TEACHER MANUAL
Written by Feidhlim ร Seasnรกin & Louise Platt
Published by The Super Generation 89F Lagan Road, Dublin Industrial Estate, Glasnevin, Dublin 11
Š 2018 The Super Generation
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Teacher Manual 2
Section 1
Transitioning and Learning 20
Section 2
Goal Setting and Learning
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83
Section 3
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Learning and Assessment Preparation 155
Resources
Resources 198
T N E D U T S D N A G N I N R A E A L PORT PROGRAMME SUP
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Teacher Manual
Introduction The Learning to Learn programme is aimed at embedding a culture of learning and study at Junior Cycle. One of the key objectives of the Junior Cycle is to place the student at the centre of the teaching and learning. Students today are facing the challenge of ongoing changes in the nature of knowledge and the need for the requisite skills to process this increasing amount of information. This programme will assist students in knowing themselves better as learners, being more organised and confident along with having a proven study system and learning approach which will reduce their stress levels and add to their sense of well-being.
This programme is based not only on
training for teachers and accompanying
international best practices in education
teacher manual, is designed as a practical
and learning but also on the years of
resource for teachers. It is aimed at
experience that The Super Generation
supporting them in sharing with students
has in working with thousands of students
the skills that will enable the student to
in hundreds of schools annually. Whilst our
become a more effective learner.
traditional in-school seminars are hugely
Taking into consideration the changes that
impactful, the rolling out of the Learning
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The Learning to Learn programme, with
are occurring at Junior Cycle, the teacher
to Learn programme and integrating it
manual provides teachers with relevant
into student practice on a weekly basis
methodologies that will allow them to
will ensure that the skills learned become
provide a range of learning experiences in
embedded into standard student practice.
line with the identified guiding principles and key skills of the Junior Cycle.
All the lessons are characterised by being learner centred and experiential, with relevant practical exercises from across the range of Junior Cycle subjects, and provide opportunities for individual, paired and group work. Opportunity is provided at the end of each lesson for students to reflect on their learning and its application in their studies.
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Programme Structure The programme and accompanying student workbook are divided into four key sections, reflecting students’ progress through the Junior Cycle. The first three sections are broken up into constituent lessons and the final section is a practical study journal for students to plan and record their study.
1. Transitioning and Learning Focuses on assisting the student in settling into their learning and study as quickly and efficiently as possible. They explore the key skills and behaviours strategies for managing their learning in
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the various subjects.
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for learning along with learning new
2. Goal Setting and Learning
The focus here is on sharing with students the mindset and skills for achieving their
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goals for the Junior Cycle. The students
are also introduced to our effective study and revision systems of POKER and the 5 x 5 Review.
3. Learning and Assessment Preparation
This section keeps students motivated in
working towards success in their learning. Along with reviewing their study system, the students learn about effective preassessment and assessment techniques. Learning is aimed at improving their performance and reducing their stress.
4. Study Journal This is a results-focused time management tool designed to help students increase their productivity, effectiveness and application to their study.
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Learning to Learn, Well-Being, Key Skills and the Junior Cycle Learning to learn and well-being are two of the underpinning principles of the Junior Cycle. Along with being a principle, well-being is also a key skill and an area of learning within the Junior Cycle. The Department of Education and
their learning. This gives students a greater
Skills states that "students’ well-being is
sense of purpose and belonging within
supported when students realise their
the school community and helps them
abilities, take care of their physical well-
to develop the key skills which give more
being, can cope with the normal stresses
meaning to their learning.
of life and have a sense of purpose and belonging to a wider community."
The six indicators of well-being outlined by the Department identify and describe what is important to young people and their
programme, therefore, is to help students
well-being. These indicators are included
identify their abilities and to develop the
in each lesson to assist with planning and
awareness and skills to cope with the
teaching within the programme and help
normal stresses of school and academic
scaffold conversations with students about
life by providing them with opportunities
their learning and well-being.
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The aim of the Learning to Learn
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to feel more confident and connected in
Active
Am I a confident and skilled participant in physical activity? How physically active am I?
Resilient Do I believe that I have the coping skills to deal with life's challenges? Do I know where I can go for help? Do I believe that with effort I can achieve?
Indicators of wellbeing
Responsible
Respected
Do I take action to protect and promote my wellbeing and that of others?
Do I feel that I am listened to and valued?
Do I make healthy eating choices?
Do I have positive relationships with my friends, my peers and my teachers?
Do I know where my safety is at risk and do I make right choices?
Do I show care and respect for others?
Connected Do I feel connected to my school, my friends, my community and the wider world? Do I appreciate that my actions and interactions impact on my own wellbeing and that of others, in local and global contexts?
Aware Am I aware of my thoughts, feelings and behaviours and can I make sense of them? Am I aware of what my personal values are and do I think through my decisions? Do I understand what helps me to learn and how I can improve?
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Statements of Learning Along with developing the identified key skills, Learning to Learn as a short course reflects four of the 24 Statements of Learning for the Junior Cycle. Learning to Learn incorporates the following learning statements:
Examples of Learning
1.
Communicates
Students are engaged in a variety
effectively using a
of learning activities where they
variety of means in a
are required to work individually,
range of contexts in L1
in pairs and as part of a group.
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Learning Statement
Opportunities are provided for
students to present on their work
Creates, appreciates
As part of the course students
and critically interprets
will explore a variety of texts from
a wide range of texts
subjects on their courses and
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3.
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to their peers and teachers.
apply the knowledge and skills from this course to those texts.
5.
Has an awareness of
Through the variety of reflection
personal values and
exercises students are
an understanding of
encouraged to reflect on their
the process of moral
own learning and have a better
decision making
understanding of themselves as learners, along with making better personal decisions about their own learning.
11. Takes action to
By having a greater awareness
safeguard and promote
of themselves and growing in
her/his well-being and
confidence as learners students
that of others
are developing resilience to aid their own well-being and better cope with stress associated with formal assessments.
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Reflection 'Managing self' is one of the key skills for Junior Cycle and is focused on helping the student to better understand themselves as learners and individuals along with aiding them in planning and making good decisions in relation to their own learning. Reflection creates these opportunities for students along with promoting a growth mindset, where they can identify their own strengths and abilities to develop them further. As formative assessment is an integral part of the Junior Cycle, with ongoing opportunities for feedback for the student, it is important that students are provided with the language, knowledge and skills to make the most of any feedback given. Opportunities for reflection
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allow this and give the student more control over managing and making use of any feedback and developing a more positive attitude
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to their own learning.
Within the Learning to Learn programme, space and activities are provided for the students to reflect on their learning and act
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accordingly in their planning, goal setting and actions.
Each lesson concludes with a Pause and Reflect section, where teachers are encouraged to give time at the end of the lesson for the student to complete. The teacher may also wish to ask students to complete this at home as part of their homework along with feeding back to the teacher and class at the beginning of the next lesson.
At the end of each section there is an inbuilt review template for students to reflect on and evaluate what they have covered in that particular section along with an opportunity to reflect on how they can further embed what they have learned into their wider studies. At the beginning of Section 2 there is a chapter on ‘Reflection’ which focuses the students more on taking advantage of any feedback given, especially in terms of their formative assessment assignments. This lesson also contains an exercise focusing students on their readiness to learn.
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Format of Lessons Each lesson follows an identified structure of:
Learning Intention / Aim Which outlines the particular learning objective for the lesson or what knowledge or skills are being explored or developed. In line with the Junior Cycle, teachers should spend some time sharing with their students at the beginning of the class what the associated success criteria might be for this learning intention. Depending on the ability level of the group, these success criteria might need
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to be adapted from class to class.
Learning Point This is a brief explanation or introduction to what the student is going to learn through the following exercises. Some lessons may have one or more learning points, depending on the topic.
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Exercises Each learning point is followed by a practical, relevant exercise to be undertaken by the students. These exercises may be completed individually, in pairs, in groups or as a class. A variety of methodologies are included in this manual. Suggestions are given as to what might work best with each exercise, however, as each class and group varies, teachers might wish to familiarise themselves with the variety of methodologies given and choose an alternative one to work with their class group. As far as was practical, the exercises have been based on the variety of subjects which students may be studying for the Junior Cycle,
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so that the learning here becomes applicable across the whole Junior Cycle.
Pause and Reflect As the student is now at the centre of their own learning, it is important that they begin to reflect on what they learned from each lesson, how they learned it and how this new learning can be used again in the future. The Pause and Reflect section at the end of each lesson encourages a growing awareness by the student of themselves as learners, giving them more ownership of their learning.
Mental Note Some lessons conclude with a short inspirational quote which can simply be a piece for them to reflect on or even a point of discussion for the class. 11
Methodologies for Teaching Within education and the Junior Cycle there is a move towards promoting more active and collaborative learning opportunities for students that create a balance between the development of subject knowledge, thinking abilities and the development of key life skills. The methodologies included here are ideas which teachers may wish to introduce or include in their own teaching, not just in the Learning to Learn programme but also in their other subject areas. Each lesson has suggested methodologies, however teachers should feel free to adapt or change these to reflect the needs of the learners in their own classroom.
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Communication is one of the identified key skills of the Junior
Cycle. Through working collaboratively with their peers in pairs or in
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group work, students are provided with opportunities for building their confidence to express themselves in front of others along with building their vocabulary in the various topics and subjects covered. In the resource section at the end of the manual, there are some templates which can be photocopied by the teacher as aids for
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some of the methodologies. In the lesson outlines just the title of the methodology is given rather than repeating it each time it is suggested for use.
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Creating Discussion
Pose, pause, pounce, bounce
This is a useful strategy to engage students to discuss certain topics or ideas. What happens: Pose
The teacher poses a difficult question to the class, not just an individual.
Pause The teacher then waits, giving students thinking time. 10 seconds is enough. Be brave and wait longer if you can! Pounce The teacher then insists on no hands up and pounces on a student for a response. Bounce The teacher or student then bounces the ideas to another student in the class. There is no need for teacher evaluation. The Bounce student should respond to what the previous student has said. 12
Agreements An interesting way of extending an idea and developing further with the whole class. The idea is to keep each question going longer by engaging more students in the discussion. When the first student answers a question, ask another student if he or she agrees or disagrees with that answer, asking them why they would agree or not. Then ask another student, and keep going until at least five students have participated in each question.
Talking Stick / Ball This is a good activity to encourage quieter students to speak up and also promote a culture in the classroom where students listen to each other. The teacher or even the class can decide to choose an object, sometimes
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it can be a stick or small bean bag ball. Whoever has the object in their
hand is the only person who can speak at this point, all others must listen from one student to another.
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Agree / Disagree
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and are not allowed to interrupt or disagree. The object can then move
This is a good activity to get students actively moving and to begin to critically think and reflect on their exercises.
The teacher places two signs at either end of the room, one is Agree and the other is Disagree. The teacher reads out a statement or question and the students must place themselves in the room in relation to whether they agree or disagree. When everybody is in place the teacher then goes around the group to ask them to give reasons why they positioned themselves where they are standing.
Temperature scale This is somewhat similar to Agree / Disagree in that students are encouraged to physically place themselves in the room in accordance with their decision. A series of numbers from 1 to 10 are placed in a line either on the floor of the classroom or preferably on the wall of the classroom, where they can be left up for repeated use. The teacher poses a question or statement and the students rate themselves on the scale by standing beside the appropriate number. When everybody has placed themselves the teacher may then ask some students why they placed themselves where they have. As an extension the teacher may encourage the students to think and share with others what would need to happen or they would need to do to either move up or down the scale. 13
Pair and Group Work Before beginning to introduce group work into a classroom you might want to read these top tips for effective group work to remind yourself of what aids good group work. Remember that one of the skills to be developed in Junior Cycle is group work, for as Ken Richardson states, “Students may work in groups in classrooms but they very seldom work as groups.”
Top tips Assign students to various groups
Structure group work in such a way that students need each other in
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yourself, ensuring a mix of ability, gender etc. Try and avoid friends
order to complete the task. This can
distracted.
be achieved in a number of ways:
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working together as they may become
Set a shared task or goal (e.g.
size of the group but try not to go
problem and make sure all group
over 4 or 5 to ensure everybody is
members can explain how it was arrived at).
participating and feeling included.
Have agreed roles for group work
Force students to share
which rotate each time the group
resources within the group (e.g.
forms. If using the role of Reporter,
one copybook or worksheet
remind all the students that you may
between each pair/small group).
still ask questions of others in the
group, this will ensure all students remain alert to what is going on.
Make sure all students are clear about what outcomes are expected from the common task and what behaviours are expected from group work. Empower the students to participate fully by sharing with them the required group work skills such as listening, leadership, conflict resolution, how to give feedback, how to encourage each other, etc.
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all must agree a solution to a
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The time allotted should reflect the
Request one end product and give a shared reward or shared grade to the group.
Your role is to set the task, observe and monitor students working, to keep students focused on the task, and give positive feedback. Finally, allow time for group debriefing or reflection on what was learned, how the group performed and, finally, on their participation.
Learning Partner We know that real learning has occurred when students are able to explain or teach what they have learned to others. Here the students are paired off with a peer for a period of time, normally a month. The students are made aware that the purpose of their working together is to aid one another to improve their learning by giving each other the opportunity to share and teach and by providing feedback. When students receive feedback they can then go off and implement the recommendations from their Learning Partner into their work.
Think, Pair and Share
Having posed a question the teacher allows a brief amount of time for
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the student to reflect on their answer. Then the student turns to their partner and they share their answers with each other. Having listened to each other they then try to create a new, better answer / solution,
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developing on their own answer. These can then be shared back to the group or go on to be part of a learning square.
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Learning Square
Having completed a think, pair and share, students can then move and join another pair to form a square and repeat the process of trying to develop a better idea/answer from their two previous ones. These then also can be shared back to the class.
Teach – Okay!
This is a pair/peer teaching strategy that begins with the teacher spending a few minutes introducing a concept to the class. Next, the teacher says
Teach!, the class responds with Okay!, and pairs of students take turns re-teaching the concept to each other. It’s a bit like think-pair-share, but it’s faster paced, it focuses more on re-teaching than general sharing, and students are encouraged to use gestures to animate their discussion.
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Stump your Partner Students take a minute to create a challenging question based on the class content up to that point. Students pose the question to their partner. To take this activity a step further, ask students to write down their questions and hand them in. These questions can be used to review or gauge student understanding.
Maths Pairs Working in pairs, students work on a maths problem or set maths questions. Person A reads the problem and explains step-by-step the steps and strategies required to solve it. Person B watches as A solves the problem and checks the accuracy of the solution and provides help
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if it is needed. Then the roles reverse. When two problems are completed, the pair check their answers with there is consensus.
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another pair. If they do not agree, they must solve the problem until
Gallery Walks
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Students either in pairs or in small groups create a collective piece of work, which can be an answer to a task or simply creating a visual aid for what they have learned. These are then hung on the wall or placed on the tables and the students travel around the classroom looking at the answers or visual aids that the other students created. Students are encouraged to give positive feedback to others on the piece of work they have created.
Transformation Students in a group are given text in one format and are asked to present it in another. For example, a health leaflet could be turned into a newspaper report, or a set of instructions could be turned into a statement about how the device works and when it would be useful.
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Jigsaw Learning Jigsaw groups are a very effective way of organising group work. Students are arranged into groups and each group is given a different subtopic related to the one topic. They must become ‘expert’ on their subtopic and agree how they are going to teach / share it to their classmates. When they are ready, the groups are mixed up so that there is now one expert on each subtopic in each group. They now take turns ‘teaching/ sharing’ their subtopic to each person in the group.
Step 2:
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Placemats
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Step 1:
This methodology involves both writing and dialogue to ensure involvement of all students. In groups, students initially work on their own before working collaboratively, working together as a group around a single sheet of paper to simultaneously come up with a range of answer options. Templates for photocopying are included in the resource section, which may be photocopied and blown up to A3 for use. What to do?
Decide on your task or
Initially students work on their
question to be answered.
own, filling in their answer/ideas in
Assign students into groups
their own section of the paper.
of 3 or 4 . A placemat is given to each group to be placed in the centre of the table. The question can be put up on the board or if there are separate questions for each group these can be handed out with the placemats.
The students then share their answers with the other students in the group and these are all written in the centre section of the placemat. Finally, each group shares what they have written down with the other groups. You may wish to use the Gallery Walk as a means of sharing the work with other groups.
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Assessment “Assessment at Junior Cycle places the student at the centre of the learning process and allows for new ways of learning and a broader range of skills to be assessed.” www.juniorcycle.ie Within the Junior Cycle there are a range of opportunities for assessment. The purpose of assessment is to support the student in their learning by providing appropriate feedback to the student, enabling them to understand how they may wish to improve. Assessment at the Junior Cycle is both: Formative (ongoing) assessment – where students and teachers reflect on the student’s learning and plan the next steps. As part of this process students are encouraged
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to complete the end of section reflections, which provide opportunities for discussion with the teacher on how the to date.
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student feels they are progressing with their own learning Summative (classroom based) assessment – where the teacher assesses the students in a specific assessment
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associated with the content of the course. Students are expected to prepare for summative assessments. The teacher’s judgement, which is in line with set out criteria, is used as part of the school reporting to parents and students and is recorded. Each school should develop Features of Quality as part of their work to support teachers’ judgements.
Schools and teachers have the flexibility to adapt this short course to suit their particular needs and context and design a Classroom Based Assessment which is reflective of the learning which the students undertook. In line with the Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA), the assessment of short courses will: Be carried out in the school by the teacher Be based on work undertaken by students in second and/ or third year. Also in line with guidelines set down by the NCCA and Department of Education and Skills, there should be one Classroom Based Assessment, which can be undertaken in second or third year. A recommended form of assessment for this course may be Project and reflection.
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Project The project can be based upon any topic related to this course and should reflect at least two key elements / strands of the programme. Students should be encouraged to choose a suitable format for presenting their project e.g. written, digital, visual or audio formats. Students can complete the projects individually or in small groups (no more than three per group). However, the students must clearly identify their own role or contribution to the work submitted for assessment. Teachers may decide on the whole class group undertaking the same project or allowing individuals or groups to choose a theme or topic for their projects.
Reflection Having completed the project, each student is expected to complete their own individual reflection containing the following: completed the project.
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A description and explanation of how they individually and/ or collectively
A commentary about their own learning from the project, what they learned along
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with how they will use this learning into the future.
Level of Achievement
The Features of Quality are the criteria used to assess the student work and assist the
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teacher in making their judgement. In assessing the students' work the teacher assesses the work as fitting one of the following criteria descriptors: Exceptional – reflects a very high standard. Whilst not necessarily perfect, the strength of the work far outstrips its flaws, which are minor. Suggestions for improvements are easily addressable by the student.
Above expectations – the students’ work shows a clear understanding of how to complete each area of the task. Feedback from the teacher might point to the necessity to address some aspect of the work in need of further attention or polishing, but on the whole work is of a very high standard. In line with expectation – the student’s work shows a good understanding of the task in hand and is free from significant error. Feedback might point to areas needing further attention or correction, but the work is generally competent and accurate. Yet to meet expectation – describes a piece of work that falls somewhat short. A good attempt may have been made, however the outlined task has not been grasped clearly or is marred by significant lapses. Feedback will draw attention to fundamental errors that need to be addressed. Further information on types of assessment for Junior Cycle short courses which schools and teachers may wish to use with this programme may be found at http://www. juniorcycle.ie/Assessment 21
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Section 1
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Transitioning and Learning
Introduction The focus for this section is to assist
II. Managing Information: Reading
students in settling into their new school and
Now that the students have begun
to provide them with practical techniques that will help them learn better. This section is broken up into three key areas:
to understand how information is organised they can begin to engage more with the various pieces of text they come across in their text books
1. Transitioning and settling in Chapters 1 and 2 will help the students settle more quickly into their new school and routine by exploring
and other places. They will learn here how to read with purpose, being able to identify the information they need from a piece of text.
their new subjects with them and
III. Managing Information: Thinking
how to become more organised in
In this chapter students begin to think
their learning at school and at home.
about and understand more how information is arranged, how each
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2. What learning is all about
subject can be broken down into topics and even further into keywords that
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The next two chapters will help
students understand better how they actually learn. They will explore how
their brain works along with the skills and behaviours they can develop,
they need to remember. IV. Managing Information: Note taking and answering Here students will look at how to break down the information they have read
better learners.
by creating their own notes and graphic
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which assists them in becoming
3. Managing information
In secondary school students
organisers. They will also look at some simple tools called writing frames that will help them be more efficient in
are presented with lots of new
answering questions on various types
information in their various subjects.
of text.
The key to being successful in their learning is to practise simple techniques that will help them manage all this information. This last section is divided into four chapters, which are:
Finally, there is an end of section reflection for students to reflect on what it is they have personally learned from this section, not just in the workbook but also in their engagement with other students when they were
I. Managing Information: Listening
undertaking some of the various
Students take in a lot of information by
exercises. This reflection can help
listening to the teacher and others in
improve their learning and study going
their class. Listening is a skill which they forward. can develop and practise. This chapter will help them do just that so that they
Students are given the opportunity to
are paying attention to what they need
practise all these new skills with some
to learn.
of the subjects they are studying for the Junior Cycle.
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Section 1
Transitioning and Learning
Chapter 1
Settling In LESSON 1: My Timetable ............................................................................................................... 24 LESSON 2: Being Organised ....................................................................................................... 28
Chapter 2
Subjects and Homework
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LESSON 3: Filling in my Homework Journal .............................................................................. 32
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LESSON 4: What are my Subjects? ............................................................................................. 34 LESSON 5: The Purpose of Homework ..................................................................................... 36 LESSON 6: Types of Homework .................................................................................................. 38
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LESSON 7: Completing Homework Assignments ................................................................... 40
Chapter 3
My Brain and Learning
LESSON 8: Growing your Brain and Learning ......................................................................... 43 LESSON 9: Improving your Learning .......................................................................................... 47 LESSON 10: Paired and Group Learning .................................................................................. 49
Chapter 4
Behaviours for Learning LESSON 11: Behaviours for Learning ........................................................................................ 54 LESSON 12: Skills and Attitudes ................................................................................................. 57 LESSON 13: Key Skills for Junior Cycle ....................................................................................... 59
Chapter 5
Managing Information: Listening LESSON 14: Skills for Learning – Listening 1 ........................................................................... 62 LESSON 15: Skills for Learning – Listening 2 ........................................................................... 64
Chapter 6
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Managing Information: Reading LESSON 16: Active Reading 1 – Reading with Purpose ........................................................... 66
Chapter 7
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LESSON 17: Active Reading 2 ....................................................................................................... 69
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Managing Information: Thinking
LESSON 18: Command Words .................................................................................................... 71 LESSON 19: Curiosity ...................................................................................................................... 74
Chapter 8
Managing Information: Note taking and writing LESSON 20: Graphic Organisers ................................................................................................. 76 LESSON 21: Writing Frames ......................................................................................................... 79
End of Section Reflection
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Chapter 1
Settling In Lesson 1
MY TIMETABLE Aim Aim
To assist students with creating and effectively using their class timetable
Learning Point 1
Sci
Abbreviations
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The school day can appear quite busy and confusing initially for the student, trying to figure out where they are supposed to be and when. With a plethora of new subjects,
Art
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in different classrooms with different teachers, confusion and anxiety can ensue.
Most schools hand out timetables to students with abbreviations of the subject and teachers’ initials simply to fit everything in. Students may need assistance in trying to decipher these new codes and make sense of their timetable.
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This lesson provides the opportunity to decipher some of the codes used in the school in relation to subjects, teachers and classrooms and to reduce some of the associated stress.
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ISE RC
1
This activity familiarises pupils with possible abbreviations that may appear on post-primary timetables. The exercise may be
completed in pairs. As this is the first paired work for the class here is an
Subject
Room
Teacher
Teacher Initials Initials
english
opportunity to introduce the Learning
Maths
Partner. Each student can fill in the
History
template in their own workbook.
Geography
French
Subject
Business Studies
Technical Graphics Social Personal and Health education
The teacher can then go through the
Abbreviations
Gaeilge (Irish)
Religion
Gaeilge (Irish)
Civic, Social and Political education
results with the class group when all the
Science
students have filled in the exercise.
Spanish
Metalwork
english
Home economics Technology Physical education
Maths French
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History 26
Business Studies
Abbreviations
R
2
Deciphering your Timetable The purpose of this exercise is to allow students the opportunity to develop their deciphering and timetable reading skills. They are asked to decode the information given in the timetable.
completed as a short quiz to increase the
ISE rC
ExE
This exercise may be
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Understanding your Timetable This is a sample timetable with the subjects, locations and times of each class. Study this timetable and see if you can answer the questions that follow.
sense of fun for the students, with them
School timetable
working in either pairs or threes. This is a sample timetable with the subjects, locations and times of each class. Working with their Learning
Partner or individually, ask the students to study the timetable and see if they can
Time
mon
9.00-9.40 9.40-10.20 10.20-10.55 10.55-11.10 11.10-11.50 11.50-12.25 12.25-13.05 13.05-13.45 13.45-14.25 14.25-15.05 15.05-15.45
Eng Sci His
tue R1 Gae Lab3 RE R6 Mat
Gae R14 En Mus Music R Fren SPHE R20 PE Mat Fren Geo
wed R14 Hi R11 Sci R3 Mat
Break
R1 Bus R7 Eng Gym CSPE
Lunch
R3 Bus R5 Fren R7 Art Art R. Gae R10 His R3 RE
thu
fri
R3 Metal MR PE Gym Lab3 Metal MR Art Art R. R3 Geo R10 Mat R3 R5 Gae R1 Eng R2 Mat
R14 RE R1 His R3 Fren
R7 Art Art R. Eng R14 Bus R5 Geo R11 Sci Lab3 Gae
R11 R3 R7 R1 R10 R14
a. How often does this student have Religion in the week?
answer the questions that follow.
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b. In what room is the Science class held?
c. How many periods of English does this student have?
d. What class has this student got at 12.25 on Friday?
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e. Where is this student supposed to be on Wednesday at 14.25?
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Questions and answers
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EXE
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How often does this student have religion in the week? In what room is the science class held?
3
Laboratory 3
How many periods of English does this student have? What class has this student got at 12.25 on Friday?
5
French
Where is this student supposed to be on Wednesday at 14.25?
Learning Point 2
Room 14 for Gaeilge
My Own Timetable
Now that the student has a better understanding of how a timetable works they can apply this learning to their own timetable. This exercise will check with students how familiar they are already with their own timetable. It is not expected that they would know their timetable yet so do not expect students to answer all the questions correctly, rather this is simply an exercise to draw students’ attention to their own timetable and familiarise them with their new routine.
27
EXE
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2
What’s Your Opinion? The aim of this exercise is to get students to identify for themselves what a good b. How many differences did you notice? homework environment might look like. ISE rC
ExE
The teacher
2
can ask students to work in small
What’s Your Opinion? Now that you have examined the pictures and spotted the differenc write down your observations. Use the headings given to help you:
groups to complete the exercise
Item
or alternatively the teacher can use
Phone
Agreements to stimulate a class
Tidiness
What are your thoughts?
earphones
discussion on the various elements. b. How many differences did you notice?
ExE
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2
What’s Your Opinion? Now that you have examined the pictures and spotted the differences, write down your observations. Use the headings given to help you: Item
What are your thoughts?
Phone Tidiness earphones Window Curtains
Window Curtains Fresh Air Desk Schoolbag The Bedroom
Fresh Air
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Desk Schoolbag
The Bedroom
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3
My Space
This exercise asks students to now reflect on their own homework space, applying what they would have learned in the previous exercises.
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EXE
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35
Each student completes the exercise themselves and can then
share with their Learning Partner and/or in smaller groups.
Brief summary: We have looked at the purpose of homework and discussed what homework means. The various types of homework were introduced, with a focus on helping the student develop some sense of self-awareness around homework, looking at what they like or dislike or whether they prefer working alone or in groups. Time management is important to consider next, with students encouraged to begin managing their time after school from early on. Students have also have encouraged to problem solve and tailor their own space if required. Finally, we will look at organising and managing a homework task.
Learning Point 2 The next step for students is to be organised and structured in their approach to their tasks. Habits should be formed early on in school. Students often do not take the time to think about the resources they might need or the time and effort required. They may underestimate or overestimate these variables, postpone tasks without considering them properly – or simply not complete tasks or rush them without any real learning or gain. It is important to engage students on homework tasks from the outset, convincing them of its importance and manageability. 43
4
Task Timeline!
START
This exercise will help students begin to break down homework tasks into
01
several components and to begin to
02
think about the sequence of doing
03
their homework and looking at what is
04
important.
05
06
This short exercise
07
may be completed with their Learning
08
Partner or in small groups followed by
09
a short class discussion to see what the
10
various groups got for their timelines.
END
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37
Learning Point 3
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Here the students are given five simple tips to assist them in being more effective in doing their homework.
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EXE
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ORK
HOMEW
1.
Establish a routine and commit to doing up to 2 hours’ homework and revision each night in 1st year.
2.
3.
4.
Always do your homework first and then do your revision.
Do your homework in a quiet place, no distractions, no social media. Homework takes much longer to do when you are distracted.
Always attempt your homework. The correct answer is not the important thing, it is important that you attempt things and learn from your mistakes.
PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning
44
5.
It can help to have the telephone number of others in your class. If you missed something you can always contact them.
Chapter 3
My Brain and Learning Lesson 8
GROWING YOUR BRAIN AND LEARNING Aim Aim
To help students understand that your brain can change and grow
Chapter 3
Learning Point 1
My brain and Learning
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Our brains remodel or remake themselves on an ongoing basis right throughout our lives in response to our experiences and what we learn. Scientists now know that
Lesson 8
grOwing yOur brain and learning
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learning is biological, just like weightlifting. Just like when we lift weights we exercise
certain muscles which grow, in the same way when we learn new things and have new experiences we remake or remodel parts of our brain and if we repeat these activities
those parts of our brain become stronger. Learning is the process where we gain new Aim Aim information and skills and memory is the process where we retain that information
To help you understand that your brain can change and grow
1
The Brain and its Functions
The aim of this exercise is to draw students’ attention to the fact that an effort they can change and improve. As this is a self-
Chapter 3
Your brain remodels or remakes itself on an ongoing basis right throughout your life in response to your experiences and what you lea Scientists now know that learning is biological, just like weightlifting. Wh you lift weights you exercise certain muscles, which grow. In the same way when you learn new things and have new experiences you remake remodel parts of your brain and if you repeat these activities those par by making of your brain become stronger. Learning is the process where we gain new information and skills and memory is the process where we retain that information over time. The more we practise, the stronger we are making those connections in our brains.
My brain and Learning
reflection encourage students to
Lesson 8
grOwing yOur brain and learning
complete the exercise by themselves and then they can discuss their
Aim Aim
answers either with the Learning
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ExE
EXE
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Learning Point 1
1
To help you understand that your brain can change and grow
Learning Point 1
Partner or in small group.
Your brain remodels or remakes itself on an ongoing basis right throughout your life in response to your experiences and what you learn. Scientists now know that learning is biological, just like weightlifting. When you lift weights you exercise certain muscles, which grow. In the same way when you learn new things and have new experiences you remake or remodel parts of your brain and if you repeat these activities those parts of your brain become stronger. Learning is the process where we gain new information and skills and memory is the process where we retain that information over time. The more we practise, the stronger we are making those connections in our brains.
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ExE
brains.
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over time. The more we practise the stronger we are making those connections in our
1
The Brain and its Functions What you do affects the growth of your brain. Struggling with certain skills helps your brain change and grow. If you stick at only what is easy your brain won’t grow. Try answering these questions:
The Brain and its Functions What you do affects the growth of your brain. Struggling with cer skills helps your brain change and grow. If you stick at only what easy your brain won’t grow. Try answering these questions: a. What things are you really good at doing?
b. What things do you want to be better at doing?
c. Who do you know that is good at something social or
emotional (like helping others or being kind)?
a. What things are you really good at doing?
b. What things do you want to be better at doing?
c. Who do you know that is good at something social or
emotional (like helping others or being kind)?
39
45
Learning Point 2 New information entering the brain must be assimilated by the brain; it has to link it to things it already knows to start making sense of it. Therefore it is very common for confusion to set in with regard to this new information. Now in fact confusion is good because confusion is an indication that your brain is sorting this new information. The ideal scenario is that when the confusion happens this leads to questions. Ideally those questions help you clarify the new information so that your brain can file it away accurately. Then your confidence builds, you understand what you have learned and you begin to apply it. There are four stages to learning:
Stage 1: Unconscious incompetence – you simply do not know what you do not know – a blissful ignorance.
E
Stage 2: Conscious incompetence – your mind is full of new things you need to understand and you have to place them in some type of order, where you
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understandably experience confusion. Again, confusion is good because it is the indication to you that your brain has begun to sort and make sense of this new information.
Sometimes at this second stage some people become frustrated. Frustration is
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where you have become emotionally thrown as well as mentally thrown, your thinking brain can shut off.
When you ask enough questions you eventually get to the point where you have figured out the steps and have slowly pieced them together in some kind of order. You then move on to the next stage of learning.
Stage 3: Conscious competence – this is where you are becoming competent with the information you are processing but you still need to really concentrate to get it right – so you are consciously competent.
Stage 4: Unconscious competence – Eventually through practice you will get to the fourth stage of learning and this is the stage where all the new information has fully integrated into your brain; your ability is now natural and unconscious. Students expect to jump from stage 1 to stage 4 and give themselves a hard time when they can’t. Confusion is a natural stage in learning. When confusion hits it is your signal to ask more questions. When confusion hits it is great news – it means that your brain has begun the sorting and filing process and with a little time and a bit more practice and a few more questions answered you will move easily through stage 2 and 3 to get to 4. It is very important to give your students permission to progress through these stages in every new thing they learn.
46
Chapter 8
Managing Information: Note taking and writing Lesson 21
WRITING FRAMES Aim Aim
To build students’ confidence in structuring their writing
Learning Point 1
E
As teachers, we know an important skill for students to develop is learning how
to structure their writing, especially in answering questions in assessments. The
students previously looked at the variety of command words and this lesson will build
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Question: explain why historians study the past?
upon this by sharing with them three examples of writing frames that will help them
Explanation writing frame
manage the information they have in their texts.
Subject: History
Topic: Investigating
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The purpose of the following texts is to give the students the opportunity to begin to Date: xx / xx / xx cognitively manage the information they have acquired. I want to explain why historians study the past.
Learning Point 2
the past
The main reason is
because history is the story of our past, tell us about things that happened, why they happened and why they ar important to us.
Students use this frame when they are trying to discuss and explain something that has happened in the text. An example is given from their History course.
Explanation
Use Think, Pair
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ExE
1
1
Question: explain why historians study the past?
and Share along with moving into
Explanation writing frame Subject: History
Learning Squares.
Date: xx
Topic: Investigating
•
Choose a piece of text from either english, Geography or Business Studies
•
Choose a question from the chapter on this text.
•
Then answer the question using the explanation writing fram help you.
the past
historians study the past.
The main reason is
they search for evidence or clues to that past
Explanation Working with a learning partner:
/ xx / xx
I want to explain why
because history is the story of our past, telling us about things that happened, why they happened and why they are important to us.
Another reason is
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ExE
EXE
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Another reason is
1
they search for evidence or clues to that past.
Explanation Working with a learning partner:
Subject:
•
Choose a piece of text from either english, Geography or Business Studies
•
Choose a question from the chapter on this text.
•
Then answer the question using the explanation writing frame to help you.
Subject:
Topic:
Topic:
Date:
I want to explain why
Date: I want to explain why
The main reason is
Another reason is
The main reason is
104
Another reason is
81
Learning Point 3 This writing frame is used when you would like to give information on how something should be done, the correct sequence that should be followed when undertaking a task or experiment. An example is given from Science on examining an onion cell under a microscope.
2
Instruction Use Think, Pair
and Share along with moving into
ISE rC
ExE
EXE
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2
Learning Squares.
Instruction Working with a learning partner: •
Choose a piece of text which is giving instructions to follow from either Science, Technical Graphics or Home economics.
•
Choose a question from the chapter on this text.
•
Then answer the question using the instruction writing frame to help you.
Subject:
Date:
Topic:
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ExE
When we
2
First we
Instruction Working with a learning partner: •
Choose a piece of text which is giving instructions to follow fro either Science, Technical Graphics or Home economics.
•
Choose a question from the chapter on this text.
•
Then answer the question using the instruction writing frame t help you.
Then we
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Finally we
Subject:
Date:
When we
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106
Learning Point 4
First we
This writing frame is used when students are expected to give reasons for their opinion on a piece of text or trying to persuade someone else to agree with them.Then An we example is given from poetry on the English course.
EXE
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3
Persuasion
Finally we
Use Think, Pair and Share along with moving into
Learning Squares.
PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.
MENTAL NOTE
“It's not a silly question if you can’t answer it.” – Jostein Gaarder, Sophie’s World106
82
Topic:
END OF SECTION REFLECTION
E
Now that the students have completed the first section of this programme,
this section gives them the chance to pause and reflect on all that they have
In this part students will look at:
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learned.
Reflecting on the Junior Cycle key skills which they developed
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Exploring what they enjoyed most or least and why
Identifying how they used what they learned in other areas of their studies
Identifying possible areas they would like to focus on in the future. This section may be of aid to class tutors or form teachers in relation to the formative assessment of the students’ progress.
Encourage students to complete this section individually
and create an opportunity where you can give feedback to the student on their responses.
BEING LITERATE COMMUNICATING
WORKING WITH OTHERS
MANAGING MYSELF
KEY SKILLS
BEING CREATIVE
STAYING WELL
MANAGING INFORMATION & THINKING BEING NUMERATE
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Section 2
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Learning and Study
Introduction This section is ideally aimed at second year students as they engage more fully
2. Goals and Motivation for Learning
in studying throughout the Junior Cycle.
These lessons will look at how
During the first section students learned
students can use their learning
about how they learn and the skills for
strengths to set and achieve their
learning, along with exploring various
own goals for learning by using the
strategies which they can use to help them
SUPER system. They will also explore
in their learning. This new section will build
their motivations for achieving their
on what students have already covered
learning goals.
by looking more closely at the student as a learner, how they should set goals for their Junior Cycle and, finally, provide
The final section is where students learn all about how memory works
E
students with a simple study system that
3. Memory and Study
will support them throughout the Junior
some simple strategies to aid their memory. As study is key to helping
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Cycle and beyond.
and here they are provided with
students recall and apply what they
learning to studying, where the skills and
need for assessments, they will also
motivation for study are explored.
look at what is involved in study
A lot of the time students do not engage
and be introduced to an effective
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This section looks at moving from
effectively with study for various reasons,
study system where they will learn
such as:
all about planning, doing, and
Lack of motivation
Unsure of how to study
Not having a study system. Section 2 is broken into three components:
1. The Student as a Learner Here students will build on the skills and behaviours for learning by developing their own intelligence profile, which will identify their strengths as a learner.
reviewing what they have studied. As part of this section students will learn about and practise POKER, an effective and proven study system.
Section 2
Learning and Study
Chapter 9
You as a Learner LESSON 22: Characteristics of a Learner ................................................................................ 86 LESSON 23: Reflection in Action ........................................................................................... 88 LESSON 24: Intelligence Profiles 1 ............................................................................................ 90 LESSON 25: Intelligence Profiles 2 ........................................................................................... 92
Chapter 10
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Setting your Goals
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LESSON 26: Working to my Strengths ..................................................................................... 96
LESSON 27: Creating Goals to Succeed .................................................................................... 98
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LESSON 28: The Super System 1 ............................................................................................. 101 LESSON 29: The Super System 2 ......................................................................................... 104
Chapter 11
Motivation
LESSON 30: Exploring Motivation .......................................................................................... 108 LESSON 31: Believing in Yourself ............................................................................................ 112 LESSON 32: Changing Beliefs .................................................................................................... 114
Chapter 12
Memory
LESSON 33: Memory and the Forgetting Curve .............................................................. 117 LESSON 34: Memory Techniques 1 .......................................................................................... 120 LESSON 35: Memory Techniques 2 ......................................................................................... 122
Chapter 13
Plan it!
LESSON 36: Barriers to Study .................................................................................................. 125 LESSON 37: Planning your Study ............................................................................................. 127
Chapter 14
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Do it!
LESSON 38: Introducing POKER ............................................................................................. 131
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LESSON 39: POKER 2 .................................................................................................................. 134 LESSON 40: Mind Mapping ...................................................................................................... 136
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LESSON 41: POKER 3 ............................................................................................................... 139
Chapter 15
POKER Practice
LESSON 42: Studying Languages .............................................................................................. 141 LESSON 43: Studying English ................................................................................................... 143 LESSON 44: POKER Practice (Other Subjects 1) ..................................................................... 145 LESSON 45: POKER Practice (Other Subjects 2) .................................................................. 146
Chapter 16
Review It! LESSON 46: Planning and Executing Revision .......................................................................147 LESSON 47: The Student’s Approach to Revision ................................................................ 150
End of Section Reflection
152
Chapter 9
You as a Learner Lesson 22
CHARACTERISTICS OF A LEARNER To explore the qualities of an effective learner with the students
Aim Aim
Learning Point 1
E
In the last section students explored both the rules for learning in class and the
behaviours for learning. Hopefully they have begun to implement them in their learning.
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This section begins by looking at how the students have been doing on their journey to becoming a more effective learner by reviewing how well they have done on implementing these behaviours so far.
8 Skills and Behaviours of an Effective Learner
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1
The aim of this exercise is for students to identify for themselves how well they have been implementing the skills and behaviours for learning. This hopefully will create an opportunity for the students to reflect and re-engage with their learning if needed.
As this is a reflective exercise, ask students to complete the
short questionnaire themselves. Teachers may then decide to allow students to share their results with their Learning Partner. Chapter 9
You as a Learner Lesson 25
CharaCteristiCs of a Learner Aim Aim
Organised:
Hardworking:
I have the right books and equipment for each class.
I stick at an exercise even when I find it difficult.
Punctual:
Persistent:
I am on time for each class and hand up my homework on time.
To help you identify qualities of an effective learner
Co-operative:
Learning Point 1 In the last section you explored both the rules for learning in class and the behaviours for learning. Do you remember what they are? Hopefully you have begun to implement them in your learning. This section begins by looking at how you have been doing on your journey to becoming a more effective learner by reviewing how well you have done on implementing these behaviours so far in your learning.
I do my best in my work.
Thoughtful:
I work well with other students in my class.
I think of others and their feelings
Attentive:
Optimistic:
I pay attention to what the teachers say.
I try to find the best in every situation.
Where you score between 1 and 3 you are less likely to have developed this quality. Where you score 4 to 5 these are your strengths and they will assist you in becoming a good student and effective learner.
ExE
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2
Reflecting on your score Here are a few simple questions which will help you think about your answers in the previous exercise and possibly think about how you could improve your score for some of the behaviours. a. What skills and behaviours did you score highest on?
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ExE
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8 Skills and Behaviours of an effective learner
1
In this exercise you will rate yourself on how well you have been doing in practising the skills and behaviours as shown on the next page.
b. Can you give examples of when you did these things?
Read each statement and score yourself in relation to whether you feel this reflects you or not. The key is as follows.
1
2
3
I feel this is almost never true for me.
I feel this is not often true for me.
I feel this is sometimes true for me.
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88
4 I feel this is usually true for me.
5 I feel this is always true for me.
c. Did you score low on any behaviour?
Yes
No
d. If yes, which ones?
123
Organised:
Hardworking:
I have the right books and equipment for each class.
I stick at an exercise even when I find it difficult.
Punctual:
Persistent:
I am on time for each class and hand up my homework on time.
Thoughtful:
I work well with other students in my class.
I think of others and their feelings
I pay attention to what the teachers say.
I try to find the best in every situation.
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E
Optimistic:
Reflecting on your Score
Organised:
Hardwork
I have the right books and equipment for each class.
I stick at an e when I find it
Punctual:
Persistent
I am on time for each class and hand up my homework on time.
Attentive:
I do my best my work.
Co-operative:
Thoughtfu
I work well with other students in my class.
I think of othe their feelings
Attentive:
Optimistic
I pay attention to what the teachers say.
I try to find th in every situa
This exercise will draw the students’ attention to their results and to thinking about how they could improve their score in moving forward. Students initially
answer the questions individually and
Organised:
2
I work well with other students in my class.
I think of others and their feelings
Attentive:
Optimistic:
I pay attention to what the teachers say.
I try to find the best in every situation.
I am on time for each class and hand up my homework on time.
Stick/Ball to generate a class
Reflecting on your score
Hardworking:
Co-operative:
Punctual:
go around the room using the Talking
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2
Where you score between 1 and 3 you are less likely to have this quality. Where you score 4 to 5 these are your strength will assist you in becoming a good student and effective lear
Here are a few simple questions which will help you think abo answers in the previous exercise and possibly think about how could improve your score for some of the behaviours. Thoughtful:
I have the right books and equipment for each class.
Partner, or the teacher may wish to
discussion on the responses.
ExE
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then discuss with their Learning
ExE
2
Co-operative:
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I do my best in my work.
I stick at an exercise even when I find it difficult.
Persistent:
I do my best in my work.
a. What skills and behaviours did you score highest on?
Where you score between 1 and 3 you are less likely to have developed this quality. Where you score 4 to 5 these are your strengths and they will assist you in becoming a good student and effective learner. Reflecting on your score
b. Can you give examples of when you did these things?
Here are a few simple questions which will help you think about your answers in the previous exercise and possibly think about how you could improve your score for some of the behaviours. a. What skills and behaviours did you score highest on?
b. Can you give examples of when you did these things?
c. Did you score low on any behaviour?
c. Did you score low on any behaviour? Yes
No
d. If yes, which ones?
d. If yes, which ones? 123
PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.
MENTAL NOTE
“The knowledge of all things is possible.” – Leonardo Da Vinci
89
Yes
Chapter 11
Motivation Lesson 31
BELIEVING IN YOURSELF Aim Aim
To help students to begin to develop a sense of self-belief
Learning Point 1
E
To be successful in life, students must believe in themselves. Self-belief is linked directly to confidence. Confidence is all about believing in themselves. They have been
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introduced to the practical tools needed for success, including behaviours for success, developing good routines to improve motivation and working on resilience as a key tool. Without self-belief, however, students may never realise their goals or begin to put the behaviours required into place. Self-belief is something that you should try to instil in
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all students, even the most difficult. As educators, we have to believe that all students have the potential to do well in life. It may take some longer than others, but lessons like these can impact students for a lifetime as they work through these formative years.
EXE
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1
What Does Confidence Look and Sound Like? This exercise brings students’ awareness to how confident students appear
Plan A
to others.
Plan B
Plan A
Plan A
Using Jigsaw, give each initial group a different scenario
to work with, then when they merge into the new groups students can
Plan Plan A B
Plan B
collectively discuss each scenario. This can be followed up with a short class discussion about what was noticed byPlan the students during the lesson. B
114
Learning Point 2 Self-belief relies on others as much as ourselves. In the last lesson students looked at who was available to them in their Resilience Parachute. These same people impact self-belief. It is therefore important to work on filling the parachute with worthy people. Another way of doing this is to form a ‘Believer Network’. This network of people may cross over with the Parachute, but its function is different and the numbers are limited. The network’s job is to provide wisdom, advice and affirmation. The Believers can come from anywhere the
Learning student chooses and they should be people the student respects and admires, people
Point 2
whose advice they can trust. People on the ‘Believer Network’ can be famous or not, living
Did you know that self-belief relies on others too? You messages others give you and turn those messages in others in their network, a ‘Believer Network’. By having people who believe in them and negative ones! To help you work on self-belief you nee provide good counsel to them, students begin to become believers in themselves. yourself with people who will build you up with positiv boost your confidence and self-belief. ISE or past. The point of this exercise is to work on creating a sense of self-belief through
2
Believer Network
Some people create an imaginary believer network fo The network’s job is to provide wisdom, advice and affi
This exercise will help students to begin to think about who they would like in
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EXE
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their own believer network, who they would choose to sit down with and seek
The believer should be people you respect, admire an should also know you. The point of this exercise is to m ‘Believer Network’. By having people who believe in yo believer in ourself.
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advice from.
As this is a personal can take time to complete their own
Some people create an imaginary believer network for themselves. The network’s job is to provide wisdom, advice and affirmation to you.
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believer network, which they can then
Learning Point 2
Did you know that self-belief relies on others too? You can take in the messages others give you and turn those messages into beliefs, particularly negative ones! To help you work on self-belief you need to surround yourself with people who will build you up with positive messages. These will boost your confidence and self-belief.
as part of a class discussion.
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ExE
share with their Learning Partner or
The believer should be people you respect, admire and trust. Your believers should also know you. The point of this exercise is to make your own ‘Believer Network’. By having people who believe in you, you become a believer in ourself.
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ExE
and reflective exercise, students
Believer network Name five people you have in your believer net why you are choosing each person.
2
Believer network Name five people you have in your believer network and give a reason why you are choosing each person.
2
1
2
3
4
5
Name: Reason:
Name: Reason:
Name: Reason:
Name:
1
Reason:
Name: Reason:
Name: Reason:
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3
The Beliefs
2
Name:
Reason: As this is a personal exercise students can simply write in
the bubbles the affirming comments that people on the Believer Network would share with them.
3
Name: Reason:
PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.
4
Name: Reason:
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Chapter 11
Motivation Lesson 32
CHANGING BELIEFS Aim Aim
To challenge belief systems
Learning Point 1
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There is something self-fulfilling in the way we speak to ourselves
internally, teachers, students, all of us. Beliefs can become so engrained
PL
that they define everything we do and everything we don’t! Students have the capacity to adapt, change and expand their belief systems throughout their lives. Beliefs are based on interpretations of the past, therefore
1
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their validity or whether they are
Thoughts define feelings
helping or hindering progress in life may rarely be questioned. Students need to acquire an understanding
of how to challenge beliefs. Students can begin by reflecting on the beliefs
2
Emotions determine actions
7
they may have about themselves.
“If you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right.” Henry Ford.
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1
4
Results reinforce thinking
What Do I Believe About Myself? This exercise will challenge students to begin to think positively about themselves and challenge some of the negative thinking that might be going on. As this is a personal reflective exercise, students should complete individually.
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3 Actions govern results
END OF SECTION REFLECTION
E
Now that the students have completed the second section of this programme, this section gives them the chance to pause and reflect on all that they have
In Section 2 students will have:
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learned.
Explored their intelligence profile and identified their learning strengths
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Set goals for themselves and actions to achieve these goals Looked at their motivation and mindset for success Learned how to study and revise effectively.
This section may aid class tutors or form teachers in relation to the formative assessment of the students’ progress.
Encourage students to complete this section individually
and create an opportunity where you can give feedback to the students on their responses.
BEING LITERATE COMMUNICATING
WORKING WITH OTHERS
MANAGING MYSELF
KEY SKILLS
BEING CREATIVE
MANAGING INFORMATION & THINKING BEING NUMERATE
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STAYING WELL
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NOTES
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Section 3
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Learning and Assessment
Introduction Assessment Preparation
2. Chapters 18 and 19
In this last section of the programme
look at how students can develop
students will explore some of the
resilience as a learner, becoming
strategies that will enable them to achieve
more confident along with exploring
and succeed. Hopefully at this stage in
some simple strategies to help them
the programme they will have realised
cope with the stress of learning and
that the road to success is based upon
assessments.
being prepared and having a structured approach to whatever it is they are doing. This section focuses on preparing
3. Finally, Chapter 20 looks at how students can prepare themselves properly for any exam,
students for assessments. They will explore the purpose and different types
revision practices and sharing with
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of assessments. Some people find that
by taking another look at their
simply being assessed and having to do
days before, the day of and in the examination.
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assessments can be quite stressful and
them tips that will help them the
even upsetting. In this section students
will explore simple strategies that will help them cope with this pressure and, finally,
look at some other simple tips which they
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can use to help them prepare for any assessment or exam.
This section may be broken down into three key areas:
1. Chapter 17
Along with looking at the variety of assessments students will come across in the Junior Cycle, this chapter also explores the purpose of assessments, their benefit and how they can use feedback to assist them in their learning.
To conclude the section and the course there is an end of section reflection for the students to reflect on what key skills they developed throughout the course and look at how these can be introduced into their learning going forward.
2
How are you Feeling? This exercise is an extension of the previous one, where students are encouraged to identify the feelings they might have around assessments. Working in the Learning Squares, ask the groups to complete the exercise. Ask each group to consider why they chose a particular picture for each feeling; encourage them to think about how we recognise how people are feeling by their expressions. Encourage groups in their feedback to describe the expression you would expect to see for each feeling.
Peaceful
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Unhappy
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Worried
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Confused
Happy
Scared
Confident
Excited
Learning Point 2 Two of the most common emotions students have around failure are being scared and worried. One of the reasons students might be scared or worried is because they are afraid of failure. Nobody likes to fail at anything, it’s not a nice feeling, but this is because most people don’t look at failure properly. People tend to see failure as an end point, that once they fail at something that’s it, nothing more can be done. But remember this is not a reality, instead:
Failure is not an end point but rather an event on the road to success – It is only a temporary state. 166
In life, everybody fails at things in many ways. Failure must be seen as an opportunity for growth. Just think of some of these famous failures:
JK Rowling’s manuscript for Harry
Thomas Edison’s teacher told him
Potter was turned down by 30
he was too stupid to learn anything
different publishers.
at school.
Bill Gates was a Harvard dropout.
Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for having no
Dr Seuss was rejected by 27 publishers.
Michael Jordan was cut from
imagination and no original ideas.
his high school team and went
Steve Jobs, at age 30, was sacked
home to his room to cry.
from the company he founded. Failure is not ideal; it is not what the students might have strived for but it happens and they need to learn how to deal with it. The most important part of a conversation around failure is what they DID about it. What did they learn from
What is Failure?
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This exercise is a reflection on what was covered in Learning Point 2. It is vitally important for students to begin to think differently about what failure means and to adopt a different perspective from the norm on failure. Discussion is important here to illicit how
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the situation and how could they avoid it happening again?
the students might perceive failure. Teachers could use the
Agreements method here to begin the class discussion, or if the teacher wished to have some movement they could use the Agree/Disagree method, where they might use the following statements or something similar:
You should give up once you fail.
Nobody of any significance ever failed.
Failure is only a stepping stone to achieving something better. Etc.
Learning Point 3 One of the key skills that is really important to learn in today’s world is the ability to keep going, to try again, to bounce back after failure. This is what is called resilience and students will learn all about it in the coming lessons.
PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.
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Chapter 18
Resilience Lesson 51
EMOTIONS AND RESILIENCE Aim Aim
To explore the concept of resilience
Learning Point 1
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In the last lesson students learned that failure is an important step on the road to success. Unfortunately a lot of people give up on the first hurdle or obstacle they
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meet. This may be because they haven’t developed resilience. If students wish to be successful in their learning journey then they too need to learn to develop resilience. It is also something that will be really important for them throughout life.
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Learning Point 2
Resilience is simply their ability to bounce back and continue after they have met an obstacle or setback, like a failure in a test or low score on an essay. It is having the ability of not giving up but continuing on their journey to reach their goals that counts. BOUNCE is a simple acronym that might help students remember the key elements of what resilience is about.
B O U N C E
Bad things and times happen but things do get better. Others are there to help you but you need to let them know. Unhelpful thoughts don’t make things better. Nobody is perfect. Concentrate on the good things in your life, it’s not all bad. Everybody has setbacks or struggles. You are not on your own here.
During this lesson students will explore five simple things that they can include in their life to help them build their resilience. These are:
Express yourself 168
Nourish yourself
Sunny side up
Identifyrengths your St
Relax
Learning Point 3 Express yourself: Don’t bottle things up, express your emotions. Remind students about when they previously explored how powerful their emotions are. Along with having people who they can talk things through with, students could also express their emotions by keeping a diary, by painting, or even music.
1
Everybody Needs Somebody This exercise looks at the support structures that each student has around themselves that they can turn to when in need. Sometimes students might not be as aware as they could be of the various people who are available to them simply to talk things through with or for more formal support if needed. Students initially work individually to complete their own turn to their Learning Partner to share with them what they wrote down.
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Teachers may wish to have a short class
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template and if they wish they can then
discussion on this exercise using the
Talking Stick/Ball activity and asking some simple questions like:
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Was anybody surprised by the
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number of people around them to support them?
Did anybody include somebody
that they might not necessarily have thought about before?
Learning Point 4 Nourish yourself: The Romans used to have a saying about a healthy mind in a healthy body. To be effective in their learning and to feel positive means living a healthy, balanced life, getting the required amount of sleep, eating properly and exercising. There is a lesson further on which will look at all of these.
Learning Point 5 Sunny side up: In lesson 34 students looked at beliefs and self-beliefs. When people meet obstacles on their journey, negative thinking can creep in. It is important for students, especially around times that they might be stressed, to check their thinking. Are they thinking negative or positive thoughts? Positive thinking will give them the motivation to keep
going so they need to be aware of some simple strategies that can refocus their thinking and perspective to being more balanced and positive, like having an attitude of gratitude. 169
means living a healthy, balanced life, getting the requir eating properly and exercising. There is a further lesso
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Learning Point 5
Attitude of Gratitude
Sunny side up: In lesson 34 you looked at beliefs and sel One key easy way of changing negative thinking into positive thinking is by meet obstacles on their journey, negative thinking can cre developing what is called an attitude of gratitude. This exercise simply means It is important to check your thinking to see whether you ar reminding yourself of the good things in your life. What’s going well for you? positive thoughts. Positive thinking will give you the motiva What should you be grateful for?
Give the students five that they should be grateful for. Time them
Learning Point 5 Sunny side up: In lesson 34 you looked at beliefs and self-beliefs. When people meet obstacles on their journey, negative thinking can creep in. It is important to check your thinking to see whether you are thinking negative or positive thoughts. Positive thinking will give you the motivation to keep going. ISE RC
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answers with their Learning Partner
2
Nourish yourself: The Romans used to have a saying about a healthy mind in a healthy body. To be effective in your learning and to feel positive means living a healthy, balanced life, getting the required amount of sleep, eating properly and exercising. There is a further lesson to look at these.
closely and make them stop when five minutes are up. Students can share their
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minutes to think of 20 things in their lives
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Learning Point 4
2
Attitude of Gratitude
to see what the other wrote. Using the
one easy way of changing your negative thinking into positive thinking is by developing what is called an attitude of gratitude. This simply means reminding yourself of the good things in your life. What’s going well for you? What are you grateful for?
Talking Stick/Ball method the teacher
Check in with yourself to see how positive you are about your life. In the box that follows write in 20 things that you are grateful for here and now.
they wrote. Gauge from the students how many were able to think of 20 things, how
(xi)
(ii)
(xii)
(iii)
(xiii)
(iv)
(xiv)
(v) (vi)
difficult or easy the task was, why it might
(vii) (viii) (ix)
(xv)
(xvi)
(xvii)
(xviii) (xix)
(x)
(x
a. Did (ii)you find it easy to write in 20 things? Yes No (iii)
(xx)
Draw the students’ attention to the fact
that people have a tendency to focus on the negative and it’s important to keep
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things in perspective.
Check in with yourself to see how positive you a the box that follows write in 20 things that you a and now. (i)
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be difficult to think of 20 things.
(i)
Healthy
mind one in Aeasy way of changing your negative thinkin healthy thinking is by developing what is called an attitu body This simply means reminding yourself of the go What’s going well for you? What are you gratefu
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can encourage students to share what
Attitude of Gratitude
Learning Point 6
Explain:
(x
(x
(iv)
(x
(v)
(x
(vi)
(x
(vii)
(x
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(viii) Learning Point 6
(x
Identify your strengths: The students learned previously on the course that (ix)strengths: everybody has their own particu (x Identify your everybody has their own particular set of strengths. By working to their learning strengths. By working to your strengths you will experience strengths students will experience success. By experiencing success, when things go (x) x build your confidence by experiencing success so when (th wrong students will have the confidence to pick themselves up and try again. you will have the confidence to pick up and try again. Your Strengths This quick exercise is aimed at reminding
a. Did you find it easy to write in 20 things? Yes No
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the students of their strengths, which
Explain:
they identified earlier in the course. Students quickly fill in their identified learning strengths and if they wish can share some of these either
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Your Strengths Can you remember your learning strengths, which you section 2? Fill in your top 3 below.
Learning Point 6
1.
Identify your strengths: everybody has their own particular set of strengths. By working to your strengths you will experience success. You build your confidence by experiencing success so when things go wrong you will have the confidence to pick up and try again.
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with their Learning Partner or class.
Your Strengths
2.
Can you remember your learning strengths, which you identified in section 2? Fill in your top 3 below. 1. 2. 3.
3.
Learning Point 7 Relax: It is important to take time out, to relax and unwind. Focusing all the time on your learning and studying is not good for you. It is important that you take regular breaks from your study and you have a variety of ways of switching off or winding down, which is what relaxing is about. one powerful relaxation tool is mindfulness. This is a technique of bringing your attention to the present by focusing on what is around you and not letting it wander off worrying about other things. It might be something that you could investigate further and learn more about. In today’s hectic world more and more people are turning to mindfulness exercises.
Learning Point 7
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170
Relax: It is important to take time out, to relax and unwind Focusing all the time on your learning and studying is not good for you. It is important that you take regular brea your study and you have a variety of ways of switching off o
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Section 4
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Worksheet Templates and Resources.
Video resources The following short videos may be used as a aid for engaging the students and reinforcing some of what is covered in the programme.
Emotions and the Brain http://bit.ly/1qXoes5
Learning Styles Auditory Learner http://bit.ly/2vPhF6c
2:02 This short animation explains what our emotions are and how they can affect the thinking in our brain.
Goals
1:04 Visual Leaner http://bit.ly/2xdezZY 1:03 Kinaesthetic learner http://bit.ly/2gKf9DZ
0:55
0:50
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http://bit.ly/1MmBxhp
http://bit.ly/1Bq6lnv 7:34
We all learn differently and there are many different types of learning preferences. Understanding how we learn best and accessing content that best suits us, is a powerful way to learn and retain information. These three short videos explains the VAK learners.
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This short animation may be used as an opening for a class on goal setting.
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A goal is a desired result a person or a system envisions, plans and commits to achieve a personal or organizational desired end-point. This film explains the difference between having dreams and setting goals along with what is involved.
Growth and Fixed Mindset http://bit.ly/1BF5ktW
Listening Skills http://bit.ly/2wLfFJr 7:48 Tips to help students Improve their listening skills. Learn why listening is important, the 3 steps to listening, how to become a better listener, what defines good listening, and more.
3:50 A Short animation explaining the theory of growth and fixed mindsets. This is a tested and effective way of teaching young people what a fixed mindset is and how we can change that. Many of the messages in this video have been taken from the theorist Carol Dweck.
Memory Techniques http://bit.ly/2j7N6D2 7:20 This short video looks at importance of memory techniques along with explaining some the simple mnemonics and the roman room method.
Mindmap
Reflection
http://bit.ly/1jzaP95
http://bit.ly/2eJL5Ig
2:51
1:37
This clip, provided by MacGrercy Consultants (www.macgrercy.com) shows you the basics of how to make a mind map. The intention is to show you the main points to get you started. http://bit.ly/2wKdO9n 3:17 This is a 7 step guide to making a mind map. Mind mapping is an excellent way to organise revision notes.
Short animation explains the importance of reflection as part of the learning process.
Teamwork http://bit.ly/2xdBh4l 4:52 Shows the synergy that is developed by working in teams/ groups.
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Your Brain and Learning
http://bit.ly/2xRlhCh
http://bit.ly/1dofEAK
7:01
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A short video tutorial on how to use A MindMap that will improve your exams skills.
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Multiple Intelligences http://bit.ly/2cQas9J
4:15
In his theory of multiple intelligences, Dr. Howard Gardner describes how humans can be intellectually smart in a variety of different ways. http://bit.ly/2j96srx
3:32 In this animated video, students learn how to improve their strengths in all eight of Dr. Howard Gardner's proposed intelligences. Students can get smarter and increase their creativity by making daily improvements in each of these fields. Gain wisdom, knowledge, and improve their total intellectual skills by performing the tasks and habits mentioned in this video.
An excellent introduction about how the brain runs various functions of the body and mind. Not only does this video touch on why poor nutrition and hydration negatively impact brain functioning, it also explains how and why stress and anxiety reduce cognitive abilities. Also covered are various ways to keep the brain operating in tip top condition in order to be more emotionally stable and to maximize learning potential.
Schools should provide a space for “learning opportunities designed to develop self-management and personal organisation skills including goal setting, study skills, coping skills and reflection skills.” - NCCA guidelines on Well-Being for the Junior Cycle
The Learning to Learn workbook provides a structured course for Junior Cycle students, equipping them with the essential skills to be successful in their academic life. The programme assists students in understanding themselves better, being more organised and confident as learners along with having a proven study system and assessment approach which will reduce their stress level and add to their sense of well-being. There is a key focus for each section accompanying students through the Junior Cycle: Section 1 – Transition and Study, supports students to quickly adapt to the new expectations placed upon them in their learning. Section 2 – Goal Setting and Study, provides students with the motivation and skills to become effective at learning and studying. Section 3 – Study, Assessment Preparation and Developing Resilience, which supports students working towards success in their learning. Section 4 – Resources for teachers to photocopy along with some ideas for videos to use in class. Each chapter has key learning points with practical exercises taken from a variety of Junior Cycle subjects, along with a reflective opportunity at the end of the lesson where the students reflect on and record where they intend to implement what they learned into their regular study.
”It is full of ideas, methods and techniques that will help busy teachers planning their course work if they wish to launch a short course in ‘How We Learn’. It’s a practical book and in my view an essential workbook for all students and an ideal book for teaching learning for their teacher, tutor and year head.“ - Patricia Atkins, Former Principal
T: 01 808 1494 - F: 01 836 2739 - E: info@thesupergeneration.com