Bitesize Research: Strategies To Measure Progress

By Jaya Carrier

I hope everyone’s had a great week - and that when the holiday does come around, that everyone has a restful break! This week, following on from Rob’s briefing about drive and purpose, I was really interested in an article by Isabella Wallace, who has published widely on different education themes. Here she discusses the importance of pupils being able to see their own progress, as well as offering some practical strategies about how progress can be shown in different activities. Objectives: To understand strategies for measuring progress in a lesson. Summary:

• Wallace argues that students seeing their own progress is very important because it’s highly motivating.
• Some of the practical strategies proposed by Wallace in the article to show progress include:
• Before and after snapshots - this could be done in lots of ways but includes asking students to define a concept at the start of the lesson, and then to define it again at the end of the lesson, incorporating everything they’ve been learning (‘boarding and landing cards’)
• Getting students to add to what they know by using different colour pens - so they can see the progress over time
• Getting students to pose their own questions at the start of a lesson, and getting them to answer these at the end of a lesson
• Wallace also cautions against things that do not meaningfully show progress. This includes - asking students to show you thumbs up or thumbs down if they understand.
  

How does this impact me and my practice?:

Some reflection questions arising from this that might be helpful to consider are:

• How do I measure the progress of my students across the course of a lesson? And across the course of a term?
• How well do my students understand their own progress?
• What might the benefits be of highlighting progress to students be?

If you would like to discuss this further with me - please let me know! I’d be delighted to open up these discussions and conversations.

How Can We Encourage Students To Make The Most Out of Extracurricular Activities?

By Rebekah Edwards

Can you think back to when you were a student at school...all those fun and amazing clubs that you might have attended as an extracurricular activity? Did you uncover a passion? Did you learn new skills or gain confidence? What memories do you carry into adulthood from those experiences? It's those feelings and energy that we can use to encourage our students to attend as many extracurricular activities as possible, whether it be a sporting activity, creative or academic opportunity. Extracurricular activities are important to young people and result in a range of positive outcomes. Now more than ever extracurricular activities are important as students have not had the opportunity to do any regular extracurricular activities due to the times that we are in. To get more students involved in these opportunities we, as teachers, have a big role to play in encouraging our students to get involved. One of the best ways is to listen to our students and their ideas on what they would like to see on the Extracurricular Activities (ECA) timetable. If we are able to get activities and clubs that they are passionate about then it will only give them more opportunity to develop themselves as well-rounded students.

Extracurricular activities can boost young people’s confidence to interact socially with others outside of their friendship groups and extend their social networks to other students in higher or lower years and provide them with new skills and abilities. Above all, they offer an important space to have fun and relax away from the pressures of school work. Here at Westminster Academy, we have a wide variety of activities available designed to cater to our students’ diverse interests and needs. In providing a platform from which students can select a variety of ECA, either from an Arts, Sport, Community, or Academic thread, they are able to carry on learning and gaining experience in a safe, nurturing, and accommodating environment. It is our intention as a school to provide a varied ECA program in which students will want to participate and learn. It is important that we as staff members continue to encourage students to be proactive in extracurricular activities, getting them to step out of their comfort zones and try new skills. We have the potential to have the most amazing ECA timetable and offer our students clubs that they thought they would never get to have at school.

So be encouraging, be positive, and listen to your students!

Questions to think about:

• When do you talk about extracurricular activities with the students you teach? How about in your tutor group? When do you get feedback about what opportunities they might like but do not exist yet?
• Which 'extracurricular activities' do you do? How could you use your experiences or hobbies to encourage your students?
• What challenges might your students face in participating in extracurricular activities? What could be done to tackle these?
• How can you use extracurricular activities to celebrate the efforts of your students?
• How can you link extracurricular activities to work being done in lessons to help engage students with their learning?

Bitesize Research: Evidence Into Teaching Vocabulary

 By Jaya Carrier

I hope everyone’s had a great week - the holiday is really soon now! This week, I was really interested in an article synthesising research and strategies to teach vocabulary from the Chartered College of Teaching. This is particularly relevant as Donna is going to be launching and working with a focus group about communication and literacy in T3. Objectives:

To understand the key evidence into teaching and learning vocabulary. Summary:

• Research suggests that students who have a higher number of words in their vocabulary also know more about the words. This is in contrast with students who had lower numbers of words in their vocabulary, who tend to only be able to use words in very specific contexts.
• Research also suggests that skills required to learn new vocabulary include; generalisation (the ability to define a word), application (ability to select or recognise the appropriate use of the word), breadth (to know the multiple meanings of the word), precision (to apply the new word to all situations correctly) and availability (to use the word in thinking and in writing).
• Based on these research findings, the specific classroom strategies for vocabulary instruction proposed are:
• Introduce new words in everyday language - not using dictionary definitions
• Provide several contexts in which the word can be used
• Students should be given activities that enable them to use new words straight away
• Lots of repetition of the new words
• Examples that use the new words should heighten interest and engagement wherever possible
• Find ways of praising students for identifying and understanding the new words they have learned when they are outside the classroom

How does this impact me and my practice?:

Some reflection questions arising from this that might be helpful to consider are:

• How am I currently introducing new vocabulary to students?
• How am I reinforcing the learning of new vocabulary?
• What are the specific disciplinary vocabulary words I want my students in different year groups to know and use?