Student participationQuite often when working in mixed ability groups, the higher achieving students end up doing most, if not all of the work, and weaker students end up not contributing. I wanted to ensure this did not happen when students did group work in my lessons.
In HASS, students had formed political parties based on their values, so groups were all mixed ability. I decided to create roles so that all students were responsible for some aspect of the assignment. I had a 'campaign manager' who had to ensure all members were on task and work was completed on time. There was a 'party leader' who had to say a speech in the election campaigns. Then there was a 'creative director' who was in charge of the poster and making sure it was good. And finally 'party members' who had to help out with all aspects of the tasks. Roles were explained for students verbally, as well as being displayed on my website for future reference. By organising groups like this, I could assess each individual in the group by measuring whether they had fulfilled their responsibilities, as well as an overall group performance. I found this a very successful strategy as students took on the roles really well, and have used it again in English for debating. |
Instructional strategiesIn a class with 54 students, one instructional strategy does not work for all. I found after my first week that many students were not understanding my instructions, even though I had provided them verbally and written. I discussed this with my mentors and they said that this cohort of students often needed an explicit demonstration also. Demonstrations would assist students of EAL/D backgrounds in particular.
In HASS, I wrote instructions on my website. I read through and explained these verbally, while also being there for students to refer back to if needed. I developed the routine when students walked into the classroom, they would look at the whiteboard for instructions. These included what subject we were covering, what materials they needed, who to sit with to complete tasks, and an instruction to what I wanted them to do once they were ready. In addition, I provide examples and prompts for students when learning new concepts or completing tasks. I found that students were so worried about how to lay out information on their page, that I would have to provide explicit instruction on how I would like them to do it. Although this went against what I wanted from students (as I want to encourage students to use their imagination and be creative), it simply caused too much stress. After routines were established, students knew that instructions were always available for reference back to whether it be on the whiteboard or on my website. I always try to encourage responsibility and initiative, and I always hold students accountable for checking back on instructions themselves. |
The handout I created to guide students with the structure and role responsibilities of the debates.
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Students were studying persuasive speaking in English, and had to do debating.
To ensure that all students could speak in a debate, I had to change the structure from the traditional '3 speaker' format, adding in a fourth speaker. By making these changes, all students had the chance to brainstorm and structure a debate, write and speak a speech, and have it assessed. |
To make these transitions smooth, I established a routine where I would write 'set up' instructions on the board so students could enter the room, look at the board and know what to do.
Instructions included where and who to sit with, what resources they need and what they had to do. This prevented me having to repeat verbal instructions for every student as they entered, as students learnt the routine to look at the board for instructions. |
For each lesson, I write a timeline of the lessons key points to then explain to students and to refer to if needed. Sometimes it will also include time frames to move the lesson along smoothly.
I also give students visual/written instructions for major tasks in a lesson, whether it be written on the whiteboard on on the smart board. In art we used a gallery walk as a reflection activity at the end of one lesson and students were encouraged to walk around and view other students artwork as well as give feedback. I provided feedback prompts on the board for students to use. |
I always try to ensure students feel safe to share ideas and opinions in my classes. In one activity, students were discussing their personal strengths and skills. For this, students had to walk around and write down strengths and skills they think their peers have. To ensure this was done in a safe and positive manner, I wrote up these rules and discussed them prior to starting. The activity went really well and students learned lots of new things about themselves.
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