Week 13: Talking about Teaching

07/01/2014: Talking About Teaching

This weeks lesson can viewed Here

In all it was a review of some of the main teaching points we already covered before the end of term. We discussed the following in rotating pairs:

Actually we didn't cover differentiation as it was one of our more recent topics and the discussions of 1-4 resulted in a significant coverage of it.

Active Learning:
Practical Sessions
Open Discussions that involve the students
Activities
Real Environments
Searching Questions
Self Assessment

Active learning is not something done to the students, but something students do to themselves. The opposite of an Active learner is a Passive learner (not desired). Passive learners would expect that all they need to do is sit back and soak up information.
Geoff Petty (2004). Teaching Today. 3rd ed. Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes. 55-58.

Geoff Petty also talks about: 'Giving the problem to the student'
eg:

'How do you find your lab reports, Peter?'
'Oh. OK I suppose.'
'What do you find most difficult about them?'
'The conclusion bit, Sir.'
'Yes, lots of people find conclusions hard. So what are you going to do to improve them?'

Teachers must see themselves as a learning facilitator or learning manager, and encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning.


Learning Outcomes:
Geoff Petty (2004). Teaching Today. 3rd ed. Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes. 391-403.

Were discussed in earlier sessions and can be read: Here
Learning outcomes are testable statements describing what you intend your students to learn; for example

The student should be able to use inverted commas correctly.
The student should be able to solder resistors to a circuit board.

The point is that 'Outcomes' precisely describe observable learner performance, shifting the focus on to what the student will be able to do as a result of their learning, and away from what the teacher will do. Well defined outcomes help both student and teacher. Outcomes will reflect the needs of differentiation too.


Alignment of Learning:

We must have a clear idea of what we want students to be able to do, and make sure the student knows those objectives.

Intended Learning Objectives / Learning Activities and Assessments must be aligned.

The basic premise of the whole system is that the curriculum is designed so that the learning activities and assessment tasks are aligned with the learning outcomes that are intended in the course. 

Related to Active Learning, Alignment is about getting students to take responsibility for their own learning and establishing trust between student and teacher. If students construct their own learning and this takes place inside the students' brains, where teachers cannot reach, then the real learning can only be managed by the students. All teachers can do is to create an environment which is encouraging and supportive of students engaging in the appropriate and necessary mental activity. We can do this by providing the pieces and specifications of what the students must become able to do as a result of modifying their cognitive structures, and set up or suggest activities that students can use to achieve these changes or intended learning outcomes.

We must have a clear idea of what we want students to be able to do at the end of a unit of study, and communicate these intended learning outcomes to students so they can at least share in the responsibility of achieving them. However, we know that students will inevitably tend to look at the assessment and structure their learning activities, as far as they are able, to optimise their assessment performance. We must therefore make sure that the assessment very obviously does test the learning outcomes we want students to achieve

Behaviour Management:
We gave good coverage to this here: Behaviour and Classroom Management
And our discussion in this lesson reiterated much of that earlier material.
Geoff Petty (2004). Teaching Today. 3rd ed. Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes. 101.

• Effective Lessons
• Good Organisation
• Good Rapport (teacher/student relationships)
• Effective Discipline (almost impossible unless the first three conditions are satisfied)

We had some positive reflection on this subject which sparked a lively discussion. Overall I found this whole lesson very valuable in further impressing the knowledge we had already gained.

Week 12 Communication and Questioning

Communication and Questioning 17/12/2013

This weeks lesson can viewed Here

The communication map

Effective communication is, without doubt, the most fundamental skill that any teacher needs to master. Whilst we need to be knowledgeable in our specialist area, we must also be able to convey that knowledge in a manner that learners will understand. The understanding and application of key theories of communication are a key part of development as a teacher.

Communication is not one-way. Effective communication needs at least two active participants. This can be represented by a model of communication, for example, that developed by Shannon and Weaver:

This model, while initially applied to technical communication, was also applied to human communication. At it's simplest, this model can be considered to have two parts, as source and a receiver. Therefore a conversation initiated by you the teacher to a learner would have you as the source and the learner as the receiver.

Shannon and Weaver also recognise that interference, or noise can hinder communication. That might be literal as in a construction work, road works, a telephone ringing, it doesn't necessarily have to be. Noise can take a wide range of forms including visual distractions, disabilities or learning difficulties, language or jargon.

Barriers to communication take two forms. Extrinsic: external influences, which includes noise, language and the environment in general. Intrinsic: barriers are set up within the receiver and include attitudes based upon past experience, feeling, emotions and internal thought processes relating to both the communicator and the message content.

Effective communication results when a student's response corresponds with the teacher's intentions and vice versa. Communication failure results when a teacher's intention and a student's response are incompatible. Information is not merely transmitted and received; it is also interpreted. The message is frequently distorted as it passes through barriers to communication and interpretation of content will be affected by previous experience or personal values.

Assessment of Learning through Questions

In small groups we discussed questioning methods and marked down the + or - of each questioning strategy:

This was followed by an open discussion and our tutor Richard carefully made use of the different strategies in questioning the group.

We also discussed again the value of resources in communication and then used a practical challenge to demonstrate communication difficulty. The communication challenge we used was to describe how to make a Origami Jumping Frog to a fellow student. We were made in to paired couples, armed with a instruction sheet (to be used by the instructor) and A4 paper for the student building the frog. The same process was followed also with reversed roles. If you look at the results and compare it with the Communication Cycle image above. In discussion, after the challenge, we were able to determine that the communication cycle could break down at every element of the cycle. What was the point....
Well simply to demonstrate the importance of building lesson plans that strengthen the bonds of communication and effectively bridge all the gaps in the communication cycle and that we may be able to incorporate resources (particularly ITC).





Lynn Machin. (2013). Communication. In: L. Machin, D.Hindmarch, S. Murray, T. Richardson A Complete Guide to the Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training. Nothwich: Critical Publishing. 81-95.

Week 11: Embedding Information and Learning Technology in Teaching and Learning

Embedding Information and Learning Technology in Teaching and Learning 10/12/2013

This session was presented by Dan Hodge. The content of the session can be viewed Here.

Dan used a well researched, fairly simple presentation with maximum impact. It didn't go unnoticed that he made good use of a question sheet at the end of the session to make an assessment of learning. The session was thoroughly interesting and certainly made clear the importance of 'Modern Education', that is education that uses digital technology to facilitate learning. I hasten to add though, and I say this completely without prejudice, but I don't need, and neither do I like swearing used to punctuate a lesson. Something to keep in mind Dan if you read this.

This set the scene really for the content of the discussion. Which as the image above shows, 'Digital Natives' are persons brought up in the modern digital age, that is since year 2000. This gives rise to the acronym BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). The internet has of course been described as a 'Information Super Highway' and as such it can facilitate learning. Social Media provides a superabundance of resources and referencing which can form an important part of the students access to learning. As tutors, we need to recognise the value of this resource and be sure it forms part of our teaching practice.

With this 'Connected' approach, classrooms are no longer insular, but rather, the information is shared globally. This very 'Blog' is just such an example.

As well, technology is fast moving, you barely have time to adopt/embrace a new way of doing things, and it's moved on to something else. Traditional education should be long gone....

Week 10: English and Maths in Education

English and Maths in Further Education 03/12/2013

This week we were submitted to a Maths and English assessment to ascertain our base level in these 2 core areas and see where we might make improvement. And in particular how we might do this with a view to assessing and correcting these with FE students.

Week 9: Classroom and Behaviour Management

Classroom and Behaviour Management 26/11/2013

Our Lesson Plan this week: Lesson Plan


'It's frustrating for learners who want to learn to be in an environment behaviour and management issues'

Managing the Learning Environment and Behaviour

We had a group activity, the whole class divided in groups of 4 and used a few minutes to discuss and write down on Post-It notes topics relevant to classroom management. This was our groups list:

Then all the Post-It notes were collected and redistributed randomly to generate another activity, where our groups were looking at others Post-It notes and making notes on how to manage a particular area of classroom behaviour or aspect of the learning environment. The particular topic our group had to address was 'Mobile Phones'.
We made bullet point notes on classroom management methods/options:

This process had us thinking deep and hard. True too, there was also a rather abrupt realisation of just how serious and important this topic is to success in teaching. We had a discussion on Behaviour Theories: (a) Behaviourist  (b) Humanist -- see image

We then put together a list of factors, we as teachers are responsible for managing. It's not completely comprehensive, as we basically came to the conclusion that as teachers we are pretty much responsible for everything.

Classroom Management cont..

Geoff Petty. (2004). Classroom Management. In: Nelson Thornes Teaching Today. 3rd ed. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes. 101.

Difficulties in the classroom usually start before the lesson has even started, they are inherent in the lesson plan. Therefore, your lesson plan needs to create effective lessons. Above, 'Petty' refers to this as the bridge from chaos to order:

• Effective Lessons
• Good Organisation
• Good Rapport (teacher/student relationships)
• Effective Discipline (almost impossible unless the first three conditions are satisfied)

'Experienced teachers don't deal with problems, they prevent them from occurring'. If the lesson plan is effective then the lessons will be also. 'Petty' mentions that the first of the above points must not be overlooked, the rest will follow, though given the repetition for emphasis 'Petty' uses with the Noun 'Confidence', suggest to me we need a good measure of it. It stands to reason then, that a thoroughly prepared lesson plan will engender confidence.

Bill Rogers

Top Ten Ideas from Bill Rogers

Part of our lesson plan included a image of a large white square, or you could say a piece of white A4 paper, with a tiny black dot in the middle. Eg:

The black dot here represents the negative. The white area represents the positive. The purpose of this is to illustrate what we focus on and to keep things in perspective.

We also viewed a couple of Videos by Bill:

The Mobile Phone:

Settling the Class:

One aspect mentioned by Bill Rogers and also addressed by Geoff Petty is: Proximity. Petty again drills in to us the need for confidence and then illustrates two extremes of scale:
Geoff Petty. (2004). Classroom Management. In: Nelson Thornes Teaching Today. 3rd ed. Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes. 97.

Formal authority is sustained by non-verbal methods. Standing up straight, shoulders back, giving orders with a confident tone, even if you are nervous or flustered don't let it show. Authority is conveyed principally with body language. The effectiveness of your authority is increased, not by shouting or anger, but by:

• Proximity
• Eye Contact
• Posing Questions

We also discussed ABC or Antecedent - Behaviour - Consequences. It is suggested by behaviour psychologist that inappropriate behaviour is triggered by a situation they call the antecedent. Behaviour can be changed by changing either the antecedent or the consequences, or both.

Week 8 Learning differences and Inclusive practice with Amanda Redmayne

Learning differences and Inclusive practice:

This topic introduced us to an array of conditions centring around:

• Dyslexia
• Autism
• Asperger's Syndrome (A subgroup of the Autistic spectrum)
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Dyspraxia
• Dysgraphia

Specialist teacher Amanda used an excellent practical lesson to put across the importance and complexity of this sessions subject. It became clear that there exists a huge variety of conditions, over a very broad spectrum of evident symptoms, most with considerable overlap. Amanda used a Cluster Map to break things down, with open discussion of the individual points. Here is a copy of the printed information we were working with......

Later we broke in to random groups of 4 to discuss the following questions:

1. What have you learnt from this session?
2. Explain how you could adapt your teaching and learning activities to meet the needs of all learners.
3. Consider one resource that you currently use or have seen being used in your teaching context and discuss how you could make it more inclusive.
4. How will tonight's session affect your future practice?

Our group of 3 made notes on the above as follows:

1. That there is a huge variety of learning differences. I/We now feel more aware of them and see the need to be alert to them, with a view to meeting the individual needs of learners through inclusive practice. That it could be necessary to professionally assess individuals.

We reassembled as a complete group and openly discussed the main points. Some of these were written on the white board:

Week 6/7 Planning to Meet the Needs of Learners

Planning to Meet the Needs of Learners

This weeks Lesson Plan

Schemes of Work:

The scheme of work will be a Long Term Plan

Eg: Term, Semester, Year....

That is planning for the whole program

Important to schemes:

• Cover the criteria
• Meet the Course requirements
• Clear Progression
• Assessment of Learning
• Identify resources
• Achievable Targets

Pitfalls:

• Repetition
• Getting Sidetracked

During the lesson we did a practical session on writing a Scheme of Work (SOW). We were divided in to groups and this was our group: SOW Activity

Recap on Outcomes:

SMART: Focus on learning not just doing...

'Most people have difficulty in writing objectives at first, tending to think in terms of what the teacher will do rather than what the student will learn. The crucial point is that the outcomes precisely describe observable learner performance, shifting the focus on to what the student will be able to do as a result of the learning, and away from what the teacher will do.'

See also: Aims/Outcomes

Geoff Petty (2004). Teaching Today. 3rd ed. Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes. 393-394.