Evolving Education
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Evolving Education
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In the previous blogs in this category, I wrote about:
In this blog, I write about the different ways assessments can be done, if they have to be done at all (!). AssessmentsAssessments can be carried out in a multitude of different ways. Some subjects lend themselves better to paper-and-pencil assessment, others require student’s performance on stage, in a workshop or a laboratory. There is a progression of options regarding assessment.
In the traditional classroom, it is the teacher who decides what and how to assess the students’ knowledge and skills levels. This was most appropriate when there was a fairly homogeneous class of students. However, in the modern classroom, the spread of knowledge and skills is such that a different approach must be taken. Formative and Summative assessments Since teachers are responsible for giving grades at the end of term, so-called summative assessments, these are best left in the professional teacher’s hands until such time as these grades are removed from the education world. Feedback from the teacher The assessment area which is open for development is the formative assessment where the teacher gives feedback on what the student does and does not know, how well they can do what’s expected, and ways of learning what needs to be learned in order to meet certain grade criteria. Feedback from students One way of developing the formative assessments is for the teacher to ask for feedback regarding the students’ perception of the fairness and accuracy of the formative assessment. Some teachers may be concerned that they are giving away their power and responsibility. This is far from the case, it is indeed increasing responsibility, putting it where it will ultimately lie, with the students. Teachers can make adjustments to the assessment method based on the feedback in an effort to make the assessment fair and accurate more often. Students suggest. Teacher decides The next level would have the student suggesting forms of formative assessment that are appropriate for them. They know quite well what their challenges are and can ask to be assessed in a way that is appropriate for them. At this level, the teacher still decides together with colleagues perhaps on the correct form of assessment. Self-assessment As the students mature they can both suggest, and decide in some cases, exactly how they will be assessed. Perhaps by the teacher. Perhaps by other students. Here you can see that responsibility for assessment lies increasingly heavily with the student. This is more appropriate as students reach maturity, and are being treated as adults. And finally
In the previous blogs in this category I wrote about:
In this blog, I write about the ways Study Materials and Supporting students can be varied so that you meet the needs of a wider range of students. Study MaterialsStudy Materials It is normal that study material is delivered in various forms, videos, pictures, texts, books, websites et cetera.
Student SupportAn effective way to support a greater number of different students - rather than trying to do it all yourself - is to form groups. Making groups There are many temptations when making groups. Teachers might seek to ‘protect’ certain students or strategize to ‘guarantee’ good results. Whilst having full respect for those concerns, there is a risk of limiting the learning from getting the groups ‘wrong’. It is worth the risk of giving Lady Luck a hand in making the groups. Here’s a Lady Luck way to make groups.
Prepare in advance The next level is to prepare group lists before the start of the lesson, based on whatever criteria you choose. There is a small risk in this strategy of some students arriving late, or not at all, and thus affecting the ideal composition of the group. Count off Another level is to ‘count off’ the students into groups according to where they are sitting or standing at the time. You can count aloud:
At a higher level, regarding student responsibility, involve them in the composition of their own groups. Say “Choose people you have not worked with before”. Mature students handle this beautifully even in their teens. In the last blog in this category I will write about
In the previous blogs in this category I wrote about:
In this blog I write about the beneficial effects of collaboration for the teacher, and for the students as future employees / entrepreneurs. CollaborationAs you can see in the previous blog about working in groups, the rules and the group work roles lend themselves towards collaboration. However, many students may still have a competitive mindset, where they compete for the teacher’s attention, getting the right answers, getting the highest marks et cetera or competing to get the class's attention, getting the most laughs. To develop a sense of collaboration, each of the groups can be given a unique task rather than each group having the same task. When you design the group activities, you can consider the following: Competition All groups are given the same activities. The ‘winners’ are the students who get the most answers correct, most quickly. Collaboration Each group gets a different, but related activities. The ‘winners’ are the whole class with each student contributing to the overall understanding, in their own way. One way of working collaboratively in groups is to use the Jigsaw Strategy where 4 to 6 groups delve into a package of study material that is unique to each group and then share the results with the whole class. Examples Generally, in the Jigsaw Strategy is a process of smaller pictures being assembled to make a larger picture.
Example 1 From details to overview In order to gain a complete picture of the topic being studied, each group’s contribution is shared.
Example 2 Case Studies In order to solve the problem, each group needs to share their information in such a way that the other groups understand and come to the same (correct) conclusion.
In the next blogs in this category I will write about
In the previous blog in this category I wrote about
In this blog I write about the necessary instructions and roles that make groups work collaboratively InstructionsOnce you have experimented with rapidly splitting the class into groups for short activities under your direct control, the next steps are to run parts of the lesson with slightly more structure and a higher level of independence from the teacher. In a modern classroom, students need clear instructions about who is to do what, the timeframe, and the expected results. Example Suppose you are going to teach a topic and want:
Instructions “What do you already know about (this topic)?”
RolesStudents who are new to working in groups will not know what to do. The requirements or “Rules of the Game” are different to that of sitting in the traditional classroom and being taught a lesson by a teacher at the front of the room. Each student will need to know what their role is and what it includes. Roles can be:
Anticipate struggles, resistance and failures. Use them as learning for life as an adult when you debrief the activity. This is always a good idea whether they ‘failed’ or ‘succeeded’. Examples
In the next blogs in this category I will write about
In the first blog in this category I wrote a simplified overview of the changing landcape of schools over the past 30 years. In a modern school there is great use of working in groups so that:
GroupsOne way of including a range of different students is to work with groups. Groups function like small classes within the classroom. The groups can be homogeneous, or diverse.
Four Corners Activities An effective way to get started working with groups is to use a Four Corners activity with the teacher as controller or director. In these activities, the students are encouraged to stand in one of four corners in the room depending on which response or answer they wish to give to the teachers prompt or question. It should be noted that a Four Corners activity should include a mix of questions of a factual nature with prompts for opinions that are not provocative or controversial. Having said that, Four Corners is an excellent way of promoting deep conversations on controversial issues. That is not our purpose here. Example Question “What is the capital of France?” A) Paris B) Berlin C) London or D) give me a clue Prompt “The school lunch yesterday was...)?” A) delicious B) edible C) nutritious or D) palatable Getting started Start small, and develop group activities gradually. The first Four Corners group activity might be done at any time during the lesson - when the students need to move around for example - so the teacher and the students can begin to experiment with dividing up the class in different ways. Coming upIn the next blogs in this category I will write about
Please give me your best tips for ‘Inclusion and differentiation - with minimal effort by the teacher I received the above request from a teacher in a Facebook group. What attracted me most about this request was that it was elegant and authentic. The teacher was asking what they could do without making too much more effort than they were already making. And that’s understandable and fair because nobody wants teachers to work harder than they do already, even though we do want them to get better results and include students of all levels and abilities in the same classroom. Getting better results for less effort requires an upgrade to our usual thinking about what education is for, and how it is done. Luckily, the landscape of the classroom has changed since you were in school. Martin Richards Experienced teacher of Mathematics and English Certified Life Coach In a series of five blogs in the category "Five Tips from a Retired Educator" I share a handful of ideas that will move your classroom teaching into the modern era, and move the workload and responsibility where it belongs - with the students. But that shift of responsibility needs to be handled caringly, assertively and with vulnerability from the teacher. These five steps will help you with that. And, if you would like to speak with me about it, click here The Changing Landscape of the ClassroomThis topic has been covered in greater depth elsewhere, but for simplicity, based on three decades of teaching, I offer the following three descriptions, snapshots from three generations of teaching: Traditional classroom
These 5 tipsI am going to assume that you have not been given any particular training in how to include a diverse range of students in the same class so I will start with two basics.
In any modern-day classroom, there will be students who are more or less interested in the subject, have a greater or lesser grasp of the skills and knowledge and are more or less socially mature than the average. There are students who are living with an advantage or impairment of some kind and who need special consideration in order to feel included in the classroom activities. Teachers are professionals, they go to great lengths to prepare materials, activities and assessments suitable for the many kinds of students they have in their room class. This can be exhausting until the teacher has developed their own library of materials and pallet of activities. In this category of blogsFive Tips for Inclusion and Differentiation
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