Learning and Teaching Bulletin
An update from the Learning and Teaching group
Learning and Teaching
The learning and teaching group has a fairly simple remit. We aim to improve the quality and consistency of learning and teaching at Craigmount:
Our priorities for this year are:
- AiFL
This particular bulletin will look at
- Starters and plenaries
- Expert teaching
- Student voice at Craigmount
- Ethic of excellence, practice and rigour
Email: david.sansom@craigmount.edin.sch.uk
Twitter: @CraigmountTandL
THE LEARNING and TEACHING GROUP
We thought that if we could ask each member of staff to come up with one example of a starter or plenary (or both) that they have used in the past, very quickly we will have gathered an excellent array, used across the school in different settings.
There is a template here, and a blank version for you to fill in here (you should also have been given a paper copy.)
If you would like to contribute to this very worthwhile "sharing good practice exercise" please return the form to Shona Wallace's tray before the February break.
WHAT IS GREAT TEACHING - WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
- There’s no prescribed ‘right’ way of teaching.
- If it gets the right outcomes for the students, then it ‘works’.
- There’s a great deal to be learnt from those teachers who have truly mastered the craft of the classroom.
- There’s a large number of myths around, about what works.
- It’s worth combining the wisdom of these great teachers with the research evidence base about what makes great teaching.
- From this wisdom and evidence, there appears to be some firm pedagogical principles that appear to contribute to great teaching.
- How would you know?
- What evidence would there be?
- How would it differ from another teacher?
- What would you see in note, teaching style or dicussion?
Student Voice – Feedback
Student feedback can be a very useful learning tool both for students and teachers. Ways to effectively do this are varied and depend on what your desired outcome of the feedback may be.Is it
to allow students to reflect on their own pieces of work and build on this?
for you to see what students reaction is to a particular activity or unit of work?
to collect information on assessment?
Either way, giving students a method of voicing their own thoughts about their learning can be beneficial for all.
Below is a link to some examples that have been volunteered from different departments around the school (office 365 login required). Please feel free to add to the folder at any time
DEVELOPING AND ETHIC OF EXCELLENCE
IF IT'S NOT EXCELLENT, IT'S NOT FINISHED!
Effect size - feedback
Effect size text
Feedback feeding forward
This fits really well with Dweck's work on mindset. When you are presented with the final draft you might think that this boy has more talent. In reality he just needed to fins a way
Developing this ethos or ethic of excellence
- Start by showing exemplary work
- Refer to the work as drafts
- Give the critique time to work and make sure it is Friendly, specific and helpful
- Model the process by showing students how to do it
- Ban certain words like good, awesome and rubbish
- Ask the students to do the critique
- Critique the critique
- Redraft - dedicate actual time to this
- Show the work - if students take time to do it excellently, we should think about displaying it!