MAY 2023
Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle
Retrieval
Practice
Techniques
What is a Community of Practice?
Developing English & Maths in vocational courses
Useful TLA websites
Right is Right!
Increasing students’ word power
My kind of Learning
New TLA books in the Learning Centre
Welcome to the Summer Term Edition of the Teaching, Learning and Assessment Newsletter and what a bumper edition it is!
It’s been another great opportunity to work with Robert Evans and his BTEC Level 2 ICT learners to produce an exciting and vibrant issue which covers a wide range of topics.
We hope the topics included in this issue will be of interest and benefit for all colleagues. For example, pieces on reflective practice for teachers and retrieval practice techniques to use with our learners, especially those who are preparing for exams. There is also a focus on the development of English and Maths skills in vocational areas and providing learners with the tools to increase their oracy skills and vocabulary range.
I would like to give a huge thankyou to Robert Evans, Debbie Johnstone and Lance Stanford who have contributed to this edition, sharing skills and tips which they find help their learners to make progress and to expand their skills.
Also, here’s a reminder to explore our TLA Sharepoint site which we are regularly updating with resources to help develop teaching skills and knowledge across the college.
If you wish to share contributions for the next newsletter, please email me at Damian.McCoy@lewisham.ac.uk and we’d be happy to include you in our Autumn Term issue.
Damian
STAFF
Damian McCoy
Quality Unit
Debbie Johnstone
ESOL Adults & English
Robert Evans
Digital Skills
Lance Stanford
Digital Skills
WRITERS
Omar Yaqobi
LAYOUT
Lewis-Lee Thomas-Sanders
Muhammad Hafeez
PHOTOGRAPHY
Mahmoud El-Talamisy
Youness Zigadi
DIGITAL GRAPHICS
Shadid Iusupov
Marius Franco
Omar Yaqobi
MODELS
Mahmoud El-Talamisy
Marius Franco
Adedunmola John Dairo
Pirunthika Partheepan
This newsletter was created for educational, non-commercial purposes and is disseminated solely internally within the organisation. Its intent is to promote excellent teaching, learning and assessment practice. All use of external authors’ work is accompanied by acknowledgement, and/or links to sites and publications. Extracts only are used and are featured solely to illustrate TLA points. We hope this newsletter will encourage our colleagues to purchase and read the works of authors featured.
The infographics have been mostly created by IT students using a variety of software packages. An invaluable source of interesting free templates used is slidemodel.com. Other graphics come from the icon sets used in Microsoft packages which are free to use in non-commercial documents.
All student contributors are from the BTEC L1 or L2 Ext Cert in I&CT unless otherwise stated.
on any of the images below to go to the related article. To get back quickly, simply click the page header! Or, simply scroll through!
What is a Community of Practice? Something for all of us, by all of us
PAGE 4
Student Omar shares with us how he likes to learn.
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Right is Right! When rounding up is dumbing down
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Retrieval Practice
Remember this? ��
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Embedding English and Maths Still needed, still happening!
15
Reflective Practice
What is it and how do I use it?
PAGE 25
Word Power!
Simple but ingenious…
PAGE 19
New books in the learning centre to inform and inspire you.
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The web awaits… Lots of great TLA Resources for you!
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‘…improvement is most surely and thoroughly achieved when teachers engage in frequent, continuous and increasingly concrete talk about teaching practices…’
Judith Warren Little, Education ResearcherIn a recent article in the Times Education Supplement (22nd March 2023), Cat Scutt outlined five ways that the CPD offered to teachers could be improved and how it could be viewed as something much more valuable and less as ‘a luxury that comes after everything else staff are asked to do.’
One of these is a Community
The delivery of CPD should be through a number of methods
of Practice.
The CoP is an ideal method of development to ensure that Scutt’s five ways are put into practice. The CoP is led by teachers for teachers and provides the opportunity for all to contribute. It’s led by people who know their subject, who are there at the teaching coal face and are delivering and developing daily.
This is an invaluable strand of the CPD programme and is something which could easily be slotted into the time set aside for team meetings.
As Scutt said, take away before you add. Devote a section of the team meeting time to the CoP. It doesn’t add to anybody’s workload or increase the amount of time spent in meetings, but it does have a positive impact in that knowledge and skills are being shared and developed with peers. The CoP model allows us to tap into the wealth of knowledge and experience which are present in each curriculum team as well as providing a non-judgemental safe space to explore our teaching practice and any areas which we feel need developing
According to Dr Nicole Brown there are three characteristics of a successful CoP:
Sharing best practice: In order to be able to improve our understanding, we need to engage with our learning. By asking others, we gain insights and views that we may not see ourselves. The use of a reflective model is a food starting point to improve our learning, but it is engaged collaboration with others that leads to deeper understanding.
Providing good quality feedback: As we are worried that we could potentially upset our colleagues, we may provide feedback that is perhaps not of the best quality. Feedback should not be destructive in the sense that it upsets others. However, in order to improve our knowledge we do need to hear constructive suggestions. We may not always like what we hear, but our interpretation of events may be different from those that experience them. And this is where feedback is crucial.
Consistent, efficient communication: In good communities of practice, all members will regularly share their learning, their insights, their visions, their ambitions and to this end regular updates are required. Sharing practice and providing feedback also require effective communication. Indeed, every interaction we have with one another can be hugely influential. And so, communication is key.
There is a certain amount of planning needed to set up a successful CoP. There needs to be a designated lead for each session who will facilitate the session. It shouldn’t be the same person who leads and facilitates each session. This role should be on rotation so that all colleagues can contribute. The CoP is not a hierarchical structure, but a community of peers. In addition, one person’s view/advice is no more or less important than another’s.
Whether you’ve been teaching for 20 years or 2 months, your input is equally as valid. It’s important that there is a clear focus for the CoP session so that you stay on track, and this also makes it more impactful as you can prepare in advance what you wish to contribute, and which questions you may want to raise. It’s also important that the area of focus is followed up on and the progress monitored. In subsequent sessions, time should be given to allow people to reflect on what they have been doing and to share how successful it has been and to ask for advice if needed. Here are key points to help you structure your CoP session
*Not sure about “reflective cycle”? Click here to read the article about Gibbs’s Reflective Cycle in this issue.
I recently read an interesting post from Adam Robbins (right) in his blog Reflections on Education in which he discusses how teachers often ‘round up’ their learners’ answers to questions. By this he means that the teachers expand on a learner’s incomplete answer or an answer which was inappropriate for the level. Rather than using probing questions to elicit a more detailed response from the learner, the teacher provides the full answer on the learner’s behalf.
Most of us, if not all, could probably put our hand up and admit that we have probably been guilty of this at least once or twice in our teaching career. In this article, I want to share some of the content from Robbins’ post, covering why teachers round up and some techniques to avoid this bad habit. I will include a link to the original post if you wish to read it in full.
Robbins gives this example:
Teacher: What is an alkali?
Student: It turns an indicator purple.
Teacher: That’s right it is a substance with a pH above 7 that turns universal indicator blue or purple.
The student has only provided a partial answer to the teacher’s question. The answer isn’t incorrect, it’s just not fully formed. Instead of encouraging the learner to expand on the answer or for other learners to add to it, the teacher automatically provides the full answer on their behalf. But why do we do it?
Robbins gives reasons for why rounding up is an issue with teaching and learning. He explains that it ‘runs the risk of baking in poor answers or even misconceptions. People like being right and when they hear they are right they tend to stop listening.’ If a learner’s partial answer is identified as correct, they may just settle for this as an acceptable answer rather than pushing themselves to develop a fully accurate answer. It’s important that the students know the accurate terminology/language to use to produce a perfect answer. Through insisting on the correct language in combination with producing a fully formed, 100% accurate answer, you are setting a high standard for the learners to work towards.
Robbins shares a summary of a strategy called ‘Right is Right’ which can be used to prevent teachers from rounding up. Here it is in pictorial form, courtesy of our IT students – the what, when and how of “Right is Right”. Text is ©TRS 2022
When planning your questions make sure you have a strong idea of what the perfect answer is for students at this stage in their education. What specific vocabulary must be in it? Make sure you pose your questions carefully to ensure students can answer as you want them to.
When a student gives an answer, assess it against your 100% right answer. If their answer is a partial answer, respond in a way that encourages them but makes it clear the answer needs improving and you think they can do it.
“This is heading in the right direction, can you add something about..?” or “You have the right idea but I need the answer to contain the key word…”
Sometimes the students give overly detailed answers which include the right answer but also everything else. These also need correcting in a similar way. “That answer contained a lot of great knowledge! However, can you choose the part that answers my question directly?” or “You have the answer I need in there but we need to trim your answer…”
Sometimes, students may need some structure to support them. You might need to reframe the question or ask specific questions to check their thinking. Whatever strategy you use make sure you circle back to No Opt Out*. The student must give us the right answer at the end otherwise we end up reducing the feeling of success and risking them making the same mistakes in the future.
If the student is struggling to improve their answer, move straight to No Opt Out to get the 100% right answer and then thank them for their contribution.
*No Opt Out - See next page!
No Opt Out is part of the excellent Teach Like a Champion (by Doug Lemov) questioning flow that is used all the time. At the centre of the “no opt out” technique is the idea that a sequence resulting in a student unsuccessful or unwilling to answer a question should end with that same student giving the right answer. According to Lemov, only then is the sequence actually complete.
Mr B questions, using “no opt out”
Mr B, in the cartoon, asks a student to help another - a great idea Yet when you return so soon to the original student and ask them for the answer again, they can usually parrot it instantly and with no effort whatsoever. It may have its benefits – the student must pay attention to the correct answer – but what exactly is taking place? Isn’t it what Kirschner would describe as achievement but not learning?
Who can help Chucky out? Miranda?
To fetch data and instructions from memory!
Thanks, Miranda! Chucky: what is a function of the CPU?
To fetch data and instructions from memory. Yay! Brilliant! Thanks!
So I think the idea of delaying a return to the first learner is a good one. Take the example in the cartoon. The correct answer here is just one of a number of uses that the CPU has. Miranda helped Chucky out but all he has to do now is to repeat what she just said. This could turn into something of a waste of time (even if it was gratifying for both students). However, making Chucky wait to recall the correct answer does something – it makes it more of an effort for him to retrieve the information. If the level of challenge increases, then so does the value.
How long to wait? In this example, the CPU has about five or six different functions that I would expect students to be able to recall. So if Chucky is the first student that I asked, I would let Miranda supply the correct answer and then continue with the other functions. Once done I would circle back to Chucky and repeat his original question to him. As some time has passed since the question was first asked and Miranda gave the correct answer, Chucky’s task is now more challenging. Will he be able to get it right this time? Often, yes. Sometimes no but that’s when some elaboration on my part could come in useful.
If Chucky’s inability to respond happened towards the end of the questioning session, I would probably wait until the end of the entire lesson, just as the students are ready to pack away and run for the hills. If he gets it wrong again, it’s back to Miranda. Then, next time I have this particular group, guess what the first question will be? And who do you think it will be directed towards?
No opt out is a versatile technique. I think for me the important thing is that when a “Chucky” (for whatever reason) does not know the answer and attempts to opt out, that he knows that it isn’t going to happen. The correct answer will be discovered –one way or another – but it will involve effort and participation on Chucky’s part. Whenever Chucky is able to correctly answer the question he will also have discovered that he has no way to “opt out” from the learning process either!
Robert EvansRetrieval practice is a technique all teachers should be using to support learners’ progress and achievement. But what is it? One description is that ‘Retrieval practice boosts learning by pulling information out of students’ heads, rather than cramming information into students’ heads.’ A great deal of learning happens when students are asked to pull out the information they have learnt while engaging in a retrieval practice activity.
It’s usual for retrieval practice to take place during the start of the next lesson, but it can occur at any appropriate stage of the lesson.
Your retrieval activities will provide you with a clear picture of what knowledge your learners have retained as they aim to tap into their long-term memory where this knowledge is stored. During the lesson we can be given the illusion that learning has taken place when learners respond to our assessment for learning strategies or when we carry out a plenary task because the knowledge is still in the learners’ short-term memory and therefore much easier to access.
The real test of whether learning has occurred successfully is when the retrieval practice takes place in the next lesson or at a distance from when the knowledge was originally presented.
Above is an effective technique which can be used at any time during the academic year to check learners’ knowledge.
The questions here reach into the learners’ long-term memory and aim to retrieve knowledge from different stages in the course.
The teacher can choose which question(s) to use at the start of the lesson and these could be completed as a written exercise or as a verbal exchange with a peer. This can be an effective way of developing the learners’ oracy skills and consolidating knowledge through explaining what they have learnt.
This activity is an easy win for the teacher as it requires minimal preparation and can be used repeatedly throughout the course. Give the learners a copy and ask them to put it into the front of their folder or notebook where they can easily refer to it when asked.
Each question encourages collaboration and sharing of knowledge between learners. It’s important that learners are given ample thinking time prior to sharing their answer to the question and the long-term learning benefits make the invested in doing this worthwhile.
In his book ‘Embedding English and Maths: Practical Strategies for FE and Post-16 Tutors’, Terry Sharrock provides some useful strategies and ideas for how to embed English and Maths in vocational lessons without involving a significant amount of extra work for the teacher.
In the book (which is available now in the Learning Centre), Sharrock shares some of the characteristics of an outstanding lesson (above graphic) together with notes on what they would look like in practice. Below is a link to the characteristics he identifies. It would be a good idea to use these as a reflection point to determine to what extent these are true about your own lessons.
Imagine you are sitting in a lesson in a vocational learning context. It strikes you that the embedding / development of English and Maths in this lesson is outstanding.
• What makes you come to this judgement?
• Ask yourself what is happening in the lesson?
• What are the learners doing?
• What is the tutor doing?
• In other words, consider what outstanding embedding/development of English and Maths looks like in practice.
• What would the learning environment look like?
• What behaviours are displayed and what interactions are happening between the tutor and learners or between learner and learner?
Adapted from ‘Embedding English and Maths: Practical Strategies for FE and Post-16 Tutors © Terry Sharrock
In addition, it would be useful to reflect on the questions above and relate them directly to your curriculum area. Then share your comments with colleagues to consider how these could be planned and developed within your scheme of learning, if not being covered already.
This would be a useful activity to engage with in your Communities of Practice sessions, especially to compare different people’s ideas and perceptions. Furthermore, it would be beneficial to invite your English and Maths colleagues to your sessions so they can provide input and support on what to do and how to do it.
Sharrock emphasises the importance of developing learners’ oracy skills as part of English development, particularly when it comes to discussing their learning and the topics they have covered.
Reducing the amount of time teachers talk in a lesson and increasing the amount of time for learners not only develops their oracy skills, but also improves learning in general, which is a win for all.
As John Hattie has said ‘If you’re talking all of the time, how can you hear the impact of your teaching?’
Research has shown that learners’ comprehension, engagement and attainment improve when they are able to discuss what they’re learning. Hattie also suggests that teachers should ‘talk more as learners are acquiring information and shift into a questioning mode as they’re deepening their understanding.’ (Gewertz, 2019).
This then increases the learners’ opportunity to develop their oracy skills as well as to demonstrate what they have learnt.
We can provide planned opportunities for learners to discuss their learning, providing a scaffold to structure what they want to say with key language to use. If given sufficient opportunities to practise, eventually the learners will be able to explain and discuss their learning independently.
Here is an example of a scaffold I adapted for learners on our Level 2 Art & Design course. This was further developed through discussion with the teachers so that it aligned with the needs and expectations of the course.
The learners are given sentence starters to help them focus what they want to say, together with sequencers and discourse markers to help with the structure. It’s simple, but it’s a start.
These could be created into posters to be placed in prominent positions in the classroom for learners to refer to and as a constant presence in their learning environment.
1 In this piece I have…
2 The materials I have used are…
3 The technique I have used is…
4 Through working in this way, I have learned to…
5 I have shown… in the style of …
6 This piece could develop further by including…
7 The artist… has influenced my designs, the development of my thinking.
8 To develop this piece further, I could…
9 I think using… worked really well because…
10 I am particularly pleased with… and now I plan to… Can
But what about developing Maths skills and knowledge? The importance here is to contextualise the maths to the vocational subject. Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI) and The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) produced some useful guides to developing maths skills in vocational courses (Links below). I thoroughly recommend taking time to read through the guides and using these to inform and develop your curriculum planning and delivery, especially as learners will be able to see the relevance that maths has in their chosen field.
Firstly, you need ask the learners to identify the different tasks they connect to a job in the hair and beauty sector and to create a mind map similar to the one in the image on the left.
Secondly, you develop this further and identify the different maths knowledge and skills required to complete the task.
In the image below, the guide used ‘Mixing hair dyes’ as the task.
By relating the maths to the tasks which the learners would be completing in their vocational lessons and in the workplace, the maths has immediately become relevant to the learner and they can better understand the purpose and need for it.
Developing Maths in Construction
Developing Maths in Hairdressing & Beauty Therapy
Developing Maths in Health & Social Care
Developing Maths in Hospitality & Catering
Yet when I ask this question, WORDS (aka literacy) is rarely at the forefront of student responses.
So, when I discuss these various traits and attitudes with a class, I go on to suggest that we look at use of WORDS as a potential key possibility, for this specific exercise.
This has been mentioned in a number of outlets – “should you wish to hide the truth from certain individuals, put it in a book - because most likely some of them don't read.” To some degree, there is something to be said for the veracity of this notion
Statistically, it is certainly true in the case of young male students from ethnic minorities such as the Windrush Generation; Black African and Caribbean heritage - those with backgrounds of Colour.
They often start off nursery and infant classes being the brightest and most able pupils. However, by the time they leave the primary setting a disproportionate number are unready for progression and a range of labels seem to be quickly attached. One has to ask - WHY?
Young Black males often find themselves going through and leaving secondary education as major underperformers and missing their true potential in learning. Disproportionate amounts are unable to obtain a high number of GCSE’s at AC or 9-1 in the new system – and are once more deemed as under achieving learners. Again, the question to be asked is WHY?
The setting of low expectations is a key factor - how long will this miseducation be received? To debate this would turn this into a thesis. Yet, this poor track-record can be turned around within Further Education should the opportunities be seized – and a genuine and consistent approach adopted. I would like to share with you one way that I try to solve this issue – one which has worked for me for many of my teaching years.
What is a common trait among successful people? It’s an interesting question and should you brainstorm a group of students – you will probably come up with an extensive list. Hard work, determination, the ability to focus and organise, vision, courage, family support, a mentor – the list could go on and on...
My proposal to these learners has always been to create and build an environment for self-empowerment - through encouragement to increase their respective vocabulary, “word power” and reading skills for understanding and expression
This proposition is based on personal experience within my own family. In this case, my older brother who went to the local Grammar School, (colloquially referred to as COLDITZ or The Prison on the Hill but officially known as Brockley County).
I recalled him making his own personal dictionary from a scrap book. This was later followed by an address book to record newly found words in alphabetical order. His A’ Levels were in Latin, English Literature and Economics.
Using the said same principles today, this simple but ingenious exercise can be replicated with the use of a spreadsheet.
Sometimes, students have to be persuaded that this is not going to take up all of their precious time. So I do some maths…
How many days are there in a year?
365 Days
How many days in a week?
7 Days
How many weeks in a year?
52 Weeks
Take away 2 weeks from each year – leaves 50 weeks
Take away 2 days from each week – leaves
5 days
If we multiply 50 weeks by 5 days - we get. 250 days
If we take away 250 from 365 - we get 115 days.
These 115 days can be sold as DAYS OFF!
This exercise could form part of a delivery session, posing the initial question to this article “What is a common trait among successful people?” Having established WORDS as a serious contender for consideration, one could go on to set a plan - creating an initiative to set a target of obtaining a new word to build up vocabulary each day.
As a follow up exercise every two weeks at a specified time and period during group tutorials - students can be enticed to teach their own New Word, (for the week) or an existing, previously found GEM to the rest of the class.
By doing a Question-and-Answer session to conclude - the aforementioned exercise can be deployed to all students, with particular emphasis on those most in need. With a view to building confidence. Low self-esteem often manifests in a teaching environment as challenging behaviour and a range of other traits. In my experience, building up vocabulary consistently in this manner, is contributory to raising self-esteem and not only the behaviour of students but their course and exam results too.
Lance Stanford Digital SkillsMany moons ago, I started my “professional” working life in Dorothy Perkins – I’m sure I only got the job because I could reach the top shelf – but I learned about the concept of “adding value” to a sale. Someone falls in love with the perfect summer dress so your instinct should be, “Now, what shoes will you wear with that? Oh, and this handbag would look gorgeous!”
In lessons it’s the same. Every moment can be just what it is, or you wring every drop out of it. So much of what we do, we spend hours crafting, but we miss huge opportunities to stretch the learning potential of each moment. So, I’m thinking more and more these days; how do I add value to some of my best teaching resources?
Here’s an example. In my classes, we’ve been practicing creative writing for the GCSE fiction paper: sensory language, in media res, get your character moving. And some of the work the students are producing is gold. As ever, I breathed a sigh of relief that the exercise worked, read a few aloud in the class to celebrate the good examples and started writing guidance comments in their books. Words destined never to see the light of day again – mine and theirs!
Great. Job done. Summer dress…sold.
So now, where are the shoes and bags?
The challenge with my students is keeping their attention so I’m always looking for ideas to encourage them to take ownership of their learning. Once they’ve done enough to get their attendance mark, they consider a job done and I struggle to get them to revisit a task or a text. If I want them to grade, edit or re-draft their work, they see repetition and I’ve lost them; if I want them to peer assess, few have the confidence to share their work; if I want them to discuss in groups…well… when was the last time you asked an obdurate teenager to move out of their seat?!
Below is the revision paper I made from one of my students’ stories. It was a 5-minute job and my latest attempt to add value without adding an eon of planning time.
These young people – low in confidence, low in motivation and many working with dyslexia – thrive on praise, so chances like these to celebrate good work is a gift.
With very little effort, value is added – for them and me: student encouraged, class engaged, revision started, my planning time reduced (never a bad thing). Shoes, bag …sold!
So, take a minute to think about the resources you’ve slaved over for this week’s lessons. How will you add value, without adding planning time? I bet you, there’s a way!
Debbie Johnstone, English Department
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a student in possession of a past-paper, must be in want of an exam. Apologies to Jane Austen for the wholesale mauling of one of the greatest opening lines ever, but, like most of you I have no problem giving out past-papers and for them to be happily accepted by my students. (OK, they don’t exactly skip out of the classroom ecstatically waving them above their heads while merrily shouting “Yay! Past papers for meee!” but you get my drift.)
The mark scheme, on the other hand, is a different story. Many don’t engage with them despite my exhortations that they are the most important piece of the exam prep jigsaw. I beg, I plead, I… exhort! But no. If I leave a pile of past-papers on a desk, baked like buns to perfection by the photocopier, and next to it the mark scheme in a partner pile, I bet you can guess what’s left over. Honestly, to me it’s like someone reading an Agatha Christie novel without any desire to find out whodunnit.
Yet, to be fair, the mark schemes were created for markers, not students. They are often densely presented and don’t give many pointers. Frequently, the question from the exam paper is left out and so it’s the answer without the question (yes, I know students should have the corresponding question paper, but…). This all adds up, I think, to a decision being made early on that the bother necessary to get to grips with a mark scheme isn’t worth what they are going to get out of it. So, how to engage learners with mark schemes?
Amer Butt and I teach on the BTEC Level 2 ICT course which has two external exams – lots of past papers and mark schemes available but with the same story as above. Plus the exams are… challenging. So we wanted another way to increase our students’ chances of success. What we came up with wasn’t rocket science but it worked. First, we took the questions from the past-papers, separated them and put the mark scheme answers below the corresponding questions.
So far, so boring. Next we made each question and answer A5 in size and made it as visually interesting as possible, incorporating a style and imagery that we hoped would engage our learners. In this case, cartoons, superheroes, a teaspoon of silliness and short, snappy questions and answers. You can see some examples illustrating this article. It took time, but we know we can use these resources for years to come. We called them “Exam Hits”.
Then, as the good technology teachers that we are, we took advantage of Teams Chat – already familiar to and used by our students. If you don’t already know this, you can add as many people as you want to a chat and give them a collective group name. The group name can then be used as the address when you want to send out a message. We had group names set up for ITAB and ITAD already (imaginatively reflecting the course codes) so we were ready to go there.
Next, we pasted the screenshot of the first “exam hit” into the message area. If you right click the send message arrow, Teams Chat allows you to schedule the message – weeks ahead if needs be. This was perfect as we could sit and schedule numerous “exam hits” at the same time
We scheduled four a day over the two weeks preceding each exam but stopped two days before so students weren’t getting new ones right up to the exam day, giving them time for recap. They were set to go out at sensible times as most IT students like to get to bed before 9pm and never stay awake all night playing video games. Seriously, we did put some thought into when to send them – we asked the audience– and the students told us that for them the best times were mornings after nine, afternoons just after class had finished (to coincide with the journey home) and about 9pm at night.
So, that’s what we did. The series of “exam hits” were immediately popular, with students asking for more right after the first one was sent. This was just as well because we had just scheduled lots more. They found the layout appealing, but also the concise way that the topics were presented. The students also liked the fact that most of the “hits” showed them how to explain something a little more than by just a short sentence – how to expand their answer into a more robust response to the question.
A lot of the students saved the screenshots to their phones and other devices for recap and revision later. We also had the pleasure of seeing them being spontaneously used in class as a quizzing method. So, by transforming the mark schemes into something which engaged students with visually appealing content we achieved something with which we had only enjoyed partial success before. The one thing that sealed the success of these “exam hits” was the method of delivery – presenting them in class would have made them just another handout. Sending them to students’ phones was the element that made all the difference. It created an independent online resource which students used repeatedly in to the run-up to their exams – which was exactly what we wanted.
Robert Evans, Digital SkillsAn important part of our professional development is engaging in reflective practice, something which allows us to focus on areas of our teaching, learning and assessment more deeply and critically. We look at what went well, what didn’t and adapt and amend how we approach something in the future.
Reflective practice is a continuous process and gives us the skills to truly take ownership of our teaching practice and it helps us focus on specific areas.
It’s not something which comes automatically or naturally to some people and it’s a skill which needs to be developed and honed.
It can also be a key element of a Community of Practice (CoP) which is a safe space for professional peer support and development. Here’s a link to a short video which introduces Reflective Practice Introduction to Reflective Practice.
So, ask yourself the question: How often do you engage in genuine reflective practice? Be honest. Most commonly, we engage in ‘casual thinking’ following a lesson where we go over the session in our mind, focussing on what went well and what didn’t, but we often don’t engage in any deep thinking, we just move onto the next session and no improvements are made.
This isn’t true reflective practice as it doesn’t go deep enough into analysing what happened in the lesson and what could be improved; it doesn’t provide time for quality reflection and doesn’t allow us the opportunity to ask ourselves probing and sometimes challenging questions about our teaching practice.
Reflection is communication with ourselves and our peers. An effective model of reflection enables us to systemise and isolate feelings allowing us to consider things more carefully and thoroughly, stopping us from jumping to conclusions too quickly and not thinking things through.
It’s important that each step of the cycle is followed and it’s also important to ask yourselves questions to explore each stage thoroughly. Below are a series of helpful questions from The University of Edinburgh which you can ask yourself at each stage together with some guidance.
What happened?
When and where did it happen?
Who was present?
What did you and the other people do?
What was the outcome of the situation?
Why were you there?
What did you want to happen?
What were you feeling during the situation?
At this stage you are asked to describe the situation and not to make any judgements or draw any conclusions. Try to be as detailed as possible but remain descriptive.
What were you feeling before and after the situation?
What do you think the other people were feeling about the situation?
What do you think other people feel about the situation now?
What were you thinking during the situation?
What do you think about the situation now?
What was good and bad about the experience?
What went well?
What didn’t go so well?
What did you and other people contribute to the situation (positively or negatively)?
Why did things go well?
Why didn’t it go well?
What sense can I make of the situation?
What was really going on?
Again, you are not to analyse the situation yet. You are asked to describe the emotional response to the situation you have experienced. Consider what you felt, how your body felt and what you did as well as how the others reacted to your actions.
At this stage you are considering the situation and your responses more objectively to make your first value judgements. You should also consider the experience from other people’s perspective in addition to your own. This will help you understand if the situation was bad for you only or if it was a bad experience for others too.
Were different people’s experiences similar or different?
What knowledge, my own or others, can help me understand the situation?
Once you have considered the situation in an evaluative way, you can start to analyse it in greater detail by considering these questions. At this stage, you should also bring in ideas from outside the experience to help you. This could mean involving colleagues and peers in your reflections (CoP), but also consult literature and theories in order to make sense of what happened.
What did I learn from this situation?
How could this have been a more positive situation for everyone involved?
What skills do I need to develop for me to handle a situation like this better?
What else could I have done?
If I had to do the same thing again, what would I do differently?
How will I develop the required skills I need?
How can I make sure that I can act differently next time?
When you draw conclusions, you ought to consider the general applicability as well as your specific situation. Think about what your conclusions mean for you personally, for your immediate context and then more widely for others, too.
In order for you to improve your practice and learn from specific experiences, you need to take this stage particularly seriously. Think about what you can do differently and how you will improve your practice. Complete a simple action plan with key pointers about what you will do and how you will decide that your practice has improved.
When you have time, take a tour of the TLA SharePoint site and the section Developing Your Teaching Skills (sharepoint.com) for more resources to help develop your teaching skills and to reinforce some of the content in the newsletter.
As a self-proclaimed quiz enthusiast, I'd like to share with you why quizzes are my favourite way to learn, especially in today's day and age where seemingly gaming is a huge part of our culture.
For many of us in the younger generation, gaming has been a part of our lives since childhood. Whether it was playing Super Mario, Minecraft or GTA, we grew up immersed in the world of video games. And that's where Kahoot and other interactive quiz platforms come inthey're like video games for our brains!
Each issue we ask a student to write about how they like to learn. This time, we head over to Digital Skills.
One of the things I love about quizzes is how they provide a sense of competition, which is something that many gamers thrive on. Kahoot in particular is designed to be fast-paced and engaging, with a leader board to keep track of who is ahead. It's a fun and interactive way to learn, and it appeals to the gamer in me.
Plus, quizzes are a great way to take a break from gaming while still keeping our brains active. Instead of mindlessly scrolling through social media or playing another round of our favourite game, we can challenge ourselves with a quiz and learn something new in the process. It's a winwin situation!
I like it when my teachers start a class with a quiz. It could be about something that we have already done so it counts as revision or checking that we can remember something we have learned. Sometimes it’s about what we will be doing in the future, so the teacher can get an idea of how much we might already know on a subject or unit.
Join Omar on his YouTube channel where he discusses life, the universe and everything! His most recent video shows his professional acting debut with the Compass Collective, mentored by British Academy award winner
Toby
Jones OBE
In conclusion, quizzes are an awesome way to learn and challenge students, especially for those who grew up playing video games. Whether they use Kahoot or other interactive quiz platforms, teachers can satisfy the competitive streak in their students and keep their brains sharp on the curriculum at the same time.
Would one of your students like to write a piece for the next issue? Let Damian in Quality know!
The last few weeks has seen a flurry of new TLA arrivals in the Learning Centre. Here are three of them – all available on short or long loan. Reviews by Robert Evans, Digital skills.
By Jamie Thom (ISBN 1398386502)
Communication is key in the classroom but a problem with teenagers is – frankly –they can be somewhat impenetrable objects when it comes to the important things (like course content!) but will recall verbatim something trivial you mentioned in passing months earlier. Jamie Thom’s new book will, I hope, quickly become a feature of set reading lists for teacher training courses. Key to Thom’s approach is his insistence that teenagers are approached with “unconditional positive regard” which can be difficult at 4pm on a Friday afternoon but this book is full of fresh ideas and practical common-sense strategies. If you sometimes scratch your head about diffusing conflict, inspiring curiosity and forging meaningful relationships, then this is where you should head. Contemporary, relevant and anecdotal, this is a delightful and inspiring read.
By Hywel Roberts (ISBN 178135409X)
This is funny. If compassion, warmth and optimism are three of your keywords in your approach to teaching – and you like a laugh as well – this is the book for you. The title is for teachers – as shorthand for the authenticity as well as ethical and relational delivery that is vital if we’re to get young people “on board” with the learning process.
A combination of academia and anecdote, of evidence and experience, it’s akin to sitting in a pub with colleagues and putting the educational world to rights (while coming up with some great new ideas at the same time). If you feel you might have lost some of that energised feeling you had when you were a NQT, then I would recommend this book to put the spring back in your step. It might also go a long way to convincing you that you might already be doing a good job! More than anything, though, this wonderful book serves as a reminder that if you work with young people and want to get the best out of them then you really have to show that you are… bothered!
I had been looking forward to this landing in the Learning Centre for some time but I have to say I was initially taken aback by how tightly packed this book’s 224 pages are with cognitive load theory, Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction, explicit instruction and broader cognitive science – and more. So, it’s not for the faint-hearted that’s for sure.
Put simply (by Needham) explicit teaching is “highly structured, interactive teaching where students are explicitly taught everything that they need before being asked to apply it in gradually wider and freer contexts”. In some ways contrary to how many of us were taught to teach, Needham stresses the idea that explicit instruction is entirely suitable for complex, higher-order tasks. It makes sense – initial “inflexible” knowledge is vital when it comes to students being able to apply it to a wide range of contexts and situations: to convert it to deeper, flexible knowledge.
I particularly like the chapter on “Teaching Vocabulary” which chimes in harmony with articles featured in this issue of the TLA newsletter.
Jasmine Lane’s blog contains reflections on the classroom and various instructional practices using a critical and culturally sustaining pedagogy informed by cognitive science, evidence-based practices, and her own lived experience. Its subheading is “A Teacher Figuring Out What Works” – and that sums up the blog perfectly.
Tom Sherrington and David Goodwin have collated a series of short posts and one-pagers summarising some everyday classroom practices. Beautifully presented, there are five ways to improve each practice. The summaries include checking for understanding, sustaining student attention and building confidence. Ten mini CPD sessions for you to enjoy with a coffee! DOWNLOAD PDF
Great if you haven’t got much time (oh, that would be all of us). Peps Mccrea Dean of Learning Design at Ambition Institute will send you out a weekly email. Recent subjects include “how to build a culture of effectice feedback” and “sequencing examples”. GET SNACKS
Harry Fletcher-Wood (History teacher turned professional development leader) describes the five most prevalent ways not to ask questions for retrieval – and what to do instead. IMPROVING TEACHING
Having noticed more students than ever struggling with exam anxiety, teacher Michael Hobbiss turned to research for solutions – here he recommends evidencebased interventions to use as we head towards exams TES MAGAZINE
Available to read online or as a download, this “new” teacher’s magazine is now on its 25th issue. Driven by teacher-journalism, it’s a great addition to a market often cornered by TES. HWRK
Pritesh Raichura is the head of science at Ark Soane Academy, a new school in Acton Here, he provides seven easy but foundational ideas to help you change your students’ mindsets, enthuse learning and improve outcomes. READ
4 steps you can take to help your students retrieve something
Mr Gordon Teaches is the blog of a London-based secondary school teacher. Here he questions the statement that “meet and greet” is “just standing at the door being a presence.” Find out how you can explicitly model professional, kind and welcoming behaviour to your students as they come into your classroom. READ
Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D. is a cognitive scientist, conducting research on how students learn since 2005. You may have had times when your students’ minds go blank during an in-class retrieval practice.
In this article, Pooja describes four methods she uses to enable learners to retrieve. READ
This article is a joint collaboration by Emeritus Professor in Educational Psychology, Paul Kirschner and InnerDrive’s lead psychologist Bradley Busch. It explores how learning and achievement differ – is what we see as learning just a mirage? READ
That’s a really, really good question. It can be frustrating repeating instructions again and again. Yet, maybe we need to give “them” another chance. Could be we need to rethink how we are giving out the instructions.
Adam Boxer, who teaches Chemistry at a school in North London, elaborates. READ
The next issue of the TLA Newsletter needs you! If you would like to contribute a short article, please contact Damian McCoy in Quality.
Also, we welcome student help! If any of your students would like to contribute photos, graphics, artwork or even assist with the layout, please contact Robert Evans in Digital Skills for more information.
See you next issue!
Graphic by Shadid Iusupov