Learning to Learn - Teacher Manual (International Version) - Sample

TEACHER MANUAL International Edition

Written by Feidhlim ร Seasnรกin & Louise Platt

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Teacher Manual 2

Section 1

Transitioning and Learning 18

Section 2

Goal Setting and Learning

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78

Section 3

Learning and Assessment Preparation 150

Resources

Resources 194

T N E D U T S D N A G N I N R A E A L PORT PROGRAMME SUP

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Teacher Manual

Introduction The Learning to Learn programme is aimed at embedding a culture of learning and student support for students as they begin their journey through secondary school. One of the key objectives of modern education is to place the student at the centre of the teaching and learning. Students today are facing the challenge of ongoing changes in the nature of knowledge and the need for the requisite skills to process this increasing amount of information. This programme will assist students in knowing themselves better as learners, being more organised and confident along with having a proven study system and learning approach which will reduce their stress levels and add to their sense of well-being.

The Learning to Learn programme

Super Generation has in working with

is designed as a practical resource for

thousands of students in hundreds of

teachers. It is aimed at supporting them

schools annually. Whilst our traditional

in sharing with students the skills that will

in-school seminars are hugely impactful,

enable the student to become a more

the rolling out of the Learning to Learn

effective learner.

programme and integrating it into student

The teacher manual provides teachers

practice on a weekly basis will ensure that

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with relevant methodologies that will allow them to provide a range of learning

the skills learned become embedded into standard student practice.

experiences in the broad range of subjects which the student may be studying.

All the lessons are characterised by being learner centred and experiential, with relevant practical exercises from across a range, and provide opportunities for individual, paired and group work.

Opportunity is provided at the end of each lesson for students to reflect on their learning and its application in their studies.

This programme is based not only on international best practices in education and learning but also on the years of experience that The

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Programme Structure The programme and accompanying student workbook are divided into four key sections, reflecting students’ progress through school. The first three sections are broken up into constituent lessons and the final section is a practical study journal for students to plan and record their study.

1. Transitioning and Learning Focuses on assisting the student in settling into their learning and study as quickly and efficiently as possible.

They explore the skills and behaviours for learning along with learning new strategies for managing their learning in

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the various subjects.

2. Goal Setting and Learning

The focus here is on sharing with students the mindset and skills for achieving their

goals for their education. The students are also introduced to our effective study and revision systems of BIKER and the 5 x 5 Review.

3. Learning and Assessment Preparation This section keeps students motivated in working towards success in their learning.

Along with reviewing their study system, the students learn about effective preassessment and assessment techniques.

Learning is aimed at improving their performance and reducing their stress.

4. Study Journal This is a results-focused time management tool designed to help students increase their productivity, effectiveness and application to their study.

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Learning to Learn and Well-Being Learning to learn and well-being are two of the underpinning principles of this programme.

Students' well-being is supported when

sense of purpose and belonging within

students realise their abilities, take care

the school community and helps them

of their physical well-being, can cope with

to develop the key skills which give more

the normal stresses of life and have a

meaning to their learning.

sense of purpose and belonging to a wider community."

There are six indicators of well-being outlined which identify and describe what

The aim of the Learning to Learn

is important to young people and their

programme, therefore, is to help students

well-being. These indicators are included

identify their abilities and to develop the

in each lesson to assist with planning and

awareness and skills to cope with the

teaching within the programme and help

normal stresses of school and academic

scaffold conversations with students about

life by providing them with opportunities

their learning and well-being.

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to feel more confident and connected in

their learning. This gives students a greater

Active

Resilient

 Am I a confident and skilled participant in physical activity?

 Do I believe that I have the coping skills to deal with life's challenges?

 How physically active am I?

 Do I know where I can go for help?  Do I believe that with effort I can achieve?

Indicators of wellbeing

Responsible

Respected

 Do I take action to protect and promote my wellbeing and that of others?

 Do I feel that I am listened to and valued?

 Do I make healthy eating choices?

 Do I have positive relationships with my friends, my peers and my teachers?

 Do I know where my safety is at risk and do I make right choices?

 Do I show care and respect for others?

Connected  Do I feel connected to my school, my friends, my community and the wider world?  Do I appreciate that my actions and interactions impact on my own wellbeing and that of others, in local and global contexts?

Aware  Am I aware of my thoughts, feelings and behaviours and can I make sense of them?  Am I aware of what my personal values are and do I think through my decisions?  Do I understand what helps me to learn and how I can improve?

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Reflection Being reflective is focused on helping the student to better understand themselves as learners and individuals along with aiding them in planning and making good decisions in relation to their own learning. Reflection creates opportunities for students where they can identify their own strengths, develop them further and promote a growth mindset.

As formative assessment, or assessment for learning, is an integral part of education today, it is important that students are provided with the language, knowledge and skills to make the most of any feedback given. Opportunities for reflection allow this to happen

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and give the student more control over managing and making use of any feedback and developing a more positive attitude to their own learning.

Within the Learning to Learn programme, space and activities are provided for the students to reflect on their learning and act accordingly in their planning, goal setting and actions.

 Each lesson concludes with a Pause and Reflect section, where teachers are encouraged to give time at the end of the lesson for the student to complete. The teacher may also wish to ask students to complete this at home as part of their homework along with feeding back to the teacher and class at the beginning of the next lesson.  At the end of each section there is an inbuilt review template for students to reflect on and evaluate what they have covered in that particular section along with an opportunity to reflect on how they can further embed what they have learned into their wider studies.

At the beginning of Section 2 there is a chapter on ‘Reflection’ which focuses the students more on taking advantage of any feedback given, especially in terms of their formative assessment assignments.

This lesson also contains an exercise focusing students on their readiness to learn.

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Format of Lessons Each lesson follows an identified structure of:

Learning Intention / Aim Which outlines the particular learning objective for the lesson or what knowledge or skills are being explored or developed. Teachers should spend some time sharing with their students at the beginning of the class what the associated success criteria might be for this learning intention. Depending on the ability level of the group, these success criteria might need to be adapted from class to class.

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Learning Point This is a brief explanation or introduction to what the student is going to learn through the following exercises. Some lessons may have one or more learning points, depending on the topic.

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Exercises Each learning point is followed by a practical, relevant exercise to be undertaken by the students. These exercises may be completed individually, in pairs, in groups or as a class. A variety of methodologies are included in this manual. Suggestions are given as to what might work best with each exercise, however, as each class and group varies, teachers might wish to familiarise themselves with the variety of methodologies given and choose an alternative one to work with their class group. As far as was practical, the exercises have been based on the variety of subjects which students may be studying, so that the learning here becomes applicable across a range of subjects.

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Pause and Reflect As the student is now at the centre of their own learning, it is important that they begin to reflect on what they learned from each lesson, how they learned it and how this new learning can be used again in the future. The Pause and Reflect section at the end of each lesson encourages a growing awareness by the student of themselves as learners, giving them more ownership of their learning.

Mental Note Some lessons conclude with a short inspirational quote which can simply be a piece for them to reflect on or even a point of discussion for the class.

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Methodologies for Teaching Within education there is a move towards promoting more active and collaborative learning opportunities for students that create a balance between the development of subject knowledge, thinking abilities and the development of key life skills.

The methodologies included here are ideas which teachers may wish to introduce or include in their own teaching, not just in the Learning to Learn programme but also in their other subject areas. Each lesson has suggested methodologies, however teachers should feel free to adapt or change these to reflect the needs of the learners in their own classroom.

Communication is a skill which students naturally develop and foster

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in their learning activities throughout school life. Through working

collaboratively with their peers in pairs or in group work, students are provided with opportunities for building their confidence to express themselves in front of others along with building their vocabulary in the various topics and subjects covered.

In the resource section at the end of the manual, there are some

templates which can be photocopied by the teacher as aids for some of the methodologies. In the lesson outlines just the title of the methodology is given rather than repeating it each time it is suggested for use.

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Creating Discussion Pose, pause, pounce, bounce This is a useful strategy to engage students to discuss certain topics or ideas.

What happens: Pose

The teacher poses a difficult question to the class, not just an individual.

Pause The teacher then waits, giving students thinking time.

10 seconds is enough. Be brave and wait longer if you can!

Pounce The teacher then insists on no hands up and pounces on a student for a response.

Bounce The teacher or student then bounces the ideas to another student in the class. There is no need for teacher evaluation.

The Bounce student should respond to what the previous student has said.

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Agreements An interesting way of extending an idea and developing further with the whole class.

The idea is to keep each question going longer by engaging more students in the discussion. When the first student answers a question, ask another student if he or she agrees or disagrees with that answer, asking them why they would agree or not. Then ask another student, and keep going until at least five students have participated in each question.

Talking Stick / Ball This is a good activity to encourage quieter students to speak up and also promote a culture in the classroom where students listen to each other.

The teacher or even the class can decide to choose an object, sometimes

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it can be a stick or small bean bag ball. Whoever has the object in their

hand is the only person who can speak at this point, all others must listen and are not allowed to interrupt or disagree. The object can then move from one student to another.

Agree / Disagree

This is a good activity to get students actively moving and to begin to critically think and reflect on their exercises.

The teacher places two signs at either end of the room, one is Agree and the other is Disagree. The teacher reads out a statement or question and the students must place themselves in the room in relation to whether they agree or disagree. When everybody is in place the teacher then goes around the group to ask them to give reasons why they positioned themselves where they are standing.

Temperature scale This is somewhat similar to Agree / Disagree in that students are encouraged to physically place themselves in the room in accordance with their decision.

A series of numbers from 1 to 10 are placed in a line either on the floor of the classroom or preferably on the wall of the classroom, where they can be left up for repeated use. The teacher poses a question or statement and the students rate themselves on the scale by standing beside the appropriate number. When everybody has placed themselves the teacher may then ask some students why they placed themselves where they have. As an extension the teacher may encourage the students to think and share with others what would need to happen or they would need to do to either move up or down the scale.

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Pair and Group Work Before beginning to introduce group work into a classroom you might want to read these top tips for effective group work to remind yourself of what aids good group work. Remember that one of the skills to be developed in team or is group work, for as Ken Richardson states, “Students may work in groups in classrooms but they very seldom work as groups.”

Top tips  Assign students to various groups

 Structure group work in such a way

yourself, ensuring a mix of ability,

that students need each other in

gender etc. Try and avoid friends

order to complete the task. This can

working together as they may become

be achieved in a number of ways:

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distracted.

 The time allotted should reflect the

 Set a shared task or goal (e.g. all must agree a solution to a

size of the group but try not to go

problem and make sure all group

over 4 or 5 to ensure everybody is

members can explain how it was

participating and feeling included.

arrived at).

 Have agreed roles for group work

 Force students to share

which rotate each time the group

resources within the group (e.g.

forms. If using the role of Reporter,

one copybook or worksheet

remind all the students that you may

between each pair/small group).

still ask questions of others in the group, this will ensure all students remain alert to what is going on.  Make sure all students are clear about what outcomes are expected from the common task and what behaviours are expected from group work.  Empower the students to participate fully by sharing with them the required group work skills such as listening, leadership, conflict resolution, how to give feedback, how

 Request one end product and give a shared reward or shared grade to the group.  Your role is to set the task, observe and monitor students working, to keep students focused on the task, and give positive feedback.  Finally, allow time for group debriefing or reflection on what was learned, how the group performed and, finally, on their participation.

to encourage each other, etc.

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Learning Partner We know that real learning has occurred when students are able to explain or teach what they have learned to others.

Here the students are paired off with a peer for a period of time, normally a month. The students are made aware that the purpose of their working together is to aid one another to improve their learning by giving each other the opportunity to share and teach and by providing feedback. When students receive feedback they can then go off and implement the recommendations from their Learning Partner into their work.

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Think, Pair and Share

Having posed a question the teacher allows a brief amount of time for the student to reflect on their answer. Then the student turns to their

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partner and they share their answers with each other. Having listened to each other they then try to create a new, better answer / solution,

developing on their own answer. These can then be shared back to the group or go on to be part of a learning square.

Learning Square

Having completed a think, pair and share, students can then move and join another pair to form a square and repeat the process of trying to develop a better idea/answer from their two previous ones. These then also can be shared back to the class.

Teach – Okay!

This is a pair/peer teaching strategy that begins with the teacher spending a few minutes introducing a concept to the class. Next, the teacher says

Teach!, the class responds with Okay!, and pairs of students take turns re-teaching the concept to each other. It’s a bit like think-pair-share, but it’s faster paced, it focuses more on re-teaching than general sharing, and students are encouraged to use gestures to animate their discussion.

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Stump your Partner Students take a minute to create a challenging question based on the class content up to that point. Students pose the question to their partner.

To take this activity a step further, ask students to write down their questions and hand them in. These questions can be used to review or gauge student understanding.

Maths Pairs Working in pairs, students work on a maths problem or set maths questions. Person A reads the problem and explains step-by-step the steps and strategies required to solve it. Person B watches as A solves the problem and checks the accuracy of the solution and provides help if it is needed. Then the roles reverse.

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When two problems are completed, the pair check their answers with another pair. If they do not agree, they must solve the problem until there is consensus.

Gallery Walks

Students either in pairs or in small groups create a collective piece of work, which can be an answer to a task or simply creating a visual aid for what they have learned. These are then hung on the wall or placed on the tables and the students travel around the classroom looking at the answers or visual aids that the other students created. Students are encouraged to give positive feedback to others on the piece of work they have created.

Transformation Students in a group are given text in one format and are asked to present it in another. For example, a health leaflet could be turned into a newspaper report, or a set of instructions could be turned into a statement about how the device works and when it would be useful.

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Jigsaw Learning Jigsaw groups are a very effective way of organising group work. Students are arranged into groups and each group is given a different subtopic related to the one topic. They must become ‘expert’ on their subtopic and agree how they are going to teach / share it to their classmates.

When they are ready, the groups are mixed up so that there is now one expert on each subtopic in each group. They now take turns ‘teaching/ sharing’ their subtopic to each person in the group.

Step 1:

Step 2:

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Placemats

This methodology involves both writing and dialogue to ensure involvement of all students. In groups, students initially work on their own before working collaboratively, working together as a group around a single sheet of paper to simultaneously come up with a range of answer options.

Templates for photocopying are included in the resource section, which may be photocopied and blown up to A3 for use. What to do?  Decide on your task or

 Initially students work on their

question to be answered.

own, filling in their answer/ideas in

 Assign students into groups

their own section of the paper.

of 3 or 4 .  A placemat is given to each group to be placed in the centre of the table.  The question can be put up on the board or if there are separate questions for each group these can be handed out with the placemats.

 The students then share their answers with the other students in the group and these are all written in the centre section of the placemat.  Finally, each group shares what they have written down with the other groups.  You may wish to use the Gallery Walk as a means of sharing the work with other groups.

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Examples of Placemats

GR

O

U P

OF

3

Student 1

Student 3

Student 2

SAMPLE GR

O

U

P

OF

4

Student 1

Student 4

Student 2

Student 3

WOEDIL – What on Earth did I Learn?

This is a group reflective process that allows students to verbalise what they have learned along with being a cooperative process providing opportunities for students to learn from others. Teachers may use this process as a verbal assessment of individual or whole class learning.

This activity is best used at the end of a learning activity. Students take turns to share what they learned by beginning with “What I learned today is……….” If a student does not wish to contribute, they can pass.

Student responses can be recorded on a retrieval chart by the teacher and displayed for future reference or to create a concept map. Maybe students can be encouraged after time to record and present all the responses from the students themselves.

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Inclusion of ICT We are living in an ICT-infused world and it is important that students see and learn to use this technology not simply for entertainment purposes but also see and experience the educational value and benefits of ICT. Whilst this programme may be based around group work and the student workbook, opportunities do exist to incorporate ICT into the various lessons. Here are some ideas which as a teacher you may wish to use with your various classes:  Short video clips – Video clips are a good way of introducing a topic or reinforcing something you may have already explained. In the resource section at the end there are some sample video clips for various lessons identified.

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 Microsoft Outlook – As time management and planning are skills which the students develop as part of this programme they could be encouraged to create their own timetables and study planners using Microsoft Outlook.

 Blogging – Is now becoming a popular form of reflection and sharing. Students could be encouraged to blog about what they have learned and how they have begun to incorporate this into their studies.

 File Sharing (e.g. Dropbox) Students may be asked to create their notes in the various subjects, which can then be saved in drop boxes and reviewed by teachers at a later stage, or even upload samples of their work throughout the year.

 PowerPoint / Prezi – Presentations are an interesting way for students to present and share their learning with others.

ABOUT

500

Students can be encouraged to use hyperlinks to show the

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.

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RESEARCH

websites they visited in their preparation. Students can also

LOREM IPSUM DOLOR LOREM IPSUM DOLOR LOREM IPSUM DOLOR

learn to integrate other ICT tools such as graphics, video and

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100%

50%

25%

75%

100%

50%

25%

75%

A

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B

C

D

music into their work.

Assessment The purpose of assessment is to support the student in their learning by providing appropriate feedback to the student, enabling them to understand how they may wish to improve. Assessment is both:  Formative (ongoing) assessment – where students and teachers reflect on the student’s learning and plan the next steps. As part of this process students are encouraged to complete the end of section reflections, which provide opportunities for discussion with the teacher on how the student feels they are progressing with their own learning to date.

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 Summative (classroom based) assessment – where the teacher assesses the students in a specific assessment

associated with the content of the course. Students are

expected to prepare for summative assessments. The teacher’s judgement, which is in line with set out criteria, is used as part of the school reporting to parents and students and is recorded.

Each school should develop Features of Quality as part of their work to support teachers’ judgements.

Schools and teachers have the flexibility to adapt this short course to suit their particular needs and context.

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Section 1

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Transitioning and Learning

Introduction The focus for this section is to assist

II. Managing Information: Reading

students in settling into their new school and

Now that the students have begun

to provide them with practical techniques that will help them learn better. This section is broken up into three key areas:

1. Transitioning and settling in Chapters 1 and 2 will help the students settle more quickly into their new school and routine by exploring

to understand how information is organised they can begin to engage more with the various pieces of text they come across in their text books and other places. They will learn here how to read with purpose, being able to identify the information they need from a piece of text.

their new subjects with them and

III. Managing Information: Thinking

how to become more organised in

In this chapter students begin to think

their learning at school and at home.

about and understand more how

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2. What learning is all about

information is arranged, how each subject can be broken down into topics

The next two chapters will help

and even further into keywords that

students understand better how they

they need to remember.

actually learn. They will explore how

their brain works along with the skills and behaviours they can develop,

IV. Managing Information: Note taking and answering

Here students will look at how to break

which assists them in becoming

down the information they have read

better learners.

by creating their own notes and graphic

3. Managing information In secondary school students

organisers. They will also look at some simple tools called writing frames that will help them be more efficient in

are presented with lots of new

answering questions on various types

information in their various subjects.

of text.

The key to being successful in their learning is to practise simple techniques that will help them manage all this information. This last section is divided into four chapters, which are:

Finally, there is an end of section reflection for students to reflect on what it is they have personally learned from this section, not just in the workbook but also in their engagement with other students when they were

I. Managing Information: Listening

undertaking some of the various

Students take in a lot of information by

exercises. This reflection can help

listening to the teacher and others in

improve their learning and study going

their class. Listening is a skill which they forward. can develop and practise. This chapter will help them do just that so that they are paying attention to what they need to learn.

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Section 1

Transitioning and Learning

Chapter 1

Settling In LESSON 1: My Timetable ............................................................................................................... 22 LESSON 2: Being Organised ....................................................................................................... 26 LESSON 3: Filling in my Homework Journal .............................................................................. 30

Chapter 2

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Subjects and Homework

LESSON 4: What are my Subjects? ............................................................................................. 32 LESSON 5: The Purpose of Homework ..................................................................................... 34 LESSON 6: Types of Homework .................................................................................................. 36 LESSON 7: Completing Homework Assignments ................................................................... 38

Chapter 3

My Brain and Learning LESSON 8: Growing your Brain and Learning ......................................................................... 41 LESSON 9: Improving your Learning .......................................................................................... 45 LESSON 10: Paired and Group Learning .................................................................................. 47

Chapter 4

Behaviours for Learning LESSON 11: Behaviours for Learning ........................................................................................ 52 LESSON 12: Skills and Attitudes ................................................................................................. 55

Chapter 5

Managing Information: Listening LESSON 13: Skills for Learning – Listening 1 ........................................................................... 58 LESSON 14: Skills for Learning – Listening 2 ........................................................................... 60

Chapter 6

Managing Information: Reading

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LESSON 15: Active Reading 1 – Reading with Purpose ........................................................... 62 LESSON 16: Active Reading 2 ....................................................................................................... 65

Chapter 7

Managing Information: Thinking

LESSON 17: Command Words .................................................................................................... 67 LESSON 18: Curiosity ...................................................................................................................... 70

Chapter 8

Managing Information: Note taking and writing LESSON 19: Graphic Organisers ................................................................................................. 72 LESSON 20: Writing Frames ......................................................................................................... 75

End of Section Reflection

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Chapter 1

Settling In Lesson 1

MY TIMETABLE Aim Aim

To assist students with creating and effectively using their class timetable

Learning Point 1

Sci

Abbreviations

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The school day can appear quite busy and confusing initially for the student, trying to

figure out where they are supposed to be and when. With a plethora of new subjects,

Art

in different classrooms with different teachers, confusion and anxiety can ensue.

Most schools hand out timetables to students with abbreviations of the subject and

teachers’ initials simply to fit everything in. Students may need assistance in trying to decipher these new codes and make sense of their timetable.

This lesson provides the opportunity to decipher some of the codes used in the school in relation to subjects, teachers and classrooms and to reduce some of the associated stress.

EXE

ISE RC

1

This activity familiarises pupils with possible abbreviations that may appear on post-primary timetables.

The exercise may be completed in pairs. As this is the first paired work for the class here is an opportunity to introduce the Learning

Subject

Abbreviations

Room

Teacher Initials

Maths Science Now write in any other subjects you are studying

Partner. Each student can fill in the

Subject

template in their own workbook.

The teacher can then go through the

Teacher

English

Abbreviations

R

English

results with the class group when all the students have filled in the exercise.

Maths Science

Now write in any other subjects you are studyin 7

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2

Deciphering your Timetable The purpose of this exercise is to allow students the opportunity to develop their deciphering and timetable reading skills. They are asked to decode the information given in the timetable.

This exercise may be completed as a short quiz to increase the

ISE RC

EXE

EXE

ISE RC

2

Understanding your Timetable This is a sample timetable with the subjects, locations and times of each class. Study this timetable and see if you can answer the questions that follow.

sense of fun for the students, with them

School timetable

working in either pairs or threes.

This is a sample timetable with the subjects, locations and times of each class. Working with their Learning

Partner or individually, ask the students to study the timetable and see if they can

Time

SUN

9.00-9.40 9.40-10.20 10.20-10.55 10.55-11.10 11.10-11.50 11.50-12.25 12.25-13.05 13.05-13.45 13.45-14.25 14.25-15.05 15.05-15.45

Eng Sci His

MON R1 ARA Lab3 ICT R6 Mat

ARA R14 En Mus R18 Fren MORAL R20 PE Mat Fren Geo

TUE R14 Hi R11 Sci R3 Mat

Break

R1 Bus R7 Eng Gym MORAL

Lunch

R3 Bus R5 Fren R7 Art Art R. Ara R10 His R3 ICT

WED R3 TECH Lab3 TECH R3 Geo R5 ARA R1 Eng R2 Mat

THU MR PE Gym MR Art Art R. R10 Mat R3 R14 ICT R1 His R3 Fren

R7 Art Art R. Eng R14 Bus R5 Geo R11 Sci Lab3 Sci

R11 R3 R7 R1 R10 LAB3

a. How often does this student have Moral Studies in the week?

answer the questions that follow.

b. In what room is the Science class held?

SAMPLE c. How many periods of English does this student have?

d. What class has this student got at 12.25 on Friday?

e. Where is this student supposed to be on Wednesday at 14.25?

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Questions and answers

 How often does this student have Moral Studies in the week?  In what room is the Science class held?  How many periods of English does this student have?  What class has this student got at 12.25 on Friday?  Where is this student supposed to be on Wednesday at 14.25?

Learning Point 2

My Own Timetable

Now that the student has a better understanding of how a timetable works they can apply this learning to their own timetable. This exercise will check with students how familiar they are already with their own timetable. It is not expected that they would know their timetable yet so do not expect students to answer all the questions correctly, rather this is simply an exercise to draw students’ attention to their own timetable and familiarise them with their new routine.

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EXE

ISE RC

3

This exercise can be completed in pairs or small groups, with class discussion on the answers. Ask the students to cover their timetables and not look at them for the answers. Students can write their answers in their workbooks. a. What time does school begin? b. How many periods do you have each day? d. How many times a week do you have English?

ISE RC

EXE

c. How long is each period?

Learning Point 2

AK

BRIEME

My own timetable

T ENGLISH CLASS STARTS AT....

How familiar are you already with your own timetable?

3

Cover your timetable and do not look at it for the answers.

Try and answer as many of the following questions as possible.

How many did you get right?

Learning Point 2

a. What time does school begin?

b. How many periods do you have each day?

break time and lunchtime? f. What time does lunchtime begin and end? g. How many periods of Science do you have each week? h. What classroom do you have Geography in? i. How many periods a week do you have

c. How long is each period?

d. How many times a week do you have English?

ISE RC

e. How many periods are there between break time and lunchtime?

EXE

e. How many periods are there between

My own timetable

How familiar are you already with your own timetable?

f.

3

What time does lunchtime begin and end?

Cover your timetable and do not look at it for the ans Try and answer as many of the following questions as p How many did you get right?

g. How many periods of Science do you have each week?

h. What classroom do you have Geography in?

a. What time does school begin?

i.

How many periods a week do you have for Geography?

j

What time does school finish?

SPHE PHY

GRA b. HowGEOCLAmany periods do you have each day?

SS

SAMPLE

for Geography?

k. What class do you have after lunch on a Wednesday?

l.

What subject do you have last period of the week?

c. How long is each period?

j. What time does school finish?

k. What class do you have after lunch on a Wednesday? l. What subject do you have last period of the week?

EXE

ISE RC

4

9

d. How many times a week do you have English?

e. How many periods are there between break time and lunchtime?

f.

What time does lunchtime begin and end?

As a quick recap and summary of the lesson ask the students to fill in the following summary table of the timetable and subjects.

g. How many periods of Science do you have each week?

Students working individually can complete the task, then

h. What classroom do you have Geography in?

using Placemats they can answer questions i to iv. You may also wish to create

a Gallery Walk, where all the answers may be viewed afterwards. This will many periods a week do you have for Geography? i. How also provide an opportunity for students to see the diversity of interests that

their peers have. Allow opportunity for students to share with the classj their What time does school finish? responses to the following questions to help build enthusiasm for their learning What class do you have after lunch on a Wednesday? by focusing on what they enjoy most rather than simply thinking of thek.subjects

that they dislike or struggle with. l.

26

What subject do you have last period of the week?

(i) Do you have a favourite subject yet?

Yes

No

(ii) Why? (iii) What new subject are you looking forward to finding out more about? (iv) Why?

(i) (ii)

Yes

Do you have a favourite subject yet?

What is it and why?

No

TA

(iii) What new subject are you looking forward to finding out more about?

Yes

No

PAUSE AND REFLECT

BL

Do you have a favourite subject yet?

What is it and why?

E3

(i) (ii)

Do you have a favourite subject yet?

What is it and why?

1

TA

LE

(i) (ii)

(iv) Why?

B

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

Yes

No 2. How did you learn this?

(iii) What new subject are you looking forward to finding out more about?

SAMPLE 3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

(iv) Why?

MENTAL NOTE

(iii) What new subject are you looking forward to finding out more about?

”Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo

11

(iv) Why?

TA

BL

Yes

E2

(i) Do you have a favourite subject yet?

REFLECT (ii) PAUSE WhatAND is it and why?

No

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

2. How did you learn this?

PAUSE AND REFLECT

(iii) What new subject are you looking forward to finding out more about?

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

(iv) Why?

2. How did you learn this?

MENTAL NOTE

PAUSE AND REFLECT

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

As outlined in the Introduction section, reflection is an essential element

”Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo

PAUSE AND REFLECT

of putting the student at the centre of their own learning. This will be new to

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

MENTAL NOTE

students and in the beginning they might struggle with what they need to include, ”Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo

but with practice they will find that they will nearly automatically know what they 2. How did you learn this?

should include here. The only danger is that they might simply repeat what they 11

have previously written so this needs to be somewhat monitored by the teacher.

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

The Pause and Reflect is not simply about what they learned but also

about how they learned something and how they can implement this learning throughout their studies.

MENTAL NOTE

MENTAL NOTE

”Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo

“Develop a passion for learning. If you do you will never cease to grow. – Anthony J. D’Angelo ”

1

27

Chapter 1

Settling In Lesson 2

BEING ORGANISED Aim Aim

To help students organise themselves both in school and at home to do their homework and study

Learning Point 1

SAMPLE

With so many new things going on, needing to be in various locations at different

times with different equipment, the students need to be organised; knowing what

books to bring home, what books to leave in your locker etc. can all become a major distraction and cause of anxiety for many students. The student journal will greatly

help the student organise themselves, but before the student can begin to complete

their journal effectively, they should explore the various elements of the day and what organisation is needed at each point.

EXE

ISE RC

1

This exercise aims to draw the student’s attention to their whole day and understand how it is broken up with various activities, some that are compulsory, some that they may choose to do.

A lot of students complain that they don’t have any time for anything,

I get up at

without realising that a large part

I go to bed at

of their day is wasted due to poor

I go to school at

time management.

Ask each student to fill in the following blanks in the diagram for both school days and the weekend.

My Day

I study from to

I exercise from to

28

I’m on my phone

I watch TV

from

from

to

to

I come home at

I have my dinner at

2

Now ask the students to fill in the 24-hour clock; colour anything that is compulsory in red and

ISE rC

ExE

EXE

ISE RC

2

Now fill in the 24-hour clock, highlight anything that is compulsory in red and anything that is optional in yellow.

24-hour

Weekdays

Weekends

00.00 - 06.00 07.00 08.00

anything that is optional in yellow.

09.00 10.00 11.00 12.00

When completed, ask students did

13.00 14.00

they notice anything, are any of them

15.00 16.00

surprised by the amount of free time

17.00 18.00

they have, and what does this tell them.

19.00 20.00 21.00

They can share their answers initially with their Learning Partner before sharing with the larger group.

22.00 23.00 24.00

a. When completed did you notice anything?

b. Are you surprised by the amount of free time you have?

Yes

No

c. What does this tell you?

EXE

ISE RC

3

14

Now ask students

SAMPLE

to develop a timetable for themselves in the evening, ensuring that they

have enough time for both study and recreation.

4

Being on Time Questionnaire One skill that students can learn here and will be of great value to them throughout life is time management. This is a quick checklist for students to reflect on how good they are at timekeeping.

Each student completes the questionnaire themselves, followed by a short class discussion on what results students got. One way that the conversation may be started is by using Placemats, where students working in groups of 3 or 4 write out their suggestions before sharing with the rest of the group.

ISE RC

EXE

EXE

ISE RC

4

i.

What do you do if you are late for one of your classes?

j.

What excuses do people give when they are late for classes?

Write down as many as you can think of.

Being on Time Questionnaire Time management and punctuality are really important skills you need to develop. Here is a checklist to help you reflect on how good you are at being on time.

Are you the type of person that is good at being on time? Let’s see!

Answer the following questions as honestly as possible. a. Are you usually on time for things, like meeting friends, going to training or catching the bus for school?

Yes

No

b. Out of 10, how would you rate yourself for being on time in general?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

k. How many of these excuses have you used and how often?

10

c. Can you remember a time that you had to wait for someone or something that was late?

Yes No What happened and how did you feel?

l.

d. Do you find it hard to get up in the morning?

Yes

What would help you to improve your time keeping for school or class?

No

e. How do you wake up in the morning?

f. Out of 10, how would you rate yourself for being on time for school?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

m. Having answered these questions, do you think you are a good time keeper or time manager?

Yes No Give reasons for your answer.

10

g. What happens when other students are late for school?

n. If you are not good at managing time, write down three things you can do to improve in the future. (i)

h. Out of 10, how would you rate yourself for being on time for class?

1

16

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

(ii) (iii)

17

29

Learning Point 2

Equipment

If a student is coming home without the correct textbook they won’t be able to do their homework/study. If they have the wrong equipment with them in class then they cannot participate fully. If they don’t have a proper space for homework/study at home then they will become increasingly distracted from their work. Being organised is a key skill that leads to effective study behaviour and the sooner the student takes responsibility for organising themselves the better the outcomes for their time spent learning both in school and at home.

EXE

ISE RC

5

My School Locker, My School Bag, My Desk at Home This exercise helps students to think about what various pieces of equipment they need each day and where they should store them, and to develop the skill of becoming more organised.

SAMPLE Students working

with their Learning Partner or in smaller groups of 3 or 4 may work collaboratively on completing

the template for each location. The

teacher may then ask various groups what they placed in each location.

A key question for students at the

end is to determine if some confusion was caused by the same materials/ equipment maybe being able to go in different places, e.g. certain textbooks could be in the locker during the day but need to be in the schoolbag to be brought home at night.

As a Think, Pair and Share exercise ask students to consider what they could do to help solve this.

30

EXE

ISE RC

6

Checklist Sometimes it helps students to be more organised if they have a checklist to remind them of what to bring with them, to help them remember, just like we create shopping lists when we go shopping.

Once they start doing this every day it will become habit and they will not need the checklist.

Working with their Learning Partner or in small groups of 3 or 4 ask students to complete the templates given to design their own checklist, which they can then cut out and stick somewhere they can see it, i.e. inside their locker or on their desk at home.

MORNING CHECKLIST

EVENING CHECKLIST

SAMPLE

Full uniform, tie, school jacket, shoes?

Do I have my locker key and swipe card?

Do I have all my books/zip files for class?

Do I need my PE gear, ingredients, Art pack?

Is my schoolbag packed and ready, lunch?

Full uniform, tie, school jacket, shoes?

Do I have my locker key and swipe card?

Have I done all my homework for tomorrow’s class?

Do I need my PE gear, ingredients, Art pack?

PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

31

Chapter 1

Settling In Lesson 3

FILLING IN MY HOMEWORK JOURNAL Aim Aim

To help students make effective use of their student journal as a resource for organising their school life and study

Learning Point 1

SAMPLEFILLING IN MY

The student journal tends to be the main means of communication between school and home but also serves several other important functions such as record of

homework given, important information about the school such as policies and codes

Chapter 1 of behaviour, support information for the student, class timetable and daily diary.

Settling In

Each school tends to customise their own school journal to reflect their particular

Lesson 3

ethos and include valuable information for their students. Sometimes students simply

flick through these sections, not spending any real time reflecting on what is contained

HOMEWORK JOURNAL

in their journal and simply focus on the daily homework diary section. It is good to give time to the students to explore their journal, understand what it contains and be able to make effective use of all the resources within.

1

My Homework Journal Contents!

To help you make effective use of your homework as a resource for organising your school life and s

Learning Point 1

The aim of this exercise is for the student to familiarise themselves with the The homework journal tends to be the main means of communication betw

your school and home but also has many other important jobs like helpin contents of the student journal. On the template given ask the students to create

you organise yourself and providing important information about the sch

a contents page for their journal but they must also include a short description It is good to take time to explore your homework journal, understand w of what each section contains and its purpose.

it contains, and be able to use it effectively.

Chapter 1

Lesson 3

ISE RC

EXE

Settling In

Jigsaw Learning

FILLING IN MY HOMEWORK JOURNAL

may be an effective tool here, where each group initially takes a section,

Aim Aim

before forming into new groups to

1

My Homework Journal Contents Look at the contents of your school journal. Do you know what ea section is about? Try and fill in the following information using the template below.  The name of each section

To help you make effective use of your homework journal as a resource for organising your school life and study

 A short description of what it contains

complete the contents page.

 A short description of how this can help you

Learning Point 1

The homework journal tends to be the main means of communication between your school and home but also has many other important jobs like helping you organise yourself and providing important information about the school.

My Homework Journal – Table of Contents

It is good to take time to explore your homework journal, understand what it contains, and be able to use it effectively.

ISE RC

EXE

EXE

ISE RC

Aim Aim

1

a. Section 1:

My Homework Journal Contents Look at the contents of your school journal. Do you know what each section is about? Try and fill in the following information using the template below.

Contains:

 The name of each section  A short description of what it contains

Useful because...

 A short description of how this can help you My Homework Journal – Table of Contents a. Section 1: Contains: Useful because...

20

32

20

Learning Point 2

Good Homework Journal Usage

Sometimes students have a tendency to simply write the minimum without giving any real thought to what they are writing down, so that when they go home and take out their journal they can be confused about exactly what is needed to be done. This section of the journal is also a good place to not only record what homework the student has to do that night but also record what they have covered that day in class.

Even if they have no homework in a particular subject they still have a record to show their parents and to remind themselves of what was covered on a particular day in class.

Good Journal Entries The aim of this exercise is to help students identify the difference between examples of good journal usage and examples of a journal not being used as effectively.

Ask the students

SAMPLE

to create a good journal entry for the

ISE RC

2

ISE RC

Now over to you: a. Using what you have just learned, create a good journal entry based on your last entry.

EXE

2

EXE

EXE

ISE RC

Subject

2

Now over to you: a. Using what you have just learned, creat

Homework/learning outcomes

previous day and ask them to contrast this with what they had originally in their journal.

Subject

Teacher’s comment:

Home

Parent’s signature:

This exercise may be completed

individually and the students can then

share with their Learning Partner what they filled in, or alternatively completed in pairs followed by a short presentation from various pairs to the rest of the class.

Geography

b. Does your journal entry look different from what you have been filling in up until now?

Yes No Explain the difference:

PAUSE AND REFLECT

English

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

2. How did you learn this?

Maths French

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

MENTAL NOTE

“

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. – Nelson Mandela

”

23

Teacher’s comment:

Parent’s signature:

b. Does your journal entry look different from Yes No Explain the difference:

PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

1. What have you learned in this le 33

Chapter 2

Subjects and Homework Lesson 4

WHAT ARE MY SUBJECTS? Aim Aim

To help students gain a better understanding of the variety of subjects which they have to study

Learning Point 1 One of the big adjustments for students is the number of subjects that they have to

SAMPLE

engage with. It varies from school to school and the subject-choice structure.

With this amount of diversity it is important early in their secondary school career to help them to develop a methodical approach to learning.

Everyone will have their own preferences and will do better at some subjects over

others. It is important to try to encourage a balance between all subjects. The problem is that neglecting a subject in the early stages – due to its perceived difficulty or simply disliking it – may have an impact on subject choices in future years. Taking an early dislike to Science and dropping it after 1st year might limit the career choices available later on.

This section aims to help the students better understand the subjects they are studying, explore their attitudes and maybe dispel some of the myths surrounding certain subjects.

EXE

ISE RC

1

My Subjects The goal of this exercise is to generate debate around the various subjects and the students’ current understanding of and attitude towards them.

Students can work with their Learning Partner in completing this template. The teacher can then have a short class discussion using either Agreements or Talking stick/ball to generate some discussion around various answers by the students.

34

My Subjects

What is it about?

Do I like it?

What would make it easier?

Why?

Yes / No / Not Sure

English Maths Science

SAMPLE

My Favourite Subjects

The purpose of this exercise is to help students realise that more often than not their favourite subjects tend to be the subjects that they both enjoy and do well in.

As this is a reflective

piece, students can complete the

ISE RC

EXE

2

2

My favourite subjects

a. Write down your five favourite subjects.

exercise individually and share with their

(i)

(iv)

(ii)

(v)

Learning Partner, before a short class

(iii) b. Write down the five subjects you find the easiest.

discussion may be held.

(i)

(iv)

(ii)

(v)

ISE RC (iii)

EXE

EXE

ISE RC

2

My favourite subjects

c. What does this tell you?

a. Write down your five favourite subjects.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

(i)

(iv)

(ii)

(v)

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

2. How did you learn this?

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

(iii) 26

b. Write down the five subjects you find the easie (i)

(iv)

(ii)

(v)

(iii) PAUSE AND REFLECT

What does this tell you?

Finish by asking students to reflect individually on theirc. learning

35

Chapter 2

Subjects and Homework Lesson 5

THE PURPOSE OF HOMEWORK Aim Aim

To help students understand the purpose of homework and how it differs from study

Learning Point 1 Students’ volume of homework generally increases as they transition into secondary

SAMPLE THE PURPOSE OF HOMEWORK

school. They will need to adapt to longer days, more homework in the evenings and

Chapter 2

dealing with the variety of personalities and expectations of their many teachers.

Subjects This can be stressful for young people as they try to understand the importance and

and Homework

Lesson 5

purpose of homework. Managing homework is vital for students, as is communicating with their teachers on the issue of homework.

1

Homework Q&A – Individual or Group Exercise

To help you understand the purpose

Aim

Aimwithof homework and how it differs from study The goal of this exercise is to generate healthy debate around homework

a view to understanding its purpose. Taking time to consider these questions at an early stage can help reinforce the purpose of homework for students.

Learning Point 1 Your volume Students should begin to realise that homework is not pointless, that it is of homework generally increases in secondary school. You will need to adapt to a longer day and more homework in the evenings.

designed to reinforce learning, to help them retain information and prepare We to will learn why we get homework and why it is important. for their next class.

Chapter 2

Lesson 5

THE PURPOSE OF HOMEWORK

Pair and Share and then moving into Learning Squares.

Aim Aim

The teacher can then use Pose,

class discussion.

Homework Q&A – Individual or Group Exercise a. What is homework?

b. Is homework important? Why?

To help you understand the purpose of homework and how it differs from study

Learning Point 1

c. Who should monitor homework?

Your volume of homework generally increases in secondary school. You will need to adapt to a longer day and more homework in the evenings.

We will learn why we get homework and why it is important.

Pause, Pounce and Bounce to of the answers during the whole

1

Subjects and Homework

be completed initially using Think,

stimulate discussion around some

ISE RC

EXE

This exercise can

ISE RC

EXE

EXE

ISE RC

1

d. How can we improve our learning from homework?

Homework Q&A – Individual or Group Exercise a. What is homework?

b. Is homework important? Why?

e. Where and when do I record my homework?

c. Who should monitor homework?

d. How can we improve our learning from homework?

f.

What do I do if I don’t understand my homework?

e. Where and when do I record my homework?

f.

What do I do if I don’t understand my homework?

g. Making a good effort with homework involves what?

g. Making a good effort with homework involves what?

27

36

Learning Point 2 Homework should be a valuable reinforcement of classwork and as such it is different to study. Homework is an opportunity for students to review what was covered in class on their own, to check their understanding. Students, from the outset, should learn to understand the difference between homework and study as this will help them manage their time better and help them to buy into meaningful homework assignments as reinforcement of their learning. The most important thing they must realise now is that homework is PREPARATION FOR CLASS and study is PREPARATION FOR ASSESSMENTS. Study time isPoint 2 Learning

something they must learn to add to their homework time and as such itHomework is self-driven. reinforces what was covered in class. Homework is an

for you to review what was covered in class on your ow Teacher support and understanding is very important in developing this opportunity difference.

EXE

ISE RC

2

and check to see if you understand what was done. The most impo thing to realise now is that homework is PREPARATION FOR CLASS focused on understanding and study is PREPARATION FOR ASSESS and is focused on remembering.

What is Study? Word Box Exercise

The purpose is to provoke some questioning around the differences between homework and study for individuals or groups. It will be important that students

SAMPLE ISE

EXE

RC start to think about their time in terms of BOTH homework and study, not Whatan is Study? Word Box Exercise

2

is a list of activities you might be engaged in for your either/or scenario. Good habits are formed early and teachers can playHere a vital

homework and study. Can you identify which activity you wo

role in helping students understand the differences by recognising thenormally variousdo as homework and which one you would normal activities associated with both.

part of your study? If you can think of any other activities for homework or study you can add them in at the end.

SCHOOL

reviewing class work / taking notes / summarising / Homework reinforces what was covered in class. Homework is an highlighting / answering questions / discussing / listeni opportunity for you to review what was covered in class on your own and check to see if you understand what was done. The most important thing to realise now is that homework is PREPARATION FOR CLASS and is writing / researching / revising / drawing / practising an focused on understanding and study is PREPARATION FOR ASSESSMENTS

Working with

Learning Point 2

Placemats, students can individually

and is focused on remembering.

identify the activities associated with homework and then study. Finally,

ISE RC

activities that might not be on the list and

reviewing class work / taking notes / summarising / highlighting / answering questions / discussing / listening / writing / researching / revising / drawing / practising answers

EXE

students can try and think of other

What is Study? Word Box Exercise Here is a list of activities you might be engaged in for your homework and study. Can you identify which activity you would normally do as homework and which one you would normally do as part of your study? If you can think of any other activities for either homework or study you can add them in at the end.

2

share these with the class.

Homework

Homework

Study

Study

28

EXE

ISE RC

3

Define Homework and Study Students briefly fill in the definitions and check their answers with their Learning Partner.

28

PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

37

PS

Chapter 2

Subjects and Homework

P

Lesson 6

TYPES OF HOMEWORK

Rs

Rf Rf

R

Chapter 2

Subjects and Homework W Lesson 6

OPS ReP

TYPES OF HOMEWORK

Learning Point 1

R

W

help you understand the different Aimtypes ofTo Students will very often encounter new homework at second level. Allowing Aim types of homework and to understand time to think about the various types of homework they may undertake will help them that homework can involve other students both understand and organise themselves to do better at homework.

SAMPLE

O Re

Learning Point 1

Types of Homework – Matching Exercise You will encounter new types of homework in secondary school. Let’s look at This exercise is designed to encourage students to think about all the various your subjects and the different types of homework you might be assigned. types of homework they may encounter.

In the middle column students write down a typical piece EXE

of homework, in the third column students should decide what type of ISE RC Typesexample. of Homework – Matching Exercise homework they have used as This is not an exhaustive list and 1 In an the middle column write down an example of the homework you there is space to add more. Students may take a subject per group, a subject might get in the subject. each or attempt all subjects individually. Feedback and presentation of their In the third column write down what TYPE of homework you have ideas to each other is important. used as your example.

PS

Chapter 2

Subjects and Homework

P

Lesson 6

TYPES OF HOMEWORK Aim Aim

R

W

1

Subject

Rf Rf

Homework Example

Homework Types

Questions on Fractions

P – W – PS

Add more subjects if you wish. Your teacher may add more O SUBJECTS or TYPES also.

Re Maths

Science

To help you understand the different types of homework and to understand that homework can involve other students

Learning Point 1

ISE RC

TheRs codes are in the grid below. The first one is done for you.

English

You will encounter new types of homework in secondary school. Let’s look at your subjects and the different types of homework you might be assigned.

EXE

EXE

1

Rf Rf

To help students understand the different types of homework and to understand that homework can involve others

Aim Aim

ISE RC

Rs

Types of Homework

Types of Homework – Matching Exercise In the middle column write down an example of the homework you might get in the subject.

In the third column write down what TYPE of homework you have used as your example.

P

Practice

Rf

Reflecting

O

R

Reading

W

Writing

Researching

PS

Problem Solving

Observing

The codes are in the grid below. The first one is done for you.

Add more subjects if you wish. Your teacher may add more SUBJECTS or TYPES also.

Types of Homework

P

Practice

R Rs

Rf

Reflecting

Reading

W

Writing

Researching

PS

Problem Solving

O Re

38

Remembering

Rs

30

Re

Observing

31

30

Remembering

Learning Point 2 While some homework may need to be completed nightly, some homework may be done over a weekend, over a week or over a couple of weeks. Homework can also be done in a group or individually. This may be new for some students so they will need to be prepared for this. Understanding the nature of homework is crucial for students starting in first year.

An Interview!

This exercise is designed to understand how long homework might take and who is involved, and, importantly, to realise that everybody will have different preferences when it comes to homework. Some individuals prefer solitary tasks, some group tasks, some will be dedicated to detail, while others not. This exercise acts as an introduction to the area of Learning Styles, which is covered

Learning Point 2 later on. It also helps students begin to develop some self-awareness around

You might do homework every night, but you might also have hom that takes a few nights or a number of weeks to complete. You mig work alone or with others in a group. Let’s interview our friends an what homework experience we have so far.

their learning and homework.

SAMPLE Ask the student to

interview their Learning Partner using

Learning Point 2

You might do homework every night, but you might also have homework that takes a few nights or a number of weeks to complete. You might also work alone or with others in a group. Let’s interview our friends and see what homework experience we have so far.

the questions in the workbook. A class

discussion can then be held to explore

ISE RC

2

some of the answers given.

ISE RC

b. What homework do you like least?

An Interview!

Do you know how long homework might take and what is invo Are we all the same when it comes to homework? Interview th person beside you by asking them the following questions to out what their thoughts on homework are.

c. How long do you spend doing your homework?

When finished, that person will then interview you!

d. What is the longest/shortest time you have spent on homework?

a. What homework do you like best?

An Interview!

Do you know how long homework might take and what is involved?

Are we all the same when it comes to homework? Interview the person beside you by asking them the following questions to find out what their thoughts on homework are.

EXE

2

EXE

EXE

ISE RC

2

When finished, that person will then interview you! a. What homework do you like best?

Yes e. Have you ever had group homework?

If yes, what did the group homework involve?

No

b. What homework do you like least? f. Do you prefer group homework or individual homework?

g. Who might help you with group homework?

h. What TYPES of homework could be done in a group?

c. How long do you spend doing your homework?

32

d. What is the longest/shortest time you have spent on home

Yes e. Have you ever had group homework?

If yes, what did the group homework involve?

PAUSE AND REFLECT

N

f. Do you prefer group homework or individual homewo

Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning g. Who might help you with group homework?

MENTAL NOTE

h. What TYPES of homework could be done in a group?

“The most effective way to do it, is to do it!” – Amelia Earhart 32

39

Chapter 2

Subjects and Homework Lesson 7

COMPLETING HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS Aim Aim

To help students successfully complete homework assignments

Learning Point 1 A key consideration for students in completing homework assignments is the physical

SAMPLE

space they work in. It is important that they recognise distractions and other barriers

to completing tasks, such as untidy dark spaces or lack of fresh air. Students simply do not think about these basics. Before we look at managing the organisation required to complete homework effectively, we will examine the spaces available to students for homework. Bear in mind that not ALL students will have the luxury of their own room, therefore it is vital to address the issues they may have in reality. The next

three exercises help them evaluate a ‘sample’ environment and then look at their own situation, beginning to remedy problems as they see them.

EXE

ISE RC

1

Spot the Difference!

Look at the two pictures, note the x differences between each person’s room/ workspace.

Students can complete the exercise individually and then share their answers with their Learning Partners.

40

EXE

ISE RC

2

What’s Your Opinion? b. How many differences did you notice?

The aim of this exercise is to get students to identify for themselves what a good

homework environment might look like.

ISE RC

EXE

The teacher

2

can ask students to work in small

What’s Your Opinion?

Now that you have examined the pictures and spotted the differenc write down your observations. Use the headings given to help you:

groups to complete the exercise

Item

or alternatively the teacher can use

Phone

Agreements to stimulate a class

Tidiness

What are your thoughts?

Earphones

discussion on the various elements. b. How many differences did you notice?

Window Curtains

EXE

ISE RC

2

What’s Your Opinion?

Now that you have examined the pictures and spotted the differences, write down your observations. Use the headings given to help you: Item

What are your thoughts?

Phone Tidiness Earphones Window Curtains

Fresh Air Desk Schoolbag The Bedroom

Fresh Air Desk

SAMPLE Schoolbag

The Bedroom

35

EXE

ISE RC

3

My Space

This exercise asks students to now reflect on their own homework space, applying what they would have learned in the previous exercises.

Each student completes the exercise themselves and can then share with their Learning Partner and/or in smaller groups.

Brief summary: We have looked at the purpose of homework and discussed what homework means. The various types of homework were introduced, with a focus on helping the student develop some sense of self-awareness around homework, looking at what they like or dislike or whether they prefer working alone or in groups. Time management is important to consider next, with students encouraged to begin managing their time after school from early on. Students have also have encouraged to problem solve and tailor their own space if required.

Finally, we will look at organising and managing a homework task.

Learning Point 2 The next step for students is to be organised and structured in their approach to their tasks. Habits should be formed early on in school. Students often do not take the time to think about the resources they might need or the time and effort required. They may underestimate or overestimate these variables, postpone tasks without considering them properly – or simply not complete tasks or rush them without any real learning or gain. It is important to engage students on homework tasks from the outset, convincing them of its importance and manageability.

41

EXE

ISE RC

4

Task Timeline!

START

This exercise will help students begin to break down homework tasks into

01

several components and to begin to

02

think about the sequence of doing

03

their homework and looking at what is

04

important.

05

06

This short exercise

07

may be completed with their Learning

08

Partner or in small groups followed by

09

a short class discussion to see what the

10

various groups got for their timelines.

END 37

SAMPLE

Learning Point 3

Here the students are given five simple tips to assist them in being more effective in doing their homework.

ORK

HOMEW

1.

2.

3.

4.

Establish a routine and commit to doing up to 2 hours’ homework and revision each night in 1st year.

Always do your homework first and then do your revision.

Do your homework in a quiet place, no distractions, no social media. Homework takes much longer to do when you are distracted.

Always attempt your homework. The correct answer is not the important thing, it is important that you attempt things and learn from your mistakes.

PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning

42

5.

It can help to have the telephone number of others in your class.

If you missed something you can always contact them.

Chapter 3

My Brain and Learning Lesson 8

GROWING YOUR BRAIN AND LEARNING Aim Aim

To help students understand that your brain can change and grow

Chapter 3

Learning Point 1

My Brain and Learning

Our brains remodel or remake themselves on an ongoing basis right throughout our

SAMPLE

lives in response to our experiences and what we learn. Scientists now know that

Lesson 8

GROWING YOUR BRAIN AND LEARNING

learning is biological, just like weightlifting. Just like when we lift weights we exercise

certain muscles which grow, in the same way when we learn new things and have new experiences we remake or remodel parts of our brain and if we repeat these activities

those parts of our brain become stronger. Learning is the process where we gain new Aim Aim information and skills and memory is the process where we retain that information

To help you understand that your brain can change and grow

over time. The more we practise the stronger we are making those connections in our

Learning Point 1

brains.

The Brain and its Functions The aim of this exercise is to draw students’ attention to the fact that an effort they can change and improve.

As this is a self-

Chapter 3

My Brain and Learning

reflection encourage students to

Lesson 8

GROWING YOUR BRAIN AND LEARNING

complete the exercise by themselves and then they can discuss their

Aim Aim

answers either with the Learning

ISE RC

EXE

1

1

To help you understand that your brain can change and grow

Learning Point 1

Partner or in small group.

Your brain remodels or remakes itself on an ongoing basis right throughout your life in response to your experiences and what you learn.

Scientists now know that learning is biological, just like weightlifting. When you lift weights you exercise certain muscles, which grow. In the same way when you learn new things and have new experiences you remake or remodel parts of your brain and if you repeat these activities those parts of your brain become stronger. Learning is the process where we gain new information and skills and memory is the process where we retain that information over time. The more we practise, the stronger we are making those connections in our brains.

ISE RC

EXE

EXE

ISE RC

Your brain remodels or remakes itself on an ongoing basis right throughout your life in response to your experiences and what you lea Scientists now know that learning is biological, just like weightlifting. Wh you lift weights you exercise certain muscles, which grow. In the same way when you learn new things and have new experiences you remake remodel parts of your brain and if you repeat these activities those par by making of your brain become stronger. Learning is the process where we gain new information and skills and memory is the process where we retain that information over time. The more we practise, the stronger we are making those connections in our brains.

1

The Brain and its Functions What you do affects the growth of your brain. Struggling with certain skills helps your brain change and grow. If you stick at only what is easy your brain won’t grow. Try answering these questions:

The Brain and its Functions What you do affects the growth of your brain. Struggling with cer skills helps your brain change and grow. If you stick at only what easy your brain won’t grow. Try answering these questions: a. What things are you really good at doing?

b. What things do you want to be better at doing?

c. Who do you know that is good at something social or

emotional (like helping others or being kind)?

a. What things are you really good at doing?

b. What things do you want to be better at doing?

c. Who do you know that is good at something social or

emotional (like helping others or being kind)?

39

43

Learning Point 2 New information entering the brain must be assimilated by the brain; it has to link it to things it already knows to start making sense of it.

Therefore it is very common for confusion to set in with regard to this new information. Now in fact confusion is good because confusion is an indication that your brain is sorting this new information. The ideal scenario is that when the confusion happens this leads to questions. Ideally those questions help you clarify the new information so that your brain can file it away accurately. Then your confidence builds, you understand what you have learned and you begin to apply it.

There are four stages to learning:

Stage 1: Unconscious incompetence – you simply do not know what you do not know – a blissful ignorance.

SAMPLE

Stage 2: Conscious incompetence – your mind is full of new things you need to understand and you have to place them in some type of order, where you

understandably experience confusion. Again, confusion is good because it is the indication to you that your brain has begun to sort and make sense of this new information.

Sometimes at this second stage some people become frustrated. Frustration is

where you have become emotionally thrown as well as mentally thrown, your thinking brain can shut off.

When you ask enough questions you eventually get to the point where you have figured out the steps and have slowly pieced them together in some kind of order.

You then move on to the next stage of learning.

Stage 3: Conscious competence – this is where you are becoming competent with the information you are processing but you still need to really concentrate to get it right – so you are consciously competent.

Stage 4: Unconscious competence – Eventually through practice you will get to the fourth stage of learning and this is the stage where all the new information has fully integrated into your brain; your ability is now natural and unconscious.

Students expect to jump from stage 1 to stage 4 and give themselves a hard time when they can’t. Confusion is a natural stage in learning. When confusion hits it is your signal to ask more questions. When confusion hits it is great news – it means that your brain has begun the sorting and filing process and with a little time and a bit more practice and a few more questions answered you will move easily through stage 2 and 3 to get to 4.

It is very important to give your students permission to progress through these stages in every new thing they learn.

44

Learning Point 2

Learning does not happen the first time you hear inf something. In fact, there are four Stages of Learning example to explain each stage – riding a bike.

Stage 1: Before you get up on the bike you simply d do not know! You’ve never ridden a bike before. Sta the saddle you quickly begin to realise what you do frustration can set in, or fear in case you’re going to fear could cause you to give up. But most of us try t feelings and continue. Stage 3: Once you have been your balance, hold the handlebars, pedal, and use t begin to cycle, but with great care and concentratio to get it right. The final stage is where your confiden Stage 4: Through practice cycling becomes second you don’t even need to think about it anymore.

To ensure that students have understood the example,

d. Who do you know that is good at something physical or kinaesthetic

(like playing sport or music or doing things with their hands)?

you can use the exercise Teach – Okay!

e. Who do you know that is really good at something cognitive

(thinking about things, school)?

here.

f.

What have all these people done to be really good at these skills?

g. What can you do to become much better at the things you

really want to be good at doing?

h. Is it possible for you?

i.

So what do you now know?

Learning Point 2

Learning does not happen the first time you hear information or practise something. In fact, there are four Stages of Learning. Let’s look at an example to explain each stage – riding a bike.

40

Stage 1: Before you get up on the bike you simply do not know what you do not know! You’ve never ridden a bike before. Stage 2: Once you get on the saddle you quickly begin to realise what you do not know. This is when frustration can set in, or fear in case you’re going to fall. This frustration or fear could cause you to give up. But most of us try to work through these feelings and continue. Stage 3: Once you have been shown how to keep your balance, hold the handlebars, pedal, and use the brakes, you begin to cycle, but with great care and concentration. You want/need to get it right. The final stage is where your confidence kicks in.

Stage 4: Through practice cycling becomes second nature to you and you don’t even need to think about it anymore.

40

EXE

ISE RC

2

Matching!

SAMPLE

This exercise aims to draw students’ attention to the feelings or emotions that

they might experience at the various stages of learning so that they may be able to recognise for themselves what stage of learning they might be at.

Use Placemats here for this exercise or students could work

with their Learning Partner.

Happy / Oblivious

Delighted/ Proud

Frustrated / Confused

Focused / Alert

?

?

45

EXE

ISE RC

3

Learning is Fun and Frustrating!

Sometimes we expect to move from Stage 1 to Stage 4, skipping the confusion and frustration associated with the middle steps. This would be easy for us all! But learning can be tricky and we must stick with it, even when it is hard or frustrating.

Using Think, Pair and Share and then moving into

Learning Squares students can complete this exercise. A short class discussion may then be held on some of the suggestions from the students.

4

Read the story and answer the questions below.

The aim of this exercise is to provide an opportunity for students to reflect and begin to implement what they have learned in this lesson in relation to the various stages of learning and associated emotions.

Break students up into groups of 4 and give each group two questions to be answered. Then using the Jigsaw approach ask students

SAMPLE

to complete all 8 questions.

ISE RC

EXE

EXE

ISE RC

4

Read the story and answer the questions below.

c. When Eva was shown the horse in the stable with all the equipment, what did she think?

Eva goes to horse riding lessons. She began at 9 years old, she is 14 now. Before she went to lessons Eva thought horse riding looked like great fun. She wished she could just sit on the horse’s back and gallop through the fields with the wind in her hair.

d. (i) Do you think Eva was nervous?

Eva went to her first day of riding class and sat on a horse for the first time. She was walked

Yes

No

(ii) When might she have been nervous?

over to a stable. The instructor began by showing her how to open the door, how to enter

a stable, what side of the horse was safest, how to put on a saddle, how to put on the reins and much more. She told Eva the names of all the straps, leathers and equipment. There

e. Eva had second thoughts. What caused this?

were a lot of straps, the leather saddle and the stirrups for her feet had to be adjusted, so

too did the reins. Eva’s head was spinning. She was confused and wondering if this was right for her after all.

f. Was Eva happy after the first lesson?

Next, she was told to follow the instructor and horse into the arena for the riding lesson.

Eva was helped onto her horse, Saffron. The stirrups had to be adjusted again. Eva felt

Yes

g. What options did Eva have after the first lesson?

very high up, far from the safety of the ground. She had earlier been given a whip, a helmet and a back protector. Saffron started to walk after the other horses in the arena

c. When Eva was shown the horse in the s equipment, what did she think?

No

and ignored Eva when she pulled gently on the reins to try to stop her. The instructor began shouting commands to the class, ‘sit up’, ‘heels down’, ‘whip in your right hand’,

h. What do you think Eva should do? Quit, try one more time,

‘bend your elbows’, ‘bend your knees’.

commit to a few lessons, practise, read up on horses, watch clips on horse riding, do nothing?

Eva’s first lesson wasn’t as thrilling as she had imagined. Saffron was stubborn and did not like to halt or stop when the reins were pulled too hard. Eva had to learn quickly to apply just enough pressure but to use her legs even more than her reins. A good rider will have great influence over their horse with their legs, not just their reins. Eva managed to trot a little in the first lesson but she ached afterwards as she struggled to find a rhythm with Saffron. The instructor called ‘up, down, up, down, up, down.’ Eva tried hard but only for a second did she manage to fall into her horse’s pace. The rest of the time she was bumped up and down on the horse’s back and she was very uncomfortable.

PAUSE AND REFLECT 1. What have you learned in this lesson?

a. List three things Eva might have been thinking before she went for her first lesson.

d. (i) Do you think Eva was nervous?

Y

(ii) When might she have been nervous?

2. How did you learn this?

(i) (ii)

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

(iii)

b. On the day of the lesson how might Eva have felt?

43

44

e. Eva had second thoughts. What caused

f. Was Eva happy after the first lesson?

g. What options did Eva have after the first

h. What do you think Eva should do? Quit,

PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning

46

commit to a few lessons, practise, read u clips on horse riding, do nothing?

Chapter 3

My Brain and Learning Lesson 9

IMPROVING YOUR LEARNING Aim Aim

Chapter 3

My Brain and Learning

To help students explore how they can improve their learning

Lesson 9

IMPROVING YOUR LEARNING

Learning Point 1

Aim

Aim We learn by using our senses, and in school students use three particular senses:

SAMPLE

To help you explore how you can improve your learning

auditory (hearing), visual (seeing) and kinaesthetic (touch and doing). Many people

Learning learn quickly by incorporating all three. However, students tend to have a preferred and Point 1

You have now explored both the stages of learning and how your feelings dominant style of learning. If they are strong in one style of learning they can use it to

which are also called emotions, can affect your learning. In this lesson you will explore how you take in information i.e. how you learn. You take in information around you every day through your five senses, seeing, heari touch, taste and smell. In your learning at school you tend to rely primari on three of these senses:

excel and compensate for any style of learning that is less developed.

EXE

ISE RC

1

Sensory Learning

(i)

Sight, which is called visual learning

This exercise helps students identify what their learning preferences mayHearing, be. which is called auditory learning (ii)

(iii)

As this is a

My Brain and Learning Lesson 9

students that this exercise is only

Aim Aim

indicative and not prescriptive.

To help you explore how you can improve your learning

ISE RC

EXE

IMPROVING YOUR LEARNING

to complete by themselves. Remind

1

Learning Point 1

Students may wish to share their

You have now explored both the stages of learning and how your feelings, which are also called emotions, can affect your learning. In this lesson you will explore how you take in information i.e. how you learn. You take in information around you every day through your five senses, seeing, hearing, touch, taste and smell. In your learning at school you tend to rely primarily on three of these senses:

results with their Learning Partners and then using Talking Stick/Ball

(i)

the teacher may allow students to share

Sight, which is called visual learning

(ii)

Hearing, which is called auditory learning

(iii)

Touch, which is called kinaesthetic learning.

Whilst you use all your senses, students tend to have a preference for how they learn best or simply which is the best way for them to take in information.

ISE RC

EXE

their responses with the class group.

Whilst you use all your senses, students tend to have a preference for ho they learn best or simply which is the best way for them to take in informatio

Chapter 3

reflective piece, encourage students

Touch, which is called kinaesthetic learning.

1

Sensory learning Do you know which sense you have a preference for? Answer the following questions by circling the correct one for you.

Sensory learning Do you know which sense you have a preference for? Answer the following questions by circling the correct one for you. a. When I get a new phone or tablet, I: (a)

Read the instructions first

(b) Listen to an explanation from someone who has used it befo (c)

Go ahead and have a go, I can figure it out as I use it

b. When I need directions, I usually: (a) Look at a map (b) Ask for spoken directions (c)

Follow my nose and maybe use a compass

a. When I get a new phone or tablet, I: (a)

Read the instructions first

(b) Listen to an explanation from someone who has used it before (c)

Go ahead and have a go, I can figure it out as I use it

b. When I need directions, I usually: (a) Look at a map (b) Ask for spoken directions (c)

Follow my nose and maybe use a compass 45

EXE

ISE RC

2

Your Learning Style Students reflect on what they have discovered about their own preferred leaning style.

Students initially answer the two questions and then share with their Learning Partner.

47

EXE

ISE RC

3

Tips for Learning Students explore the various tips which could aid learning for each learning style.

Simply their Learning Partner read through each column of tips, discuss which set of tips is most associated with each style and write in on top of column.

EXE

ISE RC

4

Your own Tips Having explored the various tips which can aid each learning style, the students can now identify which tips they themselves would like to implement in their own learning going forward.

Each student rereads over the list of tips for the styles associated with themselves. They then decide which tips they would like to implement going forward. They can then discuss these in learning groups of

SAMPLE

four, where they can share with each other the tips they chose for themselves and how they are going to implement them.

MENTAL NOTE

“We don’t grow when things are easy, we grow when we face challenges. – Joyce Meyer ” 48

Section 2

SAMPLE

Goal Setting and Learning

Introduction This section is ideally aimed at students

for Learning

moving into second year as they engage

These lessons will look at how

more fully in their study. During the first

students can use their learning

section students learned about how they

strengths to set and achieve their

learn and the skills for learning, along with

own goals for learning by using the

exploring various strategies which they

SUPER system. They will also explore

can use to help them in their learning. This

their motivations for achieving their

new section will build on what students

learning goals.

have already covered by looking more closely at the student as a learner, how they should set goals for their education and, finally, provide students with a simple study system that will support them

3. Memory and Study The final section is where students learn all about how memory works and here they are provided with

SAMPLE

throughout school and beyond.

some simple strategies to aid their memory. As study is key to helping

This section looks at moving from

students recall and apply what they

learning to studying, where the skills and

need for assessments, they will also

motivation for study are explored.

look at what is involved in study

A lot of the time students do not engage

and be introduced to an effective

effectively with study for various reasons,

study system where they will learn

such as:

all about planning, doing, and

 Lack of motivation  Unsure of how to study  Not having a study system.

Section 2 is broken into three components:

1. The Student as a Learner Here students will build on the skills and behaviours for learning by developing their own intelligence profile, which will identify their strengths as a learner.

2. Goals and Motivation

reviewing what they have studied.

As part of this section students will learn about and practise BIKER, an effective and proven study system.

Section 2

Learning and Study Chapter 9

You as a Learner LESSON 22: Characteristics of a Learner ................................................................................ 82 LESSON 23: Reflection in Action ........................................................................................... 84 LESSON 24: Intelligence Profiles 1 ............................................................................................ 86 LESSON 25: Intelligence Profiles 2 ........................................................................................... 88 LESSON 26: Working to my Strengths ..................................................................................... 92

SAMPLE

Chapter 10

Setting your Goals

LESSON 27: Creating Goals to Succeed .................................................................................... 94 LESSON 28: The Super System 1 ............................................................................................. 97 LESSON 29: The Super System 2 ......................................................................................... 100

Chapter 11

Motivation LESSON 30: Exploring Motivation .......................................................................................... 104 LESSON 31: Believing in Yourself ............................................................................................ 108 LESSON 32: Changing Beliefs .................................................................................................... 110

Chapter 12

Memory

LESSON 33: Memory and the Forgetting Curve .............................................................. 113 LESSON 34: Memory Techniques 1 .......................................................................................... 116 LESSON 35: Memory Techniques 2 ......................................................................................... 118

Chapter 13

Plan it!

LESSON 36: Barriers to Study .................................................................................................. 121 LESSON 37: Planning your Study ............................................................................................. 123

Chapter 14

Do it!

SAMPLE

LESSON 38: Introducing BIKER ............................................................................................. 127 LESSON 39: BIKER 2 .................................................................................................................. 130 LESSON 40: Mind Mapping ...................................................................................................... 132 LESSON 41: BIKER 3 ............................................................................................................... 135

Chapter 15

BIKER Practice LESSON 42: Studying Languages .............................................................................................. 137 LESSON 43: Studying English ................................................................................................... 139 LESSON 44: BIKER Practice (Other Subjects 1) ..................................................................... 141 LESSON 45: BIKER Practice (Other Subjects 2) .................................................................. 142

Chapter 16

Review It! LESSON 46: Planning and Executing Revision .......................................................................143 LESSON 47: The Student’s Approach to Revision ................................................................ 146

End of Section Reflection

148

Chapter 9

You as a Learner Lesson 21

CHARACTERISTICS OF A LEARNER To explore the qualities of an effective learner with the students

Aim Aim

Learning Point 1 In the last section students explored both the rules for learning in class and the

SAMPLE

behaviours for learning. Hopefully they have begun to implement them in their learning.

This section begins by looking at how the students have been doing on their journey to becoming a more effective learner by reviewing how well they have done on implementing these behaviours so far.

1

8 Skills and Behaviours of an Effective Learner

The aim of this exercise is for students to identify for themselves how well they have been implementing the skills and behaviours for learning. This hopefully will create an opportunity for the students to reflect and re-engage with their learning if needed.

As this is a reflective exercise, ask students to complete the short questionnaire themselves. Teachers may then decide to allow students to share their results with their Learning Partner.

Chapter 9

You as a Learner Lesson 21

CHARACTERISTICS OF A LEARNER Aim Aim

Organised:

Hardworking:

I have the right books and equipment for each class.

I stick at an exercise even when I find it difficult.

Punctual:

Persistent:

I am on time for each class and hand up my homework on time.

To help you identify qualities of an effective learner

Co-operative:

Learning Point 1 In the last section you explored both the rules for learning in class and the behaviours for learning.

Do you remember what they are? Hopefully you have begun to implement them in your learning.

This section begins by looking at how you have been doing on your journey to becoming a more effective learner by reviewing how well you have done on implementing these behaviours so far in your learning.

I do my best in my work.

Thoughtful:

I work well with other students in my class.

I think of others and their feelings.

Attentive:

Optimistic:

I pay attention to what the teachers say.

I try to find the best in every situation.

Where you score between 1 and 3 you are less likely to have developed this quality. Where you score 4 to 5 these are your strengths and they will assist you in becoming a good student and an effective learner.

EXE

ISE RC

2

Reflecting on Your Score Here are a few simple questions which will help you think about your answers in the previous exercise and possibly think about how you could improve your score for some of the behaviours. a. What skills and behaviours did you score highest on?

ISE RC

EXE

EXE

ISE RC

8 Skills and Behaviours of an Effective Learner

1

In this exercise you will rate yourself on how well you have been doing in practising the skills and behaviours as shown on the next page.

b. Can you give examples of when you did these things?

Read each statement and score yourself in relation to whether you feel this reflects you or not. The key is as follows.

1

2

3

I feel this is almost never true for me.

I feel this is not often true for me.

I feel this is sometimes true for me.

114

53

4 I feel this is usually true for me.

5 I feel this is always true for me.

c. Did you score low on any behaviour?

Yes

No

d. If yes, which ones?

115

Organised:

Hardworking:

I have the right books and equipment for each class.

I stick at an exercise even when I find it difficult.

Punctual:

Persistent:

I am on time for each class and hand up my homework on time.

Thoughtful:

I work well with other students in my class.

I think of others and their feelings

Organised:

Hardworking:

I have the right books and equipment for each class.

I stick at an exercise when I find it difficu

Punctual:

Persistent:

I am on time for each class and hand up my homework on time.

Attentive:

Optimistic:

I pay attention to what the teachers say.

I try to find the best in every situation.

I do my best in my work.

Co-operative:

Thoughtful:

I work well with other students in my class.

I think of others and their feelings.

Attentive:

Optimistic:

I pay attention to what the teachers say.

I try to find the best in every situation.

SAMPLE

Reflecting on your Score

This exercise will draw the students’ attention to their results and to thinking about

Where you score between 1 and 3 you are less likely to have develo this quality. Where you score 4 to 5 these are your strengths and will assist you in becoming a good student and an effective learne

how they could improve their score in moving forward.

Students initially

answer the questions individually and

ISE RC

then discuss with their Learning

Organised:

EXE

2

Co-operative:

Partner, or the teacher may wish to

2

Co-operative: I work well with other students in my class.

I think of others and their feelings.

Attentive:

Optimistic:

I pay attention to what the teachers say.

I try to find the best in every situation.

Punctual: I am on time for each class and hand up my homework on time.

go around the room using the Talking

Stick/Ball to generate a class discussion on the responses.

Reflecting on Your Score

Hardworking:

Here are a few simple questions which will help you think about you answers in the previous exercise and possibly think about how you could improve your score for some of the behaviours.

Thoughtful:

I have the right books and equipment for each class.

I stick at an exercise even when I find it difficult.

Persistent:

I do my best in my work.

a. What skills and behaviours did you score highest on?

Where you score between 1 and 3 you are less likely to have developed this quality. Where you score 4 to 5 these are your strengths and they will assist you in becoming a good student and an effective learner.

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I do my best in my work.

2

Reflecting on Your Score

b. Can you give examples of when you did these things?

Here are a few simple questions which will help you think about your answers in the previous exercise and possibly think about how you could improve your score for some of the behaviours. a. What skills and behaviours did you score highest on?

b. Can you give examples of when you did these things?

c. Did you score low on any behaviour?

c. Did you score low on any behaviour?

Yes

No

d. If yes, which ones?

d. If yes, which ones?

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PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

MENTAL NOTE

“The knowledge of all things is possible.”

– Leonardo Da Vinci

54

Yes

No

Chapter 9

You as a Learner Lesson 22

REFLECTION IN ACTION Aim Aim

Chapter 9

To help students understand how important reflection is to learning

You as a Learner Lesson 22

REFLECTION IN ACTION

Learning Point 1

A key element of learning is the ability to reflect on what and how one learns. Students will

SAMPLE

already have been doing this all along at the end of each lesson and at theAim end of Section 1. understand how To help you Aim important reflection is to learning But do they know why reflection is important?

1

Learning Point 1

Why Reflect?

A key element of learning is the ability to reflect on what and how you This exercise will bring the students’ attention to some reasons why reflection is

and being able to apply that learning in the future. Reflection is the w

important for them and give them the opportunity to give examples of why.learning from an experience so that you can use extract the personal you have learned again at some point in the future.

Teachers can

Chapter 9

You as a Learner Lesson 22

REFLECTION IN ACTION

from the resource section. Divide the class up into groups of 3 or 4 and ask

Aim Aim

them to complete the exercise.

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photocopy and enlarge the worksheet

1

To help you understand how important reflection is to learning

Learning Point 1

Why Reflect?

Below is a list of the benefits of reflection. Read through each o and give an example of where you were able to demonstrate t benefit in the past in your learning.

Here is an example of one for you. Can you now give examples the others?

A key element of learning is the ability to reflect on what and how you learn and being able to apply that learning in the future. Reflection is the way you extract the personal learning from an experience so that you can use what you have learned again at some point in the future.

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Example In the last lesson I identified that I had learned the skill o being organised.

Here is an example of one for you. Can you now give examples for Why Reflect?

Below is a list of the benefits of reflection. Read through each one and give an example of where you were able to demonstrate this benefit in the past in your learning. the others?

Now I use my homework journal better to help me be more

Example In the last lesson I identified that I had learned the skill of being organised.

Now I use my homework journal better to help me be more

organised.

organised. a. I really enjoy doing group work.

a. I really enjoy doing group work.

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Learning Point 2 Hopefully the students will notice that all of the reasons are equally important and all help them to improve and grow as learners. Reflection is a tool for them to extract the personal learning from their experiences so that they can use what they have learned again at some point in the future. But what makes a good reflection? Whilst reflections may be written on many things, there are common features of a good reflection, known as IDHR. These are: I

= Students relate it back to what they learned i.e. I learned.

Detail = Students write a clear account of what they learned, giving as much detail as possible.

How

= Students explain how they learned something.

Reuse = Students show how they will use what they have learned again in the future.

2

Features of a Good Reflection

SAMPLE

Two examples of student reflections are given on a project they completed for CSPE. This exercise will begin to draw the students’ attention to the detail that needs to go into a good reflection and begin to apply the IDHR rule.

This exercise can be completed by dividing the class up into groups of 3 or 4 and using Placemats. b. I find it difficult working on my own on written exercises.

I agr

ee

ee

I agr

c. I try to work with a learning partner on written exercises.

Example one:

Title of Project:

Our World

Date of Project:

xx/xx/xx

How much did you enjoy this project?

It was great fun working with other people in my class.

Why?

d. When we do group work I get to discuss my ideas with others.

Learning Point 2 You now know what the benefits of reflecting on your learning are but do you know what good reflection is? Whilst you may write reflections on many things, there are common features of a good reflection, known as IDHR. These are: I = You relate it back to what you learned i.e. I learned.

Detail = You write a clear account of what you learned, giving as much detail as possible.

How = You explain how you learned something.

Relate = How will you use what you have learned again in the future?

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The most important thing you learned was?

TEAMWORK

f. I am able to see how I can use what I learned.

The class made a film about our lives and the world we live in.

What did you do?

ENJOY

ENJOY TEAMWORK

e. I am able to make connections between different things that I learn.

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Why?

Teamwork

We struggled at times to agree with each other.

What challenged you the most?

Having to agree with others.

How could you overcome this challenge in the future?

What new skills did

Agree with others.

I learned new IT skills in filmmaking.

you learn?

How could you overcome

I’m not sure.

this challenge in the future?

Above Expectation

/

Below Expectation

Reasons for answer:

Features of a Good Reflection Here are two examples of student reflections on a project they completed. Read through each one and decide whether you think this reflection is either A Good Reflection or Not As Good.

Give as much detail in your reason for your grading as possible.

Remember, even if it is Not as Good there are still some positive aspects to the reflection, be sure to include these in your answer.

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PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

56

Chapter 9

You as a Learner Lesson 23

INTELLIGENCE PROFILES 1 Aim Aim

To help students identify their strengths when it comes to learning

Learning Point 1 Howard Gardner, a professor for education at Harvard University in the 1980s, developed

SAMPLE

the theory of multiple intelligences. Gardner claimed that we do not have ‘an’ intelligence, rather we have at least eight of them, three or four of which we use continually. The other intelligences we use from time to time depending on the situation or need. This could explain why students enjoy some subjects more than others or find some easier.

If students can reflect on what intelligences best represent them as an individual this can help them identify where their preferences or strengths lie. This in turn will have implications for how best they can learn in the future as well as being able to identify, develop and celebrate these strengths.

1

The next exercise will introduce and explore the eight common intelligences EXE

with the students.

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DO YOUR YOUR

TALENTS

Multiple Intelligences

LIE? LIE?

Multiple Intelligences

The teacher can Here is a diagram with your 8 intelligences; take some time and ISE RC

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read through them. Write down any of the intelligences that you introduce and read through the various intelligences with the students. Then might not understand. You can ask your teacher to help explain these to you. using Teach-Okay! and Stump your 1

Multiple Intelligences

Here is a diagram with your 8 intelligences; take some time and read through them. Write down any of the intelligences that you might not understand. You can ask your teacher to help explain these to you.

The ability to understand yourself, to be reflective, know what you can or can’t do and where to get help.

KINES THE TIC

57

The ability to interpret space and to navigate

SPATI AL

AL SON PER A TR IN 123

NAL ERSO ERP INT

The ability to think musically and to hear, recognise and remember patterns

The ability to discriminate between living things and being sensitive to the natural world

The ability to use language.

Being able to express what’s on your mind and to understand others

What intelligences did you not understand?

MUS ICA L

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1

The ability to understand and relate to others

The ability to understand yourself, to be reflective, know what you can or can’t do and where to get help.

The ability to control body movement and the capacity to handle objects skillfully

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SPATI AL

NATU RAL IST

The ability to understand cause and effect; to manipulate numbers

ATICAL THEM /MA AL GIC LO

explore these further.

L ONA ERS AP TR IN

NAL ERSO ERP INT

The ability to think musically and to hear, recognise and remember patterns

MUS ICA L

Partner students, working in pairs, can

The ability to interpret space and to navigate

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WHERE DO

T und re

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2

Characteristics of the Intelligences This exercise briefly draws students’ attention to the various characteristics of each intelligence.

Teachers may ask students to work with their Learning

Partner to complete this exercise or alternatively teachers may use the Jigsaw methodology, where each initial group completes the exercise and then moves into their new groups to compare their answers.

Musical

Spatial

Kinaesthetic

Linguistic

Intrapersonal

Logical/ Mathematical

Naturalist

1

SAMPLE Interpersonal

2

3

4

Tends to hum/burst into

In touch with one’s own

Perceives the visual

Sensitive to the feelings

song

feelings

world accurately

and moods of others

Responds to rhythm

Knows weaknesses

Displays aptitude for

Energised when working

and strengths

drawing, painting,

with people and enjoys

sculpture

co-operative games

Sensitive to colour,

Knows how to win over

pattern, texture

others

Remembers melodies and song lyrics

Self-reflective/aware and mindful

Notices background sounds

5

Sensitive to sound

Comfortable alone

6

Displays mind mapping

Able to negotiate

Tends to daydream

capacities

7

effectively

8

Seeks personal meaning

Thinks in 3D terms and

and sets personal goals Enjoys language

reads maps and plans Needs to be active, easily plays sports or enjoys

and desires of others Sees connections

Likes word games, good

activities

Analyses/categorises

Likes to make or build

Spots flaws in

things

arguments

Uses hands when

Enjoys numbers

patterns

Sensitive to the natural world Ability to recognise

at spelling

pattern or species in the natural and built

Has a feel for sentence

environment

structure

Capacity to see things

A good story teller

talking

another

Enjoys puns and riddles

Well co-ordinated

Ability to classify and

Likes the sound and

Uses tactile sense to

rhythm of words

communicate

in relationship to one

categorise types and models of species

Perceives the intentions

Abstract thinker Systematic approach

Enjoys reading

PAUSE AND REFLECT

Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

58

Chapter 9

You as a Learner Lesson 24

INTELLIGENCE PROFILES 2 Aim Aim

To help students identify their strengths when it comes to learning

Learning Point 1 The next three exercises will help students identify which intelligence they use most

SAMPLE

and help them create their own intelligence profile. There are many advantages to

building their own profile, one of which is identifying their strengths. By knowing where their strengths lie they can work towards these. Nobody is good at everything but it’s important that students know what they are good at and use this to their advantage.

Sometimes they might not realise that they are good at lots of things.

By working to their strengths they become more confident learners, building on past successes and possibly willing to take on new challenges which they might not have had the confidence to do in the past.

This is a follow-on exercise from the previous lesson so teachers might want to briefly read over what was previously covered by going through the multiple intelligences with the students again.

1

Identify Your Intelligence 1

L SONA PER A R T IN

This exercise is linked with the next three exercises, where the students

SPAT IAL

Each student individually. The teacher, using the

Talking Stick/Ball, can then go around the room asking students to share what they choose as their intelligences and possibly encourage them to explain why, using examples.

59

NATU RAL IST

identifies their top 2 to 5 intelligences

MUS ICA L

intelligences might be.

CAL EMATI ATH M / AL GIC LO

explore what they believe their top

KINA E S THE TIC

In this exercise they will only briefly

AL SON PER TER IN

create their own intelligence profile.

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Identify Your Intelligence 2 The next two exercises provide the students with the opportunity to reflect on the intelligences more deeply. This exercise looks at the types of activities someone with a particular intelligence might be interested in.

As this is a reflective exercise, students need to read through each activity and place a tick in the box of each activity that they see themselves as good at, or that they imagine they could be good at if they tried. When complete, they can add up and write in the bottom box the number of ticks they gave each intelligence.

Musical

Intrapersonal

Enjoy sound in nature Interested in music Enjoy hearing and/or making music

rhythm and/or melody

Good sense

Can help with

imagine

of direction

difficulties between

Enjoy doing things

Observant, see things

independently of

others do not notice

people Sensitive to others’ moods and reactions

See things clearly in

Appreciate privacy

your mind’s eye, e.g.,

Interested in how

and quiet for working

a familiar room

others think and feel

Films, slides, videos

Involved in clubs or

help learning

other types of group

SAMPLE and thinking

Easily learn and retain

Interpersonal

Like to daydream and

others

Good sense of

music.

Spatial

Understand your own feelings and thoughts

activity

Use charts, diagrams,

and why you do

maps easily.

things

Enjoy teamwork,

discussing and co-

operating with others.

Think about the

relevance of what

you are doing and learning.

Total ticks:

Total ticks:

Identify Your Intelligence 3 This exercise provides some descriptions of the various attributes associated with each intelligence.

As this is a reflective

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exercise, students need to read through each attribute to place a tick beside the attributes that they think best describe them.

3

Identify Your Intelligence 3 ISE RC

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3

Total ticks:

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Total ticks:

3

Identify Your Intelligence 3

LET’S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK … Below is an activity list associate each intelligence. Place a tick in the box of each activity that you yourself good at, or that you imagine you could be good at if yo LET’S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK … Below is an activity list associated with each intelligence. Place a tick in the box of each activity that you see yourself good at, or that you imagine you could be good at if you tried.

Musical

Intrapersonal

Spatial

Interpersonal

Writing music

Planning your own time

Drawing diagrams

Good friend

Playing an instrument

Understanding your feelings and moods

Understanding plans of a house

Listening carefully

Repeating lyrics of songs with ease

Working on your own

DIY furniture assembly

Managing/Supervising others

Keeping a diary/journal

Art/Drawing

Member of a club

Good sense of rhythm

Recognising who you’re like/unlike in your personality

Visualising images in 3-D

Teaching/Training others

Clapping or beating time with music

Achieving personal goals

Reading maps for a journey

Parenting

Striving for constant improvement

Driving, parking

Moving in time to music

Musical Remembering slogans, raps, verses Selecting appropriate music for an event Humming while working Selecting background music

Writing music Total ticks:

Crafts

Self-motivation

Jigsaws

Finding time to be on your own

Total ticks:

Playing an instrument Naturalist

Linguistic

Kinaesthetic

Enjoys gardening and working with plants

Giving verbal instructions

Enjoys being outdoors

Giving written instructions

Dancing/Physical movement with good coordination

Sports

Filling in forms

Car maintenance

Writing letters

DIY jobs

Explaining something clearly

Cooking, baking

Repeating lyrics of songs with ease Likes to hike, walk or climb Keeps pets

Recognises different types of birds, animals and plants Campaigns on environmental issues

Hand-held puzzles (Rubik’s Cube, etc.)

Crosswords, word search puzzles

Juggling

Moving in time to music Watches natural science programmes

Leadership skills

Helping others with personal problems

Spatial

Any group work

Predicting what you will be able to do well or have difficulty with before you begin

Total ticks:

Committee work

Intrapersonal

Verbal arguments

Keeping children actively occupied

Creative writing or writing in general

Anything active

Reading literature

Planning your own time

Drawing diagrams

Understanding your feelings and moods

Understanding plan of a house

Total ticks:

Logical/Mathematical Mathematics Science

Making lists Accounts

Working on your own Budgeting

Planning time

DIY furniture assem

Calculating scores in games/sports

Keeping a diary/journal Working out timetables

Managing money

Calculating scores on bets

Art/Drawing

Good sense of rhythm

Recognising who you’re like/unlike in your personality

Visualising images in 3-D

Clapping or beating time with music

Achieving personal goals

Reading maps for a journey

Hobbies that require specific hands-on skills (model building, knitting or others)

Reading or writing poetry

Total ticks:

Total ticks:

Total ticks:

128

Remembering slogans, raps, verses

Total ticks:

Striving for constant improvement

60 Driving, parking

4

Now Complete Your Own Profile The next step is for students to take their responses from each exercise and fill them in on the chart.

This needs to be completed individually. Here is a worked example which is also in the students’ workbook. On the chart below they can fill in their results for each exercise.

Step 1: On the innermost circle they shade in what they said were their top intelligences, up to five, from Lesson 30, Exercise 3.

(Identify your Intelligence 1).

Step 2: Now go back to Identify your Intelligence 2. The students count up the ticks they had in each column or the score they had already put in the box at the bottom of each column and then shade in the next circle their three top scoring intelligences.

Step 3: Go to Identify your Intelligence 3. The students then do the exact

SAMPLE

same thing, adding up their ticks in each column, and then shading in the outer circle their three top scoring intelligences:

NAL RSO PE RA T IN

In this example the student identified these

SPAT IAL

intelligences in each exploration:

MUS ICA L

ONAL ERS RP TE IN

AL GIC LO

NATU RA LIS T

1

Exploration 1: Identify your Intelligence 1

2

Exploration 2: Identify your Intelligence 2

3

Exploration 3: Identify your Intelligence 3

TIC UIS NG LI

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Learning Point 2 Here is what the results mean: 1.

The intelligences where they shaded in all three circles are their strongest intelligences.

These are the ones they use all the time naturally and serve them the best, the ones they are most comfortable with.

2.

The intelligences shaded in two circles are still strengths for the student but they are not as natural. As a result they can and will do them with ease when asked but they will have to be asked.

3.

The intelligence where they have only one circle shaded they can use now and again, when the need arises. These are known as ‘I will if I have to’ intelligences!

They are there for them but they may not see them as their greatest strengths.

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4.

And finally ... the intelligences they left completely blank, these are their ‘No way, not me! Ask someone else’ intelligences. They may feel like they are not strong in that area or maybe it is something they feel they have not been able to grasp. Either way it is an intelligence that they actually have but they are not, for whatever reason, using it enough to be of benefit to them.

So What Does This Tell Me? Learning Point 2

This exercise will draw the students’ attention to the purpose of these lessons.

Here is what your results mean:

Now that they know what preferredwhere intelligences are the 1. their The intelligences you shadedare, in all what three circles are your strongest intelligences.

These are the ones you use all the time naturally and implications for their learning and study? serve you the best, the ones you are most comfortable with.

2.

The intelligences shaded in two circles are still strengths for you but

Students they complete the exercise initially and then are not as natural.

As a result you by canthemselves and will do them with

ease when asked .but you will have may to be asked. may share with their Learning Partner The teacher wish to have a class 3.

The intelligence where you have only one circle shaded, you can use now and again, when the need arises. They are called the ‘I will undertake is to record all theif Itop the out are haveintelligences to’ intelligences! in They areclass, there find for you butwhich you may notthe see them as your greatest astrengths. most popular and ask the students to create poster for the classroom wall where

discussion using the Talking Stick/Ball. An extended activity the teacher could

SAMPLE

4.

And finally ... the intelligences you left completely blank, these are your ‘No they can present their findings on the most popular intelligences in their class.

Learning Point 2

Here is what your results mean: 1.

The intelligences where you shaded in all three circles are your strongest intelligences. These are the ones you use all the time naturally and serve you the best, the ones you are most comfortable with.

2.

The intelligences shaded in two circles are still strengths for you but they are not as natural. As a result you can and will do them with ease when asked but you will have to be asked.

3.

The intelligence where you have only one circle shaded, you can use now and again, when the need arises. They are called the ‘I will if I have to’ intelligences! They are there for you but you may not see them as your greatest strengths.

4.

And finally ... the intelligences you left completely blank, these are your ‘No way, not me! Ask someone else’ intelligences. You may feel like you are not strong in that area or maybe it is something you feel you have not been able to grasp. Either way it is an intelligence that you actually have but you are not, for whatever reason, using it enough to benefit you.

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So What Does This Tell Me? Having completed this exercise you may wish to reflect on what you have learned about yourself. Ask yourself the following: a. What were your top three intelligences? (i) (ii)

way, not me! Ask someone else’ intelligences. You may feel like you are not strong in that area or maybe it is something you feel you have not been able to grasp. Either way it is an intelligence that you actually have but you are not, for whatever reason, using it enough to benefit you. c. It is good to build on your strengths and know your main intelligences, so what does this tell you about what type of learner you are?

Learning Point 3 You now know what your strongest intelligences are, these are the ones you use naturally all the time and are your strengths when it comes to learning.

In the next lesson you will explore all about working to your strengths and how working to your strengths further helps you in becoming a more effective learner.

So What Does This Tell Me? Having completed this exercise you may wish to reflect on what you have learned about yourself. Ask yourself the following: a. What were your top three intelligences?

PAUSE AND REFLECT 1. What have you learned in this lesson?

(i)

2. How did you learn this?

(ii)

(iii)

b. (i) Are the answers what you expected?

Yes

No

Explain:

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

(iii)

MENTAL NOTE “ It’s not how smart you are, it’s how you are smart.” – Howard Gardner

b. (i) Are the answers what you expected?

Yes

No 131

130

Explain:

PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

130

MENTAL NOTE

“It’s not how smart you are, it’s how you are smart.”

– Howard Gardner

62

Chapter 9

You as a Learner Lesson 25

WORKING TO MY STRENGTHS Aim Aim

To allow students to learn how to work to their strengths

Learning Point 1 The student’s multiple intelligences profile will have highlighted some of their strengths

SAMPLE

when it comes to learning. Working to their strengths is an empowering experience.

The image below illustrates how working to their strengths builds the confidence of the student as a learner. When students do well, sometimes they receive praise. Praise is a positive affirmation. Such affirmations make the student feel good about what they have just achieved. When they feel good about their achievements they are more likely to work harder when faced with a challenge in the future as their confidence as a learner has increased. The focus here is on creating the opportunity to develop strengths properly.

1

e FraNc

1

Your Strengths!

This exercise now brings the students’ attention to how they may use what

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1

Your Strengths Let’s begin by looking at the example of Anne. a. What was Anne’s strength and why was this one of her strengths?

they learned about their MI (multiple intelligence) profile to help them identify their strengths and how these strengths might serve them well.

b. Why do you think Anne used her French when she was away on holidays?

c. Why do you think Anne’s French improved?

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Now, about you

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1

Your Strengths Let’s begin by looking at the example of Anne

d. From your list of multiple intelligences what are your top three strengths?

Begin with Think,

Pair and Share and then into Learning Squares, where they can share their ideas or even be given new ideas by other students.

(i) (ii)

(iii) e. Give an example of how you might have developed each of your top three strengths in the past. (i) (ii) (iii)

a. What was Anne’s strength and why was strengths?

f. How do you think you could develop these top three strengths further in the future? (i) (ii) (iii)

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Learning Point 2 Being part of a strong group can be very encouraging and supportive. If the students can recognise strengths in others, they can begin to recognise strengths in themselves.

Of course, there will be students who do not see eye to eye. Seeing a positive in somebody does not mean that they must be best friends. This is down to personality.

Students need to learn to have a healthy respect for a person, to step back from personal feelings and focus on the positives in others. Students can work to encourage the strengths of everybody in their group as well as themselves.

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2

My Gift to You! This is an opportunity for students as individuals and as a class to share some positive affirmations with each other. It is nice to both give and receive positive affirmations.

Students share their book around so others can write one

SAMPLE

POSITIVE thing about them and identify one STRENGTH they may have.

My Strengths...

PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

64

Chapter 10

Setting my Goals Lesson 26

CREATING GOALS TO SUCCEED Aim Aim

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1

To help students create their own goals for success

Letter to Me This writing exercise introduces students to the concept of visualisation.

What is important here is that students don’t focus on what has to be done

SAMPLE

but rather focus into the future when they have achieved their goals, tapping into the emotions that surround their success. Positive emotions are strong motivators for everyone.

Each student writes their own letter and if they so wish they

can share what they have written with their Learning Partner.

Dear Me,

Yours,

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Future Date:________________

Learning Point 1 If students want to succeed at anything they need to have a clear image or idea of what it is they want to achieve and why.

The terms ‘success’ and ‘achievement’ are deliberately interchanged here as success can have many different interpretations for people, i.e. wealth, power etc. However, it is important that students realise that success is the achievement of their own personal goals. A goal is a specific outcome which the students want and are willing to commit themselves to.

Students who do well have specific goals for their learning.

The starting point for students in creating their own goals is to begin with a short reflection or analysis of where they are at. Having identified some of their strengths in the previous chapter they can now begin to look at what opportunities are out there for them, what their aspirations for achievement might be and what resources they

SAMPLE

have at hand to help them succeed. Students can use a tool called SOAR to help them with this analysis.

SOAR stands for Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Resources Here are some questions that can help students complete a SOAR analysis:

trengths 



What are you good at, your

pportunities 

strengths and skills? E.g. sports, IT,

out there for you? E.g. support from

mixing with others

family, friends, school, clubs

What do your family and friends think



What special knowledge or skills do

What could help you build your skills and strengths?

you are good at? 

What opportunities are



How can you use the skills and strengths you have? E.g. helping

you have?

others in school.

spirations  

What are you passionate about?

esources 

What resources/assistance do you

E.g. playing hockey, reading, films, music

need to help you meet your

What do you want to do and

aspirations? E.g. support from

achieve? E.g. do well in assessments,

teachers/coach, extra training.

win championship trophy 

What would it look like if you already achieved it? E.g. received high grades won championship trophy.

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2

My SOAR The aim of this exercise is to get students to begin to reflect in the aspirations and opportunities out there for them. This is another step on them becoming more active, independent learners, where they are beginning to visualise for themselves what it is they might want to achieve.

As this is a reflective exercise, students can work individually to complete their own SOAR analysis. When complete, they can turn to their

Learning Partner and share what they wrote down. Teachers might want to allow students the opportunity to share with the larger class what they wrote down using the Talking Stick/Ball activity. Allow students time and opportunity to possibly change some things in the SOAR analysis; after listening to their Learning Partner or other students something else might pop into their head that they might not have thought about before.

SAMPLE Learning Point 2 Hopefully now students, having completed their SOAR analysis, have a clearer understanding and awareness of their strengths and the resources available to them.

In the next lesson students will explore how they can use this information to create their own goals for learning.

PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

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Chapter 10

Setting my Goals Lesson 27

THE SUPER SYSTEM 1 Aim Aim

To explore how students can achieve their goals

Learning Point 1 Now that students have completed their SOAR analysis the next step is to begin to

SAMPLE S

create their goals and put them into action. This can be achieved using the SUPER

system. This simple success system gives the students a simple strategy to achieve any goal they set themselves.

R

REWARD Reward yourself after you achieve your goal.

E

EXECUTE Execute and take action every day.

SEE See the success.

U

UNDERSTAND Understand how you can make it happen.

P

PLAN

Plan how you can make it happen.

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See your Success The aim of this simple exercise is to draw the students’ attention to the need for their goals to be as specific as possible. It is easier for them to achieve something if they can visualise it for themselves first.

Working with their Learning Partner, students read over the two examples, indicate their preferred choice and explain their reason.

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See Your Success The next few exercises will bring you through the SUPER system so you will know how it works and be able to use it again and again in the future.

Let’s go back to your dream but this time you are going to describe it as a goal. What you need to do is to decide on what your goal is and write it down. Be specific, give as much detail as possible.

SAMPLE

Here is an example of two types of goals. Place a tick beside the goal you think is the best and then explain why you think so. a. My goal is to increase my grades in English by summer of this year. b. My goal is to improve in English.

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Explain your choice:

Your Goal This simple exercise encourages students to articulate their own goals for learning.

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Individually, each student gives some consideration

See Your Success The next few exercises will bring you through the SUPER system so you will know how it works and be able to use it again and again in the future.

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Your Goal Now write the top three goals you want to set yours

Let’s go back to your dream but this time you are going to describe it as a goal. What you need to do is to decide on what your goal is and write it down. Be specific, give as much detail as possible.

2

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to what it is they wish to achieve for

Here is an example of two types of goals. Place a tick beside the goal you think is the best and then explain why you think so.

themselves for their education. They can

a. My goal is to increase my grades in English by summer of this year.

go back and revisit what they wrote down

b. My goal is to improve in English.

Goal 1:

Explain your choice:

in their letter in the previous lesson.

They then write down the three goals which they wish to set for themselves. If they like, they can share these with their ISE RC

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Learning Partner.

2

Goal 2:

Your Goal Now write the top three goals you want to set yourself for your studies.

Goal 1:

Goal 2:

Goal 3:

Goal 3:

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Learning Point 2

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140 their goal is important The next step in the SUPER system is for students to understand why

to them. This is part of their motivation for achieving their goal. Motivation is the ‘why’ behind

their goal. Why are they going to make the effort to achieve it? Why is it so important to them that they achieve it? If they are not motivated enough then they will just give up on their goal

Learning Point 2

and it ends up being simply a dream again.

Learning Point 2

The next step in the SUPER system is understanding why your goal is important to you. This is your motivation for achieving your goal. Motivation is the why behind your goal. Why are you going to make the effort to achieve it, why is it so important to you that you achieve it? If you are not motivated enough then you will just give up on your goal and it ends up being simply a dream again.

down what their various motivations

for each goal are. Using the Talking

Stick/Ball methodology the teacher can stimulate discussion in the class about the various motivations that the students have. Students might then

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Understand It For each goal, outline why it is important to you – what is your motivation?

Goal 1:

Goal 2:

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The next step in the SUPER system is understanding wh Understand It important to you. This is your motivation for achieving yo The aim of this exercise is simply for students to articulateiswhy areyour goal. Why are you going to make the their why goals behind important to them. it, why is it so important to you that you achieve it? If you enough then you will just give up on your goal and it end Each student writes dream again.

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Goal 3:

hear about other reasons which they might not previously have thought about.

Understand It For each goal, outline why it is important to you – motivation?

PAUSE AND REFLECT 1. What have you learned in this lesson?

2. How did you learn this?

Goal 1:

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

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Goal 2:

PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

Goal 3:

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Section 3

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Learning and Assessment

Introduction Assessment Preparation

2. Chapters 18 and 19

In this last section of the programme

look at how students can develop

students will explore some of the

resilience as a learner, becoming

strategies that will enable them to achieve

more confident along with exploring

and succeed. Hopefully at this stage in

some simple strategies to help them

the programme they will have realised

cope with the stress of learning and

that the road to success is based upon

assessments.

being prepared and having a structured approach to whatever it is they are doing.

This section focuses on preparing students for assessments. They will explore the purpose and different types

3. Finally, Chapter 20 looks at how students can prepare themselves properly for any exam, by taking another look at their revision practices and sharing with

SAMPLE

of assessments. Some people find that

simply being assessed and having to do assessments can be quite stressful and even upsetting. In this section students

will explore simple strategies that will help them cope with this pressure and, finally,

look at some other simple tips which they can use to help them prepare for any assessment or exam.

This section may be broken down into three key areas:

1. Chapter 17 Along with looking at the variety of assessments students will come across in their education, this chapter also explores the purpose of assessments, their benefit and how they can use feedback to assist them in their learning.

them tips that will help them the days before, the day of and in the examination.

To conclude the section and the course there is an end of section reflection for the students to reflect on what key skills they developed throughout the course and look at how these can be introduced into their learning going forward.

Section 3

Learning and Assessment

Chapter 17

Assessment and Feedback LESSON 47: Assessment, What is it All About? ....................................................................... 154 LESSON 48: Self-assessment and Peer Assessment ............................................................. 157

Chapter 18

Resilience LESSON 49: Emotional Memory and Failure ........................................................................ 159 LESSON 50: Emotions and Resilience .................................................................................... 162 LESSON 51: Growth Mindset .................................................................................................. 167

Chapter 19

Coping with Stress LESSON 52: What is Stress? .................................................................................................... 170 LESSON 53: Coping with Stress ............................................................................................ 174 LESSON 54: A Balanced, Healthy You ........................................................................................179

Chapter 20

Preparation for Assessment LESSON 55: Revision Revisited ................................................................................................. 182 LESSON 56: Past Exam Papers .................................................................................................. 185 LESSON 57: Flash Cards .............................................................................................................. 187 LESSON 58: Final Preparation and the Exam .......................................................................... 190

End of Section Reflection

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Chapter 17

Assessment and Feedback Lesson 47

ASSESSMENT, WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT? Aim Aim

To help students understand the importance and relevance of assessments

Learning Point 1 In the last section students learned all about study and how study is preparation for

SAMPLE

assessments. So in the next few lessons they will look at what assessments are all about.

Assessments, whether students like them or not, are a key element to their learning journey. Assessment is about gathering evidence of knowledge learned or skills developed for the purposes of: (i)

Giving them feedback on their learning

(ii)

Identifying and showing them some areas where they could improve their learning

(iii)

Providing them with a way of measuring their progress against the goals that they set for themselves.

Learning Point 2 During their education students will engage in a variety of assessment activities which can be divided into two categories. These are: (i)

Formative assessment: These types of assessment can be referred to as assessments for learning, where feedback is given to students on an ongoing basis so that they can make adjustments and improve. Formative assessments normally occur during class or as pieces of homework and usually occur quite regularly. Normally you as a teacher explain to the student how well they are doing in their learning and identify ways in which they can improve. This type of assessment can range from class observation to pieces of homework or assignments given out regularly in class tests. The primary objective is to encourage the student in their progress.

(ii)

Summative assessments: These can be referred to as assessments of learning, marking the end of a particular phase of learning. They record a snapshot in time, informing the student, the teacher and the parents how well the student has completed the learning tasks and activities, and providing a formal reporting structure.

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occur regularly during the Junior Cycle.

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Assessment Activities  Read through the list of assessment activities below and Assessment Activities categorise each activity into either formative or summative in The aim of this activity is for students to gain an understanding of the different the table thatthat follows: worksheets, types of assessments they can engage in. oral questioning from teacher, project work, homework exercises, presentations, Think, Pair and Share, followed moving into end class quiz,Use investigations, projects, end of by term exams, Learning Squares cycle as a possible approach of learning exams, essays.to completing this exercise.

Formative assessment

Summative assessment

essays end of term exams

homework exercises oral questioning from teacher

end of learning cycle exams

project work worksheets

Learning Point 3

SAMPLE

Along with providing feedback to the students on their learning, there are also many other benefits of assessments for students, which are: (i)

It helps increase student motivation.

(ii)

It is evidence of what they have learned and achieved.

(iii)

If you can think of other assessment activities add them to your list above. If you are unsure about what some of the activities are you It helps them work to their strengths. can ask your teacher to explain them to you.

(iv)

It can help predict their future potential.

(v)

It demonstrates their mastery of new skills.

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What are the Benefits?

Learning Point 3

The aim is to get students to think of the benefits of assessment and how it

Alongcan with providing feedback to you for your learning and on your help them become more effective learners. learning, there are also many other benefits to assessment, E ISincluding: RC A variety of

They increase your motivation.

approaches may be adopted here.

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(i)

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(ii) Teachers They provide evidence what you have learned and may wish to have aofclass (iii) discussion They help youthe work to your strengths. using Talking Stick/ Benefit

Gives feedback on your learning

approach onpredict each of the benefits. (iv) Ball They can help your future potential.

(v)

What are the Benefits?

At this stage of your learning journey you will already h encountered many of the various activities. Read throu achieved. of benefits again in learning point 2 and see if you are of examples that could prove each of the benefits.

2

What are the Benefits?

At this stage of your learning journey you will already have encountered many of the various activities. Read through the list of benefits again in learning point 2 and see if you are able to think of examples that could prove each of the benefits.

How? – Give an example

Benefit

Increases your motivation

Students may work in groups using

They demonstrate your mastery of new skills.

Placemats for each one or simply

Helps you work to your strengths

use Think, Pair and Share and move into Learning Squares.

How? – Give an exam

Gives feedback on your learning

Predicts future potential

Demonstrates skills mastery

Increases your motivation

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Now share some of your examples with others in your class. Did the other students have examples you had not thought about?

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Learning Point 4 One of the key purposes of any assessment is to give students feedback on their work so they can identify areas where they could improve their learning and also check their progress against their learning goals.

For formative assessment, feedback gives them information on the quality of their work, and what was missing. It also gives them advice on how they could improve the work submitted so they can then implement this in their learning the next time.

For summative assessments the feedback given tends to be grades or marks indicating their level of achievement in their learning at a particular point in time.

In the next lesson they will look at two further assessment activities, self-assessment and peer assessment, where they will explore further how work may be assessed and feedback provided.

SAMPLE

PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

MENTAL NOTE

“It’s going to be hard, but hard is not impossible.” – Anon 77

Chapter 17

Assessment and Feedback Lesson 48

SELF-ASSESSMENT AND PEER ASSESSMENT Aim Aim

To help students explore how they assess their work and also provide feedback to others

Learning Point 1 CISE

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R Feedback is very important to help students improve the quality of their work.

1

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“Good afternoon, Secretary General, your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen and distinguished guests. Thank you so much for allowing me to talk to you about the not have been critically assessing theand quality of obesity their work.

Being able damning effects of childhood teenage both in Ireland andto oncritically a global scale.

However, up until now, whilst they may have been reflecting on their work, they might assess their own work will help them identify the areas of strength within their work

Ten to fifteen per cent of Irish people are living with diabetes. This figure is set to rise to

and possible weaker areas that might need improving. If they are more aware of how twenty per cent by 2025; that is one-fifth of our population. I believe we can make a

their work may beifassessed they willhabits be more conscious of what they need to do. change we own upthen to our eating and address the causes of the problem.

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For so many years weight has been considered a taboo topic and people didn’t accept overeating was part of a medical condition that often stemmed from other issues, Thethat Skills of Assessment for example mental health.

The aim here is to begin to allow the students the opportunity to look at and Currently figures are drastic, with thousands of patients crammed into diabetic think about the what is involved in assessing a piece of work or an assignment.

wards patients isolated neglected in their homes Here theyand areclinics; beginning tofeeling develop theirand critical thinking skills by because lookingthey at a

are not getting appropriate support. It is not too late but now is the time, now is going to be the difference.”

piece of work and critically evaluating what it contains.

The teacher can divide the class up into smaller groups. Using the template in the resource section, the teacher can print out and enlarge to A3. First of all, encourage the students to read through the assessment criteria; if Think about howanything well you they think should the student did.

For each they arecarefully confused about clarify it with the group or ask the assessment score thearticle following: teacher.

Theycriteria then read the and as a group they must make a consensus

decision what marks/ grades to award this piece of work. When complete, the = needs improving Red on teacher check on the groups to see if they all agreed on the final score or = Average/okay Ambershould how easy it was to reach consensus on the decision.

Green = Good Skills

Red

Amber

Green

Red

Amber

Green

neat presentation (10 marks) Correct spelling (10 marks) Writing in their own words (10 marks) Did they use capital letters, full stops and commas well? (10 marks) Structure The paragraph make sense as you read through it.

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Self-Assessment The next step is for students to begin to think about the quality of their own work and begin to review it critically so that they can identify areas of improvement for themselves.

Each student initially assesses their own piece of work and then with their Learning Partner they can discuss what grade they would give themselves. The teacher can check in to see who was the hardest grader, themselves or their peer, and why this might be.

Structure

Score this piece out of 100. Give a reason for your answer.

Red

Amber

Green

The essay makes sense as you read through it.

(10 marks) /100 Introduction, middle and conclusion (10 marks) Suggest some ways this student

Examples given as evidence to back up any arguments (10 marks)

could improve their answer.

Research is evident through examples given (10 marks)

Score this piece out of 100. Give a reason for your answer.

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Self-assessment Now that you are more aware of what is involved in assessing a piece of work, are you ready to assess a piece of your own work?

SAMPLE Suggest some ways to improve your answer.

Choose an essay that you might have completed recently – it doesn’t matter what it is on – and complete the following assessment sheet for yourself.

Think carefully about how well you think you did. For each assessment criteria score the following: Red

= Needs improving

PAUSE AND REFLECT

Amber = Average/okay Green = Good

Skills

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

Red

Amber

Neat presentation (10 marks)

Green

2. How did you learn this?

Correct spelling (10 marks)

Written in your own words (10 marks)

Did you use capital letters, full stops and commas well? (10 marks)

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

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PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

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245

Chapter 18

Resilience Lesson 49

EMOTIONAL MEMORY AND FAILURE Aim Aim

To explore with students how emotions can affect performance

Learning Point 1 In the last two lessons students explored what was involved in assessments. In

SAMPLE

this lesson they will explore some of the emotions they might have around doing

assessments. In lesson 35 on changing beliefs they learned how their thoughts and

emotions can affect their actions and therefore the outcomes they get. Emotions can be very powerful and so they can impact on performance, especially when it comes to assessment time.

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Emotions The aim of this exercise is to bring the students’ attention to some of the possible feelings/emotions that they might be experiencing at different times. It is easier for students to cope with their emotions if they are able to identify them.

This simple exercise may be completed using Think, Pair

and Share.

Motivated, annoyed, angry, worried, stressed, nervous, excited, bored, peaceful, surprised, tired, confident, hyper, lazy, frustrated, confused, scared, happy

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How are you Feeling?

This exercise is an extension of the previous one, where students are encouraged to identify the feelings they might have around assessments.

Working in the Learning Squares, ask the groups to complete the exercise. Ask each group to consider why they chose a particular picture for each feeling; encourage them to think about how we recognise how people are feeling by their expressions. Encourage groups in their feedback to describe the expression you would expect to see for each feeling.

Worried

Unhappy

Peaceful

Confused

Scared

Confident

SAMPLE

Happy

Excited

Learning Point 2 Two of the most common emotions students have around failure are being scared and worried. One of the reasons students might be scared or worried is because they are afraid of failure. Nobody likes to fail at anything, it’s not a nice feeling, but this is because most people don’t look at failure properly. People tend to see failure as an end point, that once they fail at something that’s it, nothing more can be done. But remember this is not a reality, instead:

Failure is not an end point but rather an event on the road to success – It is only a temporary state.

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In life, everybody fails at things in many ways. Failure must be seen as an opportunity for growth. Just think of some of these famous failures: 

JK Rowling’s manuscript for Harry 

Thomas Edison’s teacher told him

Potter was turned down by 30

he was too stupid to learn anything

different publishers.

at school.



Bill Gates was a Harvard dropout.



Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for having no





Dr Seuss was rejected by 27 publishers.



Michael Jordan was cut from

imagination and no original ideas.

his high school team and went

Steve Jobs, at age 30, was sacked

home to his room to cry.

from the company he founded.

Failure is not ideal; it is not what the students might have strived for but it happens and they need to learn how to deal with it. The most important part of a conversation around failure is what they DID about it. What did they learn from the situation and how could they avoid it happening again?

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What is Failure?

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This exercise is a reflection on what was covered in Learning Point 2. It is

vitally important for students to begin to think differently about what failure means and to adopt a different perspective from the norm on failure.

Discussion is important here to illicit how

the students might perceive failure. Teachers could use the

Agreements method here to begin the class discussion, or if the teacher wished to have some movement they could use the Agree/Disagree method, where they might use the following statements or something similar: 

You should give up once you fail.



Nobody of any significance ever failed.



Failure is only a stepping stone to achieving something better. Etc.

Learning Point 3 One of the key skills that is really important to learn in today’s world is the ability to keep going, to try again, to bounce back after failure. This is what is called resilience and students will learn all about it in the coming lessons.

PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

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Chapter 18

Resilience Lesson 50

EMOTIONS AND RESILIENCE Aim Aim

To explore the concept of resilience

Learning Point 1 In the last lesson students learned that failure is an important step on the road to

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success. Unfortunately a lot of people give up on the first hurdle or obstacle they

meet. This may be because they haven’t developed resilience. If students wish to be successful in their learning journey then they too need to learn to develop resilience.

It is also something that will be really important for them throughout life.

Learning Point 2 Resilience is simply their ability to bounce back and continue after they have met an obstacle or setback, like a failure in a test or low score on an essay. It is having the ability of not giving up but continuing on their journey to reach their goals that counts.

BOUNCE is a simple acronym that might help students remember the key elements of what resilience is about.

B O U N C E

Bad things and times happen but things do get better.

Others are there to help you but you need to let them know.

Unhelpful thoughts don’t make things better.

Nobody is perfect.

Concentrate on the good things in your life, it’s not all bad.

Everybody has setbacks or struggles. You are not on your own here.

During this lesson students will explore five simple things that they can include in their life to help them build their resilience. These are:

Express yourself 83

Nourish yourself

Sunny side up

Identifyrengths your St

Relax

Learning Point 3 Express yourself: Don’t bottle things up, express your emotions. Remind students about when they previously explored how powerful their emotions are.

Along with having people who they can talk things through with, students could also express their emotions by keeping a diary, by painting, or even music.

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Everybody Needs Somebody This exercise looks at the support structures that each student has around themselves that they can turn to when in need. Sometimes students might not be as aware as they could be of the various people who are available to them simply to talk things through with or for more formal support if needed.

Students initially work individually to complete their own template and if they wish they can then

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turn to their Learning Partner to

share with them what they wrote down.

Teachers may wish to have a short class discussion on this exercise using the

Talking Stick/Ball activity and asking some simple questions like: 

Was anybody surprised by the number of people around them to support them?



Did anybody include somebody that they might not necessarily have thought about before?

Learning Point 4 Nourish yourself: The Romans used to have a saying about a healthy mind in a healthy body. To be effective in their learning and to feel positive means living a healthy, balanced life, getting the required amount of sleep, eating properly and exercising. There is a lesson further on which will look at all of these.

Learning Point 5 Sunny side up: In lesson 34 students looked at beliefs and self-beliefs. When people meet obstacles on their journey, negative thinking can creep in. It is important for students, especially around times that they might be stressed, to check their thinking. Are they thinking negative or positive thoughts? Positive thinking will give them the motivation to keep

going so they need to be aware of some simple strategies that can refocus their thinking and perspective to being more balanced and positive, like having an attitude of gratitude.

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means living a healthy, balanced life, getting the r eating properly and exercising. There is a further l

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Learning Point 5

Attitude of Gratitude

Sunny side up: In lesson 34 you looked at beliefs an One key easy way of changing negative thinking into positive thinking is by meet obstacles on their journey, negative thinking ca developing what is called an attitude of gratitude. This exercise simply means It is important to check your thinking to see whether y reminding yourself of the good things in your life. What’s going well for you? positive thoughts. Positive thinking will give you the m What should you be grateful for?

Give the students five that they should be grateful for. Time them

Learning Point 5 Sunny side up: In lesson 34 you looked at beliefs and self-beliefs. When people meet obstacles on their journey, negative thinking can creep in.

It is important to check your thinking to see whether you are thinking negative or positive thoughts. Positive thinking will give you the motivation to keep going.

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answers with their Learning Partner

2

Nourish yourself: The Romans used to have a saying about a healthy mind in a healthy body. To be effective in your learning and to feel positive means living a healthy, balanced life, getting the required amount of sleep, eating properly and exercising. There is a further lesson to look at these.

closely and make them stop when five minutes are up. Students can share their

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minutes to think of 20 things in their lives

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Learning Point 4

2

Attitude of Gratitude

to see what the other wrote. Using the

One easy way of changing your negative thinking into positive thinking is by developing what is called an attitude of gratitude.

This simply means reminding yourself of the good things in your life.

What’s going well for you? What are you grateful for?

Talking Stick/Ball method the teacher

Check in with yourself to see how positive you are about your life. In the box that follows write in 20 things that you are grateful for here and now.

can encourage students to share what they wrote. Gauge from the students how

(i)

(xi)

(ii)

(xii)

(iii)

(xiii)

(iv)

(xiv)

Attitude of Gratitude Healthy

mind One IN Aeasy way of changing your negative th healthy thinking is by developing what is called an a body This simply means reminding yourself of th What’s going well for you? What are you gr

Check in with yourself to see how positive y the box that follows write in 20 things that and now. (i)

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many were able to think of 20 things, how difficult or easy the task was, why it might be difficult to think of 20 things.

(v)

(xv)

(vi)

(xvi)

(vii)

(xvii)

(viii)

(xviii)

(ix)

(xix)

(x)

(xx)

a. Did (ii)you find it easy to write in 20 things?

Yes No (iii) Explain:

(iv)

Draw the students’ attention to the fact

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that people have a tendency to focus on

(v)

the negative and it’s important to keep things in perspective.

(vi) (vii)

Learning Point 6

(viii) Learning Point 6

Identify your strengths: The students learned previously on the course that (ix)strengths: Everybody has their own p Identify your everybody has their own particular set of strengths. By working to their learning strengths. By working to your strengths you will exper strengths students will experience success. By experiencing success, when things go (x) build your confidence by experiencing success so wh wrong students will have the confidence to pick themselves up and try again. you will have the confidence to pick up and try again.

3

Your Strengths This quick exercise is aimed at reminding

a. Did you find it easy to write in 20 things?

Yes No

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the students of their strengths, which

Explain:

they identified earlier in the course.

their identified learning strengths and if they wish can share some of these either

3

Your Strengths

Can you remember your learning strengths, which Section 2? Fill in your top 3 below.

Learning Point 6

1.

Identify your strengths: Everybody has their own particular set of strengths. By working to your strengths you will experience success. You build your confidence by experiencing success so when things go wrong you will have the confidence to pick up and try again.

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Students quickly fill in

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with their Learning Partner or class.

Your Strengths

2.

Can you remember your learning strengths, which you identified in Section 2? Fill in your top 3 below.

1.

2.

3.

3.

Learning Point 7 Relax: It is important to take time out, to relax and unwind.

Focusing all the time on your learning and studying is not good for you. It is important that you take regular breaks from your study and you have a variety of ways of switching off or winding down, which is what relaxing is about. One powerful relaxation tool is mindfulness. This is a technique of bringing your attention to the present by focusing on what is around you and not letting it wander off worrying about other things. It might be something that you could investigate further and learn more about. In today’s hectic world more and more people are turning to mindfulness exercises.

Learning Point 7

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Relax: It is important to take time out, to relax and un Focusing all the time on your learning and studying is not good for you. It is important that you take regular your study and you have a variety of ways of switching

Learning Point 7 Relax: It is important to take time out, to relax and unwind. Focusing all the time on learning and studying is not good for students and can lead to burn out. It is important that they learn to take regular breaks from their study and that they have a variety of ways of switching off or winding down, which is what relaxing is about. One powerful relaxation tool is mindfulness. This is a simple technique of bringing their attention to the present by focusing on what is around them and not letting it wander off worrying about other things. It might be something that they could investigate further and learn more about. In today’s hectic world more and more people are turning to mindfulness exercises.

Relaxation This exercise identifies the variety of ways in which students can relax.

Use Think, Pair

SAMPLE 4

Relaxation

Everyone has their own way of winding down and relaxing. What are your favourite ways of relaxing? Write down three ways you relax and explain why you enjoy doing these things.

in which students relax; these can then

1.

be shared with the class.

3.

2.

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5

Quick Recap

As a quick recap on the lesson fill in the five things you can do to build your resilience and give one example of what you could do for each one.

1.

2.

3.

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and Share to look at the variety of ways

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4

PAUSE AND REFLECT

4.

5.

Relaxation

Everyone has their own way of winding down and relaxin your favourite ways of relaxing? Write down three ways yo explain why you enjoy doing these things.

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

2. How did you learn this?

1.

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

2.

MENTAL NOTE

“The distinguishing feature of geniuses is their passion and dedication to

3. ”

their craft, and particularly the way in which they identify, confront, and

take pains to remedy their weaknesses. – Good, Rattan, & Dweck (2008).

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Class relaxation exercise

ISE Purpose: Introduce students to mindfulness as an effective,RCwidely practised Quick Recap 5 activity that can reduce stress.

As a quick recap on the lesson fill in the five things you can d your resilience and give one example of what you could do Approach: Introduce students to the activity by talking about the widespread

EXE

4

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practice of mindfulness throughout the world. Check in with students1.by show of

hands how many have done mindfulness activities or meditation before. Explain to students that through this activity they will calm their body, mind 2. and spirit.

1.

4.

5.

Begin by sitting comfortably, balanced and relaxed (if seated3.in a chair, feet on the ground). Breathe easy and from the abdomen/”belly breathing” (not chest breathing).

2.

Practise a few deep breaths with the group.

3.

Rotate the head in easy, slow circles; change direction and rotate in easy, slow circles.

PAUSE AND REFLECT 1. What have you learned in this lesson?

4.

Look up; tilt your head way back. Look down; put your chin on your chest.

5.

Drop your arms and hands to the side and shake them gently and easily.

2. How did you learn this?

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6.

Raise your feet off the floor and gently and easily shake the knees.

7.

Straighten your spine while being present in the moment. Practise (repeat two times).

8.

This is done SILENTLY.

9.

When teacher says, “Close your eyes”, close your eyes. (Once your eyes are closed, simply relax the mind and do not make an effort to think about anything; slowly the mind will clear and relax). When teacher says, “Open your eyes”, open your eyes.

10.

Now, sit straight up, relaxed and balanced.

11.

“Close your eyes.” (two minutes elapse)

12.

“Open your eyes.”

13.

Check in with students: how was that? (Students may give thumbs up or

Healthy mind

IN A

healthy body

thumbs down.) Now everyone practise it again.

14.

Repeat exercise: “Close your eyes”… two minutes elapse … “Open your eyes” (Optional: take heart rate and compare to heart rate before meditation).

15.

Check in with students.

SAMPLE CISE

EXE

R Relaxation Extension: Encourage students to practise meditation on their own to develop 4 the has their own way of winding do habit of using meditation for stress reduction and overall health. Have students Everyone teach your favourite ways of relaxing? Write dow this method to a friend or family member. explain why you enjoy doing these things.

ISE RC

As a quick recap of all

4

that was covered in the class, teachers

2.

Relaxation

Everyone has their own way of winding down and relaxing. What are your favourite ways of relaxing? Write down three ways you relax and explain why you enjoy doing these things.

1.

3.

2.

can introduce the Teach – okay!

3.

exercise, with students working with

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their Learning Partners.

5

Quick Recap As a quick recap on the lesson fill in the five things you can do to build your resilience and give one example of what you could do for each one.

1.

4.

2.

5.

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EXE

5

1.

Quick Recap

EXE

EXE

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3.

5

Quick Recap

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

As a quick recap on the lesson fill in the five your resilience and give one example of wha

2. How did you learn this?

1.

4.

2.

5.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

3.

MENTAL NOTE

“The distinguishing feature of geniuses is their passion and dedication to their craft, and particularly the way in which they identify, confront, and

”

take pains to remedy their weaknesses. – Good, Rattan, & Dweck (2008).

255

PAUSE AND REFLECT

PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

1. What have you learned in this le

MENTAL NOTE The distinguishing feature of geniuses is their passion and dedication to 2. How did you learn this? “ their craft, and particularly the way in which they identify, confront, and take

”

pains to remedy their weaknesses. – Good, Rattan, & Dweck (2008).

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3. How can you use what you learn

Chapter 18

Resilience Lesson 51

GROWTH MINDSET Aim Aim

To develop further the concepts of growth and fixed mindsets

Learning Point 1 Most people who are resilient also have what is called a growth mindset. Most people

SAMPLE

tend to believe that they are born with a limit to their intelligence and ability. However,

students will have already learned that most people have multiple intelligences that they use and that by having goals and focus and putting them into action they can succeed.

So they already have an awareness that there is not a limit to their intelligence or ability.

This is what is called having a growth mindset. Students with a growth mindset believe that intelligence can be developed. These students focus on learning over just looking

smart, see effort as the key to success, and thrive in the face of a challenge. This theory was researched and developed by Professor Carol Dweck of Stanford University.

Mindset is about the attitude or approach that people take to success, especially when it comes to their learning. The two types of mindset are growth and fixed mindset. Here is an explanation of both: What kind of mindset do you have?

The Growth Mindset

The Fixed Mindset

I can learn anything I want to.

I’m either good at it, or I’m not.

When I’m frustrated, I persevere.

When I’m frustrated, I give up.

I want to challenge myself.

I don’t like to be challenged.

When I fail, I learn.

When I fail, I’m no good.

Tell me I try hard.

Tell me I’m smart.

If you succeed, I’m inspired.

If you succeed, I feel threatened.

My efforts and attitude

My abilities determine everything.

determine everything.

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Step 1: Check which statements are growth mindset or fixed mindset statements and write either F or G beside each one.

11 = Fixed

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1

66 = Growth

22 = Growth 77 = Fixed

33 = Fixed

44 = Growth

88 = Growth

9 = Growth

55 = Fixed 10 = Fixed

Which Mindset do you Have?

The purpose of this exercise is For to provide an opportunity for students to scores: growth statements give yourself the following Step 2: explore what type of mindset they might 41 = Agree 22 = have.

Maybe

03 = Disagree

Students initially need to complete this exercise individually For fixed statements give yourself the following scores:

and Share can share and discuss their and then using Think, Pair 01 = Agree 22 = they 43 = Disagree Maybe answers with each other.

Then add up your total score for the exercise.

Now work out your score: Step 1: Check which statements are growth mindset or fixed

mindset statements and write either F or G beside each one.

11 = Fixed 66 = Growth

22 = Growth 77 = Fixed

33 = Fixed

44 = Growth

88 = Growth

9 = Growth

Step 3: Your results

55 = Fixed

10 = Fixed

Strong fixed mindset

Step 2: For growth statements give yourself the following scores:

41 = Agree

22 = Maybe

03 = Disagree

For fixed statements give yourself the following scores: 01 = Agree

22 = Maybe

43 = Disagree

Fixed mindset with some growth ideas

Growth mindset with some fixed ideas

Strong growth mindset

Then add up your total score for the exercise.

0

Step 3: Your results Strong fixed mindset

0

Fixed mindset with some growth ideas

10

Growth mindset with some fixed ideas

20

30

a. So what mindset do you have? b. Are you surprised? c. Why?

10

20

30

40

Strong growth mindset

40

a. So what mindset do you have?

SAMPLE Yes

No

b. Are you surprised?

Yes

No

Developing and nurturing a growth mindset towards life and learning can provide you with positive outcomes.

Learning Point 2

c. Why?

Success is not all about attitude but also about effort and strategy. Einstein once said that if you keep doing the same thing in the same way you will keep on getting the same results. So if you are doing something wrong no matter how hard you try you will still end up getting it wrong. A key element of having a growth mindset is the ability to reflect on what you are doing and if it is not working to readjust and try doing it a different way. You are not giving up, you are simply taking a different approach or strategy.

Developing and nurturing a growth mindset towards life and learning can provide you with positive outcomes.

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Learning Point 2 Success is not all about attitude but also about effort and strategy. Einstein

Learning Point 2 once said that if you keep doing the same thing in the same way you will

keep on getting the same results. So if you are doing something wrong no matter how hard you try you will still end up getting it wrong. A key element effort and strategy. Einstein once that if youmindset keep doing same thingoninwhat the you are doing of said having a growth is the the ability to reflect same way you will keep on getting results.toSo if students themselves andthe if it same is not working readjust and tryfind doing it a different way. You are not giving up, you are simply taking a different approach doing something in the wrong way, no matter how hard they try they will still endor strategy.

It is important to remember that success is simply not all about attitude but also about

up getting it wrong. A key element of having a growth mindset is about the ability to reflect on what you are doing 258 and if it is not working to readjust and try doing it a different way. Remember, you are not giving up, you are simply taking a different approach or strategy. This is one of the key mistakes teachers make when teaching about a growth mindset – they forget the need to reflect on progress and students end up feeling frustrated because they feel they are not making any progress.

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Applying a Growth Mindset The aim here is for students to think about how they can begin to apply what they know about growth mindsets.

For this exercise ideally students should engage in

Think, Pair and Share and then move into Learning Squares, where they can explore as many

ISE RC

2

Mindset Strategies For the following situations, using a growth mindset can you think of strategies for improving the situation? a. You put a lot of effort into passing an assessment yet you failed.

The Growth Mindset

b. You practise a lot as a basketball team yet you keep losing games.

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2

EXE

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2

The Fixed Mindset

Mindset Strategies For the following situations, using a growth mind The The Fixed Growth think you Mindset of strategies for improving the situatio Mindset

c. You get stuck on a maths problem and feel you are no good at maths.

options as possible.

d. You are not putting any effort into class yet you are still passing.

PAUSE AND REFLECT 1. What have you learned in this lesson?

a. You put a lot of effort into passing an asse you failed.

2. How did you learn this?

SAMPLE 3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

259

b. You practise a lot as a basketball team yet losing games.

c. You get stuck on a maths problem and fee no good at maths.

The The Growth Growth Mindset Mindset

You are not putting any effort into class ye The FixedThed. Fixed still passing.

Mindset Mindset

PAUSE AND REFLECT PAUSE AND REFLECT

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

2. How did you learn this?

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“There is a need to recognise that the pressure on students is an element that cannot be avoided. Students need to be helped to cope with stressors and develop resilience.”

- Wellbeing in International Schools Report 2018, ISCR

The Learning to Learn workbook provides a structured course for students, equipping them with the essential skills to be successful in their academic life.

The programme assists students in understanding themselves better, being more organised and confident as learners, along with having a proven study system and assessment approach which will reduce their stress levels and add to their sense of well-being.

There is a key focus for each section accompanying students as they progress through education in their initial years in secondary school.  Section 1 – Transition and Study, supports students to quickly adapt to the new expectations placed upon them in their learning.

SAMPLE

 Section 2 – Goal Setting and Study, provides students with the

motivation and skills to become effective at learning and studying.

 Section 3 – Study, Assessment Preparation and Developing Resilience, which supports students working towards success in their learning.  Section 4 – Study Journal, which assists students in planning and recording their study and revision.

Each chapter has key learning points with practical exercises taken from a variety of subjects, along with a reflective opportunity at the end of the lesson where the students reflect on and record where they intend to implement what they learned into their regular learning habits.

”It is full of ideas, methods and techniques that will help busy teachers planning their course work. It’s a practical book, and in my view an essential workbook for all students and an ideal book for teaching learning for their teacher, tutor and year head.“ - Patricia Atkins, Principal

INSPIRING FUTURES

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