Staff+Inset

//'In times of change, learners will inherit the earth, while the learned will find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists’ Eric Hoffer//

toc There are plenty of teacher, coaches and facilitators asking themselves the same questions are you, what is more there is a whole community of teachers, coaches and facilitators available to support you and help answer your questions. Nextgen teachers and Classroom 2.0 to name but a few. Are you ready to add a third dimension to your teaching? Can you afford not to be ready?

Paying Attention
media type="youtube" key="aEFKfXiCbLw" width="425" height="350"

Please use this page to share positive inset experiences.

Did You Know
media type="youtube" key="QeoKQbT8BKs" width="425" height="350"

Digital immigrants, Digital Natives
[|Marc Prensky's] [|'Digital immigrants, Digital Natives],' was one of the first articles I read that set in motion the process of reflecting on my teaching and future teaching practices. Marc Prensky's wesite hosts of range of informative, engaging readings.

//'When learners participate in decisions affecting their learning experience, they are likely to play a more active role in the provider’s quality improvement processes – a key lever of service improvement.'// Further Education: Raising skills, improving life chances (DfES, 2006c). If you want to find out more on the topic then follow the [|link].

Wiki Teaching Ideas
To date I have found a number of engaging ways to interactive with the students through the wiki. From simple collabortative authoring, internal email, IM Learning, polling and voting and creative feedback lessons. Following the link for more ideas and the opportunity to share yours.

Their Space
An important read, [|'Their Space,'] subtitled Education for a Digital Generation, is a good attempt to stand back and review the myths of Web 2.0 (the re-write web) categorised as moral panic on the one hand, and the Digital faith on the other. Published by the think tank Demos, this free report makes good reading.

Cooperative Learning
//'Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race. Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Working with others often increases involvement in learning. Sharing one’s ideas and responding to others’ improves thinking and deepens understanding.'// (Chickering & Gamson 1997)

//'Student Team Learning strategies have compiled an enviable record of research which documents positive contributions to academic achievement. In 40 studies of Student Team Learning methods, 33 studies found students in Student Team Learning classes gained more in achievement than did students in traditional classes studying the same objectives.'// //(Slavin, 1988).//

“Requiring students to learn socially actually forces students to draw on their "emotional intelligence." This is a set of skills that includes how one handles emotions, deals with frustration, or resolves conflict. Goleman suggests that working in teams enables students to practice and master these important lifelong skills.”

Cooperative Learning, also know as __Student Team Learning__, involves structuring classes around small groups that work together in such a way that each group member's success is dependent on the group's success. As a result, on average, students engage more, learn more and are more likely to address the more complex and creative tasks. Still not [|convinced?] Still wanted more evidence... [|Interested?]

Assessment for Learning
Can assessment raise standards? Recent research has shown that the answer to this question is an unequivocal ‘yes’. Assessment is one of the most powerful educational tools for promoting effective learning. But it must be used in the right way. There is no evidence that increasing the amount of testing will enhance learning. Instead the focus needs to be on helping teachers use assessment, as part of teaching and learning, in ways that will raise pupils’ achievement. [|Read the FULL article here.]

The [|Assessment Reform Group] follows up the work of Black and William and identifies **FIVE** key factors: • providing effective feedback to pupils; • actively involving pupils in their own learning; • adjusting teaching to take account of the results of assessment; • recognising the profound influence assessment has on the motivation and selfesteem of pupils, both of which are crucial to learning; • considering the need for pupils to

Follow the link for some practical AFL teaching ideas.

Ideas? Peer assessment. Explain your work to a peer in the group. Defend your work. Assessing your work against model answers.

What Does a Grade 1 Lesson Look Like?


media type="custom" key="108303"

Teach Virtually Everything Online
In today’s world, where computers, mobile phones and the internet are as familiar to young people as pens and paper, how can we make better use of technology to support students’ learning? This challenge has generated much debate as people explore how to respond, both intellectually and practically [|Digital Technologies to Personalised Learning] is just one response.

media type="custom" key="111198"

Mind Mapping 2.0
To create effective mind maps, try a **THREE** step process, 'T.A.P.' Here’s how it works:
 * T: Tap into your thought processes**, capturing your ideas and transferring them into a visible, non-linear format in your mind map. At this stage, neatness doesn’t count. Just record your thoughts and ideas, quickly and randomly.
 * A: Arrange, group, add, delete, rearrange and clarify the content of your mind map** until it is complete and well organized. At this stage, you need to look at your thoughts and ideas with a logical mindset. This is also the step where you can add images to enhance your map, plus links to documents, files, web pages and other resources, to help clarify the points in your map.
 * P: Present and share your ideas** in a format that suits you and the recipients of them. During this final stage, you may want to present the map itself to your target audience. But more often, when you are making presentations to logical, left-brained thinkers, export your map into a linear format or print your maps onto poster-sized paper and use these to present your ideas to your audience.

Checkout collaborative mind mapping sites [|bubble.us] (NOW with an export jpg function) and [|thinkature]. Both tools are quick and easy to use, can be authored by multiple users via the web and produce pleasing results.

Be inspired by the [|Tony Buzan] clip [|Maximise the Power of Your Brain] on YouTube.

Competition
//‘There is considerable evidence that especially for extremely high-performing students competitive environments stimulate higher levels of learning and performance than would be likely to occur in non-competitive environments.’// //(//Johnson & Johnson, 1992).

A Growth Mindset
Psychologist [|Carol Dweck], recognized that some students have a mindset about intelligence as a fixed commodity, whereas other children believe that intelligence is something that they can develop. She noted that the “growth mindset” students had steadily increasing math grades, whereas the “fixed mindset” kids did progressively worse. Dweck wondered if teaching students about their own brains would prompt them to develop a growth mindset that would help them improve their grades. Very simply, she chose 100 students who were doing poorly in math and assigned them to one of two workshops. Students in one workshop learned study skills, whereas students in the other group were given a “mini-neuroscience course on how the brain works.” **The students who learned that the brain can grow smarter had better math grades at the end of the semester.** Dweck thinks that these students were more motivated to work harder on challenging tasks.

Constructivism
There is now a large consensus amongst expert researchers on learning and on the brain, that we do not learn by passively receiving, and then remembering what we are taught. Instead, learning involves actively constructing our own meanings. This literally involves the construction of connections between neurones. We invent our own concepts and ideas, linked to what we already know. This “meaning-making” theory of learning is called ‘**constructivism’**. [|Geoff Petty] discusses this on his website but also provides a [|short video]clip.

Match or Reject
Here is one constructivist application with an effect size of 0.9. Almost two grades. Match word pairs together A part with its function A term with its definition Group terms together (can be equal or uneven numbers of terms) Include spurious cards, hereby increasing the difficulty of the task, your students will now be reasoning and forming a construct. Feedback is offered by peers and the motivation is that the task is fun.

Appetisers, Activators and Quizzes
A range of class based activation and consolidation quizzes, **plus buzzers and timers and visual countdowns.** Add your favourite classroom 'quizzing' activity or //'try something new today.'//

Brain Power
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are wtiten, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can siltl raed it wouthit any porbelms. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn biarn deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe and the setnnece theferore bemcoes predcvitie. Two mehtods to hlep you identfiy eroorrs incdule redaing yuor wrok out luod and gtteing somenoe else to raed oevr yuor wrok for you.


 * Can a find the word that is missing a letter? The word that you corrected!**

IM Teaching
Syncronous teaching. I had my first online lesson this week (16/01/07) and I am keen to share my experiences and gather new ideas. So far I have been impressed. The students have been very supportive of one another and thoroughly engaged in the tasks. We have had our share of IT gremlins, but on the whole positive. We have tackled a few issues which I share more fully in Wiki Supported Teaching.

Effective Questioning
Contributed by Caro Garrett.

Creativity
Guy Claxton addresses the task of the worth of developing [|creativity].

[|Quizlet]
This is worth its own mention. [|Quizlet] is a real gem! It allows you to create very simple learning and quizzing activities and add some much needed kineasthic learning on your wiki pages from a very basic manipulative basis. Simply type in a list of words and definitions and quizlet does EVERYTHING else for you.

New technology
Taking this first few steps.

media type="youtube" key="xFAWR6hzZek" width="425" height="350"