How to Get Students to Teach Each Other in Lessons

Ask yourself "during what sort of activity do students make the most progress?" Is the answer when they're being lectured to or when they're sat repeating the same sorts of questions continuously?  I believe that these to methods still have their place, there will always be the need to sometimes explain difficult concepts, and students will always need to practice questions.  I don't however, think that they should be used on a regular basis as I've found that these to methods in particular erode student engagement and have limited impact on progress.  We've probably all had students put together presentations to give to each other but even that has limited impact.  So about a year ago I came up with the concept of "micro teaching".

Micro teaching involves students teaching each other ideas & content during a lesson.  There is lots of evidence that shows that students make the greatest amount of progress when they have to explain ideas & concepts to each other. Below I have outlined how to carry out a micro teaching activity with students and have tried to detail some of the possible preparation that needs to be in place to ensure that this activity has a meaningful impact on student progress.

The first stage in any micro teaching activity is to enable students to gather the information for themselves.  If students have to find things out for themselves they will make more progress than if they are just spoon fed it.  This can be done in many different ways.

1. Flipped learning:  Before the lesson you can let students know what they will be teaching and then set appropriate videos for them to watch. Students can then use this to make notes on the content they need in preparation for the next lesson.
2. Directed reading:  Students can be given the content they will be producing a micro teaching presentation or short lesson on.  This method works most effectively when students have to pick out key information from the text and then have it taken away before they start interacting with other groups.
3. Use exam questions:  During revision, different groups of students can be given different exam questions that they need to explain to other students how to answer.
4. Information hunt:  Before beginning the micro teaching activity, put key information around the room that students will need to use.  Give students some time in small groups to go around and gather the information they need to carry out the micro teaching activity. 

Once students have collected the information they need, they need to put together a short lesson or presentation on a particular concept.  This can take the form of a traditional short presentation or a short lesson where students have prepared some simple resources to help them teach.  Once your students are ready set them up work around rows of tables as shown in the pictures below:

After students have worked around all the other groups you can carry out more traditional AFL to assess how much progress students have made.  

I hope that this has given you a few ideas about how you might be able to use micro teaching within your own practice.  Give it a go and see how it goes.

Thanks for reading 

Chalky

Using Homework to Promote Progress on "The Road to Success"

As a new school year starts, new students begin their  journey through secondary education, and most importantly to me, students start looking towards taking their exams and think what the future might have install for them.  As at the start of every year one of the most decisive topics is home work and do we need it?  The questions that have to be asked are:

1. What is the purpose of homework?
2. What are the benefits of homework?
3. Who are we doing homework for?
4. Is the time homework takes both in terms of time for staff and students, worth the returns?
5. How can we use homework to drive progress?

As I have progressed through my career my view, and opinions on home work have changed drastically.  10 years ago like many other teachers, I viewed homework as something that needed to be set as it was expected.  As I now move into my 11th year my opinion has changed drastically.  I now like to think of homework as an opportunity to help drive student progress, and a vital area of a students education that is often neglected.   I don't claim all these ideas as my own, however, I hope some of my musings go some way towards starting to move peoples mind set on the purpose of homework.

What is the purpose of homework?  Traditionally homework has often just been a tag on or to complete tasks not finished during lesson time.  There was once a time when the worksheet was king.  Finishing off tasks not completed in the lesson or doing yet another pointless worksheet will not however, improve progress. While I accept that there will always be the need for students to finish off work, the thought of homework consisting of endless amounts of worksheets horrifies me.  What is the purpose of giving students yet another worksheet to do?  I'd suggest very little.  Homework should only be set if it will improve student progress either by structuring their revision or by challenging them. One of the more recent ideas about homework is the concept of flipped learning, where students cover the content before the lesson so that lesson time can be devoted to developing skills.  If you have not given this a go I would highly recommend giving it a go.

What are the benefits of homework?  If you go looking you'll find plenty of research devoted to homework, it's benefits an draw backs.  From my point of view, the benefits of homework is to aid in the progression student's make. If structured correctly, homework can be used to help students learn to work independently and structure their time effectively.  Students need to get into the habit of doing a bit of work every night as when it comes to revision, this is the sort of self discipline students will need to have.  Students can stay focused on a task for around 20 minutes so is it worth making them do more than that at once?  If a student did this short amount of work for a subject by the end of the year it would work out to around 90 hours extra learning time.

Who are we doing homework for?  This is a question that will get virtually a different answer from everyone you ask.  Some teachers set homework because it states in their school policy that they have to.  Some teachers set homework because parents demand that homework is set because that's what happened when they were at school.  Many parents also think more homework, is better than quality homework.  The only reason that homework should be set is to improve student progress.  If when you look at what you are setting you think that the task you set won't improve progress don't set it!

How can we use homework to drive progress?  This is something that I've spent a lot of time working on over the last year.  If you speak to students they want to achieve, and if they can see the purpose of what they are doing, they will engage.  So, after consulting with students and other members of staff this is my plan for this year.

1. Start students on the road to success early.  If students start KS4 in Y9 they can start revising slowly from the start of year 10.
2. Explain the purpose of early revision to students.  At the start of this year I spent a bit of time talking to students about how well structured revision will improve the progress they make.
3. Be organised.  For the entire year I have put together daily small revision tasks for students to work through.  This has ensured that I've not missed anything out.
4. Set up display boards with more detailed instructions about the tasks they need to work through with an example of what it should look like.
5. Set students specific youtube videos to watch
6. Use instagram.  I will be setting up a profile where I post pictures of the task instructions and youtube links that they can use.  I have also used Instagram to remind students when revision sessions are on.
7. So I don't have to constantly check up on students, I have put up tick sheets for students to mark off when they have completed a task.
8. Every week I will set students around 15 marks work of exam questions, then after this homework has been marked, go through this homework with students to improve their exam technique. 

Below I have attached a few pictures to show some of my ideas in action, more will be coming however, I've had IT issues so have lost all of my photos from the start of the term.

There is a chance that this won't make a difference, however, if we don't try different things then student progress will never improve.

I hope that this has stimulated some ideas about what you can do with homework i your own practice.

Thanks for reading

Chalky

Using large models to teach complex ideas

Ask yourself "if you could teach a complex idea in any way you can think of how would you do it?"  The answer that I always come up with is to use huge holographic models that you could interact with and students could move around.  Not being a tech guru, or having as much money as Batman to play with, I realize that this dream is still a long way away.  So after a lot of thought, the idea I stumbled into is to get around this is to use large 2D models, laid out in the centre of the room, that you can use with students.  I have now been using this technique to teach students complex linked ideas, and the progress it has helped students make never fails to amaze me.

Don't reinvent the wheel!  The start point to any of the models I have used is to see what other diagrams are already out there.  This could involve looking at google, in books, or the most useful source I use is to look at what's on Youtube to explain complex ideas.  After I've found a diagram that I think I can turn into a large model I use it to create a concept map to plan out what I need to include as shown below:

Around the diagram I arrange all of the information that students need to know about a particular concept and then, number the pieces of information that students need to be able to explain a concept.

After you've planned out your model you can start on the fun part, constructing your model.  Within reason you can make your model out of whatever you want, but it's worth bearing in mind that you are going to have to store it, so don't make the individual pieces too big.  Finally, to enable students to get the most out of this activity, produce a A3 sheet with the diagram on that students can annotate as you work around the concept.  Below I have included some photos of some of the models I have used.

Light dependent reaction of photosynthesis

Light independent reaction of photosynthesis

How tissue fluids form

How a leaf is adapted for photosynthesis

Thanks for reading

Chalky 

How to Use Concept Maps

Have you ever asked yourself "why can't students connect ideas together from different lessons?".  I asked myself this for years and I think it's due to students treating every idea separately due to the fact  they're taught is different lessons.  One way that I used successfully to overcome this last year was to get students using concept maps.  

A concept map requires students getting everything they now about a concept down on a sheet of A3.  Students then need to think about a particular question (preferably long answer) and numbering the information in the order that they would need to put it in an exam question.  After students have completed this they can either use their concept map to answer questions, or more effectively, allow students to use their concept map to put together a short presentation that they can use to explain a concept to another student.

I've attached a few pictures of student concept maps below

I hope this helps

Thanks for looking

Using Games During Revision Lessons

Question:  Do you try and get students to remember subject content by reviewing a section with them and then trying the same old methods ie.  Getting students to make notes or mindmaps or try something different?  While I would be the first to sing about the merits of using exam questions, ramming question after question down students necks can be soul destroying and turns them off to the subject at the very point when you need them to be turned on.  

So this year (an I'll admit it helps that I've had my Y11's since Y7) I'm trying something different.   Before I carry on I will state that my Y11's are covering lots of revision content at home and during lunch time revision sessions.  What I have tried out quiet successfully, is using revision games during lessons.  Most of them are based around the students having information on a particular topic then playing a game were they answer questions on that particular topic.  Some of the games I have used are:

1. Snakes & Ladders
2. Battleships
3. Blockbusters
4. Revision Racing
5. Dice Boards
6. Card Games
7. 7 Monkeys
8. Treasure Hunt

If we keep trying the same old things, we'll keep getting the same old results, so take a risk, try something different and you might be surprised with the results!

Good look with the exams this year

Wall to Science GCSE Exam Success

Sticking with my mantra of 'if you keep trying the same old things you'll keep getting the same old results' I've had one last roll of the dice and tried something different to get my Y11s revising.  The problem with revision is that even this close to the exams, students still aren't sure what to do.  So what I've done is give my Y11s something simple to do every day.  The other problem with asking students to do almost anything is that they complain that it takes too long.  So to get round that problem I've made a example of each piece so I can tell students that none of the tasks take more than about 15 mins so isn't too difficult.  Below I've included a picture of my 'Wall to Success' .

If you want to download the revision instructions you can find them at:  Wall of Success

Good luck with the exams this summer

Classroom Displays

Ask yourself, does your classroom help you engage your students?  This is what I asked myself about 8 years ago when I got a lab to myself for the first time.  Unfortunately it was full of about 30 years worth of clutter, shelves with about 2cm of dust on and was generally un-inspirational.  So for the last 8 years I've endeavoured to put up as many thought provoking displays that can be used when teaching as possible.  Here are a list of things to think about before starting to put up your displays:

1. Choose a topic or area that is relevant to your syllabus  
2. Pick a few exam questions about that area
3. Decide what your students will need to know to answer these questions
4. How can you combine this into a display 

Below I've included some photos of displays I've put up, I hope it gives you some ideas.