10 May 2020
This Week:
- Trainees – Home study through University of Cumbria.
- NQTs – Meetings arranged for Tuesday and Wednesday through Teams. See email for invite.
Reflect…
Many of us will be thinking about Year 10 students at present and more importantly their journey towards their final assessment in Year 11.
A few weeks ago, I recommended Shaun Allison’s blog called ‘Distance Teaching Year 10’. Obviously, as classroom practitioners, our anxiety and sense of powerlessness grows as does the pressing need to introduce new (challenging) subject content – from a distance. Allison suggests that we can combat some of these feelings by ‘adjusting’ the curriculum.
This week, reflect on the best way to educate Year 10 from a distance (even if you only have a limited number of ‘returns’ from students). How do we explain or introduce new ideas? Loom videos or using visualisers to offer a couple of options.
At #rEDDurringtonLoom earlier this month, Paul Kirschner gave a useful talk on distance teaching. The video is 8 minutes long and is saved in our CPD Library in Teams.
To summarise, Kirschner gives these key recommendations to optimise distance teaching:
- Keep it short. ʺTry not to do all of what you normally do in your online class.ʺ
- Prepare well. ʺKnow what youʹre going to say, donʹt change it during class.ʺ
- Provide structure. ʺList what students should do and see if they have done it.ʺ
- Prepare students. ʺIf you are going to talk about something, prepare them beforehand with stimulating their prior knowledge.”
- Give short assignments before and after and require them to be submitted to you. ʺNot complicated or profound, but things they can do in a few minutes and you can see whether they are prepared (before) and understand (after).ʺ
- Make use of the online resources available. ʺDonʹt try to do something better in an evening that that which has already been done well by someone else”.
These things may well be worth a try…
Top Tips
REMOTE LEARNING – TEACHING AND LEARNING
NB: Previous resources have been published in the last ‘TLD’.
Having looked at this resource in more depth, the resources and structure provided by Oak National Academy looks to be useful. This is a screenshot of a Year 10 daily timetable and it starts with an assembly and then students can delve into subject-specific lessons. There is no sign-up for teachers, parents or students and it is completely free.
It is definitely worth a look.
https://www.thenational.academy/online-classroom
REMOTE LEARNING – CPD CASCADE
NB: Please refer to the previous ‘TLD’ for already publicised CPD activities.
Please make use of the regularly updated CPD saved in WLD Teachers Team. There are lots of free webinars and other courses to look at, if you feel that you have the time or circumstances allow you to do so.
To my knowledge, we currently have staff completing/having completed: a range of subject-specific webinars or online courses; an online metacognition course; webinars on retrieval practice; a webinar with Thomas Guskey; a webinar with Doug Lemov; these are to name but a few.
Continue to make use of the video CPD sessions stored in the same Team here.
CPD Cascaded by Our Staff
Microsoft Educator Community – Course Feedback from CAR
‘Thank you for highlighting CPD Courses available through Microsoft. I have completed Dyslexia Awareness Parts 1 and 2. As WLD was awarded Dyslexia Friendly Status by the British Dyslexia Association In January 2018, they are a great knowledge refresher for everyone and for those who want to gain more awareness of how teaching in a Dyslexic Friendly way benefits all students. There is between 10 and 20% of the population who are Dyslexic, therefore in a class of thirty students there can be three students who have the gift. A great CPD for everyone.’
AHA has kindly produced a PPT to explain how to access the course material, accessible here.
Teams CPD from LCH
Below is a link to a YouTube video that shows useful formatting tips when messaging students and staff or announcing new work/important events within a channel.
RHO – Feedback on a Tom Sherrington Webinar
Viewed the ResearchEd Loom presentation from Tom Sherrington about 10 good books (saved in the WLD Teachers Team. (He actually talks about 7 brilliant books). Detailed notes have been made and saved here.
Subject Knowledge Enhancement
In recognition of the need for better information about the support and resources available to heads, teachers, Governors, Initial Teacher Training providers, newly qualified teachers, and other educationalists, the CfSA has also created a comprehensive directory of members and other organisations.
The directory brings together details of 25 subject associations as well as other organisations ranging from the National Association of Head Teachers to the National Governance Association. It details how each organisation assists practitioners in every subject taught in the classroom and supports provision in schools and lists the type of help and professional resources available and how to access them.
https://www.subjectassociations.org.uk/the-cfsa-directory/
Oxford University Press Webinars
Society for Education and Training
They are offering a wide range of free CPD webinars on a range of topics, from behaviour to well-being. Have a look here if you are interested…
Staff at WLD are currently reading (to my knowledge)…
‘This much I know about mind over matter…. improving mental health In our schools’ by John Tomsett.
‘Closing the Reading Gap’ by Alex Quigley
‘Just Great Teaching’ by Ross Morrison McGill
‘Rosenshine Masterclass’ by Tom Sherrington
‘Teaching Walkthrus’ by Oliver Caviglioli and Sherrington
Posted by Rachel Long
Category: Teaching and Learning Digests
