Tip of the Month Flyer Final edition

Raising the Bar (metaphorically)

Why not introduce a little healthy

competition – such incentives can be

particularly attractive to the male students

(but not necessarily): for example,

first one to complete a task in session

first one to hand in assignment

most improved grade for assignment

For learners with naturally competitive

subjects / careers (sport, public services,

equine etc), the list is endless. Why not give

it a go, Sylvia.

The Final Edition

Welcome to the latest, and final edition of the ASP Tip of the

Month Flyer. From January 2011, we’ll be launching our brand new

tip service (you’ll have to wait until then for further details). In the meantime, enjoy our final tips

flyer, which this month focuses on “Raising the Bar”. Enjoy.

Keeping Them Interested

For BTEC courses assess the pass criteria during

the lesson as part of your checking of learning.

This ensures that all learners will achieve a

minimum of a pass. To “raise the bar” apply a

scenario to the criteria, and do not use the

merit and distinction as a question.

Make the scenario as interesting as possible to

capture the learners’ enthusiasm. Structure the

written work in to a report form incorporating

the criteria. Could the evidence be presented in

a different way other than write up?

Presentation, advert, poster, leaflet… Have fun,

Richard.

At any point in the term, give out your SOW to the stronger learners (or better, use

their learner versions) and get them to research/ find one useful web resource for

each of the topics. You could split them into groups and divide the SOW up

between them; they then should present back and get them to demo the resource.

It works for me, so it could for you too, Andy.

Here’s a great, and simple idea. In tutorial sessions ask individuals to choose a topic that

they are expert in or enthusiastic about and then ask them to deliver a micro-teach

session to the rest of the group on that topic. Precede this with a session where you ask

the group to think about lessons they have particularly enjoyed and get them to analyse

how they worked (identifying techniques and delivery methods etc). Then, set the

volunteers the task of planning their micro-teach to the same standards you would.

Session can then be delivered and anonymously reviewed by peer group.

Links to: Communication skills and presentations for Functional Skills, general Skills for

Life, ECM – Making a positive contribution, and just Peer Learning in general.

Also – we get pro-actors in to watch auditions. No reason why, in business for instance,

they couldn’t get actual ‘bosses’ in to watch student presentations and ‘spot’ future

talents. If you feel inspired, let me know how you get on, Lee N.

Peer Research

Learners Teaching Teachers.

I use my gifted and talented learners not only to lead group activities within the dance

class, but give them opportunities to be creative and choreograph sections for the

whole of the group.

I also make sure that when I am choreographing a dance I have at least 2 versions so the

learners that need and want to be pushed can and the others can work towards the

extended version if appropriate. If you’ve got more able learners in your group, what

could YOU get them to do? Enjoy, Victoria.

Gifted and Talented…

Raising Personal Expectations…

Often learners will have low

personal expectations and will

not try to achieve higher

grades or push themselves for

fear of failure.

A good tutorial exercise can be

used to try and get learners

thinking about their own goals

and personal expectations.

Each learner should make a list

of what they want to achieve

within and outside their college

course. They should not think

about any negative aspects or

why they would not be able to

achieve their goals.

Once created the lists should

be brought to an individual

tutorial so that the tutor and

learner can organise and

streamline the goals and

expectations. Ideally at this

stage dates can be set so that

the goals and expectations can

be achieved weekly or

monthly. This process will use

regular completion and

attainment of goals as building

blocks for learners to raise

their personal expectations.

The key fact to this process is

to develop learners so that

they expect more from

themselves and improve their

achievement. Have fun, Nick.

Use material that is slightly above the level of the course

in terms of language or specialist vocabulary and ask

more able learners to explain what it means to other

learners.

e.g Equality and Diversity questionnaire. Rather than

alter it for the level of the learners use it as it is (designed

for staff) and stretch the more able learners by asking

them to explain the meaning. Be prepared to help them if

necessary.

If you find they work for you, let me know, Anne.

Learning Difficulties Made Easy…

We often find learners with a learning disability are

either coming into college with a number of

qualifications that are frankly imposable for them to

have obtained or have been labelled as under achievers

when clearly this is not the case. Having a number of

activities on offer at any one time and for a range of

abilities will allow you to quickly move on to another

activity if the learner is not being challenged and is

achieving easily. These may range from simple lotto

games using objects of reference, photo's or symbols to

using the smart board and accessing given web site's

with minimal support.

Having all supportive resources in place and the various

activities ready to go is vital if your learners are to be

challenged and boredom not set in!

Give this one a try, Libby.

To raise the bar amongst second year BTEC students, why not get them to mentor a first

year student. Doing so would enable them to take some responsibility for the first year

learner’s academic progress, and provide an outlet for them to discuss any issues that

they may have regarding their course.

For the second year student, the mentoring scheme would look good on their C.V. and

would allow them to show their more advanced academic knowledge in a productive

way.

Furthermore, it would bolster their own progress by facilitating academic skills, such as,

decoding terminology, interpreting information and then reading through work for error

recognition.

I’ve seen this in other areas too, such as Business, Paul S.

Student Mentors

Provide industry experience for learners by giving them roles within the tutorial group.

You may already have a Student Rep but there are plenty other roles. Here are a few

examples:

Secretary – responsible for taking minutes during group tutorial discussions. Social event organiser – responsible for organising class trips and other social

events (includes collating relevant forms). Mentors – responsible for supporting learners who are either less able or display

behavioural issues (e.g. persistent lateness).

My learner particularly relate to sport-type roles, but you could try others, Ewan.

Assigning Group Roles

Comfort, Stretch and Panic

Thanks Go To…

A big thank you to all the staff who have contributed, and commented positively, on the previous

tip flyers. I couldn’t have done these without you. And finally, thanks go to all teams who have

used, promoted, displayed and shared them with colleagues and other colleges. It’s what tips are

all about. All previous flyers can still be accessed via the VLE and clicking here.

Think about your learners – in your sessions how much of their time is spent in each of these

zones?

Comfort – where they feel safe and secure. It’s good to spend some time in this zone

but some learners never get out of it.

Stretch – learners push themselves. This is where they learn, where they grow as

human beings. Most people could spend more time here.

Panic – learners have overdone it. It’s not a place for them to visit very often or for very

long.

It’s interesting to see how these zones all interact with each other. If learners stay in the

comfort zone, then the stretch zone decreases and the panic zone increases. If learners

regularly spend time in the stretch zone then the comfort zone increases and the panic zone

decreases. If learners spend a lot of time in the panic zone then that will expand at the

expense of the other two.

The strategies in this month’s flyer could help you and your learners

move into the stretch zone more often, thus ensuring they are:

Actively involved in learning.

Interested in developing.

Looking to change, to jump to a higher level.

Looking for better ways of doing things.

Respond well to training, and

Excited and rewarded. Go on, you know you want to… Simon.