Issue 1 April 2013
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EAL Thunk:
If 76% of the school is EAL and you teach at Park View are you an EAL Teacher?
Teaching & Learning Toolkit Magazine
AFL special edition
Look inside for: Comfy classrooms November conference Visable progress and more...
Assessment for Learning at Park View This year has seen a massive focus on improving our AFL in the classroom. When we launched the tool box we were aiming to improve creativity and share different ways of using AFL. From walking around the school and chatting to staff it is clear that the bean bags have been extremely successful. The students have enjoyed having a go at catching the bean bag but more importantly it has increased engagement and focus……just in case you get a bean bag thrown in your direction, you are ready with an answer. Another success has been the mini white boards. Giving students the opportunity to show their answers without the fear of ‘saying’ the wrong answer. It is ok to get answers wrong as it is part of learning; we all need to get things wrong to eventually achieve the right answers. So my AFL top tips to try: 1) Let’s change the ethos in the classroom and celebrate wrong answers as it will always lead to more discussion, and eventually to the RIGHT answer. 2) Have your mini white boards out in every lesson on the tables so students can use them when discussing ideas, making notes or answer questions. It would be great to walk down the corridors and see them being used in every classroom and remember it’s a quick and easy way to track progress. 3) If you haven’t tried the bean bags, have a go they are engaging and students will have to think about the question you have asked. You could also encourage the students to think of a question and choose someone to throw the bean bag too, this gives them some ownership. Alison Kelly AFL Co-ordinator
EAL and AFL challenge: Can you do 1 thing in every lesson that you teach in a day, aimed at the EAL cohort that doesn’t require: • Making a resource • Using a dictionary Please let us know what works and what doesn’t, we’re listening!
Plasticine as a creative AFL Tool Plasticine is a great AFL tool in your classroom. It is fun, creative and all year groups will enjoy using it. In a revision lesson my year 11’s were asked to express how they felt about a topic at the beginning of the lesson by using plasticine. As part of their feedback they wrote down on a post-it note an explanation of what the plasticine expressed and clipped it on a washing line. During the lesson as we completed the revision activities the students revisited their plasticine and were invited to express each time how they felt about the topic. They could change their shape or leave it depending on how they felt. At the end they reviewed their post-it note they wrote at the beginning and compared it to their final shape. Many students who in past lessons found it difficult to express their progress found using plasticine an easier tool than just words. The shapes changed throughout the lesson and were a brilliant visual tool for me as a teacher to clearly see which aspects of the topic I need to focus more carefully on in future lessons. More importantly year 11’s enjoyed the experience. Jessie said “it was great to be able to express your own opinion in a creative way with no restrictions. Usually teachers ask you to do thumbs or smiley face but with plasticine you could express yourself in a way that was individual to you.” Sumaya said “being in year 11, the work expected of us is often boring old writing exercises and essays but using plasticine brought back a touch of my childhood. It allowed me to express myself in a fun and inventive way. With no limits. No right or wrong answers – it was simply me, putting my feelings across with no added pressure.” April Elsmore HOD Lead Learning
Comfy classrooms
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I enjoyed the lessons with the cushions because it created a relaxing environment that was also good to work in. By Ajay Chandrasekaram I prefer sitting on the cushions rather that the chairs. By Karim Marshall I felt a lot more at ease and comfortable in these lessons than ordinary ones. It created a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere and I felt I was able to focus more. By Ifrah Hussein It was really motivational. Being in a comfortable position and feeling relaxed allowed me to concentrate on the work and really focus into it. By Naadia Mubin At first I thought it was going to be a distraction however I began to work a lot more as I was comfortable and I was not distracted as much as usual. By Youssof Mallah
I enjoyed sitting on the cushions because it was relaxing and comfortable. By Annie Cunningham It was different to what we were used to. By Amal Kulane I think that it allowed us to go through work or examples on the board easier as we were able to easily discuss the work between ourselves. By Raimonds Baukerts The atmosphere in the class was good and it made the lesson more fun. By Heather Cant
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The atmosphere in the class was good and it made the lesson more fun. By Abraar Ahmed
I didn’t feel comfortable on the floor so I sat on the desk. By Serhat Erin
The whole concept originated from the idea that Maths is always taken as a very serious subject without any fun. Having read about schools in Norway which are at the forefront of Maths education in Europe and their relaxed classroom approach I thought it would be good to implement as a trial and see if there are any positives in the methodology. I also took into account that most students tend to do their work at home in the most comfortable positions which rarely include sitting up at a desk. There were some constraints in the fact that they could not do copious amounts of book work as it would eventually become uncomfortable but as a setting for discussions, group work and work on the mini whiteboards it was very effective. Mo Abdelmula Maths Teacher
G&T G&T G&T G&T G&T G&T G&T G&T G&T G&T G&T G&T G&T G&T G&T G&T
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Out of the classroom into the classroom At this point in the academic year the ‘live’ Gifted & Talented register has been used to gather the names of the brightest and most able students to indentify strengths and skills and use this information – based on teacher recommendation – to select and support students for relevant enrichment activities and opportunities. Highlights so far have included Fionn McGuiness-Maris presenting an intellectually engaging talk about his GCSE Art & Design project to each year group in assembly; a group of Year 10 students participated in the Jack Petchey ‘Speak Out’ workshops, which resulted in Alexa Massengo and Terahas Kelly representing Park View at the regional finals; Rhythm Sticks continue to develop a truly exceptional sound as a collective of young, open minded musicians, performing publically both inside and outside of school; a selection of Year 7 students have recently been working on embellishing and re-directing their creative writing through a workshop with the Rap Poet Adisa and Luke Smith was successful with his application for a place on the Master Classes at University College London that take place over the Easter holidays. Activities and opportunities, such as these will continue to be made available to our brightest and best. A concern, however, is that there appears to be a reliance or the perception of a reliance, on G&T provision being provided only through external sources (bar Rhythm Sticks) or that students have to be exclusively selected and plucked from their usual classroom environment to participate in segregated in-school activities for their particular strengths and skills to be challenged and stretched. Challenging this notion through supporting G&T provision in an inclusive classroom environment (alongside HOT skills, literacy, numeracy, SEN, EAL and student leadership) is the particular interest and the focus for scrutiny over the forthcoming months at Park View for the G&T co-ordinators. If the aim is to develop the whole student as learner, a thinker, problem solver, creative, it is important that students and teachers alike give themselves over to the learning environment, enjoy the teaching, reflect on and take ownership of the subject, step back from ‘control’ and allow the students to discover that their learning is their responsibility. G&T students must be challenged over quality, critical thought and self discovery, and in turn, empowered to challenge and negotiate the concepts we put forward. G&T teaching and learning is only one cog in the mechanism of engineering the necessary and desirable classroom learning environment and there is no prescriptive way to achieve this. I am interested and open to hear what colleagues have to say on any matter related to the above and how we can all (without wishing to preach to the converted) move forward. Alex Costello Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator
Top Tips: 1. Colour code your Keywords. 2. AFL – Thumbs up/down, happy face/sad face, traffic light system and buzzers are all things that do not require any translation and require little planning. 3. Use the phrase ‘What is that in…… ‘(Turkish, Polish, Chinese etc.) No planning required.
November conference Try different types of debates and discussions in your classrooms like our teachers did at the November conference. Question Time: Select your panel members in the lesson before and give them the topics to research ready for the next lesson. Ask the rest of your class to think of questions on these topics ready for the panel. This is great for G&T students and Lead Learners but everyone in the class can take part. Have your panel sat down before the students enter the class. Then carry out the discussion the same as BBC’s question time.
Debates: Our teachers taking part in a formal debate great fun with all of the points of order! Four speakers in each team (for and against the motion) . First speaker introduces all the ideas that team has generated . Second speaker outlines two or three more ideas in some depth . Third speaker outlines two or three ideas in some depth . Fourth speaker criticises the points made by the other team. Each individual speaker has two minutes to speak (or more of course), with protected time of thirty seconds at the beginning or the end. The rest of the team is the ‘Floor‘ and can interject at any time by calling out ‘Point of Information‘ and standing. The speaker can accept or reject an interjection. Enhance your twitter feed and follow: @TeacherToolkit @TeachersApps @sharemylesson @educationgovuk @venspired
Comfy classroom: Think about your work and discussion space it is not just the students who preferred to revise and work in a comfy classroom. Cannot see the trees for the woods or cannot see the woods for the trees? Try to rearrange your discussion materials in as many different ways as you can. With so many different opinions and statements teachers has had plenty of opportunity to discuss each one. Make your classroom an exciting adventure for students.
How about coming along to the next conference and trying out new and adventurous T&L techniques.
Ways of demonstrating visible learning and rapid progress in lessons At the heart of excellent progress by pupils is motivating and inspiring teaching. Ask any group of pupils what makes for effective classroom learning and they talk about the teacher who loves their subject and shares that passion with their students through rich tasks and activities. Try to tick most of the boxes below when you plan and deliver lessons this term. • Know the depth of pupils’ prior knowledge so you are able to build on it effectively as is the use of tracking data. This will also help to set high, but realistic expectations of pupils. • Share the big picture for the lesson – the progressive steps that are to be taken in the lesson to reach the key outcomes. • Move away from plans if necessary and further differentiate tasks. – Be flexible to pupils needs. • Fun, humour and warm relationships abound. Be approachable, willing to listen and try to look like you are enjoying teaching your lesson. • Do not rattle on at pace, flying through the scheme of work for fear of running out of time. Rather, deliver narratives and explanations at a speed consistent with pupils’ understanding and internalising new concepts, knowledge and skills • Help pupils, through various techniques, to think about the progress they are making: daily, weekly, and over a term or a year. • From time-to-time, think who is talking and doing the most work, you are or the students? • Remember- high-quality marking from teachers fuels pupils’ rapid progress. • Start with something students will know, differentiation is not just making things easier often that leads to boredom. Practise “differentiation down” to ensure higher attainers are extended in their learning. • AfL style’ questioning and dialogue is essential, pupils are more actively involved and the discussions can display how pupils’ thinking is progressing through the lesson. Abdul Jabbar Assistant Headteacher
Don’t wait for your next inset, skills clinic or course! Pick up some top tips from our CPD section in the library and our new T&L Board in the staffroom! Try something different today and every day! Inspire your students with new and creative approaches to T&L! Coming soon new titles for you to borrow with a new display in the library and our new Learning Zone for staff, students and parents on the MLE.
The learning power of a good display Displays have come a long way since BSF. Classrooms have slowly come alive with vibrant and visually appealing content. Displays should reflect each subject area to create a stimulating and interactive learning environment. There are some really good exemplary classrooms if you are ever in need of inspiration, just take a walk around the school. Reasons to display • Can be decorative – this can have a direct impact on pupil motivation and increase learning. • Use displays as direct teaching aids. • Enrich and reinforce lessons/teaching. • Motivate and praise students. • Set the scene/tone in lessons. • Engage learning. • Stimulate interest. • Provide ‘extra’ work. Displays shouldn’t make you feel overwhelmed. If you are worried, need advice or would like to discuss how to improve your displays please email: Dunya ddervis@parkview.haringey.sch.uk Dunya Dervis CRT/Marketing
We can all do it – it’s not that difficult once you get going! Anyone can be an EAL teacher!
If you wish to contribute to the next edition of T & L please email: aelsemore@parkview.haringey.sch.uk