'C Magazine' Issue 1

magazine

... for the teachers, governors, support staff, LSAs & learning mentors of Campsmount Technology College.

Issue 1: May 2010

The sky’s the limit!

T

Welcome to the first edition of ‘C Magazine’ As we begin to move into a period of stability a5er the fire I feel that it’s :me to refocus our energies on our core purpose: learning.

‘C’ is for communica(on, collabora(on and community. Since September, I have had countless conversa:ons across college with our teachers, governors, LSAs, support staff and learning mentors, and it’s clear that these 3 words should form the founda:ons for the journey ahead.

This half-­‐termly magazine is about showcasing good prac:ce. It’s about enhancing our professional learning community with ar:cles that inspire and educate us. It’s also about collabora:ng with each other in ways that allow us to take risks, to innovate and to share our reflec:ons with others.

As educators, we all strive to adapt to and meet the needs of all of our students, but on our own this is a difficult task. ‘C Magazine’ is one ini:a:ve designed to foster a renewed sense of shared responsibility to further improve and strengthen our exper:se. Further ini:a:ves will be announced soon.

Our learning vision INSET day (see image below) provided us with an opportunity to really consider what we mean by developing an effec:ve 21st Century learner. However, that vision will only be realised by sharing and developing our exper:se accordingly.

3 - Teaching: Is two a crowd?

All colleagues are invited to write ar:cles on anything that may boost classroom prac:ce, enhance our understanding of pedagogy or inject dynamism into our professional repertoires. You may have had par:cular success with an interven:on strategy, aYended an inspiring training day or developed new engagement techniques. Perhaps you are an LSA, NQT, learning mentor or head of department who is experiencing success in areas that other aspects of college life may benefit from.

Whatever your role, please feel free to submit an ar:cle.

5 - Teachmeet

Finally, as we now begin to seYle into our temporary accommoda:on lets build upon the excellent prac:ce that already exists at Campsmount in prepara:on for the new school building. For us, I believe that the sky’s the limit!

Jamie Portman (Assistant Headteacher)

In this issue:

6 - Peer tutoring and ICT in Maths

7 - The delicate art of teaching G&T 8 - Peer mentors at Campsmount

9 - Baking the perfect starter 10 - SEN: Dyslexia

Teaching: is two a crowd?

Ed Chapman and Andy Jones write about how experimenting with ‘Team Teaching’ benefited both pupil engagement and attainment.

Background/Reasoning:

The first notable success was with lesson planning. This became much easier, especially considering having to With the old site burning down this created unusual circumstances/an opportunity to teach Year 9 History at replenish and recreate lost resources from the old site.

Fernbank. Set 1 are usually taught by EC with set 2 being Planning was also much more effec:ve, for instance taught by AJO. Both groups were :metabled to be taught collabora:ve planning provided ideas from two members in the Main Hall at Fernbank at the same :me (period 1 of staff, each with their own teaching and learning styles.

This led to engaging starters and other ac:vi:es that on Thursdays and Fridays). each of us has had previous success with. Also with two During the first lesson it was apparent that this situa:on members of staff in the room it provided the security, pladorm and encouragement to try new ac:vi:es in was going to provide barriers to learning. A par:cular which to engage learners. problem being EC and AJO having to take it in turns to introduce the lesson, explain tasks and promote whole class discussions. Even taking the register at the “As a member of staff it has provided beginning of the lesson became very difficult due to an excellent opportunity for observing having to wait in turn. Another issue is the size of the how different teachers explain key two groups, sixty-­‐three students in total with only cupboards and a filing cabinet to divide the two classes! issues and tasks. “ A5er discussion with the two groups we took the decision to experiment with team teaching, thereby crea:ng one large group.

Students benefiYed from the different styles of delivery that team teaching provides. As a member of staff it has provided an excellent opportunity for observing how Successes different teachers explain key issues and tasks. As teachers we all put our own spin or angle on how we Thursday and Friday morning History lessons became deliver parts of the lesson, I feel that as learners lessons to really look forward to.

ourselves we have both benefiYed from observing different approaches

.

Due to the high ability of the students in our groups we decided at an early stage to approach the topic (Causes of the Second World War) from a more GCSE orientated point of view. For instance we put much more focus on GCSE style ques:ons and ran many lessons in an ‘exam bus:ng workshop’ style, similar to GCSE revision sessions. Students responded very well to the idea that they were comple:ng Year 11 GCSE work early and that we have high expecta:ons on their aYainment.

Set 2 students also seemed to like the idea that they were comple:ng the same work as set 1 and to an equally high standard. It seemed that in set 1 some students felt that they needed to ‘up their game’ and jus:fy their posi:on in being set 1.

This idea of a more GCSE orientated delivery has been adopted throughout the department in Year 9, for example ADY has had great success with 9 set 3. Early indicators from op:ons choices show that History will be a very popular choice with students, in par:cular sets 1 – 3.

“.. would a lower ability student benefit from a higher ability peer explaining a concept in ‘student language’?”

being widely taught in mixed ability groups. The nature of the subject places great emphasis on differen:a:on.

Although certain subjects may face difficul:es in teaching such diverse ability levels team teaching does bring with it many posi:ves, for example would a lower ability student benefit from a higher ability peer explaining a concept in ‘student language’?

Due to the limited resources/technology on site we were restricted in what we could do. Having more than one electronic white board for instance can provide great opportuni:es for developing teaching and learning.

Conclusions “What started off as trying to make the best of a tough situation after the fire has potentially revealed a real opportunity.”

Team teaching is certainly something the department would look to further develop. The issue of large learning spaces has been raised during departmental discussions concerning the new school site. Team teaching has shown an increase in both student engagement and aYainment. What started off as trying to make the best of a tough situa:on a5er the fire has poten:ally revealed a real opportunity.

The agtude and effort of the students in the two groups has been excep:onal. The learning ethos in the group has made teaching them a fantas:c experience.

Throughout our :me at Fernbank we have sought regular feedback from the students, all being very posi:ve.

Whole class discussions in par:cular have been very good with the standard of student work and aYainment rising significantly.

Areas for Development One of the main strengths of this experiment was the students involved. We had two high ability groups who seemed to thrive in this learning environment. Further trials would need to take place with different ability groups in order to fully to measure success, something that we would be very keen to do.

Another area to look at would be to try team teaching with different ability groups, for example set 3 and set 6.

What successes and problems would this create?

History as a subject seems perfect for this style of teaching. History is a very open ended subject with it

Ed Chapman is Head of Y10 & Andy Jones is Head of the History department

TeachMeet

Date to be confirmed

Learn something new, be amazed, amused and enthused.

“Showcase it, demonstrate it and let others run with it”

Showcasing great ideas to inspire others.

What is Teachmeet?

How does it work?

TeachMeet is a new idea for showcasing interes:ng ideas for learning at Campsmount. It originated in Scotland and was ini:ally driven by Ewan McIntosh.

They are normally organised by teachers and held across the country but the concept fits extremely well for our college.

Teachmeets are relaxed and informal occasions (I’ll bring the cake). If you have a resource to share, for example, effec:ve interven:ons, new & exci:ng ICT so5ware, innova:ve classroom prac:ce, ac:ve learning exercises or anything else that could impact on learning at Campsmount, then please present it to colleagues.

Its about colleagues telling each other about some of the great things that they’re doing in the classroom. Its also about showcasing good prac:ce in order for us to adapt them to our different contexts. Have you got something that’s having a par:cular impact on learning in your lessons? Showcase it, demonstrate it and let others run with it. The power of our ideas are then increased by their exposure and enhanced by the discussion that it generates.

You will have 7 minutes to get your idea across and you can present it in any way you choose.

Alterna:vely, colleagues could instead present a much shorter 2 minute presenta:on. ‘Enthusias:c lurkers’ may aYend: you can just watch and listen to the presenta:ons as there is no pressure to present whatsoever! Further informa:on about na:onal Teachmeets can be found here: http:// teachmeet.pbworks.com

PEER TUTORING AND ICT IN MATHS JOHN ELLIOT writes about how his use of new technologies, accompanied with revision aids and peer tutoring, has enhanced learning outcomes in Maths at AS level.

I was doing an observed lesson with my AS level group, which fell just at the :me of their revision. I had planned an ac:vity that was both challenging, but at the same :me s:mula:ng. I wanted to get the students thinking about maths in perhaps ways they had not previously done.

monitor student’s progress was new to me as I had only used it as a game within class before, but I found it easy to use and track student’s progress as you can print off their results and analyse which ques:ons they found challenging. The downside to the so5ware was making the slides to import into Quizdom, but once this is done you have a resource you can For the starter I had used the use over and over again. Hope it gets Quizdom so5ware and created about replaced!!

!

10 slides on the topic we were covering, which the students would then answer using their keypad. I had assigned each student a par:cular keypad so that I could analyse their answers during/a5er the lesson.

Using the Quizdom so5ware to

For the main part of the lesson I had created a booklet of past exam ques:ons from the past 6 years in which I had wriYen down a worked solu:on to each ques:on. Each of my solu:ons had a mistake in it which the students had to find. They then worked out the correct answer.

I wanted the students to work in 2 groups to discuss and find the mistakes that I had purposefully included in my answers to the ques:ons. This ac:vity linked to being a group ac:vity because I wanted to get the groups talking

about the solu:ons and inevitably there would be some peer tutoring. I felt that this was a good way of recapping and learning during a revision session.

It proved a powerful teaching tool, which showed a deep understanding of the topic. If a student can spot a mistake in a solu:on to a problem then they must understand the theory and possess the knowledge to answer the ques:on correctly The plenary I had planned involved students again working in pairs. They were given an envelope with graphs and an expression in factorised form to match. I wanted the students to work in pairs so that there would be some peer tutoring going on.

Peer tutoring is a powerful tool; students can sometimes explain methods and theories at a basic level to their peers in a way teachers cannot.

Overall the lesson went very well, the students showed through analysing the Quizdom results later that they had understood the skill required to manipulate polynomials. Through teacher assessment during the lesson I felt that student learning was definitely taking place and this was demonstrated through students being able to spot my deliberate mistake and being able to rec:fy them, to reach the correct answer.

Andrea Lownes writes about the ‘delicate art’ of teaching Gifted and Talented students.

Frank Baum in ‘ The Wizard of Oz’ wrote: ‘"You have plenty of courage, I am sure," answered Oz. "All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty."’ This is true of our more able students and perhaps with this courage they could reach out and grab at their potential, forging their own pathway and will no longer slide into the sub-­‐category of ‘disaffected’.

“We need to ins7l in them the courage that Baum’s lion needed; the heart, love and desire that the 7n-­‐man needed and the pure determina7on of Dorothy.”

themselves and their aspirations they will have the impetus, as well as, a strong sense of self-­‐worth and will In Dorothy Lepkowska’s article therefore stretch to meet the entitled ‘Watch out for the gifted and challenges that they are faced with. bored’ Deborah Eyre, director of The problem with underachieving NAGTY, believes that it is highly Teaching the G&T can be a delicate important that teachers find ways of G&T students, however, is that they art, as we all know. Educational enhancing the strengths of the G&T. appear to be very good at concealing researchers, such as Parke (1992), Stretching and challenging students, the fact. Wallace (2000) believes that suggest that G&T students can there are two types of underachiever quickly become bored as they are not especially the more able involves with G&T students: coasters and the strong relationships. Automatically stretched or challenged within able but disaffected. In his article lessons. Researchers seem to be in a you may consider the relationship ‘Too clever by half?’ Martin Rogers that a teacher will have with a place where assumptions can be student, one that should foster their (2010) believes that students have safely made in a detached and difficulty managing their own individual strengths and areas of objective way; we as educators on pathways towards achieving their the other hand have the privilege of expertise, as well as promoting potential due to ‘social hazards’. independence. The other living and breathing alongside the These concern society’s standpoint of relationship that will spring to mind diminishing academic success in will be the relationship that the student has with learning. Yet, how favour of sporting success. This concept supports Wallace as it many of you considered the relationship that the teacher has with implies that due to beliefs inherent themselves, their subject knowledge within our society more able students “... depriva(on itself become disaffected through the fear and their confidence? of being ostracised. is not necessarily Grey (2006) proposes that focused on the More is needed to help boost the underachievement will take place if concept of confidence that delicate high ability undervaluing occurs this is true not only of children but also of teachers. learners have knocked on a daily economics but also basis. We need to instil in them the Grey also suggests that deprivation on the poverty of courage that Baum’s lion needed; the itself is not necessarily focused on aspira(ons.” the concept of economics but also on heart, love and desire that the tin-­‐ the poverty of aspirations. Thus, if a man needed and the pure determination of Dorothy. child, and teacher alike, values students making our observations much less objective.

n i r o t n e m r e e P

t n u o m s p m a C g@

This is the fi5h year in succession that this valuable ini:a:ve has run at CTC. We currently have students in Key Stages 4 and 5 that have trained and qualified to OCN level 2 in Peer Mentoring. This enables them to support younger peers, experiencing difficul:es, which ul:mately has a nega:ve impact on their educa:on.

There are many important aspects to the training involving Child Protec:on Law and other relevant legal ‘Acts’ so that Peer Mentors are fully prepared for their role to make a posi:ve contribu:on to the college community. Support with low level issues such as; aYendance, punctuality, organisa:on, peer problems, social skills, homework, academic support etc... are addressed by them Recruitment takes place at the end of Year 9 when students can apply to become a Peer Mentor, successful applicants aYend training in June/July and are involved in transi:on work with Year 6 students during those months too. As these Peer Mentors move into Year 10, they are linked to a Year 7 tutor group, in pairs, for the whole of the academic year and on entering Year 11, it is their decision if they wish to con:nue or not. (We have some who con:nue in Y12!)

I currently have lists of Y11, 12 and 13 Peer Mentors whom are keen to academically mentor younger students in a subject area that they excel in. This is an area of the programme that I wish to develop and would welcome your thoughts and ideas on expanding this project.

Successes include: mber of Reduction in the nu school refusers in Y7

Paired re a

ding with weaker readers o r group r eading sessions

ilding Leading form tutor bu exercises

Faster interv ention in supporting st udents with specific need s

I wish to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support with this programme. Your :me, ideas, energy and support for the Peer Mentors is truly valued. Thank you.

Jenny Parkinson

Current Y10 Peer Mentors are: AJO – Sarah Ellison and Georgina Burto5 JOB – Megan Holt and Rosie Savage RTH – Amber Bracha and Jenny Chan SOL – Joe Taylor and Sarah Davidson ADY – Catriona Elliot and Kelsey Longley LEM – Ashleigh Hall

BAKING THE PERFECT STARTER Building on the starter exercises that colleagues contributed to the recent online Google document, Petrina Drury adds another 10 that can be used without the aid of ICT. You would not bake a cake without gathering together all the essential ingredients. A cake without eggs would not rise and be really flat ... a lesson is just the same. Where jam and cream compliment the perfect Victoria sponge, a starter and plenary compliment an ideal lesson! A starter should offer challenge, engagement and motivate students. But beware, starters are just that! The start of a lesson, if they go on too long, take over the lesson or become too rou<ne they lose momentum and do not have the required impact.

Just a Minute Put a word/phrase/<tle on the board. Leave ten board markers on the desk. Time the class – 1 minute to read and digest what is on the board. Time the class again ‘Just a Minute’ to use a marker and write a related contribu<on on the board. Surprising what they know!

Prop Place a prop on the desk.

Students have two minutes to look at it, touch it, smell it.

Then two minutes Q&A follows. How does the prop relate to the topic? Acts as a good recap for previous lessons’ learning.

Language To extend vocabulary for a par<cular piece of work/literacy overall!

G i v e a b a s i c w o r d ‘ENJOY’. Students have two minutes to brainstorm alterna<ves -­‐ feedback to extend list. Extension task: give their response by puQng word in context in a sentence.

Acros(c Write a word/<tle down the side of the board.

Students contribute words and phrases related to complete the acros<c. Acts as a good recap for subject knowledge!

Good revision mnemonic.

Countdown Pictures Pictures that relate to topics (backed and laminated). Sit students in groups of four.

Look at cards and try and work out how they link together eg: photograph of a plant/water/light bulb/ sunshine for photosynthesis.

Vo(ng Label the corners of your classroom A, B, C, D / True/ False and For/Against. Pose t h e q u e s < o n / i s s u e a statement and let students vote w i t h their feet. Mul<ple choice is good for weaker students. Once students have voted they can then engage in Q&A to jus<fy their decision.

Trio Pose a ques<on. Students to work in trio’s for three

Scramble topic related vocabulary. First student to unscramble wins

minutes. ‘ W h a t a r e t h e d r a w b a c k s t o vegetarianism’? Are mobile phones dangerous’? ‘Who is to blame for the na<on’s debt’?

Gallery Plain A3 sheets on tables around the room with topic related words/extracts/ pictures/quotes on them.

Students are to visit each sheet, read the informa<on and add to it.

Students cannot repeat what another has contributed. The pace of this ac<vity can be determined by the teachers’ choice of music.

What’s it got to do with me?

Really, everything can be related/linked! At the start of a new topic put the word/ <tle on the board and ask ‘What’s it got to do with me’?

Eg TRAINERS: Uniform of youth, required for sport, child labour, fashion, brand, image, cost

Dyslexia

sues s i g n i ic writ x e l s y D r ones

imila with s s d r o sing w sound Confu y they a w e s th g word into an ideas Spellin g n i s i n h orga es wit i t l u c fi Dif fts of dra s t o order l g makin ly and w o l s g Writin s out g word n i ideas v a e L getting r o f d fast an as g very n i t i what h r d W n a t s under able to g n i e Not b itten r been w

SEN ARTICLE

In her role as SENCO Claire Allen provides us with a brief overview of Dyslexia and suggests possible strategies to support our dyslexic students in class.

‘Dyslexia’ comes from the Greek ‘DYs’ meaning difficulty and ‘lexia’ with words. It is an auditory condition which impacts on the reading, writing and spelling of a student. It is a condition which affects individuals throughout life.

Individuals have poor phonological awareness which means they need regular practice with phonics and a multi-­‐sensory approach to learning.

• • • • • •

Concentration.

Processing information.

Problems with sequencing.

Organisation.

Time management.

Emphasis on the printed word.

Dyslexic students often need to find a different way to study eg: with diagrams, mind maps and recording notes. All these need to be taught by staff and reinforced by staff and parents.

It is important that students are given time to answer and have the opportunity to vocalise answers.

This helps them organise the information.

A dyslexic student will:

Some Problem Areas

• •

Causes are organised with an e m p h a s i s o n l i t e ra c y. A n individual will struggle because of problems with: • Short term memory.

• •

•

Read slowly and need to re-­‐ read things several times.

Quickly forget what they have read.

Add or miss out words.

Have difficulty structuring work.

Lose their place in a text.

Writing: See image above

Spelling: Students worry about written tasks as they believe they cannot spell.

They benefit from: •

Using a spell-­‐checker.

•

Way s t o h e l p r e m e m b e r words: mnemonics, words within words and base words or suffixes.

•

Ta r g e t w o r d s h e e t s a n d strategies for spelling.

•

Highlight main errors, not every error.

Dyslexic students often feel frustrated in class. By providing strategies to support them we h e l p b u i l d c o n f i d e n c e a n d empower them to access learning.

Notes