanding of the courses they are studying.

There were questions raised about how to accurately plot a learning map for a whole term’s learning episodes. It was felt that a tailored format to create uniformity across the school would be beneficial.

Staff from the Raising Achievement Team plotted examples for their individual subject areas. They found the process simple and easy to do.

This idea was also shared during a staff inset day. Feedback from staff was incredibly positive. In particular, from learning support staff, who felt that it would add a consistent approach to their small group interventions and would be a great way of keeping parents informed of focus areas.

Here are some examples of the Learning Maps produced:

Hums learning map

Figure 1. Humanities Learning Map

Maths learning map

Figure 2. Mathematics Learning Map

 PE learning map

Figure 3. Physical Education Learning Map 

Pupil trial

I trialed this with pupils in PE lessons in Term 4. As it was a practical lesson I used the maps in the form of a handout. The response from pupils was good, in particular, when they used the Learning Maps to highlight areas of progress with other pupils and to reinforce peer to peer questioning. It also provided a common baseline of key topic specific vocabulary, thus improving pupils’ literacy and subject knowledge. Pupils in PE already use assessment ladders routinely and are aware of how to use them. The Learning Maps build on this experience.  The learning maps targeting curriculum objectives and ideas really helped pupils to see progression in the subject area.

Conclusion

I feel that Learning Maps are an opportunity to further develop consistent practice across the school. They could also be used as a valuable tool to further engage parents.

Recommendations for implementing Learning Maps

  • Introduce Learning Maps on a rolling basis with Year 7 being developed in the first year, followed by Year 8 in the second and so on.
  • Form a working party. A member of each faculty would take responsibility for developing the Learning Maps on a termly basis. The key information could then be added to a template, so they can be produced by reprographics.
  • The school would need to ensure that Learning Maps are accessible to pupils and parents outside of school.
  • An introductory campaign to help promote this tool with pupils, staff and parents.
  • Linking the Learning Maps to established typicality measures and other whole school initiatives such as our Excellence initiative.  

References

Personalised Learning – A Practical Guide (Department for Children, Schools and Families). http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/publications

‘The Children’s Plan’ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-childrens-plan

Featured image: ‘Technology, classroom’ by LTDimages on Pixabay.  Licensed under CC0 Public Domain

Buzzing about Hexagons

Posted on by stbernsteaching

The versatile hexagon! In how many different ways can hexagons add to pupils’ learning?

Pete Sanderson's @LessonToolbox Blog

Cd2kKijXIAQYrFD Avasara Academy girls using the hexagon key word link activity, March 2016

Hexagons. Who knew that bees had the secret to understanding the connections between ideas, concepts and facts? I have been using hexagons with groups of children and teachers over the past year but it took me a while to get it. I had seen them on social media posted by teacher heroes like Russel Tarr (@Russeltarr) and John Mitchel (@Jivespin) and thought they looked interesting, but assumed they were being used for some kind of blockbusters game. I was wrong. It took Ewan McIntosh (@ewanmcintosh)  to show me what was going on when I attended one of his workshops at the Practical Pedagogies conference in October. Because of the way hexagons tessellate (love that word) you can group together key words or ideas and ask students to justify the connections between them. They are…

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Learning Outside of the Classroom

Posted on by stbernsteaching

An Action Research Prjoect by Sarah Fox (Art, Design & Technology)

Focus

The main focus for this project was to improve uptake and engagement in my subject area (Design Technology, Food Technology and Catering).

Learning inside a classroom is a tried and tested method of organising schooling.  However, teachers and learners have always valued the further opportunities for learning that can take place outside the classroom, including:

  • activities within a school’s or college’s own buildings, grounds or immediate area
  • participation in dramatic productions, concerts and other special events
  • involvement in clubs, musical groups and sporting activities held during break-times and before or after the end of the school day
  • educational visits organised within the school day
  • Residential visits that take place during the school week, a weekend or holiday.

Background

The Ofsted paper, ‘Learning outside the classroom- How far should you go?’ evaluates the impact of learning outside the classroom in 12 primary schools, 10 secondary schools, one special school, one pupil referral unit and three colleges across England where previous inspections had shown that curricular provision, in particular outside the classroom, was good, outstanding or improving rapidly. Inspectors also visited or contacted 13 specialist organisations, including providers of learning outside the classroom, and held discussions with representatives from five local authorities.

All of the schools and colleges surveyed provided exciting, direct and relevant learning activities outside the classroom. Such hands-on activities led to improved outcomes for pupils and students, including better achievement, standards, motivation, personal development and behaviour. The survey also found examples of the positive effects of learning outside the classroom on young people who were hard to motivate.

When planned and implemented well, learning outside the classroom contributed significantly to raising standards and improving pupils’ personal, social and emotional development.

Learning outside the classroom was most successful when it was an integral element of long-term curriculum planning and closely linked to classroom activities.

The schools in the survey relied very heavily on contributions from parents and carers to meet the costs of residential and other visits and had given very little thought to alternative ways of financing them. Of the schools and colleges visited, only three had evaluated the impact of learning outside the classroom on improving achievement, or monitored the take-up of activities by groups of pupils and students. The vast majority in the sample were not able to assess the effectiveness, inclusiveness or value for money of such activities.

The schools and colleges had worked hard and successfully to overcome some of the barriers to learning outside the classroom, including those relating to health and safety, pupils’ behaviour and teachers’ workload.

Diss High School (Norfolk) 21 March 2014

  • “The pupil premium funding is used to provide one-to-one support in classrooms, small-group support and learning resources for eligible students, as well as the opportunity for them to take part in educational visits. They are able to take part in local and foreign trips, for example to Iceland, Sri Lanka, Flanders and Dorset. The school has links with schools in Sri Lanka and Rwanda. The school provides a wide range of activities for students to take responsibility, for example, through the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme. There is a wide range of opportunities for students to take part in enrichment activities such as residential trips, music and drama activities.”

Elm C of E Primary School (Cambridgeshire) 28 April 2014

  • “The curriculum offers pupils a wide range of experiences to support their learning, including trips and visitors. During the inspection, pupils in Year 3 experienced a Victorian day to support their history topic. Pupils love these experiences, and in most classes they are used well to develop pupils’ extended writing skills.”
  • “Additional sports funding is used to employ specialist physical education teachers to lead one lesson each week. These lessons are observed by class teachers, who subsequently lead a follow-up session. Pupils report that they now love their physical education lessons and enjoy more opportunities to be involved in competitive sport.”

Actions

I went about planning a series of educational visits and visitors to visit the school during the academic year. Examples of these were:

  • London Food Tour
  • Afternoon Tea Trip
  • Royal Marines Visit to School
  • Vegetarian Society Visit to School
  • Royal Navy Visit to School
  • Harry Potter Trip
  • Zoo Trip

Outcomes

  • Undertaking and organising educational trips and visits can be a very stressful and time consuming task. However, the rewards are huge in term of engagement and pupil progress.
  • As a case study, one boy in Year 10 who had not previously taken food tech, has already made 3 levels of progress in a year.
  • Due to my work of building contacts and having the experience of organising these extra-curricular activities, both in school and out, this has and will be beneficial and less time consuming to organise in the coming years, especially with the introduction of a new GCSE.

Impact

  • When planned and implemented well, learning outside the classroom contributed significantly to raising standards & improving pupils’ personal, social and emotional development.
  • Learning outside the classroom was most successful when it was an integral element of long-term curriculum planning and closely linked to classroom activities.
  • According to research, the success of learning outside the classroom depends very much on the leadership and support of the schools and colleges.

Conclusions

  • The clear message from Ofsted is that inspectors want schools to shout about their LOtC activities, not do them as an extra or ‘add-on’ that is shelved when the call from Ofsted comes. If you believe in what you’re doing, demonstrate that to the inspectors. Speaking at the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom national conference in 2011, senior Ofsted HMI, Robin Hammerton, declared that he wanted to see ‘inspection outside the classroom’ and challenged schools to “make sure inspectors get out there and see the innovative practice where it’s happening”.

Next Steps

  • Further research into professionals who would be willing to visit the school.
  • Using social media to keep in touch with other schools and professional organisations.
  • Developing what has been organised this year into new schemes of work for the GCSE.

Sources/References

Feature image: ‘Carrot Kale Walnut’ by dbreen on Pixabay.  Licensed under CC0 Public Domain