It’s all in the Mind Offering motivating, responsive, and deep learning experiences that ensures every child learns every day. TGAW Aim: To build a school culture that values continual, personal and intellectual growth and fosters a steadfast belief that intelligence can be cultivated and that it is not a ‘fixed’ attribute. All teachers have a mindset where it is believed that with effort, motivation, perseverance, and the right menu of teaching strategies all students can achieve:
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resilient learning behaviours that cause reflection and an evolved understanding from mistakes and misconceptions deeper learning habits through confident exploration, investigation and questioning
What is intelligence? Neurons make new connections when you learn something new. The connections become stronger with practice and effort. The more connections, the denser your brain is. The more density, the more ‘intelligent’ you are. The neural connections or pathways become stronger every time they are used. Brand new learning experiences are the equivalent of neurons being connected by a thin piece of thread. Each time the new learning is practiced and applied that thin thread becomes stronger until the learning is mastered. The weak thin piece of thread becomes a thick strong rope. In order to strengthen these neural connections for students it is important for teachers to constantly make connections to prior knowledge and experience. The more connections made during a learning journey, the more physical changes occur in the brain by developing and strengthening neural pathways. It’s like walking through an unexplored forest for the first time. The more frequently the path is used, the fewer barriers and obstacles that stand in the way. Eventually a clear path is created. The new pathway represents the clear understanding of the content being taught. Can intelligence be changed? In short yes. Intelligence is a malleable quality and can be developed. What is growth mindset? A belief system that suggests that one’s intelligence can be grown or developed with persistence, effort and a focus on learning. Learners with a growth mindset believe they can continually learn and that there is not an end point. It might take some struggle and some failure but they understand that with effort and perseverance, they can succeed. The focus of a growth mindset is on learning, not on looking ‘clever’. A teacher with a growth mindset believes that with effort and hard work from the learner, all students can demonstrate significant growth and therefore all students deserve opportunities for challenge. What is a fixed mindset? A contrasting belief system is that intelligence is something you are born with and the level of intelligence cannot change- a predetermined amount of intelligence, skills or talent. This belief system is problematic at both ends of the continuum. For those students who struggle or do not believe they are smart it becomes a self-fulling prophecy, because they believe they cannot be successful, they will quickly give up offering little effort. For those students who are advanced learners they can become consumed with looking clever at all costs. Often, an advanced learner with a fixed mindset will start avoiding situations where they may fail, becoming risk adverse.
How does our mindset affect the mindset of a student? A mindset is a set of personal beliefs and is a way of thinking that influences your behaviour and attitude towards yourself and others. A teacher’s mindset directly influences how a child feels about themselves and how they view themselves as a learner. A child’s mindset directly affects how he or she faces academic challenges. A child with a growth mindset perseveres even in the face of barriers. If a teacher views a learner through a deficit lens (making assumptions about a learner’s ability based on perceived deficits or because of race, low income status, English language acquisition or other factors) that child will not be given the opportunities to grow. It is not possible to plan and facilitate an effective, differentiated, responsive classroom if the teacher does not believe that intelligence can be developed. How do we praise our students to nurture a growth mindset? “Children who are praised for their intelligence learn to value performance, while children praised for their effort and hard work value opportunities to learn.” Students who believe that intelligence is something you are born with and cannot change are overly concerned with looking smart- this is particularly true of gifted and highly able students. Therefore, praise such as ‘you are clever’ is detrimental for students who hold a fixed belief about intelligence. Saying you are clever is the equivalent of saying you are tall- what did a child have to do with being tall? It is just a generic trait that the child has no control over. The praise statements recognises no action that the child has put forth. No effort is recognised. When adults praise what a child is, the child attributes their accomplishment to a fixed trait they were born with. When adults praise actions or tasks that a child does, the child attributes accomplishment to their own effort. Often it is a matter of adding on to the praise that is already stated. For example, “Fantasticyou understand the method for rounding numbers. I know you worked hard on this- you have demonstrated real resilience.” It goes without saying that the nonverbal messages must compliment the words used. Folded arms or a stern face does not encourage a growth mind-set, no matter what words are coming from a person. It is important to note that some gifted and highly able students believe that putting forth a lot of effort is a sign of weakness. If constantly told they are ‘clever’ they think learning should be easy for them; therefore they think if you have to work hard, you must not be clever. How do we create a safe, differentiated and responsive classroom where a growth mindset can flourish? There are a series of steps that, when planning a learning journey, will cause confident, resilient and successful learners. These steps support the teacher in nurturing the development of a growth mindset. When learning takes place in a growth mindset climate students confidently take risks, reflect and profit from mistakes and ultimately make progress. How do we use interleaving to wake up prior learning? While it is essential we have pre-planned schemes of work in place we must treat the Scheme of Work as a new experience each time we deliver it. This is because each group of learners (this includes the teacher) will bring something new to the journey, will react differently to the delivery and will require different support and stretch strategies dependent on the processing of prior and new understanding. When introducing ‘new’ content or over learning previous content pre-viewing a student’s current understanding is critical. Pre-viewing allows the teacher to pitch the subsequent teaching appropriately and make use of students’ prior knowledge within the learning journey. The pre-viewing phase should not be a long drawn out process- 5 minutes is usually enough time to activate prior knowledge. A preview could be as simple as telling students “Today I would like to see what you know about rounding numbers. Let me show you a few first.” Then, proceed to do a few examples on the board. The word ‘rounding’ within a pre-assessment activity may not be familiar or trigger any past learning, but after a quick warm up, many students will remember and be ready to show what they know about rounding. Other ways to preview may include watching a video, questioning, interpreting an
image or listening to a short story or poem with discussion. It can be anything that will trigger past learning. This can also be done as a homework prior to the lesson. Flipping the learning- allowing students to take ownership prior to the instructional phase of a lesson- can really deepen learning. Previews help to wake up the prior learning in the student’s mind and allow the teacher to glean and effectively utilise the knowledge they gain. Questions to consider when planning how to ‘pre-view’ learning and cause connections with prior learning.
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Do you have absolutely clarity regarding the skill/knowledge you wish the students to master across the learning journey?
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Have you considered how this is connected with other knowledge/skills previously covered- Can you draw on previous links?
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Have you considered the language you will use to ‘verbally’ wake up prior learning?
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Do you have an effective resource that will trigger prior knowledge?
How do we utilise low stake testing to pitch subsequent teaching accurately? The second stage involves offering a pre-assessment- finding out what learners know about a particular skill, concept or topic before planning for the instructional phase of the learning journey. This could involve a series of questions or a task that attempts to uncover prior knowledge. Formats should vary within the same assessment: multiple choice, creating examples, filling in the blanks, open ended questions (avoid closed questions- open ended questions enable students the opportunity to really demonstrate their understanding.) The pre-assessment will allow a real insight into the understanding of all the learners. Critically once the preassessment has been administered it is then about reacting and responding to the results. Pre-assessments allow for ‘front ended differentiation’ enabling teachers to plan valuable enrichment opportunities where students can communicate their understanding in various ways. Pre-assessment should be built into the SoW and test understanding at the beginning of each new topic or unit. Pre-assessments should never count towards a student’s grade and it is important to frame the purpose with the students. Let them know the information they share will help to determine how to approach the instructional phase. It is important to communicate effort is everything and that they understand this will not be graded. Unless being assessed specifically for reading the assessment should be read to the students. This subtle but supportive approach levels the playing field for those who are not yet strong readers. They will be able to demonstrate understanding of the content without misinterpreting directions. The purpose of the pre-assessment is to find students who have no, partial or complete understanding then figure out where the gaps are and how to plan instructionally for those students. Questions to consider when preparing the low stake pre-assessment to measure prior knowledge,
1. Does your pre-assessment measure understanding/use of the skill you wish the students to master across the forthcoming learning journey?
2. Does the pre-assessment include at least one accelerated indicator? (A question/task that requires a ‘deep’ response that has not yet been taught)
3. Does the pre-assessment use different formats? 4. Are effective open ended questions used within the assessment? 5. Do you intend to read the assessment to the students?
6. Have you considered how you will verbally frame the pre-assessment to avoid a sense of judgement? How do we create flexible learning experiences that build on assessment knowledge and enable proficiency? Once you have used the pre-assessment to determine understanding you will then create learning experiences that teach new knowledge, fill gaps, address misconceptions and deepen learning. In every classroom there will be a range of understanding- every class, even ‘streamed classes’ will of course include a variation in levels of understanding. If all students in the class are instructed at the same level what opportunities exist to challenge those students who are ready to embrace a more rigorous learning experience? The teacher uses this information to determine how the knowledge/skill needs to be taught and is fully aware of how this will be assessed according to the appropriate marking criteria. Flexible grouping enables the teacher to teach the skill at the varying levels required planning a series of increasingly demanding learning activities that consolidates and enhances the learning demonstrated in the pre-assessment task. The teacher expertly develops the students’ understanding by selecting and utilizing appropriate kinesthetic, visual and auditory resources according to need. Effectively managing this involves planning and utilising activities that do not simply ‘fill time and involve doing more of the same thing. You may have two groups working at different levels. The first involves you adding to prior knowledge indicated in the pre-assessment. The second, more confident group, may be completing anchor activities- anchors that enrich learning by going deeper into the subject area. The resources carefully and skillfully build the students understanding through an empowering process of exploration and discovery. Students are asked to make interpretations, de-code meanings and to make links with prior knowledge. This is a highly effective learning strategy that enables independence rather than reliance on constant teacher explanation. These tasks extend the learning are meaningful and require critical thinking. Questions to consider when planning flexible learning experiences that enables students to have ownership over their own learning:
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Have you grouped students according to the pre-assessment results?
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Do the learning activities truly reflect the needs of the students indicated in the pre-assessment tasks?
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Have you planned a series of learning activities that build in cognitive demand?
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Have you used visual, verbal and auditory resources to support with the mastering of new knowledge/skill?
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Have you used a variety of teaching strategies and assessment milestones that ensure students are prepared to undertake a written or verbal formative assessment task that test the knowledge skill being acquired?
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If students are finding the independent anchor activities challenging do you have resources/strategies that will enable them to overcome this quickly?
How can formative assessments be used as an evaluative tool? During this stage a planned formative assessment is set- this is an assessment for learning. This gauges the understanding of the knowledge/skill being mastered and the teacher uses this as an evaluative tool modifying the subsequent learning journey accordingly. The task is open enough that students of varying abilities can use this as an opportunity to demonstrate what they do know and explore less confident areas of learning. A growth mindset classroom must be a safe place where students do not feel judged and are free to take intellectual risks. A trusting relationship between teacher and student is at the heart of a secure learning environment where such risks can take place. The learning environment should be a fear free zone. Fear can shut down cognitive processes and force the brain to only focus on the source of the fear and what to do about it. The fear of making an error or experiencing failure is a big obstacle to learning. A growth mindset
teacher will discuss these fears and reassure students they will not be judged if they make mistakes or fail during this assessment period. During the completion of the agreed formative assessment task the teacher offers prompt and accurate feedback. The brief written or verbal feedback begins as students undertake the task. The teacher makes insightful decisions regarding when to publically recognise and utilise excellent achievements to support others. Students’ work is carefully used to inspire and motivate others to produce an outcome of similar quality/sophistication. The teacher draws on specific examples and the verbal commentary benefits all. This is done using a variety of methods from simply reading a students work aloud to placing double ticks against highly successful sections of written commentary to placing it under the visualizer for all to see. The teacher’s passion and enthusiasm regarding students’ progress results in all students feeling genuine admiration and a clarity and desire to continue to raise the level of sophistication in their own work. A range of students are celebrated and the celebration is specific so that the praise itself enables students to learn and improve their own work as a result of it. It is imperative the teacher develops a climate in the classroom that also celebrates failure and students learn to reflect and redirect so that they can approach a challenging task in a new way or with more effort. Students must look at failure as ways to get feedback or reflect on areas that need more attention, they must possess an underlying belief that they will, with effort, persistence and help eventually grasp the learning. Every time teachers help with an error, they should seize this as an opportunity to help students interpret the errors as data that will help them later. Teachers celebrating failure will cause students to learn to reflect and re-direct so that they can approach a challenging task in a new way or with more effort. Where there is evidence of misinterpretations or progress not being sustained the teacher effectively intervenes. Where necessary they confidently resume whole class teaching clarifying the misconception and drawing on the value of the misunderstanding and the positive outcomes. Questions to consider when using formative assessments to evaluate the understanding adjust the learning journey accordingly.
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Are you clear on the knowledge/skill you expect to see during the completion of the formative assessment task?
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Have you decided the method you intend to use to consistently and promptly identify success in student’s work?
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Have you predicted possible misconceptions and how these could be used to further enhance the learning experience?
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Do you have a measure of at what point you would halt the formative assessment and resume whole class teaching to clarify any misconceptions?
How does de-coding of the assessment criteria and both planned and real time modelling underpin the summative assessment? The final stage of the learning journey provides an opportunity for students to build on the highly effective learning that has taken place in the earlier stages. The importance of continually reinforcing the growth mindset message every day cannot be emphasised enough. Maintaining perseverance and effort is a challenge for some students and they need to be continually reminded they can achieve success especially during potential ‘high risk’ points such as the completion of the summative assessment. Our environment helps to shape us- students are encouraged or discouraged, energized or deflated, invited or alienated therefore when the teacher precisely introduces the final summative assessment it is essential that students are made to feel that regardless of the outcome the effort they put in is what will have the greatest impact. It is at this point that various forms of modelling are used to demonstrate how to utilize the skill taught in a more complex task. This includes use of pre-planned models, deconstruction of models, the completion of real time models and collaborative models of both the skill and the cognitive processes undertaken- drawing on understanding that
has evolved as a result of mistakes etc. Enabling the students to fully understand what an effective outcome looks like and enabling them to appreciate the value of making mistakes will undoubtedly ensure they too have the confidence to take risks, value the struggle and independently produce an outcome that demonstrates exceptional progress. Questions to consider when empowering independent application of taught skills through a summative assessment task that increases in cognitive demand
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Have you precisely introduced the summative assessment explaining what is expected and how it will be assessed?
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Have you effectively planned, prior to the learning journey, a model of the expected written/verbal/practical outcome?
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Have you, in collaboration with students, deconstructed the model drawing out the key elements that meet the assessment criteria?
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Have you expertly demonstrated in ‘real time’ a further example of the outcome? Are you clear enough to be able to offer a verbal commentary explaining the cognitive processes/possible pit falls/learning opportunities?
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If appropriate have you offered an opportunity for students, in groups, to construct a collaborative response independent of the teacher?
Growth Mindset A belief system that suggests one’s intelligence can be grown or developed with persistence, effort and a focus on learning.
Fixed Mindset A belief system that suggests that a person has a predetermined amount of intelligence, skills or talents.
Differentiation The way a teacher responds to a student’s needs so that each student is challenged at the appropriate level.
Flexible Grouping Providing groups, within a class, with responsive and effectively differentiated learning experiences that utilise well considered resources to enhance their current understanding.
Anchor Activities Ongoing tasks that can be given to students that they can access when they complete that enrich the learning of the content being studied.
Formative assessment Checking for understanding during the learning process in order to modify instruction to improve understanding- this is an assessment for learning
Summative assessment Assessment of learning that typically occurs at the end of a unit.