Archive for Education
Using Different Questions for Different Students in a Class Discussion
Posted by: | CommentsMost classes have a huge range of abilities. Teachers soon learn which students are Harvard material and which will need to apply themselves just to graduate from high school. By tailoring your questions to your students’ abilities, you can make class discussions a challenging experience for all.
However, don’t adhere rigidly to the premise of harder questions for the better students and easier questions for the less talented all the time. Not only will this practice become apparent to the students, but you also may have misjudged the students’ abilities.
Shy students, often fearing failure, are reluctant to speak up in class. If you have a shy student, at the beginning of the year try to ask her questions that she can answer correctly so that she will be successful when she contributes in class.
Teachers: What To Do When You Have Too Much Paperwork
Posted by: | CommentsI’m being crushed by unnecessary paperwork — how can I stop it?
Description
Some bureaucracy is essential. Without it you’d have no salary, no capitation no idea how many pupils are expected in which class for which course. And of course, you would be without a job, and that is no good.
Yet sometimes the weight of paperwork can seem to be overwhelming the teaching. Fortunately workforce reform has been agreed and a National Remodelling Team (NRT) has the job of carrying this out. Visit www.remodening.org for more information.
Cause
Accountability is at the core of much of the paperwork teachers receive. Schools have to show parents and government they are doing a good job; local authorities have to demonstrate the community charge is being well spent and their employees are working effectively; government has to show its funding is being used wisely and its policies are effective. Teachers usually end up having to provide the answers.
But are teachers the best people to do this? If it takes them away from teaching, this may be counterproductive; but on the other hand they may be the best people to provide the answers ‘direct from the chalkface’.
Action
First identify the burden. The NRT identifies four areas of administrative activity:
- those which seem not to relate directly to effective education;
- those which are carried out more often than necessary, inefficiently or in too much detail;
- those carried out by teachers but which could better be done by support staff;
- those which could benefit from the effective use of ICT.
Visit www.remodelling.org for more information and search for Toolkit. Then implement the most appropriate strategy for each type of activity:
- stop doing unnecessary things;
- redesign the way you do things to be efficient and effective;
- match personnel to activities — ‘the best staff for the job’;
- make best use of ICT.
Often the solution will be to employ or redeploy an administrative assistant.
Priorities
Do what is best for pupils.
Continue doing what is legally required.
Minimize inefficient use of resources.
Leave sufficient time within the school day for preparation, planning, marking and recording (PPMR).
Alternatives
Urge your Head to use support staff for specific tasks. Collecting money, entering and collating data and invigilating examinations can all be done by non-teachers more effectively.
Avoid
Irrelevant and burdensome tasks.
Letting the tail (bureaucracy) wag the dog (education).
Teachers And Educators – What To Do When You Have Work Up To Your Ears
Posted by: | CommentsDescription
You start to panic when there is work everywhere and still more come through the door. Panic means you either flit from one thing to another ineffectually or stare stunned at the pile as it grows.
Cause
Excess work is certainly a problem in itself, and there are times when things all happen at once. Adopt one of the strategies below when (though preferably before) it all gets too much:
Action
Strategy I — Delegate
This may already be the cause rather than the solution of your problems. If you have anyone to delegate work to, think carefully before you add to their burden. Shifting the load to someone already overworked doesn’t really solve the problem. However, if there is a keen young colleague willing to gain experience this could be an opportunity for in-service training.
However, shifting the load back to pupils can be helpful. Set tasks which involve preparation and drafting. Set activities which involve discussion, reading and problem-solving and which can be assessed in class and don’t add to your marking burden. Have pupils try peer marking and supervise their work in class.
Strategy 2 — Time shift
This means putting off the inevitable to a time when you may be more free of immediate pressure. Setting a project which won’t be handed in until the end of term so you can mark it in the holidays may feel good now but you may regret it later. Secondary teachers tend to believe the urban myth that there will be more free time in the summer term, and forget that the combined forces of exam invigilation and planning for next year cancel out any time freed up by absent examination classes.
Nevertheless, if you can spread your burden over a longer period your load may, briefly, be lighter.
Strategy 3 — Spend a weekend catching up
Yes, you will feel very tired on Monday, but balancing that will be a smug sense of satisfaction and the lessening of the load which got you down. You must persevere, set targets, send family away, switch your phone off, take breaks every two hours or so — and most of all stop when you’re finished. Then resolve to avoid getting into this position again.
Strategy 4 — Practise saying ‘no’ to more
You may have got into this position because you willingly take on extra work. Now practise saying ‘no’. There is no shame in refusing to do more, especially when you are already overloaded. Be realistic about what you can cope with.
Strategy 5 – Prioritize
Often people who say they don’t have time for something have simply made it a lower priority than other activities. Prioritizing means deciding quickly how important something is, how imminent is the deadline and what the effects will be if you don’t do it.
Maintain a ‘To do’ list with three main categories: ‘Urgent’, ‘Important’ and ‘Long term’. Within each category place the item higher or lower according to importance, urgency and consequence. Some personal organizers and some email calendars have features of this kind, though a simple list with space for the three categories will do so long as you don’t mind rewriting it from time to time.
Strategy 6 – Regular small doses
Bite-size portions are more digestible than blow-out meals. Ten exercise books every day are less exhausting than 35 at once. Many frequent small actions diminish the effect of the load.
Priorities
Do something — anything!
Alternatives
Work harder. It may be necessary in the short term.
Work smarter. Working smarter involves rationing your energies, prioritizing, being realistic about what you can achieve and aiming for a better work-life balance (which is not a euphemism for laziness).
Revisiting your job description and workload. If there really is a need for an assistant or some extra help, then make out a case for it. Labeling, filing and photocopying might be more effectively done by secretarial staff, or your own son or daughter (in return for pocket money). If you’re expected to do too much, discuss with your line manager what you can put on the back burner or abandon altogether.
Avoid
Ignoring the problem. That really will make things worse.
Doing the nearest or easiest thing instead of the most important thing.
Storing up problems which realistically you can’t solve.
Lying about the situation. Even small lies about having left something at home or about having ‘nearly’ finished when you are far from doing so lead to a habit of ignoring the problem and damage your credibility.
How To Keep To Schedule On Parent-Teacher Nights
Posted by: | CommentsWhile we deal every day with children, their parents are also our ‘clients’. We shouldn’t forget that they may receive a curiously filtered view of our school and our teaching. It is up to us to make sure that parents know what’s going on — and hear our point of view.
I always seem to overrun at parents evenings. How can I give everyone a fair hearing and keep to schedule?
Description
Parents’ consultations (not necessarily in the evening) need a series of time slots.
It’s up to you to ensure that you give adequate time to each set of parents, allowing for any problems the child may have, how frequently you see the parents and whether the parents of the child are coming together or separately.
Cause
Parents naturally like to discuss their child at length, while teachers naturally want to make use of limited time and to be fair to all parents. The solution lies in the time allocation.
If you are a secondary-school teacher teaching 100 pupils in a year group, you should be able to deter parents from coming and to some extent select the parents you need to see. Make this clear to pupils well in advance.
If you are a primary teacher most parents will want to see you – indeed any who don’t show interest may be the most important ones to contact.
Action
The time slots will normally be agreed by the school, with a beginning and end time and each slot long enough to give time to each child. No time is ever long enough for some parents, so be firm though courteous and work within your 5-15 minute slot.
If, from experience, you find that you consistently overrun or need a breathing space, build in buffers to your time slots.
If you intend to show pupils’ work have it methodically laid out in order beforehand. Use it to make a definite educational point rather than simply as window dressing (though that can be worthwhile too).
Priorities
Be courteous and efficient. Don’t use being warm and friendly as an excuse for dragging out the time.
Deal with important concerns.
Demonstrate that you know the child and that you care. Developing a good relationship with parents takes time but you may only have minutes.
Alternatives
If it is clear there are too many parents to see in the time available, contact parents explaining why it isn’t possible to see everyone. Say you will invite those whose children you are concerned about and suggest to others that where there are real concerns you will speak with them on the phone.
Real concerns need not wait for a formal parents evening and should be dealt with quickly. This is also true of concerns which emerge as a result of the consultation. Note these and act on them.
Avoid
Spending too long with verbose parents at the expense of parents who have real concerns.
Sighing with relief that it’s over and ignoring the real concerns which emerge from the meet
Types of Teaching Method – Teacher-Led Discussions
Posted by: | CommentsOf the four teacher-centered methods listed here, teacher-led discussions involve students the most. This method asks the teacher to pose exploratory questions for which there are no definitive answers. That is, this method is far from the direct teaching method in which questions are asked that have uncontested answers.
Appropriate questions for teacher-led discussion might include the following: Why are there so few women’s roles in Shakespeare’s plays? Are the plays of Sophocles (Oedipus Rex) more enjoyable than the plays of Euripides (Medea)? Why? How strong was the production we saw yesterday at the community theatre? Can you separate the merits of the play from the merits of the production? In short, these kinds of questions require student understanding and synthesis of materials and concepts rather than rehearsal of the known.
Teacher-led discussions should have strong introductions and conclusions. For example, a film clip from Shakespeare in Love might precede the discussion of the role of women in Shakespeare’s theatre. A mock debate format might be introduced by the teacher to add zest to the discussion. Those students favoring Oedipus Rex might sit on one side of the room and those favoring Medea on the other.
The discussion should always be concluded, not just stop. Using the sample question about separating the playscript from the production, the teacher should conclude the discussion by redacting the differences between what was in the script and what was (or was not apparent) in the production. Students should be called upon to help synthesize the discussion.
School Planning Basics
Posted by: | CommentsPlanning may be the single most important task for which the teacher is responsible. Skillful planning alone may not ensure a successful teaching career yet without the structure provided by a thoughtful plan, classroom success may be elusive. This is especially true for the new teacher. Planning not only requires the teacher to incorporate all the goals and objectives that are laid out in the mandated curriculum, it also sets the tone of the classroom experience and determines the pace at which the teacher and students will work throughout the term.
A teacher’s ability to plan and organize courses, units of instruction within a course, and daily lessons requires serious thought and concentrated, detailed work. Curriculum planning, then, is best done well before the first day of classes. Planning must include both the long term and the short term. It includes the teacher’s ability to:
- work logically and realistically within a framework that is laid out in the curriculum documentation provided by the school or district
- understand as quickly as possible the students’ ability levels and interests
- devise meaningful learning activities – set realistic expectations – maintain consistency
- assimilate and apply the procedural requirements and expectations of the school itself.
Tips for D&T Teachers – Teaching and Learning
Posted by: | CommentsAre you the kind of teacher that lights up children’s faces when you walk into the classroom? Or are you the kind of teacher that, on leaving the classroom, children’s faces light up!
Why the distinction? There is an old Snoopy cartoon where Charlie Brown says that he has taught his dog to whistle. When asked to demonstrate this he replies that the dog hasn’t learned yet. Although I often see a lot of teaching taking place, I don’t always see the accompanying learning! I have seen some great, entertaining lessons where the children have been occupied and have found whatever they have been doing quite interesting, but when I ask them what they are learning they haven’t got a clue.
In D&T one of the unique features is that children learn by doing, through taking action. However, if you just have the doing – without the learning – then you have merely a sweatshop mentality of ‘making things’.
So, pupils might be making X,Y or Z, but what are they learning? Often this isn’t sufficiently clear, and the pupils are expected to absorb the learning through a process of osmosis. If they do learn in this way, it can often not be what the teacher had intended.
Good learning has to be planned, constructed, signalled, scaffolded and signposted; without this we are merely occupying the middle ground between therapeutic basket-weaving and the exploitative child labor found in poorer countries.
Teaching and learning through doing and taking action offers a unique and powerful experience, but only if the ratios between the doing and the learning are appropriately balanced. Therefore next time you plan a learning activity (lesson), divide a page lengthways into two columns representing a third and two thirds of the width. The narrower column represents the teaching column and the wider column is the pupil learning column. Begin by completing, in detail, the learning column. Then afterwards complete the teaching column in less detail, asking yourself what is the best way to teach the learning that you have identified. You will be surprised at the difference this makes to your lessons!
Why Study Design and Technology?
Posted by: | CommentsThe reasons why we teach D&T are not set in stone, and the subject remains something of a maverick activity as its strengths can also be its weakness; the breadth of activities within the subject mean that opinions about why we teach D&T are wide ranging.
When offering suggestions about why the subject is on the curriculum, we also have to be mindful of what parts of the subject are unique, otherwise how can its place on an overcrowded curriculum be justified?
Ultimately justification has to be personal, and my belief is that the subject offers children a unique form of empowerment and learning. In D&T children (should) learn how to take action through working creatively and collaboratively. They engage in processes that challenge them in high-level thinking and decision making, considering values and emotions through rich and stimulating contexts.
Through these processes and actions they become autonomous, discerning and informed by learning through doing: learning in a ‘just in time’ approach rather than a ‘just in case’ approach. The skills they learn are empowering, diverse and appropriate to their action-taking, but it is essential that all pupils are aware of the implications of any actions they take.
The rationale that you or I have, however, is insignificant unless it is shared so in order to challenge any misconceptions, get pupils to write down and discuss why they should or shouldn’t study D&T.
D&T is delivered through the context of the designed and manufactured world, and the decision-making and action-taking that learners engage with may result in products, systems or environmental outcomes. The production of such outcomes is merely the vehicle for engagement in the unique activities outlined so far. To pursue these product outcomes alone, however, will result in an impoverished experience, failing to engage with the unique contributions offered by the subject.
A key principle of the subject is that learners take ownership of their world and in doing so seek to improve the world they live in through enquiry and exploration. Such an aim is both powerful and complex, but facilitates the development of appropriate skills, attitudes, concepts and knowledge.
The benefits from such a rich process are to children culture, society and industry.
Often such strong rationales can get lost in the daily grind, therefore it is essential that the key priorities are built into each activity and these are used to test each activity that you have in your curriculum.
Write down your definition of, and key characteristics of, the subject, and then ask yourself if each activity lends itself to your description? If they don’t – you know what to do!
Encouraging Innovation in Your D&T Classroom
Posted by: | CommentsThere are undoubted links between creativity and innovation and both are at the heart of D&T. But what is the difference? Generally creativity precedes innovation in that it is the moment of inspiration, while innovation is the period of transformation. Therefore, in one way, innovation can be considered as the implementation of creativity, linking one to the other as part of a continuum.
Innovation is, however, critical to the creative D&T experience, and Professor Richard Kimbell’s ‘Assessment of Innovation Project’ has neatly defined the means for both recognizing and potentially assessing innovation, through the recognition of a pupils ability to have ideas, grow ideas and importantly prove these ideas.
A key part of any innovation is the ability to reconcile tensions with the problems experienced, and this invariably means dealing with and engaging with others, possibly as part of a team. This type of activity has typically been missing in many D&T classrooms, but as exam boards begin to recognize that much of the coursework that takes place in D&T is often contrived, opportunities are increasing for pupils to be innovative and creative.
So answer the following questions and reflect on whether you are encouraging innovation:
- What percentage of activities do pupils work in groups?
- What percentage of activities encourage open-ended opportunities?
If the answers to these two questions are less than 40%, the balance may be wrong.
To recognize and achieve innovation in your classroom is really quite simple and straightforward, starting with three simple changes:
First, adopt the criteria for recognizing innovation and assess pupils purely on these, namely: having ideas, growing ideas and proving ideas.
Second, create a fruitful context for the innovation to take place. The length of time for the activity is down to personal choice and can be anything from a single lesson to a series of lessons.
Finally, a key part of this is encouraging teamwork and communities of practice. This can either be in the ideas stage, helping the ideas grow, or throughout the activity. Just by adopting these three simple steps you will begin to see big differences both in pupil motivation and creative and innovative outcomes.
Problems with Schoolwork – Reluctance to Read
Posted by: | CommentsVirtually every course the adolescent takes requires reading—not only English, history, and other “wordy” subjects but also science and math. Adolescents who read poorly are at a serious disadvantage in every subject.
Most schools assume that children will have mastered basic reading skills by the end of fourth grade. Specific instruction in reading usually stops at that point, and teachers no longer routinely monitor the child’s reading skills. They may not realize that the adolescent’s problem is not being able to read the math problem or comprehend the history text. His poor performance may be attributed to lack of motivation or to a short attention span rather than to reading difficulties. (Here we say his deliberately; reading problems are more common in boys than girls.)
Some of the signs that a young adolescent has a reading problem are that he or she
- Doesn’t read spontaneously, for pleasure or for information.
- Claims he “can’t find” anything to read.
- Gets upset when she is assigned reading for homework and reads at a painfully slow pace.
- Has trouble with ordinary, everyday reading (reading signs, following the instructions on a package, using a recipe, and the like).
- When reading aloud, frequently hesitates, mispronounces words, skips words, reads them out of order, or says the wrong words (saw for luas, bone for done, man for men, and the like).
There are three common causes of reading problems in the post-elementary school years.
1. The child has an organic problem that makes it difficult for him to perceive and decode words, or a vision or hearing problem that has interfered with learning. Such problems are nearly always diagnosed in elementary school, but if you have any doubts, check with your own or the school physician.
2. The child had difficulty learning to read, did not receive the extra help he needed, or was poorly instructed, and has developed an aversive or hostile attitude toward reading as a result.
3. The child is perfectly able to read but chooses not to.