  |
|
|
|
|
||
|
               |
|
|
LEARNING TEAMS FINDINGS:N. Yorks Day Two Feedback March 23, 2006
1. Separating the Learning Objective from the context
FOUNDATION/KS 1 The LO is clearer now in teachers’ minds – teaching more specifically to the objective, so they are constantly reinforcing the LO in the lesson. In future we feel we need to quite clearly display the context separately from the learning objective to help the children visualise this. The distinction between the two for younger children is important so we need to make clear links between the LO and other possible contexts so that the learning becomes transferable. It’s helping the children to make links – this is very important. We start with the LO and we talk clearly about what they are for the lesson, then relate them to the context and possible other contexts. This empowers children and makes them more aware of what they are learning. Anecdote: Children taking part in the lesson suddenly say ‘YES! They’ve got it’ – This has before been more likely to be a comment about having finished the product.
LOWER KS 2 The children know the purpose of the lesson so they can apply it to other situations and subjects. (e.g. PE lessons: did floor work sequencing, then were able to transfer the skill to large apparatus-usually they have to start again because the context is different, but now can transfer skills across contexts).You do not have to start again as before when everything seemed like a brand new situation. Separating the LO from the context has made it easier to generate SC – it is a purer LO.
UPPER KS 2A
The impact on learning is that we hear the children being more focused about learning and they can apply things across the curriculum – they are picking up generic skills. Children can actually tell supply teachers tips on how to structure the lesson – this shows they’ve taken it on board. Anecdote: doing literacy work – context derived from a discussion document, SC set-up quickly, use correct vocabulary, summarise at end – took children to the ICT suite – should the Lake District be developed more for tourism and the children picked-up right away what was expected of them in a lesson from before without having to tell them everything again .
“They are good because we can see what we need to know and learn about.”
UPPER KS 2B In the past when children were asked what they were learning they could not state the skills – they can now better do this and know how they have achieved them. Everything is more focused. Skills are more easily transferred between foundation subjects. The quality of teaching and learning has improved. Parents stated that they know more easily what children are supposed to learn.
SECONDARY For the last few years we have a board where we write the LO for the day. We realise we haven’t been including contexts at all. By going back to the context you have to think about what you are doing, however. A lot of our teaching is out there, it’s been done before – but we are now trying to get away from this and put the context back in. The impact on teaching is the planning focus – just one class is a challenge. Students’ vocabulary has increased when writing. Give the students the context and they make the links.’ One teacher: ‘If I set a formula in a Yr 10 context, it can fit into different mathematical topics – before hand students did not realise that they could use the same formula in all those different aspects of mathematics to get an answer – by giving the same formula across different contexts they realise the links. I reckon you could cut down the number of maths teaching objectives dramatically throughout the syllabus’.
2. Success Criteria issues
FOUNDATION/KS 1 We go through success criteria at the beginning and ends of lessons. SC streamline everything and make it more focused. Anecdote: Foundation Stage focused on PSHE: the toilet. Four years olds make a mess. After six weeks the teacher was still tearing her hair out. So she used success criteria for going to the toilet and now things are clean – they have wonderful toilets. Children see a mess and report it, telling the teacher how the mess was made (e.g. not holding willy properly). Oneteacher writes up success criteria on the board and has children write along with her. Helps evaluation of their work – children evaluated themselves and how they felt at first, so it’s a long process to get them to be reflective on how they can meet the SC.
LOWER KS 2 SC have been easy to generate – they make you clear about what you want the children to achieve. It is easy to break the learning objective down into steps and has unpacked their teaching. It means you can make sure you get all the elements into a lesson. We now share SC with the children and have children generate them, too, by showing them finished products and asking them to say what features they could see or, as in a graph, what steps would be needed to get to this stage. Teachers found that if SC are just given to them, it is not as successful. Children use SC as a checklist as they are working and again for what they need to do to make improvements. Y4 use it more independently than Y3. Quotes: “I think they help me because I know what I need to write and what I need to do to improve my own work” “They help me write stories and poems and I don’t forget things”
UPPER KS 2A A lot of us do SC ourselves first so we know where we’d like to go, but then turn it over to the children so they have ownership. The children feel very positive - two quotes: “You get to see what you have to do to succeed”. “It gives me a base on what I have to do and make my work better”. Now they have pegs in the ground, enjoy it, score their own work, exchange work with Talking Partners for evaluation. Some children underline where they think they have achieved the SC. It is easier to apply the SC to literacy. It is more difficult is with maths: it takes longer to decide on the SC. For the high achievers, to differentiate they should challenge themselves with extra SC.
UPPER KS 2B Started off saying we found it was easier to put the SC in a subject where we had greater subject expertise. When the SC were created with the children, they were less likely to miss out steps as they went through their work. One teacher said using success criteria did not really affect her planning as she’d worked with LOs for years. Other people said it changed their planning as it changed the way they taught. It helps the plenary: instead of inventing a plenary activity, you pick up on the SC and work on those, like if a whole class missed something you could discuss it. One teacher generatesSC on the laptop with the children, then onto the smart board, prints out the SC, photocopies it, then the children use the SC to check their work, ticking off or highlighting as they include them (Shirley NB inclusion is the first step-with open success criteria, how well it has been done and how it could be improved is the next step.) Interesting that children seem more critical of their own work, whereas their talking partner is more likely to be positive about their achievements.
SECONDARY Students were asked by one teacher questions about how to approach a lesson – students were then able to write their own process SC. The teacher then facilitated the lesson using these. Through their verbal feedback – students created their own SC. The teacher modelling the situation created a greater sense of ownership and found that the students understood the steps from understanding the LO and context and could then achieve the SC. This helped lower achieving students and those across the board. All could learn more independently from having SC as a visual aid. Instead of saying I’m stuck, the visual reminder helps them move forward, especially the lower achievers. Some student comments: ‘This is a good idea because when you are finished you know what to do next and get on with work without having to ask the teacher’ ‘I love the idea.’ One teacher said he only did this properly once but the children’s response was so good he will readily do this again. We also felt that SC were excellent for self and peer assessment. Student responses were more LO-based than before. Having them broken down gives clear ideas on how to improve against the criteria for exams, too.
3. Unit coverage (making sure children know how each lesson’s learning objective fits the unit coverage)
FOUNDATION/KS 1 Teachers used at the very beginning what do we know already, what do we want to know –often generating a mind map. At present it is linked with topics. The children refer back to them a lot. It might be a ‘big picture’ at the beginning of the topic but can be extended during the session and at the beginning and end of a unit and used as an assessment. Because it is very visual, the children can access it well. There has been a huge increase in what the children have brought from home. The parents really appreciate knowing what is coming and it puts the learning in context for them.
LOWER KS 2 Used mainly in history topics. Looked at putting weekly/term plans on smart board. Objectives and generic skills. First lesson spent discussing with students what they already knew and what they wanted to find out about and how to go about getting that information from different sources. Lesson two: washing line in classroom and unit objectives put on the line. What have we covered so far, what should we move on to? Children could tell the teacher how they wanted to move along. Had an example of looking at this in gymnastics: what is the key skill you need to learn over time? Children came up with what they needed to learn and in what sequence. This was very successful because they built up the skills they needed (three ways of travelling at different speeds into a sequence). This has organised the teaching and sequencing of lessons. Shirley: the overall findings of having the unit coverage displayed throughout the lessons seems to be much more than an increase in motivation & interest. Children are having more say in contexts that are chosen and there is more motivation away from the classroom. Comments: ‘There has been an influence on boys’ achievement.’ Secondary group : ‘Higher level of achievement altogether. We are now starting to look at higher levels of achievement.’
UPPER KS 2A We found ways to display and share with children…starting point topic or theme, discussed with children where they were going. One teacher tried science coverage, involving the children. The impact was children were really motivated.
UPPER KS 2B We found that by sharing at the beginning of the term, time could be planned for things the children said they wanted to find out. How? No longer doing the QCA schemes of work. Shirley asked the group and about half have moved away from these schemes and back to the Programmes of Study, focusing on key skills and freeing up contexts. Children are motivated to do extra work at home. They know the main objectives to cover but can still go off and explore more. In QCA they do not get a choice of context. Children can now be more creative. Children can go home and have conversations with family or friends who know about certain topics – children can get info from all kinds of contexts (eg WWII – what grandparents know about ration books, uniforms, experiences, etc.)
SECONDARY Two things: a) Yr 12’s Art project on the human condition – students asked to design a diagram and to predict what they thought the LOs would be from the A-level assessment objectives. They came pretty close. They really enjoyed this project because they had a flow diagram and were able to link the different stages and, mainly, they had come up with the objectives. b) Creating a mind map at the start on a topic about what they actually know – gives a focus to where they are going. How to have visual reminders when the teacher has so many different groups in a day? Gave a sheet at start of topic to tick things off but this lost impetus. S says you could have a dedicated flipchart with a page for each class.
FOUNDATION/KS 1 Trialling this had brought up issues of how to use talking partners successfully. They were developing how and why questions and had used teaching assistants to model appropriate and inappropriate ways of being a TP. They were impressed with how quickly children could identify inappropriate ways of being a TP. Teachers set-up success criteria for being good TPs. Working in this way has led to children being involved in debating skills … “I disagree with you because…” Also, cooperation has increased (e.g. TPs have been seen whispering prompts to each other to help answer questions.) Amazing for this age group! S-One teacher in another team had just started experimenting having children evaluate how they had worked with their TP before moving on to the next TP used their class SC to tell where they felt they did well or where they could improve with a TP. In the first session with the new TP they had to tell the new person something about themselves and each child had determined a goal for working with the new TP. S – maybe once a week you could take one talking partner discussion and ask the children what the problems were when discussing this or that thing, what sorts of things went wrong and what went well – break down the skills and identify what went on in a particular discussion. Then perhaps children will be more able to say what skill they are good at and what they want to develop.
LOWER KS 2 Impact: very positive feedback from children – ‘it’s nice to talk with someone– exciting having a new talking partner’ – lower achievers liked TPs as they are not lost in a lesson. TPs is teaching them it’s OK to disagree. We now need to look at how you use TPs to help each other compromise or learn that you are not always right. Higher achieving children are not always willing to share their ideas. It’s good when children question other children. Shirley-have you noticed a link between the increased talk an improvement in their writing?Yes.
UPPER KS 2A Have been doing TPs for quite a long time through the N. Yorks literacy dialogue project. We drew up a contract with children about speaking and listening skills which each child has to sign (success criteria included). Also, children are encouraged to use Blooms Taxonomy with their TPs. The earlier TPs are used/taught in a school, the more success children have. Younger children pick this up for the first time much quicker. TPs are used in thinking time, as a confidence booster. We found that it breaks down ability barriers. Higher achievers become more helpful to lower achievers, maybe because it’s become part of the school culture and been going on for a while. Children’s views: “If I get stuck I’d ask my TP rather than the teacher”. Some children do not want to give their ideas away. Others like it because they understand the work better and get better ideas than they have themselves.
UPPER KS 2B Found it a great confidence booster. Gets children to be active in lessons. The No hands up policy works well. Listening skills are improved as is socialising/making friends – children get to talk with others they normally have not interacted with. “TPs is a good idea – if you are stuck your partner can help you”. Sometimes in a lesson there are occasions when children go to their partners without being asked to do so. “TPs help you learn more.” There are fewer gender issues. Also, children value each others’ skills more when they work in groups. Skills are developed – listening, eye contact, developing discussion. TPs help teachers identify where they have gone wrong if they listening carefully to what children are saying.
SECONDARY We put names on paper around the room or mixed up exercise books and they sit where there books have been placed. The secret to random partners is that the students know they change each two weeks. Impact: socialisation, breaking down barriers between friendship groups and boy/girl. It has forced them to have wait time. Not so scared to volunteer answers. Huge amount of time is freed up in the lesson due to no hands up. Communication skills feedback – ‘It helped me understand things more when you come to an agreement’ ‘TPs work well as you share ideas and compromise.’‘Develops our friendships’ (social and work things improve generally). Good independence from teacher – more confidence to ask each other if they are stuck on something. One teacher’s idea: TP-type strategies can be used to help students revise for SATs, questions all over the room, for each question they try to collect as many marks as they can, the questions stay on the tables then after each question one of the pair gets up and moves somewhere else so they never have the same partner again.
5. Questioning strategies ( range of answers, statement, right and wrong, opposing standpoint, starting from the answer )
FOUNDATION/KS 1 As TPs evolved, questioning strategies become more successful. The range of answers is good with numeracy. True or false statements are good for discussion (new strategy) Opposing standpoint good when kids can relate to it. “I’d like the big bad wolf to be my friend” – some children could explain why they agreed. Some children listen to arguments and then are allowed to change sides and say why. Have been using giving the wrong answer and getting them to explain why.
LOWER KS 2 Tried statement question, stereotyping, all women care for babies better than men – agree or disagree. Lots of different statements discussed, debated in the lesson. Another found that all the different strategies focus TPs. Right or wrong used more in numeracy. Literacy: this character is heroic, why? Looking at risk, children had statements, how would you rate a risk, colour coded this, children then had to justify this. New strategy? “Doing it wrong”: as I am telling you how to do this you deliberately do something wrong so kids say “No you need to do this!”
UPPER KS 2A Looked at maths – if the answer is such and such, what would be the question? Slightly higher level – give a graph and ask what would a table of results look like and what would have been the experiment?
UPPER KS 2B This is the least researched area as a group. Statements (e.g. rather than say the school is untidy we will do x, y, z.) This has prompted discussion with mixed age groups. Let children decide what is an open or closed question – what would you like to tell somebody about something and which question should you ask? Starting with the answer (e.g. Putting coordinates on the board – how did you come up with that – explain the steps and write them down.)
SECONDARY Need to do a lot of thinking and planning between lessons to move away from recall questions. You’ve got to get pupils to justify answers if you do the odd one out strategy – list of words and see which is the odd one out. It could be any reason to generate the discussion. Difficult to justify someone else’s wrong answer. Put a list of equations on board, one is wrong (but the answer is right), something is missing; they have to find it and correct it.
|
 |