T&L Newsletter
The 12th issue of the T&L Newsletter I put together for our staff was released this week. It can be found here (along with all previous issues).
The 12th issue of the T&L Newsletter I put together for our staff was released this week. It can be found here (along with all previous issues).
Weekly T&L Summary
This term I have started to put together a one sided weekly summary of the T&L bits. This includes the weekly meeting, the discussion group title, the upcoming reading club with a link to the article, and the date and time of the learning walk for the week. It also includes links to 6 blogs (shamelessly taken from the ones shared by TeacherTapp) and what I am currently reading. The previous ones are also available on our T&L Website on the same page as the T&L Newsletter. The PDF Version is hyperlinked to the articles.
This term I have started to put together a one sided weekly summary of the T&L bits. This includes the weekly meeting, the discussion group title, the upcoming reading club with a link to the article, and the date and time of the learning walk for the week. It also includes links to 6 blogs (shamelessly taken from the ones shared by TeacherTapp) and what I am currently reading. The previous ones are also available on our T&L Website on the same page as the T&L Newsletter. The PDF Version is hyperlinked to the articles.
I decided to do this to streamline all information into one sheet. My end goal is that all information will be distributed through there, but for now I still need to send a few email about the most important things (as not everyone is reading the summary yet).
Checking for Understanding
This week I ran an INSET on Checking for Understanding, which is one of our Principles of Great Teaching. I asked twitter for some advice, and it didn't fail to give some ideas.
This week I ran an INSET on Checking for Understanding, which is one of our Principles of Great Teaching. I asked twitter for some advice, and it didn't fail to give some ideas.
The original tweet is below, but make sure to check out the responses.
I am running an inset on checks for understanding next week. I know most of you are on holiday, but ideas are greatly appreciated. Especially some kind of activity to demonstrate the power. @87History @Doug_Lemov @teacherhead @HFletcherWood @mrbartonmaths @dylanwiliam
— Dan Rodriguez-Clark (@InteractMaths) August 15, 2019
My presentation is here.
Frayer Diagrams
I was very excited to see this tweet on Sunday evening, and am looking forward to making use of them and creating some of my own.
I was very excited to see this tweet on Sunday evening, and am looking forward to making use of them and creating some of my own.
I feel like Sunday night is the perfect time to reveal my latest project - https://t.co/fLw2ic3GQH. In collaboration with @JoLocke1, @MisterRapley, @timdolan, & @StudyMaths; a website dedicated to producing Frayer Models for maths topics. All downloadable, printable & editable!
— Mr Mattock FCCT NPQSL (@MrMattock) August 18, 2019
As I started planning my next unit on discrete probability distributions, I have already started to attempt to put some together.
Coaching
This week I started my second coaching cycle after a fairly successful first go last term. The teacher I worked with last term wanted to develop the students ability to use higher-level discussions. He worked on that by making use of a strategy he called pass the sentence. This worked by having the first student say something they know about a problem, and then each successive student had to repeat what had already been said, before adding their own idea. His was a small class so he did this with the whole class. By the end of the term, the teacher felt he had met his goal, and has been enthusiastically talking about the process to others.
This week I started my second coaching cycle after a fairly successful first go last term. The teacher I worked with last term wanted to develop the students ability to use higher-level discussions. He worked on that by making use of a strategy he called pass the sentence. This worked by having the first student say something they know about a problem, and then each successive student had to repeat what had already been said, before adding their own idea. His was a small class so he did this with the whole class. By the end of the term, the teacher felt he had met his goal, and has been enthusiastically talking about the process to others.
But there were a couple of things I learned from that first cycle. Firstly, we didn't set any clear way to measure the progress against the goal. We judged it based on 'feeling', and this means we do not know for certain that the strategy helped. We also did not make as much use of recording his classes as we should have, and this time round I am going to suggest we record many more classes (or bits of classes).
I am also considering whether it makes sense to actually go to multiple classes that the teacher teaches. I guess this will depend on the goal to an extent, but with something like raising levels of discussion (which is actually pretty similar to what the teacher has chosen this bimester too), that can be incorporated across all classes. That might make it easier to develop the habits, as opposed to only doing it with one class. When I decided to use example problem pairs, I did across all my teaching, so I was doing many times a day, and I think that helped embed the skill.
In this second cycle we have recorded a lesson and watched it, and had a meeting after to go through the Identify Questions. It was a a really good meeting where we discussed ideas for over an hour, and at the end of it we both came away with a clear plan going forward. I also learned from last time to send a summary of the decisions (what the goal is, what strategy, next observation/meeting) to the teacher to confirm we are on the same page. We are recording again today, this time focusing on the students discussions, to get a baseline to judge progress against.
I am really looking forward to pushing ahead with this cycle. The coaching process has been great for me, and I think it has huge potential to make a difference to what teachers do.
Blogging
I have been quite active in my blogging over the last few weeks, with these posts:
I have been quite active in my blogging over the last few weeks, with these posts:
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