Our Lady's Secondary School Learning & Teaching Christmas Edition

Our Lady's Secondary School Teaching & Learning

As we embark into the New Year, it's important to reflect on successes, implementations and the way forward.

www.olss.ie Teach&Learn@OLSS

TL21 group; Curriculum Planning group;

Eddie Kelly. Hugh Lyons Sarah Reenan. Aidan Connolly

Finbar Brohan. Laura Mc Quillan. Therese Sullivan. Alice Collins

Paddy Mulroe. Mary Brohan. Damien Mooney. Eithne O Hanrahan

Grainne Sweeney Joe O Boyle. Paddy Mulroe. Roisin O Keefe

Enda Tourish. Jane Treanor Grace Duffy. Adeline Bruen

Karen Clerkin Hugh Lyons

Tl21 Report

Enhancing Teaching &Learning

Curriculum Planning

Topics covered to date; Team Teaching Intro to Google Intro to Edmodo Learning Styles Keywords Review of subject plans Review of teaching practices Teacher server Assessment for Learning Teacher observations Recommended Apps

Since September, numerous teachers have been involved in enhancing the learning experience of our students by attending curriculum planning meetings or TL21. To explore the dynamics of the learning experience in the classroom, teachers have surveyed some students on their learning styles. To facilitate the learning diversity, OLSS has increased team teaching, incorporated technology in the classrooms and is focusing on raising literacy and numeracy standards by implementing the School Improvement Plan. Bringing OLSS education into the 21st century, teachers have access to the world of Apple, through IPads and Apple TV / interactive whiteboards in the classroom. Edmodo is used to communicate and is another learning tool to assist the student to achieve further.

The

achieements All classrooms will have a keywords board by 2015 All keywords for 1st,2nd &3rd Year included in plan by end of academic year 2015. Questionnaire for parents at PTM, SSE, Principal changeover through olss.ie Questionnaire 1st Yr/ 2nd Yr students on attitudes to school, homework, friendships, literacy, technology Questionnaire to teachers on teacher methodologies and learning experiences Assessment includes; CAT on entrance, Literacy Test, SDQ, WRAT 1V, Formal analysed and target highlighted. Teacher Server- AFL and resources established for good practice & sharing. We are in second phase of trying to clear up the volume of resources!! All years are now able to access Edmodo CP Meetings to allow for reflective practice and CPD. Curriculum groups established Excellent communication system between staff (Email, Eportal) IPad friendly staff Whiteboards in all room to allow for digital teaching. AP post for Teaching & Learning

Improvement*Target* Action*Required* Person/s*Responsible* Measurable*Outcomes/*Success*Criteria*

Timefame*for*Actions* Review*Date*

Literacy*

To*increase*the*verbal*reasoning*or*literacy*ability*of*all*students,*with*an*emphasis*on*the*lower*average*range*to*meet*the*national*norm*by*an*increase*of*

D*1%*by*May*2014*

D1%*by*May*2015*

D*0.5*%*by*2016,*reducing*the*2.4%*gap*to*the*national*norm

*To*implement*common*key*word*strategy*in*all*departmentsD*use*of*posters*on*classroom*wall*and*in*copies,*with*a*test*at*end*of*chapter,*module,etc.****

*To*investigate*greater*use*of*dictionary*including*digital*dictionary.************************

All*teachersD*departments*to*include*keywords*into*subject*plan*

An*increase*in*the*number*of*1st*year*students*spelling*errors

Implement*in*September*for*1st*Years

May*14/15/16

Email*5*keywords*to*SEN*Coordinator*for*exams

Keyword*TestsD*to**

be*assessed,*

*recorded*

*and*monitored*

*for*progression

Numeracy*

To*increase*the*percentage*from**

*

D61%*to*71*%*by*December*2014*

D71D81%*by*December*2014*

D81D91%*by*December*2016*

of*all*current*first*year*students*who*will*demonstrate*competency*in*measurement*and*estimation*by*Sept*2016*

Staff*agree*on**common*measuring*unit* All*teachers* March*2014* May*14/15/16*

To*generate*awareness*of*whole*school*numeracy,*focusing*on*measuring*&*estimation.*

Numeracy*core*team* An*increase*in*teachers*&*1st*Yr*students*who*refer*to*estimation*in*subject*area*

Classroom*posters*circulated*to*all*classes*March*2014.*

May*14/15/16*

Students*to*be*retested*using*the*Maths*Competency*Test*

Numeracy*Core*Team* An*increase*in*percentage*from*61%*to*80+*%*

In*Sept*2015*

School Improvement Plan. The journey so far.....

Subject plans

The$following$headings$should$include:$

• Teaching$Methodologies$

• Learning$Experiences$

• Types$of$Assessment$for$Learning$

• Reflective$Practice$of$teaching$

• SEN$needs$

• Literacy$strategies$from$SSEA$Keywords$

• Numeracy$strategies$from$SSEA$Estimation$

• Analysing$results$&$reviewing$practices$

• Resources$(materials,$team$teaching,$differentiated$work,etc)$

• Use$of$ICT$

Assessment for

Learning

Assessment For Learning

Effective assessment for learning happens all the time in the classroom. It involves: sharing learning goals with pupils helping pupils know and recognise the standards to aim for providing feedback that helps pupils to identify how to improve believing that every pupil can improve in comparison with previous achievements both the teacher and pupils reviewing and reflecting on pupils' performance and progress pupils learning self-assessment techniques to discover areas they need to improve recognising that both motivation and self-esteem, crucial for effective learning and progress

can be increased by effective assessment techniques. Key characteristics of assessment for learning are: using effective questioning techniques using marking and feedback strategies sharing learning goals peer and self-assessment.

Assessment for learning is effective when pupils: show changes in their attitudes to learning and in their motivation, self-esteem, independence, initiative and confidence show changes in their responses to questions, in contributions to plenary sessions, and in explanations and descriptions improve their attainment ask relevant questions are actively involved in formative assessment processes, eg setting targets, peer or self-

assessment, recognising progress in their written work, skills, knowledge and understanding.

Remember Assessment For Learning happens instinctively in our classrooms. The need is to become aware of it and to record this for monitoring purposes.

How to guide............ Edmodo

Since September, numerous teachers have been involved in enhancing the learning experience of our students by attending curriculum planning meetings or TL21. To explore the dynamics of the learning experience in the classroom, teachers have surveyed some students on their learning styles. To facilitate the learning diversity, OLSS has increased team teaching, incorporated technology in the classrooms and is focusing on raising literacy and numeracy standards by implementing the School Improvement Plan. Bringing OLSS education into the 21st century, teachers have

• It is a brilliant way to stay connected with your class, and for them to stay connected with each other. • It is very easy to give students feedback on their work no matter what they upload, you can leave a comment attached to it.

• It is a fantastic way to teach social media its amazing how many students claim to be fantastic at social media and yet have difficulty posting relevant topics and commenting in a constructive way.

• Edmodo is a safe space for them to learn. • It allows you to connect just with a specific group in your classroom, so not everyone has to read the resources you found for

Team

Teaching

Types/of/Team/Teaching//

● Traditional/Team/Teaching*–*both*teachers*actively*share*the*instruction*of*content*and*skills,*both*teachers*accept*equal*responsibility*for*all*pupils*and*both*teachers*are*actively*involved*throughout*the*class.**

● Lead/and/support/Teaching*–*one*teacher*leads*the*lesson*assuming*responsibility*for*teaching*the*content,*the*other*teacher*provides*support*and*follow*up*activities.*

● Parallel/Instruction/–*the*class*is*divided*into*two*groups*and*each*teacher*delivers*the*same*content*and*skills/*Both*teachers*are*performing*the*same*tasks*in*parallel*fashion.*

• Differentiated/split;class/team/teaching/–*The*class*is*divided*into*two*groups*according*to*a*specified*learning*need.**Each*

group*is*provided*with*activities*to*meet*that*specified*need*

Examples/of/methodologies/Team/Teaching/encourages/

1. Experiential*2. Jigsaw*–*character*wheels*3. Group/pairwork**4. Chalk*&*Talk*5. Higher*Order*questioning*6. Drama*games*7. Roleplay**8. Freeze*Frames*

*

Pro’s/ /

For*Teachers:*

• Improved*teaching*and*learning*• Less*correcting*• Less*Stress*• More*Support*• Greater*sense*of*achievement*• Opportunity*to*learn*new*

methodologies*• Less*time*spent*on*discipline*D*

instant*gratification/less*boredom/two*sets*of*eyes.*

• Trying*something*different!!!*

For*Students*

• More help and faster!*• Quicker learning in mixed

ability classes*• More discipline*Success is more achievable*

*

*********************Con's/

*

For*Teachers:*

• Time needed for planning*• Getting used to another teacher

in the class*• Clicking *as one team*

*

For*students*

• 2 teachers mean no chance of

messing!*

Collaborative/Co-Teaching Daily Lesson Plan

In the classroom Person responsible Notes Greets students as they enter the room

Records attendance

Begins class with introduction or opener

Takes primary responsibility for behaviour management

Lesson/ Content Outcome:

Circle the Collaborative/Co-teaching Model(s) Used:

Room Arrangement Resources/Materials Learning Assessed by;

Keywords;

Topic 1: Lead and support Parallel Instruction

Alternative

Station Traditional

Team

Topic 2:

Lead and support Parallel Instruction

Alternative

Station Traditional

Team

Team Teaching Plan

Useful Websites!

www.tes.co.uk www.pdst.ie www.jcsp.ie www.sess.ie

www.pinterest.com www.englishresource.eu

www.Teacher21.org www.teachingideas.co.u

k www.schoolplus.ie www.giftedkids.ie

www.scoilnet.ie www.ncca.ie

www.positivemaths.ie www.classroomguidanc

e.ie www.themathsteacher.c

om www.geography.org.uk www.DailyGenius.com

www.superteacherworksheets.com

What Learning Style are you?

How to help your Visual Learners

• Make sure pupils can see you! • Use media • Use graphs, charts, illustrations, or other visual aids, in books and when talking • Supplement text with illustrations whenever possible. • Include outlines, worksheets, handouts, etc. for reading and taking notes. • Leave white space in handouts for note taking. • Invite questions to help them stay alert in auditory environments. • Post flip charts to show what will come and what has been presented. • Use flash cards. • Emphasize key points to cue when to takes notes. Use colour to highlight important bits. • Let pupils use colour pens to trace words/ letters • Have them draw pictures or do mind maps etc in the margins. • Show diagrams and then explain them. • Have the learners envision the topic, act out the subject matter or illustrate the story • Eliminate potential distractions - sound, strip lights

Visual Learner

Auditory Learner

How to help your Auditory Learners

• Make sure pupil can hear you!

• Begin new material with a brief explanation of what is to come, end with a verbal recap.

• Encourage class discussions/debates/ group work/ speeches

/presentations/brainstorming

• Let pupils use a tape recorder instead of taking notes

• Read text out aloud

• Let pupils create musical jingles to aid memorization

• Use mnemonics to aid memorization

• Discuss ideas verbally

• Let pupils dictate their thoughts to someone

• Use verbal analogies, and story telling to demonstrate your point

• Use Socratic lecturing - question the pupils to draw out what they know, then fill in the

gaps

Kinaesthetic Learner

How to help your Kinesthetic Learners

• Use$activities$that$get$the$learners$up$and$moving.$• Give$frequent$stretch/study$breaks$(brain$breaks).$• Play$music,$when$appropriate,$during$activities.$• Let$pupils$stand$to$work.$• Use$coloured$markers$to$emphasize$key$points$on$flipcharts$or$white$boards.$Let$pupils$do$the$

same$in$their$books$• Provide$toys$such$as$stress$balls$and$PlayCDough$to$give$them$something$to$do$with$their$hands.$• Provide$highlighters,$coloured$pens$and/or$pencils.$• Guide$pupils$through$a$visualization$of$complex$tasks.$• $Have$them$transfer$information$from$the$text$to$another$medium$such$as$a$keyboard$or$a$

whiteboard.$• $Encourage$pupils$to$skim$read$text$first$to$get$the$rough$detail.$• $Use$colourful$posters/$display.$

Activity Idea!

Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom s Taxonomy provides

learning levels to increase higher

order thinking skills for children

of all ages. The levels include

remember, understand, apply,

analyse , evaluate, and create.

The way a parent or teacher talks

to a child, engaging them in

learning, and activities that they

provide for learning should have

a basis on Bloom s Taxonomy.

EXAMPLES

5 ACTIVE LESSON

The following 5 active learning lessons are the

agreed suggestions we encourage teachers to

incorporate into teaching plans;

1. Group Presentations

2. Hot Seating

3. Freeze Frames

4. Be the Teacher

5. Learning Centres

Learning Centres can be created very simply in a classroom situation by designing a series of activities, presenting them on large sheets of card and displaying them like posters on the walls of the classroom. Usually the learning centres for a given day would follow a theme and cover several learning outcomes from a unit within a module. Each learning centre/poster should have pasted to it a visual stimulus e.g. photograph, magazine cutting etc. and an enlarged exercise/worksheet. Each poster should also be numbered for reference. An expanding file is created to contain numbered A4 size worksheets to correspond with the worksheets on each poster.

Learning Centres

Steps involved: As the students works his/her way around the learning centres within the classroom...... 1. They should check the number on the learning centre/ poster they want to complete 2. Take the corresponding worksheet from the expanding file that holds all the worksheets 3. Complete the worksheet 4. Discuss it with the teacher who keeps a record of the worksheets that the student has completed 5. Place it in their folder and move on to another learning centre/poster.

How does it work? 1. Pupils get into small groups.

2. They are asked physically to pose in a snapshot representation of a specific, significant moment. 3. Pupils could work together as a group to discuss what they are being asked to depict and how it might look in a freeze frame. 4. Alternatively, pupils could act out a role and, on the facilitator s command, freeze in scene. 5. Groups could take it in turns to move around and view other groups freeze frames. 6. Four key freezes could form a storyboard with 4 keywords 7. Students write an essay to show understanding and sequence of events

Freeze Frames

Photo Photo

Photo Photo

Photo

Keyword

Keyword

Keyword

Good practice

How does it work?

1. Pupils are allocated a particular character, or alternatively they think of a role themselves relevant to the issue in question.

2. Pupils could research the role in groups or individually.

3. Other pupils in groups could be encouraged to think up challenging questions for the person in the hot seat.

4. The character in question is put in the hot seat and questioned by fellow pupils. This may help pupils to feel empathy for a particular person or viewpoint, particularly a view which they do not normally share.

5. An idea or issue could also be placed on the hot seat, such as the war in Iraq, human cloning, the use of wind farms. Using this technique, answers can come from anyone in the class. Alternatively, for the latter example a geography teacher might be brought in to share his or her views on the hot seat.

6. A mystery game could also be played out using this technique, with class members having to guess the identity of the person in the hot seat.

7. A debrief afterwards could involve asking pupils what they learned, what they found interesting and if they would challenge anything which the person in the hot seat said.

8. As an additional competitive game, pupils might be given a topic or character to research and then hot seated for one minute to share as much information

as possible with the class without hesitating or repeating themselves. If a possible

infringement occurs, pupils might make a challenge to oust the person

HOT SEATING could be done after a teacher PowerPoint or reading from textbook. Each

student to write a question. Grade

dependent on depth of question

Hot Seating

Keyword

Group Presentation Good practice

Share your marking criteria to help achieve that A!

Making a Presentation Many people (not just students) find it difficult to speak in front ofa group of people. However, with guidelines and practice you will become a good presenter and communicator.

Preparation for presentation: (Using AFL sheet)

know your aim, time, audience

gather the information you need (notes you ve taken from internet/teacher)

structure your presentation into a beginning, middle and end

decide if you need any aids e.g. flipchart, overhead projector and slides, power point presentation using a computer, etc.

prepare what you need and forget what you decide you don t need

keep it short and simple

Prepare a worksheet for class to answer as you present

Making the Presentation:

use some notes on cards

do not read from a script or overheads

if using overheads, be sure not to block your audience s view

make eye contact with your audience as often as possible

speak clearly and slowly

avoid slang or jargon

stand comfortably in front of your audience and do not lean on a

desk, table, chair

use your hands as you would normally and do not put them in

your pockets

believe that you can do this

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Be the Teacher Lesson Good practice

Share your marking criteria to help achieve that A!

You are going to have to teach each other . In the midst of her amnesia, Ms Sweeney vaguely remembered something

about group work.... So, it seems easy to put you into groups and start this

work!

Each groupwill be given one particular topic to research and in a few

lessons time, teach the rest of the class about. To help, each group is

being given a folder with some really useful resources and suggestions.

Please look after this folder while you re using it, as it is being

shared.

The sheet labelled INSTRUCTIONS will tell you something about how

teachers think, and what you need to do. It s important that you read this

fully. The sheet labelled TOP TIPS AND SUGGESTIONS will also help you a lot, so take

time to read that!

Being a teacher is a huge responsibility but we know you can do it so Good Luck!

Merry Christmas