Growth Mindset

Staff were given a variety of strategies to help them implement the 10 aspects of growth mindset into their lesson. They then planned their lesson to incorporate the strategies. Feedback is to follow in the next meeting of how successful lessons were.

Cycle 2: TLC Collaboration

We began the session with a team task involving Country Dingbats. As this session is largely to do with effective collaboration I assigned the following roles to each member of the triad.

• Creative thinker (They were the only person allowed to see the dingbats)
• Writer (Their task was to fill in the answer sheet)
• Communicator (Their role was the go between and the coordinator of the teams' strategy) 

The communicator had to sit in between the creative thinker and the writer and each member of the triad had to try each role. 

We followed the task with a discussion on the importance of assigning roles for all group tasks so that every member was accountable. 

Following of from this task each TLC member was given the following sheet and using the Kagan structure Think Pair Share were set the following task:

Think - Reflect on your use of collaboration in the classroom so far. (www and ebi)

Pair -Compare and discuss what was effective and what wasn't this with your partner.

Share - Join with another team and share all of your ideas.

This structured worksheet had been a resource made by a member of the first learning cycle and worked well for this task and could easily be used across the curriculum. We felt that adding structure to a TPS task would help students gain more from the activity because they had to actively listen to others to be able to complete the task.

To continue with the theme of making collaboration effective we discussed the concept of social loafing. Social loafing has been identified by psychologists as “the phenomenon of people deliberately exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they work alone.”

The triads were asked to produce a success criteria to help overcome this problem.

We then pulled all our ideas together to create the following slide. Before TLC three we have decided to trial the success criteria in the classroom and evaluate its effectiveness.

TLC 2- Student Independent Learning (Cycle 2)

TLC 2 - Student Independent Learning (Cycle 2)

In TLC 2 our aim was to firstly reflect on how teachers had incorporated an in-class flip since TLC 1.This was done in the style of speed dating to promote the sharing of good practice.All teachers shared their experiences of using an in-class flip to provide each other with practical application of concepts to a range of subjects.

Our theme for the TLC was then to look into a fully flipped lesson and some of the key characteristics of this style of teaching. This was done through teachers completing an in-class flip in stations about a fully flipped lesson.

Firstly, teachers watched a QR code to a YouTube clip which was a short video on what a flipped classroom is. Once they had this knowledge they completed the following stations:

Review- once teachers had the chance to explore what fully flipped classroom looks like we then started to brainstorm and plan a lesson which teachers could use to practice and explore the fully flipped classroom between now and TL3. 

Tour of the TLCs - TLC 5

TLC 5 forms the second TLC in the second cycle of the 2015-16 programme. Staff were introduced to their new focus area in the also TLC. They were given the opportunity to reflect on their practice and try out new ideas in preparation for this TLC.

Developing Understanding 

As I arrived in the developing understand TLC staff were in the middle of playing a Kahoot! To consolidate the learning from last session and to engage the staff. The atmosphere within the TLC was instantly noticeable as the staff were really engaged in the competition. 

Staff were also discussing the idea of 'Find&Fix' as a starter/connect activity where students or staff provide an example with a deliberate mistake and the class have to spot them and correct it.

Staff then finished by using the five minute lesson plan to show how they would develop for the next session.

Independent Student Learning - 'Flipping' Learning

In this sessions staff were in the middle of a speed dating activity:

The speed dating was designed to allow quickly share the progress so far. The pace of the activity was instantly evident as was the engagement of the staff.

Staff were openly sharing the elements that were successful and those that could be developed. The atmosphere created within the TLC allowed staff to feel comfortable with both aspects and not concerned with sharing.

Rossett student digital leaders were on hand to advise staff and help them produce 'flipped' videos. This was invaluable for staff who had not produced their own videos before.

High Expectations

As I arrived at this session staff were looking at some examples from other schools of how higher expectations are implemented. The staff were asked to see how they could encorporate these ideas into your sessions.

Staff went on to look at a specific ways of wording a behaviour matrix to lift expectations of behaviour from an example at Lawnswood. They were looking to apply this to their own classrooms.

Growth Mindset

As I arrived Staff were working their way through the ten elements of growth mindset.

Staff went on to discuss how they deliver the knowledge requirements from the course. Good points were raised about the significance of modelling, repetition and ensuring students understand the key words before starting an activity. The idea of competition was also highlighted as a quick way of ensuring the basics are in place.

Staff the looked at ways at developing surface learning:

Staff enjoyed the engaging nature of the activities and the simple way that they could be applied. Staff also enjoyed taking part and the activities really got the cogs turning.

Collaboration

Staff were creating success criteria for effective group work. Staff highlighted the importance of distinct roles and measurable outcomes as ways of ensuring the success of the activity.

The importance of good and clear communication from both the teacher and students was also highlighted to ensure the quality of the outcome.

The importance of ensuring that everybody contributes to the task was agreed by everyone.

Reflections

Lots of really good real world examples were being shared by staff throughout the all of the TLCs. 

Staff were getting lots of ideas and activities that could be dropped straight into tomorrow's lesson.

Staff were leaving each session with a clear plan of what to do before the next TLC.

Collaborative Learning - TLC cycle 2

A new year, a new team!

Bargaining strategies were in full force to create as many complete sets of cards as possible in the new Collaborative learning TLC group.

Each member shared the strategies that they use within their lessons that focus on Collaborative learning styles. We then reflected on what collaborative strategies are already used in teaching and shared ideas and brought back a blast from the past - Kagan! http://www.kaganonline.com/

Each triad was then given some ideas to read and to think about to use in their lessons to incorporate collaborative learning.

The final activity was for each member to make a commitment to try a strategy in lessons to embed collaborative learning styles into their teaching.

We are looking forward to the resources created by the members to see how each subject has used Collaborative learning.

TLC 2: Growth Mindset

TLC 2 started off with a discussion in triads of the aspects of growth mindset that teachers had tried to implement in lessons since the last TLC session, considering the following two questions:

•What went well?

•What do you need to refine or

    work on to improve?

We then moved on to looking at three aspects of growth mindset in detail, as requested by the group. The first of these was model it, practice it.  

As you can see, we suggested a range of activities to provide ideas for how this can be done in the classroom in a more engaging manner. We played games in the TLC such as consequences with the focus of exam technique and process-driven team markers. All of these activities also link in well with the setting of high expectations.

  

Our second section to discuss in more depth was how we deliver knowledge requirements. We started with a discussion in triads/quads and then some general feedback.

Ideas were provided to teachers that they could try to implement in lessons if they were not already doing so. Demonstrations were provided and further information given to show how these can practically work to deliver knowledge. The concept of surface learning was discussed and all teachers were provided with a surface learning ideas mat which promotes the 'give it a go' culture that we feel is important in our TLC when trying to further develop our own practice.  

Finally,our last focus was on setting long-term goals. This is a difficult one to implement in lessons when grades are such a focus within the school. The concept of a variety of contracts with students and personalised goals that do not link to grades were discussed.

Each member of the TLC group selected a class to try out some of these ideas with and completed the form below:

This research task was given as an optional extra for staff to further challenge themselves in the areas of growth mindset if they wished to. 

Independent Student Learning - Fully Flipped Classrooms

Independent Learning TLC 2 - Fully Flipped Classrooms

In this TLC groups fed back on their trials of in-class flipping, sharing evidence and good practice in their triads... After an intensive flipping based warm up involving flipping pancakes, coins and a word based challenges.

The purpose of in-class flipping was to motivate students to learn independently, through engaging in a variety of different activities, without direct teacher input. Strategies employed included Learning Mats, QR codes and Task Tables, as well as the use of different support techniques to encourage students to look for answers themselves.

In TLC 2 the main focus was fully flipped learning environments. The group was introduced to the basic principles of the strategy and investigated the misconceptions surrounding flipped learning.

A range of resources were provided as the varying triads planned how they would utilise flipped learning with some of their classes, as was an outline lesson plan to guide in the elements expected within a fully flipped classroom. Interesting purpose-built equipment was shared, to illustrate the many ways in which the content of a lesson can be delivered, without the traditional methods of 'chalk and talk'.

The session ended with the triads planning an Open Classroom schedule, where different members of the triads will visit one another for approximately 10 minutes to see flipped learning in action. It is hoped that in TLC3 the excellent practice occurring within the groups can be shared and celebrated.