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Pedagogy exchange - steeped in practice d  G u a r a n t e e

July 2014

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K! S E N S E L E S S TA L MAKING SENSE OF Gerrard ed by Rosie

su s i s i h T P1. Foreword!

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P2. Balderdash!

P3. Neuroscience!

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P4. Socratic seminars!

Want to promote excellent literacy in your classroom? !

Look no further than Page 2 for an engaging, fun solution

P5. Construct & Apply !

P6. It’s only a game show!!

The future depends on what you do today (Mahatma Gandhi) Our society today needs young people who are flexible, crea8ve and proac8ve – young people who can solve problems, make decisions, think cri8cally, communicate ideas effec8vely and work efficiently within teams and groups. The knowing of knowledge is no longer enough to succeed in the increasingly complex, fluid and rapidly evolving world in which we live. In order to op8mise life-­‐long learning and poten8al success it is now accepted that young people need to have opportuni8es to develop personal capabili8es and effec8ve thinking skills.

Our role as educators is to equip our young people to face the opportuni8es and challenges that lie ahead. To give them the chance to develop the skills and aEributes needed in a safe and secure learning environment, providing appropriate challenge and allowing them to be crea8ve and innova8ve.

Pedex has proved to be a useful tool in helping colleagues to plan and create a s8mula8ng, enriching, challenging and focused environment within our College. Many staff have willingly contributed ideas and strategies that they have found worked well. Thank you so much to all our contributors.

P7. AfL Cards in PE! P8. The Flipped Classroom!

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Special thanks in this edi8on must go to the editor of Pedex, John Shropshire who is moving onto a new post in September. John has been instrumental in capturing some of the real nuggets of good prac8ce with regard to teaching and learning in this journal. His passion for effec8ve pedagogy and love of teaching young people has been a source of inspira8on to many, including myself. We thank you for all you have given to All Hallows John over the years and wish you every success in your new post.

(Ann-­‐Marie Connor)

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PedEx is published termly !

by All Hallows Catholic College !

Teaching & Learning Group.!

Balderdash & Total Recall in English Many of the texts we study in English contain challenging vocabulary.

Stevenson and Dickens can easily repel students with their demanding expression so we need to find a way to present this language in an accessible way. Balderdash is a highly amusing way of doing this and can embed the meaning of the words in their minds long-term.

One of my year 7s manages to shoehorn ‘protruded’ into nearly every piece of written work, and all of my year 10s effectively used the word ‘troglodyte’ in their Christmas assessment.

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You present an obscure word to the pupils. It could be a good way of introducing them to a new or difficult piece of terminology. !

In pairs (or individually) they have to make up a definition for this word. (‘Troglodyte’ delivered a range of weird and wonderful definitions from ‘a prehistoric, four legged creature’ to ‘a rare medicine’ to ‘a tool used for supporting bridges’.) !

You then read out all of the definitions including the true definition. !

The pupils have to guess which definition is the correct meaning of the word. !

An example of Balderdash Points are awarded for picking the correct definition and if someone else picks your invented definition. !

stimulus/information at this point). !

While they are out of the room, the other students must write a list of words they think will be mentioned. For each one they guessed right, they get a point.!

This is a good activity to use for revising exam questions. Instead of each word they guess correctly, it could be a point which contributes to a good answer. !

Total Recall!

(Rosie Gerrard: English)!

One student will be asked to leave the classroom for two minutes. When they return, they will have to speak for one minute on a certain topic. (You could give them some additional

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Neuroscience in the classroom: Dopamine and reward pathways As a Psychology teacher, I am always enthusiastic about practical opportunities to use Psychology in the classroom. As part of an action research project with some colleagues from other departments we decided to look at the impact of neuroscience in the classroom.!

We discussed a variety of options from kinaesthetic activities and stimulation of different parts of the brain to the impact of dopamine on ADHD before settling on the role of reward pathways.!

We read a variety of research including a literature review from the Education Endowment Foundation conducted by Paul Howard Jones at the University of Bristol. The findings allowed us to think in a bit more detail about the links between neuroscience and the classroom.!

Hormones and Neurotransmitters have a major impact on our behaviour, attitude and personality; consequently, they affect our ability to learn effectively.

Teenagers in particular, are subject to changing moods as their bodies change and they start to form their own sense of self. !

We decided to focus on neurotransmitters as they move much quicker, in milliseconds than hormones which can take hours to change. Dopamine is strongly associated with rewards and pleasure sensations within the brain. They are often stimulated by computer games which allow players to engage in risk behaviours e.g. Call of Duty.

This risk allows players to learn more quickly. Our aim was to replicate this within the classroom.!

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Step%by%step%guide:% 1. Choose!your!multiple!choice! questions!

2. Get!students!to!answer!either!in! groups!of!individually!using!mini!wipe! boards!

3. Students!then!get!the!answer!and,!if! they!are!correct,!choose!heads!or!tails!

4. Toss!a!coin!(either!in!real!life!or! virtually)!

5. Correct!answer!plus!correct!guess!=! double!points!

6. Correct!answer!plus!incorrect!guess!=!

Nil!points!

7. Set!students!a!target!to!reach!!

We found a simple idea and adapted it.

We took a standard multiple choice question and added the extra dimension of risk to the answer. This took the form a coin toss: guess right, double your points, guess wrong, and lose all of your points.

This leaves students in a state of perennial risk where neither they nor the teacher.

The idea being that students will recall the information better because of the association with that risk (it doesn’t matter if they win or lose!). We piloted it across a number of groups to some good effect, but would like to bring it to more students in more subjects! (Dave Howells)!

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Spread the knowledge - A Socratic seminar The Socratic Seminar is a fantastic tool for revisiting or for finding out what students already understand about a subject. !

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st / E u r T n Sutto ts though

The students in the centre discuss their ideas and the students in the outer circle take notes and come up with additional questions and focus on key information.!

The Teaching & Learning Toolkit!

This lesson was designed as part of a wider project for the BBC to inspire the next generation of journalists and news readers. The students were aware that their work would have a real audience and that their time had to be used effectively.

The lessons included a focus on developing presentation skills and writing in a style which was clear and concise. !

The Sutton Trust-EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit is an independent resource which provides guidance for teachers and schools on how to use their resources to improve the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.!

The Socratic Seminar works really well as a foundation for this kind of project and is an excellent way of linking speaking and writing skills.!

The Socratic Seminar encourages the students to work independently and also develops social skills. The next part of the lesson involves breaking the class into groups so the students can research and prepare a news article. A team of editors are then chosen to collate and manage the articles. !

This gives an excellent opportunity for developing editing and proof reading skills and is an interesting way to approach teaching grammar and punctuation.!

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(James Power: English)!

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The Toolkit is an accessible summary of educational research. It currently covers 21 topics, each summarised in terms of their potential impact on attainment, the strength of the evidence supporting them, their cost, and their applicability.!

Just as doctors would not be expected to prescribe treatments without access to medical research, we believe that teachers should be supported with information about what has worked – and, just as important, what has not – in England and around the world. We hope that the Toolkit will help schools to identify which approaches are the ‘best bets’ for increasing the attainment of disadvantaged students and which approaches offer less promising chances of success.!

Be sure to follow up by reading the report ……!

The Socra8c Seminar promotes effec8ve teacher and learner behaviours.

ICT Under Review: Construct and Apply activities get a make-over In ICT one of our recent focuses has been towards updating our GCSE lessons in order to include a greater focus on the ‘construct’, ‘apply’ and ‘review’ phase of the TEEP cycle. The emphasis has been on looking at different techniques that we can use and updating the structure of our lessons. Here is but a snapshot, focused on the Construct and Apply phases of the TEEP cycle:!

Choose any of the following emerging technologies…….!

4G Mobile devices (tablets, smartphones) Cloud computing Super-fast broadband. The students must firstly research this product.!

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What is the product?

Emphasise how this technology will impact on the workplace. Then create a Dragon’s Den situation… It will be the student’s job to try and convince potential

investors i.e. the dragons to back this potential new product.!

you want to invest in; you can split the money however you like….!

The scenario will be they have each been given £50,000 to invest into an emerging technology. The students need to decide what

It is also important they make as much detailed notes as possible on each product that is being offered.

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The students are each to be given past paper questions…..!

Using the resources that they have accumulated, the students can attempt them quietly. Ask them then to swap over with their partner, and mark each other’s work using the mark scheme.!

Finally, a past paper question for the students to attempt on their own without any resources…. Then asked to swap over with their partner, and mark each other’s work again using the mark scheme. !

Enjoy!

(BITE Faculty)

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It’s only a game show: Using games to enhance learning in MFL In MFL, we often use games to explore learning in the construct phase of the TEEP cycle. We have collaborated to give you a list of our top 10 games, here are three:!

Stop the Bus! We use stop the bus to practise verb conjugations.

Using a random verb generator, students are given a verb and they have to take the stem and add the correct endings.

The first student to finish with the correct endings wins that round. Each round the number of points up for grabs increases so students remain engaged and motivated. This makes the often necessary task of repetition more fun and reinforces the present new information stage of the TEEP cycle. !

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Rules for Running Dictation

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Speed Dating!

Used best to practise controlled assessment answers, students speed date each other to practise asking and answering questions in the target language. This is a particularly versatile activity because it spans

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Running Dictation!

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A game that can be used in the present new information and construct phases of the TEEP cycle, one partner walks to a piece of information that is placed somewhere in the classroom. They then have to return to their partner and relay the information to them to complete a certain task that they have been set. They have a finite amount of time in which to remember and relay the information, when this time is up, the roles change.!

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(MFL Faculty)

the construct, apply, and review phases of the TEEP cycle. In the process students also obtain other ideas that they have heard from their peers and improve upon their own work. In languages, students have a great fear of speaking and this activity is particularly useful in overcoming this barrier. !

AfL cards in PE In P.E. we often use AfL cards like the one below during the ‘construct’ phase of the lesson. After a structured warm up, students are introduced to a skill, shown the ‘perfect model’, and make progress through developing their technique. This can be achieved through drills devised by the teacher, or by the students themselves. Students then peer assess to review their knowledge and understanding, and to monitor their peers’ progress in the lesson. Levels are visible to the students so they can see what they need to work on in order to improve the level that they are working at. Students then feedback to each other, and this coaching highlights others’ areas for development.!

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Progress is evident when the students ‘apply’ the technique in conditioned games. An example for the lesson below might be that the students must pass the ball as a team 5 times before they can shoot. Alternatively, the ball must be passed into a target area to score a goal. During this phase of the lesson, teachers will frequently stop the game and review the students’ understanding through Q + A. Below is an example of the approach in action, focused on Short Passing in Football.!

LO’S:!

•! To demonstrate accuracy and control when passing!

•! To pass the ball using the inside of the foot to provide greater accuracy!

•! To apply the skills in a game situation!

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Tick when you see your partner perform the following:!

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1. Approaches the ball at angle of around 30 degrees so that they swing their kicking leg through!

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2. Gets their non-kicking foot close to the side of the ball!

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3. Strikes the centre of the ball with the inside of the foot!

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4. !

Keeps their head still and eyes on the ball!

5. Follows through with the kicking leg! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

(PE Faculty)!

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Skill Sometimes Often 1 2

3 4 5

Always

The Flipped Classroom

Why don’t you be a contributor to the next issue? Think about The new Ofsted framework places emphasis on students’ development as independent learners. One way to encourage this is to use the flipped classroom approach. This novel method of teaching turns the traditional classroom on its head. Perhaps this is something that’s worth researching and trialling in the forthcoming academic year.

an aspect of your practice that you would like to share with colleagues. Then think about making the linkage to the underpinning elements or stage in the Learning Cycle explicit.

All contributions gratefully received.

E n c o ur ag i ng ind e pe nd en t l e ar ni ng: T h e fli p pe d cl ass r o o m

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“Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation.”

Nelson Mandela!

I n g r e d ie n t s

Essentially Flipped Learning takes the conten t of the lesson and deliver s it before the lesson takes place, freeing up lesson time for students to expl ore and extend the lesson content in whatever way they see fit.

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Good reasons fo r using this approach include :

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1. Engaging for staf f and students 2. Pushes studen ts to think for themselves 3. Fosters creativ ity 4. Builds confide nce in the weaker students because they can go thro ugh the work as many tim es as they like before the le sson 5. Can raise attainm ent with hard to reach stud ents