This week I did a carousel lesson for the first time in aaaages. An old idea, yes, but still effective. My poor Year 10s had been hit with a lot of grammar recently as we did the perfect tense in detail for the first time. Auxiliary verbs, participles, word order - ouch! we needed a change of pace, change of scenery, and carousel lessons serve this purpose perfectly.
Why have I avoided them?
Managing the logistics
It can be messy, and I have struggled in the past to get the timings of the activities right. Timings are everything.
Supervising and getting the learning right
Carousels mean that the pupils have to get on on their own. Fine if they are well-motivated, but what about the lazy ones or the more switched off pupils? How to keep them learning and moving things on. And, of course - can they make progress in this lesson? There also still needs to be a very clear purpose to the learning. Defining the learning objectives, rather than being distracted by the lovely activities is sometimes harder than you think.
I already do groupwork, so what's the deal?
Although I do groupwork or pairwork most lessons,this type of lesson, if you exclude the plenary at the end, has the pupils in charge of each activity for the whole lesson, including reading the instructions, working out the activity. The change in the use of the room, and the change of format also keeps the pupils on their toes, and allows you to do things from a slightly more unusual perspective.
Things that have worked for me
Changing things up
It's meant to be a change and I try to give a boost to problem solving / speaking / vocab building in these kind of lessons. For example, we had spent a long time in previous lessons focusing on getting our verbs right, but what about the other bits of the sentence? They needed to be built up too. Listening on a laptop rather than as a class is also a valuable thing to do, as it gives them control.
Engaging their curiosity
One group had a carefully wrapped "present" to unpack, and they then needed to remember each others "presents", along the lines of "I went to market and I bought.." - the combination of something to rummage around in with a challenge meant that they enjoyed this and got stuck in. This allowed them to teach themselves new vocabulary whilst practising a key structure - in this case "For Christmas I got...Ryan got.."
Challenges / competitions
How many...can you find? This is easy to mark and you can get a scoreboard easily up-and-running. It gets them going, plus it means it is easy to oversee, and pick up those who might be sitting back. One group had a "word scatter" where they had to build as many sentences as they could. Each member had to fill in a sheet with the team name on, so no passengers here. I teach in an all boys' school, and their competitive spirit gets the better of them. Another had to find as many "haben" verbs and "sein" verbs and adjectives as possible in a reading text. Another had a dictionary skills task to do.
Planning one less activity than you think you need
I always try to pack too much in, so plan a little less to make sure that you have taken into account movement time. This meant that this last time, I had 2 versions of each station going. It worked better, and leads me onto the last point...
A Plenary which ties it all together
This is essential, and should really try to assess the learning which has gone on. Allow yourself enough time to do this, and scale down the carousel if necessary.
Sunday, 19 January 2014
Saturday, 18 January 2014
Catching the drifters - update
I wrote here about catching the pupils who were drifting, and the missed opportunities I wanted to avoid. I wanted to give you an update on how this worked.
What I did - the Challenge
I asked the pupils I had identified from an assessment to stay behind. I asked them to rate their confidence in German, their concentration levels, and to identify 3 things they could do to boost their confidence and their work. These were then the targets that they used to assess their progress at the end of each lesson for 2 weeks. They had a simple sheet to use each lesson, and the sheet also posed the question: "Do I need to do anything differently next lesson?". I targeted my questioning more sharply, and reminded pupils, and that was all that was needed.
How did it go?
what I would do differently
As usual, I made it too complicated. I had kept the target sheets, which meant it was too complicated to manage. Next time, I will get the sheets stuck in their books at the back: simpler and more discreet.
What really worked
The vast majority of the pupils took it seriously, and most were able to say straight away why they hadn't performed as well ("I didn't revise, Miss"; "I talk too much"; "I don't understand verbs"). Asking them to assess themselves rather than berate them for underperforming in the test proved to be a bridge.
They were noticed
This is the most heart-breaking aspect. These pupils suddenly felt they were no longer invisible. They felt empowered, and because they knew they couldn't get away with doing the minimum, many of them upped their game. Keeping the nature of the intervention positive and encouraging meant that they bought into it.
Re-assessing
I got them to review their position at the end of 3 weeks, and most had made good progress, and crucially, they had gained a "can-do" attitude. Next week, we have the January exams, and the proof will be be in the pudding
It identified pupils who were actually causes for concern
There were 2 pupils in the group who, on closer inspection, showed more worrying signs of lack of engagement, and more serious problems. I hope that, by catching them earlier than I would normally, I may be able to put more active interventions in place, and stop the rot...maybe.
Impact for the whole class?
I have noticed an improvement in the atmosphere in the whole class - more focus, a more positive attitude.
From my point of view
I sharpened up my questioning, and I feel I know all of my pupils better. I think it has improved me as a teacher, and apart from the breaktime I lost at the beginning and the end of the process, there was little extra effort involved. Lots of impact for little effort.
I haven't worked out how to put documents on a blog yet, so here is the link to the TES
What I did - the Challenge
I asked the pupils I had identified from an assessment to stay behind. I asked them to rate their confidence in German, their concentration levels, and to identify 3 things they could do to boost their confidence and their work. These were then the targets that they used to assess their progress at the end of each lesson for 2 weeks. They had a simple sheet to use each lesson, and the sheet also posed the question: "Do I need to do anything differently next lesson?". I targeted my questioning more sharply, and reminded pupils, and that was all that was needed.
How did it go?
what I would do differently
As usual, I made it too complicated. I had kept the target sheets, which meant it was too complicated to manage. Next time, I will get the sheets stuck in their books at the back: simpler and more discreet.
What really worked
The vast majority of the pupils took it seriously, and most were able to say straight away why they hadn't performed as well ("I didn't revise, Miss"; "I talk too much"; "I don't understand verbs"). Asking them to assess themselves rather than berate them for underperforming in the test proved to be a bridge.
They were noticed
This is the most heart-breaking aspect. These pupils suddenly felt they were no longer invisible. They felt empowered, and because they knew they couldn't get away with doing the minimum, many of them upped their game. Keeping the nature of the intervention positive and encouraging meant that they bought into it.
Re-assessing
I got them to review their position at the end of 3 weeks, and most had made good progress, and crucially, they had gained a "can-do" attitude. Next week, we have the January exams, and the proof will be be in the pudding
It identified pupils who were actually causes for concern
There were 2 pupils in the group who, on closer inspection, showed more worrying signs of lack of engagement, and more serious problems. I hope that, by catching them earlier than I would normally, I may be able to put more active interventions in place, and stop the rot...maybe.
Impact for the whole class?
I have noticed an improvement in the atmosphere in the whole class - more focus, a more positive attitude.
From my point of view
I sharpened up my questioning, and I feel I know all of my pupils better. I think it has improved me as a teacher, and apart from the breaktime I lost at the beginning and the end of the process, there was little extra effort involved. Lots of impact for little effort.
I haven't worked out how to put documents on a blog yet, so here is the link to the TES
Sunday, 8 December 2013
Adapting Pie Corbett's Talk for Writing for MFL or What we can learn from primary schools
In many of the wonderful teachmeet /show and tell/ pedagoo events I have attended in the last 12 months, I have been reminded of the great work that primary schools do with their pupils, and how little awareness I have of them as a secondary school teacher.
At #pedagoowonderland I was lucky enough to be able to attend a workshop led by @RachelOrr about Pie Corbett's Talk 4 Writing and how she used it in her primary school, and there were a lot of great ideas. This is the first time I've hear of Pie Corbett, and this website explains it in more detail. The aspects of it which caught my attention were the following:
Using actions to help pupils think about punctuation and connectives. My favourites? Salute the capital letter, the finger click for a comma, a karate chop and clap for an exclamation mark. There are some pupils in secondary school for whom these kinaesthetic shortcuts in MFL could really benefit. If I have understood it correctly, the approach is about internalising the language, and embedding the language in a fun, memorable way. I liked the actions for certain storytelling words or connectives. Teaching these with an action would enable the class to stay in the target language.
The approach had 3 stages:
Imitate - the pupils learn the story with actions, internalising the language
Innovate - whilst "hugging" the original, changing certain aspects
Invent - using the starters and connectives for their own story
The pupils would use storytelling "maps" with pictures and symbols. I liked this idea as well.
Whilst we do this to a certain extent in MFL, I have never tried to do a whole story like this, and I would worry about spending so long on imitation. However, this has a real impact on literacy in primary school. Why shouldn't it help some of our pupils who really struggle with MFL? Food for thought, maybe?
Many thanks again to @RachelOrr for a thought-provoking session.
At #pedagoowonderland I was lucky enough to be able to attend a workshop led by @RachelOrr about Pie Corbett's Talk 4 Writing and how she used it in her primary school, and there were a lot of great ideas. This is the first time I've hear of Pie Corbett, and this website explains it in more detail. The aspects of it which caught my attention were the following:
Using actions to help pupils think about punctuation and connectives. My favourites? Salute the capital letter, the finger click for a comma, a karate chop and clap for an exclamation mark. There are some pupils in secondary school for whom these kinaesthetic shortcuts in MFL could really benefit. If I have understood it correctly, the approach is about internalising the language, and embedding the language in a fun, memorable way. I liked the actions for certain storytelling words or connectives. Teaching these with an action would enable the class to stay in the target language.
The approach had 3 stages:
Imitate - the pupils learn the story with actions, internalising the language
Innovate - whilst "hugging" the original, changing certain aspects
Invent - using the starters and connectives for their own story
The pupils would use storytelling "maps" with pictures and symbols. I liked this idea as well.
Whilst we do this to a certain extent in MFL, I have never tried to do a whole story like this, and I would worry about spending so long on imitation. However, this has a real impact on literacy in primary school. Why shouldn't it help some of our pupils who really struggle with MFL? Food for thought, maybe?
Many thanks again to @RachelOrr for a thought-provoking session.
#pedagoo wonderland differentiation
This year I have 2 sets where I have some real high-fliers biting my hand off for new and challenging language, who are in the same class as some kids who find learning a language a bit of a mystery. Differentiation is therefore VERY close to my heart, and occupying a lot of my time. Here are some of the ideas from the fabulous #pedagoowonderland. I'm sharing the ideas that I found interesting and this is my first step in processing them.
This picture above is Rebecca from the Science dept at Joseph Swan demonstrating her idea for tic-tac-toe stylee homework. Design a grid with tasks at different levels. The core task, which everyone has to do is in the centre. The pupils then have a choice of tasks to finish off their "line". I thought this was a lovely idea.
I agree with the thinking behind this. It becomes too easy for pupils simply to lean on the support sheet crutch.
I'm not crazy about the idea of giving out more pens just to be able to show outsiders where improvements have been made, but the idea of having extension tasks where you ask them to reflect, for example, on the connectives they have used and to improve them is a nice one.
I liked the idea of having cards which you can colour code to support the types of differentiation you need for that particular lesson without having to provide another handout.
Teaching different roles, and getting the passengers to take on more of a leadership role can be a powerful way to develop their learning skills.
These ideas will help, but they are certainly not the whole story. I also went to @teamtait's workshop on flipped learning. Our school has recently got its act together and got a VTLE, a decade after the rest of the country. I think this has real potential for my classes, but I will blog about this in the New Year, as that needs a lot more processing.
A big thank you to Andrea Kirton who ran this differentiation workshop, and to all at Joseph Swan Academy who worked so hard to put on such a thought-provoking, mojo-boosting day.
What I liked about this idea was that it very much starts from where the pupils are.
This picture above is Rebecca from the Science dept at Joseph Swan demonstrating her idea for tic-tac-toe stylee homework. Design a grid with tasks at different levels. The core task, which everyone has to do is in the centre. The pupils then have a choice of tasks to finish off their "line". I thought this was a lovely idea.
Differentiated challenge cards -I'm thinking of using this for connectives and how to extend your language.
I agree with the thinking behind this. It becomes too easy for pupils simply to lean on the support sheet crutch.
I'm not crazy about the idea of giving out more pens just to be able to show outsiders where improvements have been made, but the idea of having extension tasks where you ask them to reflect, for example, on the connectives they have used and to improve them is a nice one.
I really liked the tip about using laminated strips rather than lollipops so that pupils can set themselves a target for next lesson, which means that you can then tailor your question to the target the pupil has set themselves. I'm a big fan of exit passes, and this combines exit passes with lollipop sticks.
These ideas will help, but they are certainly not the whole story. I also went to @teamtait's workshop on flipped learning. Our school has recently got its act together and got a VTLE, a decade after the rest of the country. I think this has real potential for my classes, but I will blog about this in the New Year, as that needs a lot more processing.
A big thank you to Andrea Kirton who ran this differentiation workshop, and to all at Joseph Swan Academy who worked so hard to put on such a thought-provoking, mojo-boosting day.
Saturday, 30 November 2013
Getting them speaking: questions
I've been working hard at speaking skills with my classes since September, and I feel like we've made progress. Phonics wall? check. Speaking mat? check. Questions from pupils? Hmmm - confusion (and avoidance) has reigned. Generally, if it wasn't on the speaking mat or provided during the lesson, they were not used or they made no sense. I doubt I'm alone in neglecting the art of question-forming. This hasn't happened on purpose - I've taught question forms, the boys often have to find out what questions mean, and yet, and yet... In this post, I want to think about how to teach questions, and then how to make the skill stick.
So what's tricky about questions?
Some of these remarks are more relevant to German than, for example, to French, but the general points remain valid.
For pupils who try to think in English first, questions are a nightmare.
I've been revising questions with Y10 this week, and I've found these things effective:
Making it stick.
I have been trying to work this through for a while. The recent blogposts by Joe Kirby and David Fawcett have helped to crystalise some thoughts on helping the grammar points which we have taught stick. I have been guilty of assuming "job done" because I have taught something. In many ways, it is simple - use it or lose it. I do feel that we de-skill our pupils by providing questions simply "because it's quicker" or by not giving them the opportunities to ask questions. Making the TL the routine language in the classroom helps, as does revisiting the skill on regular occasions. Joe Kirby, drawing on work from Daniel Willingham, refers to "distributing practice" and "interleaving", which I found very useful. I found a recent blog by @oldandrew where he argues for practice to be part of the path towards fluency in maths and some of his points about deliberate practice resonanted with me. This also tied in with Joe Kirby's further principle of "overlearning", i.e. practising for a further 20% worth of effort in to master the material. The issue of having enough practice is certainly one which needs addressing, but it needs something more. The penny often only drops during more authentic speaking situations, such as group talk, or speaking to a "real life German", like my pupils did this week. The practice was invaluable, but the application of it brought some of "lightbulb" moments for my pupils.
I hereby commit to making pupil form the questions I want them to use in speaking questions, and when I do "word scatter" starters, I will include question words to encourage them to form questions as well as the usual statements. I will also plan more group talk activities that require the pupils to devise questions. Momentum is the name of the game. You see, now I've written this in my blog, I have to do it :-)
So what's tricky about questions?
Some of these remarks are more relevant to German than, for example, to French, but the general points remain valid.
For pupils who try to think in English first, questions are a nightmare.
- Firstly, you have to ignore the "do".
- Secondly, you have to remember to invert the verb and personal pronoun.
- And THEN.. you need to convert the continuous present "Are you going.." to "go you.."
I've been revising questions with Y10 this week, and I've found these things effective:
- Emphasising finding the verb and personal pronoun.
- Drawing their attention much more than usual to the fact that "do" is to be ignored.
- Tonnes and tonnes of practice exercises
- And then.. my secret weapon: Fredericke, my German visitor. People can't help themselves - they are curious (or nosey) by nature, and my Y10 class are no exceptions. The Y10s had 5 minutes to ask as many questions as they could of Fredericke. I asked her to score the number of follow-up questions they asked, and there was an edible prize for the winning team.
Making it stick.
I have been trying to work this through for a while. The recent blogposts by Joe Kirby and David Fawcett have helped to crystalise some thoughts on helping the grammar points which we have taught stick. I have been guilty of assuming "job done" because I have taught something. In many ways, it is simple - use it or lose it. I do feel that we de-skill our pupils by providing questions simply "because it's quicker" or by not giving them the opportunities to ask questions. Making the TL the routine language in the classroom helps, as does revisiting the skill on regular occasions. Joe Kirby, drawing on work from Daniel Willingham, refers to "distributing practice" and "interleaving", which I found very useful. I found a recent blog by @oldandrew where he argues for practice to be part of the path towards fluency in maths and some of his points about deliberate practice resonanted with me. This also tied in with Joe Kirby's further principle of "overlearning", i.e. practising for a further 20% worth of effort in to master the material. The issue of having enough practice is certainly one which needs addressing, but it needs something more. The penny often only drops during more authentic speaking situations, such as group talk, or speaking to a "real life German", like my pupils did this week. The practice was invaluable, but the application of it brought some of "lightbulb" moments for my pupils.
I hereby commit to making pupil form the questions I want them to use in speaking questions, and when I do "word scatter" starters, I will include question words to encourage them to form questions as well as the usual statements. I will also plan more group talk activities that require the pupils to devise questions. Momentum is the name of the game. You see, now I've written this in my blog, I have to do it :-)
Saturday, 16 November 2013
Catching the drifters
The drifters - they have been on my mind recently, especially in KS4. You know the pupils I mean - the pupils who are in your peripheral vision rather than being firmly in your sights, like the obvious underachievers. The pupils whose performance is a little lower than expectation, but doesn't stand out. I have come to the conclusion that I need to re-think my approach, so that I don't have to spend yet another month chasing after pupils who have drifted too far.
When I think of the pupils who fall into this category, there are often 2 underlying problems: either they have had their confidence dented, and have decided to take their foot off the pedal, or they have lost some of their motivation. I have had several pupils with whom I have had conversations recently, and I've come away thinking that I had known that it wasn't quite right, but I had only done "surface" things, such as making them re-do a homework. Missed opportunities.
Having just had our first assessment window, I'm currently feeding back to classes, and as well as picking out the underachievers, I need to do something to help the drifters. The current vogue for "intervention" means that it's tempting to write down on the departmental action plan that X number of support sessions have been put in place for these pupils. However, there are still only a finite number of hours in the day, and the last time I checked, this hadn't changed. So - what to do?
I already have "Catch Up Thursday" (snappy title, I think) for those who have been absent or whose homework / classwork wasn't up to scratch. This does work, and needs to stay.
Thinking of those recent conversations, I don't think extra sessions is what is needed. In fact, one particular pupil has already proved this. He came to extra sessions targeted at his weaknesses - no impact. I decided that it was his focus in lesson, and his strategic use of resources / classwork when completing homework which needed to change. This pupil wasn't disruptive, he just wasn't making the most of lessons or homework. I talked to him about the impact his lack of focus had, and I set him some goals, and he has improved. No extra sessions required.
Listening to the pupil
Find out if there is something that they're struggling with or that has dented their confidence. If so, that can be addressed, perhaps as part of a "closing the gap" lesson, as there will be others who would welcome the practice of a certain topic. Taking the time to speak to the pupil, finding out how they "tick" can be the key. It can be all that is needed to help them realise what they need to know, or to realise that they aren't invisible, and that they matter.
Re-set their expectations, and set goals for classwork and homework
I have made a sheet to help structure their thoughts about what success would look like for them, and to help me discuss with them how to set their sights higher.
They are then going to have 3 goals to meet each lesson for the next 3 weeks - I'm calling it the Challenge Programme (cheesy, I know, but I couldn't come up with anything else)
New seating plans after the results should allow me to place with more highly-motivated pupils, who can also give discreet help where necessary, and show them how to work. Reward postcard home if they improve their goals. If there is no improvement, then we'll have to contact home, and put something more structured in place.
Teach lessons, keep expectations high. That's it. No extra sessions.
This isn't intended for the hard-core disaffected. This is for the pupils who need a bit more direction and focus. I will see whether this works, and blog about it later.
When I think of the pupils who fall into this category, there are often 2 underlying problems: either they have had their confidence dented, and have decided to take their foot off the pedal, or they have lost some of their motivation. I have had several pupils with whom I have had conversations recently, and I've come away thinking that I had known that it wasn't quite right, but I had only done "surface" things, such as making them re-do a homework. Missed opportunities.
Having just had our first assessment window, I'm currently feeding back to classes, and as well as picking out the underachievers, I need to do something to help the drifters. The current vogue for "intervention" means that it's tempting to write down on the departmental action plan that X number of support sessions have been put in place for these pupils. However, there are still only a finite number of hours in the day, and the last time I checked, this hadn't changed. So - what to do?
I already have "Catch Up Thursday" (snappy title, I think) for those who have been absent or whose homework / classwork wasn't up to scratch. This does work, and needs to stay.
Thinking of those recent conversations, I don't think extra sessions is what is needed. In fact, one particular pupil has already proved this. He came to extra sessions targeted at his weaknesses - no impact. I decided that it was his focus in lesson, and his strategic use of resources / classwork when completing homework which needed to change. This pupil wasn't disruptive, he just wasn't making the most of lessons or homework. I talked to him about the impact his lack of focus had, and I set him some goals, and he has improved. No extra sessions required.
Listening to the pupil
Find out if there is something that they're struggling with or that has dented their confidence. If so, that can be addressed, perhaps as part of a "closing the gap" lesson, as there will be others who would welcome the practice of a certain topic. Taking the time to speak to the pupil, finding out how they "tick" can be the key. It can be all that is needed to help them realise what they need to know, or to realise that they aren't invisible, and that they matter.
Re-set their expectations, and set goals for classwork and homework
I have made a sheet to help structure their thoughts about what success would look like for them, and to help me discuss with them how to set their sights higher.
They are then going to have 3 goals to meet each lesson for the next 3 weeks - I'm calling it the Challenge Programme (cheesy, I know, but I couldn't come up with anything else)
New seating plans after the results should allow me to place with more highly-motivated pupils, who can also give discreet help where necessary, and show them how to work. Reward postcard home if they improve their goals. If there is no improvement, then we'll have to contact home, and put something more structured in place.
Teach lessons, keep expectations high. That's it. No extra sessions.
This isn't intended for the hard-core disaffected. This is for the pupils who need a bit more direction and focus. I will see whether this works, and blog about it later.
Using a teamgame to check understanding and improve learning
This is a game I played at the end of my Berlin Wall week with a beginner Yr 9 class. We had been learning big numbers, but this could work with anything. It's not a new idea, it's a tweak on stepping stones and other games, but I liked the way it worked.
The pupils had to get from "west" to "east". They were divided up into 2 teams, and the winners were the first team to get across. The only way through was to get past the 8 guards (4 per team) by answering the question they had on their cards - these got progressively more difficult as they went on. If they got the answer wrong, they were sent to "erste Hilfe" (first aid) with the explanations & reminders of the key points before they tried again. Once they had got over the excitement of playing a game, it worked a treat. The "guards" were suitably strict, and the boys hurried back to check the erste Hilfe. I had to do relatively little, and the successful ones had the task of making up the biggest number they could.
What was interesting was that it had successfully helped to iron out misunderstandings, and once back in the classroom, the pupils were able to tell me which rules they needed to remember, and they used them in the subsequent exercises. I think the key to success, apart from the competition element, was the "erste Hilfe" section, where they could get their information and improving their understanding. They then did a very standard information gap partner work exercise to get some key dates of events, then created a timeline.
The pupils had to get from "west" to "east". They were divided up into 2 teams, and the winners were the first team to get across. The only way through was to get past the 8 guards (4 per team) by answering the question they had on their cards - these got progressively more difficult as they went on. If they got the answer wrong, they were sent to "erste Hilfe" (first aid) with the explanations & reminders of the key points before they tried again. Once they had got over the excitement of playing a game, it worked a treat. The "guards" were suitably strict, and the boys hurried back to check the erste Hilfe. I had to do relatively little, and the successful ones had the task of making up the biggest number they could.
What was interesting was that it had successfully helped to iron out misunderstandings, and once back in the classroom, the pupils were able to tell me which rules they needed to remember, and they used them in the subsequent exercises. I think the key to success, apart from the competition element, was the "erste Hilfe" section, where they could get their information and improving their understanding. They then did a very standard information gap partner work exercise to get some key dates of events, then created a timeline.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)