RBWM training week 2

Okay, so on 15th September 2011 we had a central training session on lesson planning. Central training sessions are where all of the GTP trainees are working together and are not at their separate schools. I didn't feel this session was particularly beneficial to me as being a Learning Support Assistant last year I have experience of writing lesson plans, even for OFSTED. The other issue was how under prepared the speaker was and how we discovered at our next central training session that the evaluation forms for his session had mysteriously gone missing! Oh dear! Here's what I did learn anyway:

What do I need to know before planning a lesson?

Learning Outcomes – Scheme of Work, what the students already know

Class information – age, Special Educational Needs, English as an Additional Language, attainment, organisation (seating plan)

Length – timing, starter, episodes

Rules

Health & Safety

Reflection time

Resources – learning styles

Learning Objective (LO): know that, understand how/why, be able to, be aware of, explore (include which Assessment Objective(AO)/Assessment Focus you are covering) Try making your LO a question, for example, how does Shakespeare create atmosphere in the opening scenes of Macbeth? If the student can answer the question they have met the LO. This also creates an automatic plenary.

For example: LO: To introduce verb varieties and begin to comment on their effects in texts (AO1).

Examples of a bad learning objective: To create a Christmas decoration for a front door. This describes the activity rather than what the student will learn.

WALT- we are learning to

WILF – what I’m looking for

Learning outcomes: class discussion

Episodes

Starters – begin the students learning straight away, short activity that is drawing on a skill that is already learnt. Recap what the students have done the previous lesson.

If too much of the lesson is teacher talking the students will disengage.

If the class gets restless, stop and ask them to discuss with a partner what they have learnt, write a sentence about what you’re talking about or create some bullet points.

Avoid tasks that ask students to copy information.

DARTs – directed activities related to texts.

Plenary – has to engage the whole class. For example, use post-it notes to find out what the students have learnt.

A lesson should consist of a number of episodes because it is constantly allowing the students to review what they have learnt and it keeps the students engaged.

Three strategies I will use are making a LO a question, having regular plenaries during lessons and varied DARTs.

Analysis of a filmed lesson:

+ plus	-          Minus	Interesting
Demonstrated how the students analyse an image independently. Made mistakes on purpose and let the students correct him. Interactive and tailored to get the less confident people to participate. Used the term ‘I’ to relate to the students.	Addition of teacher knowledge.	Teacher led learning rather than student led learning (structured learning).

Auditory learning: hear and repeat, just a minute, guess my word, word bingo.

Discussion on group work:

K – What do I know?	W – What do I want to know?	L – What have I learnt?
A group consists of two people and more than two people working together. Group work can be used to differentiate a topic. Group work promotes independent learning. It helps with communication skills. A competition element can be added to group work. Student led learning as opposed to teacher led learning.	Teaching strategies for group work.	Ways to set up groups – jigsaw and envoy.

Planning lessons for low attainers – incorporate literacy and numeracy skills, select relevant key words, make up memory aids, starters and plenaries are vital, diagrammatic representation for key points, lessons should be dynamic and unusual, and include thinking time.

WWW – what went well?

NTIW – Now/Next (time) I will...

EBI – Even better if...

In observing during the past few weeks I have watched some of these techniques used very effectively in lessons. However, whilst at the training we discussed modelling. Modelling is where a teacher demonstrates what he or she wants his/her students to achieve. This is fine for a short task, but when it's for an essay, like it was in the example we were shown, it is just not possible. You will never seen me modelling writing an essay in one of my classrooms. This is going against the best piece of advice I've had so far "never become the teacher you hated when you were at school."