Testing

Could alternatives be found to written testing to assess learning?

The Structure for Learning

Introduction...:

Our third T&L session was on Wednesday 1st December, during which our focus was the “Structure for Learning”. This particularly focussed on how lessons may be structured to develop and maximise learning focus for students to ensure that expected learning outcomes were achieved.

This was another enriching Learning and Teaching Workshop, in which, this time, Aishwarya Raghuraman (G12), Julia Kirchmayr (G11) and Stanislas Juery (G6) gave us the privilege of their views and opinions on how best learning and lessons can be structured.

Our discussions proved, again, to be informative and valuable insights into our professional methodologies in education...

What is A "Structure for Learning"?

Discussion Prompt/Stimulus:

• Can we ALL teach in the same way?

• Can there be a single lesson structure for all teaching from Primary to Grade 12?

• Can there be a single structure/format for all subjects and all teachers?

What is YOUR opinion...?

Meeting Summary:

The structure of lessons should be learning-focused with a student-centred approach that embraces our school's commitment to the IB. A lesson or series of lessons should provide a cycle of learning that connects, activates, demonstrates and consolidates learning.

Connect

• Prepare and connect what has to be learned to what is already known (homework)

• Make the learning personal and from the start

• Manage the classroom climate to involve all and exclude no-one

• Agree 'this is what we will do, this is how we will do it'

• Make the process of learning the focus of learning and explain the benefits

Activate

• Engage learners by involving them in sense making

• Provide information to help solve problems e.g. vocabulary

• Utilise aids to encourage learning through seeing, hearing and doing

• Provide opportunities for description, reflection and speculation throughout

Demonstrate

• Provide challenging opportunities for learners to 'show they know'

• Sharing opportunities in various groupings

• Provide immediate educative feedback that improves rather than 'proves'

• Give help about process and content to be acted upon straight away

Consolidate

• Provide learners with opportunities to test their learning, in pairs, group or whole class

• Reflect on what has been learnt and how

• Link the process and content outcomes to the connect phase

• Utilise experience to transfer learning: how can I use this learning?

• Preview: coming next lesson....

The timing of a lesson should follow: 'demonstrate' takes approximately half the lesson and 'connect', 'activate' and 'consolidate' are divided evenly for the remainder of the lesson. Ensure the learners are aware of these timings to allow them also to time-manage their lessons.

Issues to consider through discussions with students:

• Homework needs to be relevant and important. If it is important then the structure of a lesson allows sufficient time to provide feedback on homework?

• Give students the opportunity to ask questions and provide valuable feedback to their teachers , in a safe, comfortable climate where they do not fear a reflection in their grades?

• Students would like to ask more questions in class but find the atmosphere intimidating.

• During periods of absence and trips the whole class are not held back in moving forward with lessons.

• Lesson differentiation

• Provide a strategy which supports absent students to access work they have missed and places the responsibility on the teacher to make it available and the student to complete it.

• Provide a classroom environment where students can take risks by admitting they need help and students and teachers are supportive.

• Be aware of problems of travelling around the school to arrive on time for lessons.

• As the grade gets higher the parental involvement becomes less noticeable and this seems to impact on behaviour in class.

• Give appropriate notice of tests to learners to allow time for studying.

• Maybe a system to be implemented to allow tests to be scheduled appropriately.

The Climate for Learning

The Climate for Learning

Prompt:

What does it mean to have a conducive “Climate for Learning”?

What is a positive “Climate for Learning”?

How can we create these..?

Looking at photos of classrooms over the last two hundred years (pre-WW1, pre-WW2, post-WW2, modern-??) what differences do we see? What, if any, progress is there in terms of the physical environment for learning and the emotional environment for learning...? What does the future hold...?

These two criteria (emotional and physical climates) steered our discussion for this meeting during which we also had student representatives: Atousa Khajehpour (G07), Oliver Valenta (G10) & Tatendu Dzvuke (G12) who also contributed significant and meaningful insights into our discussions.

Our challenge is to consider how we can work on and develop such conducive environments for education at DISV for ALL stakeholders: students, parents, teachers, administrative and household staff together.

What is the “EMOTIONAL & PHYSICAL” environment...?

This is how we “feel” within school, within the classroom, while teaching and learning...; the criteria which (perhaps) do create a conducive may include...:

EMOTIONAL conditions:

· Safe – with good self-esteem, confident and unafraid to take risks with our work/opinions

· Respectful – of ourselves and each other, modelled and enforced as necessary

· Praise – should be sincere and pervasive

· Fun & Enjoyment – purposeful and shared enjoyment of learning

· Celebrate (and use) Diversity – relevant and integral as able

PHYSICAL conditions:

· Display – can be focussed, sharing/celebrating, may be interactive/living, changing every lesson

· Order – shows organisation, pride,

· Layout & Seating – varied/flexible vs static/fixed, rows/individual/groups

· Sensory – lighting, plants, sounds/smells

Whatever the directions followed the main consideration always lead towards an appreciation of how our surroundings affect how we work/teach/learn...

There are, of course, challenges: shared classrooms with multiple teachers teaching in them, classroom size varies, routines, habits, classroom/teaching cultures already established and costs...

Do such challenges stand irremovably in the way of a new direction, or can they be developed, even completely changed/overcome if need be...?

Our further discussion directions revolved around...:

· Motivational teaching for motivated learning

· Student self-responsibility/ownership for work & behaviour

· Combined ownership student/teacher for the overall environment

· Creating an atmosphere where all ENJOY learning.

· Balance for assessment options (movement, activity, oral, audio, written, exam etc...)

· Language – varied use even of other languages (groups within classes)

Encouraging through the school, from the youngest to the oldest:

I CAN do this... I will enjoy doing this...

FURTHER DISCUSSION PROMPTS:

· What do YOU feel makes a “good” climate for learning in your or in any other classroom?

· Do YOU feel that our “climate” is always at the optimum for teaching and learning?

· How can we, with collective ownership, develop and strive for continued improvement and development of our climate for learning...?

Outstanding Teaching and Learning

This blog is the main opportunity for Secondary and Elementary teaching and teaching support staff to share their views on what makes for outstanding Teaching and Learning.

A working group consisting of both Elementary and Secondary staff is participating in five separate workshops, looking at Teaching and Learning from a number of different perspectives - and with input, also, from a number of students.

Each week, the working group will post on this blog a summary of their discussions during their most recent workshop - and you are invited to "comment" on their ideas through this blog.

We are hopeful that this will provide an extra means of consulting with all stakeholders as we develop a revised Teaching and Learning policy for the whole school.

In the meantime, to whet your appetite and get you thinking, you may want to watch this short animation.