Mini TeachMeet 13

1. a. Key word chop (VT)

• To help pupils learn keywords and spelling
• 10-15 keywords broken down into 2 or 3 pieces and you then have to piece them together
• Opportunity to then discuss definitions etc

b. Confidence-based marking

• Pupils answer a multiple choice quiz but also give their confidence in the particular answers on a scale 1-3. If they are right then they get that many marks but they lose this many if they get it wrong
• Helps students to stop guessing during multiple choice and really think about all the answers
• Promotes competition

2. One Pen, one Dice (MHP)

• MHP shared this game where pupils take turns to work on an activity/worksheet
• One pupil uses the pen to complete the activity while the other rolls the die until they get a 6, at which point they swap
• Again this promotes competition and means there is much more effort going into the completion of an activity then if the pupils had just been asked to work through it on their own.

Mini TeachMeet 12

1. Critical thinking (VW)

• VW talked through the material that is being covered on the Y7 critical thinking days
• All departments should have an overview of what is happening so they know what they can expect of the pupils and be able to draw on the experiences learned
• Topics include
• Memory recall
• Time management
• Revision techniques

2. The Teenage Brain (JLi)

• JLi provided useful resources and links regarding the teenage brain. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1myoHOwju2g6n6njp8GvH4kqb1xR7OuDMgV6F2YVoXqc/edit
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AgH65UGLa2F0KNijInVpH5_deBFOcHv8d7nLZaJDZOY/edit

Mini TeachMeet 11

1. Synopticity (JE)

• JE explained how synopticity is a key part of the geography curriculum. This is the quality of connecting apparently separate threads of the subject and showing an awareness of how they relate, link and connect with each other to give a comprehensive understanding of the whole.
• JE detailed how students can find this difficult and how he tries to make this more natural by using resources and artefacts in his teaching from his own hobbies and interests to model how these relate to geographical ideas/themes.
• JE shared poems, videos, images, music videos which showed how this can be achieved in lessons.

2. Memory Clock (DNL)

• DNL explained the Memory Clock for the benefit of those who had not been able to attend his session on the April training day. A 1 hour revision session should be broken down into 15 mins ‘Review’, 30 mins ‘Practice’ and 15 mins ‘Check’. 
• This is to be rolled out to all staff in September and so a discussion was held as to the best way to go about this. The consensus was for an introduction by DNL and DO followed by time around department grouped tables discussing and planning subject specific examples.

Mini TeachMeet 10

1. Differentiated Starting Points (JR)

• JR shared an example of where the students choose the appropriate level of challenge for them. This is because she has students in Y7 who have had greatly differing exposure to coding already - some are brand new to it, whilst others are already quite proficient
• she notes that students are generally very good at choosing the appropriate level, but the novel approach here was in having a statement suggesting what they need to be able to do to start at each level e.g., “I can skip challenge 1 if I can …..”
• she also asks students to record why they have chosen a particular challenge and to put this in writing and this ensures they have thoughts carefully about their starting point

2. QR Codes and URL Shorteners (DO)

• A QR code (quick response code) is similar to a bar code
  
• can be scanned by any smartphone/device using built in camera apps or by specific apps
• A URL Shortening website (e.g., www.goo.gl) will reduce the length of a web link down to a manageable length i.e., https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GhPVubCBg4sWJ-2En0qKv71e56QrsvdVD_lH5ojP3UA/edit?usp=sharing becomes goo.gl/daxzGN 
• Applications for education:
• Homework feedback sheet with 4 QR codes or short URLS with links to e.g., Youtube video explaining a misconception, consolidation worksheet, extension task / material
• Link to any Google document you create by using shareable links
• Feedback – links to further online tasks, support materials or resources
• Add videos to worksheets
• Links to support material on worksheet to provide differentiation
• Links to Strive material to provide challenge on worksheets
• Students to insert into their work/projects
• Links to model solutions

Mini TeachMeet 9

Link to Presentation

1. Higher-Order Questioning
SS shared some good question prompts for different levels of thinking (see presentation for question prompts):

• Knowledge, Comprehension
• Application, Analysis
• Evaluation, Synthesis

2. I’m going to speak as……

• This was adapted from the training we had in September, which SS greatly valued. He has come up with 8 categories of individual to ‘speak as’ during lessons (Chief Designer, Head of Manufacturing, Client, Inventor, Head of Quality Control, CEO/Board Members, User, Head of Finance) which he has found work well. He encouraged other departments to think of similar categorisations for their subjects.
• This is particularly powerful when asking students to ‘speak as’ these individuals and encourages them to think about aspects they might not have done if just answering the question themselves without the roleplay.

3. Purple Pen

• Student responses to feedback recorded in purple pen
• Some students work is nearly perfect and so has little purple pen, others have added significantly following feedback. 
• All students end up with similar level of detail but it is clear who has had support or who has completed the task independently
• A good way of evidencing response to feedback

4. Feedback proforma

• SS shared a new proforma they are thinking of using in Product Design where the WWW parts of the work can be completed from a checklist and ticked whilst EBI feedback is then given in a more individualised way.
• Saves the work of writing the same/similar things on 20 pieces of work whilst still providing meaningful feedback as long as the criteria are sufficiently detailed – which they were!

Mini TeachMeet 8

1. Peer Assessment Labels (ACr)

• ACr shared an effective example of using Peer Assessment within Art lessons where students complete a luggage tag style label and mark against the 4 assessment objectives as well as giving some written feedback on what has been done well.
• A student is then selected (usually at random) to be in the ‘hot-seat’ and their folder is then gone through, the students peer assess and targets are set
• Students’ abilities to assess accurately improve over time as they get more practice. Teachers guide the discussions more early on in the year so that students become more confident in how to assess.
• Students in general take more pride in their work knowing that it is going to be seen by their peers as well as their teacher.
• Students get to fight their corner to justify why they think their work is worth certain marks
• Even with weaker students, there is usually one of the assessment objective which will be receiving praise so it is quite a supportive activity

2. Take-Away Homeworks and Plickers (DNL)

• Take-Away Homework 
• DNL shared how he has used Take-Away homework to good effect by incorporating competitive elements.
• A menu of activities is produced with differing levels of difficulty (example on next page). Students have choice over which activities they choose to complete for homework over the course of a topic block.
• Students achieve points based on how hard the activity was and how well it is completed and DNL produced a league table to motivate the students. 
• He found this increased the effort levels and the frequency with which homework was completed.
• Plickers (https://www.plickers.com/ )
• This is an instant polling app where students hold up their card in a certain orientation to give their answer. The room is scanned with the camera on the device and the teacher instantly knows who is right and wrong 
• This was demonstrated to good effect and it was very quick and easy to administer and has lots applications across the curriculum.

Mini TeachMeet 7

1. History Memory Game (JDe)

• JDe shared an example of an interesting example from trench warfare in WWI. This was based on ‘Kim’s Game’ where students are put in groups (by ability to aid differentiation) and one student comes up at a time to view the diagram of trench warfare for 30 seconds. They returned to their group and had to describe the image to the rest of the group and one person drew what they were told. After 1 minute, they then go to the front to view the diagram and so on.
• Stretch and challenge questions would then be employed at the end of the activity
• It was noted that this would be a useful activity in many subjects. This was a very ‘accessible’ activity as you could choose to focus on labels, overall structure, small details etc.

2. Playposit.com (FD)

• FD shared a website that would be useful if a teacher were attempting a ‘Flipped Classroom’. 
• A common problem when setting students a video to watch as their homework is in knowing whether they have done it or not in preparation for the lesson.
• This website allows the teacher to insert questions into any YouTube video and track responses, thus knowing whether pupils have completed the activity.
• FD demonstrated the website and it was quite straightforward to crop videos, embed questions etc.
• At first glance, it did not seem possible to upload your own videos to the website, but it may be possible to upload videos to YouTube as ‘private’ videos and then use them.
• The marks from the questions can be imported into Google Classroom.

Mini TeachMeet 6

1Interleaved Learning (JLi)

·         Teaching can become quite episodic whereby each topic is taught in turn and then not revisited until revision. With interleaved learning, the attempt is to try to build on learning rather than have blocked learning - ABC ABC ABC rather than AAA BBB CCC

·         New syllabus more likely to require students to mix skills together than have blocked learning

·         Evidence suggests students achieve better as a result

·         Use starters as a way to recap from several weeks ago - Corbettmaths

·         Video - Robert Winston synapses. Learning something is difficult at first but as the signals pass again and again a more solid pathway is produced.

·         DO shared some thoughts from Professor Coe on this regarding recall. If one wants students to remember things from some time ago, one has to require them to do so in order to set this expectation. If we teach in an episodic/modular way then that’s how they will learn.

3 Challenge Strategies(JCD)

·         Jason shared 3 strategies that he has used with his classes to promote challenge

1.       Worksheets where the challenges built in to tasks immediately - each question has a challenge rather than an extension at the end of the sheet. More students engage with these challenges as they happen at the time.

2.       CO2 cycle - rather than a cycle to learn by rote, JCD reads out text and pupils record what happens in their own way without using words, then has to explain their diagram etc to pupil B

3.       Gut glucose transport - rather than exposition, gave students a blank diagram and some facts as a challenge to try and describe it the self - scaffold present where necessary.

Mini TeachMeet 5

In the fifth Mini TeachMeet, FG and DO shared ideas.

1.       Differentiation by using song (FG)

·         FG shared how she uses an Irish folk song within English lessons. The students have certain skills that they have to apply to a text (in this case a Crime and Punishment text). The students find this difficult.

·         By using a song, and with the written verse, she gets them to apply the principles to the song and finds the students more able to develop the skills necessary before then applying them to the texts.

·         FG got us to listen to the songs ourselves and went through the exercise with us.

·         It was agreed that this would be a useful task for any subject that might have more generic skills that can be applied to other contexts.

2.       DAS Teacher Toolkit (DO)

·         DO shared his idea for developing a teacher toolkit for Dame Allan’s as at present it is difficult to know within T&L what is good and what is a phase

·         Teachers are often are re-inventing the wheel and making resources which in more generic forms would be useful to other subjects

·         Staff might be unsure what might work in our setting

·         It was resolved that we should try to develop a bank of things that work in Dame Allan’s (ideas for activities, generic resources) along with a small write up with contextual information – linked to a staff member who uses it, example of use in their subject

·         This could be held on the blog

Mini TeachMeet 4

Google Apps for Education (AP)

·         AP gave an overview of the various aspects of Google Aspects for Education:

o   Google Classroom – send resources to students, set assignments, link to calendar

o   Google Drive – (Docs, Sheets and Slides)

o   Google Sites

·        AP showed how Drive can be used for assignments and how teachers have access to the files as students are creating them. This helps to eradicate issues with the handing in/transferring of files.

·         AP also showed some student work created using Docs and Drawings

·         Maps has clear applications for Geography as students can create a map from Google Maps and annotate it as they wish

·         Integration with 3^rd party apps such as PowToon for creating cartoon explanations. These can all be attached to an assignment when the student uploads it.

·         AP showed the range of 3^rd party apps available

·         AP demonstrated using forms to create quizzes using Flubaroo for grading which puts results straight into a spreadsheet

·         Sites can be created very easily by integrating Google Drive files into the page e.g., a slides presentation or a video.

Mini TeachMeet 3

In the third Mini TeachMeet, GW and BJW shared ideas.

1. Dvolver moviemaker (GW)

• GW explained how she had used this online simple animation/storyboard site with her Year 10 class. The students were set a task to write an animated story to explain the concept of xxx to their peers.
• Possible uses were discussed including:
• Explaining a new concept to your peers in your own words for any subject
• For the 2 characters to have a conversation in a foreign language for MFL
• To explain the stages of a method or process in maths or other subjects.
• The group then made their own animations using the laptops

2. Integrating Careers Education into the Curriculum (BJW)

• Recommendation 4 from John Holman’s research on good careers guidance regarding linking the curriculum to careers guidance was used as a context for the session.
• With the upcoming Careers week, BJW delivered a presentation aimed at helping all staff to integrate information relevant to their subjects into their lessons.
• She shared a wide range of resources to help teachers, online, on the network and in printed form so that all reps had access to relevant material and ideas.

Mini TeachMeet 2

 

In the second Mini TeachMeet, ABr and FD shared ideas.

1. Hexagons (ABr)

• Hexagons Powerpoint

 

2. Challenge Wall (FD)

• For mixed ability
• This is a series of extension tasks for ‘fast – finishers’ on a desk at the back of the classroom
• Write “challenge available” at the bottom of the task/worksheet to pique interest

Mini TeachMeet 1

This was the first ‘Mini Teach Meet’ style Teaching and Learning Rep Meeting. 2 presentations were given. 

1.       Using Venn Diagrams as a teaching tool (DO)

PowerPoint

2.       Using an Electronic Markbook (VW)