I've been using a prop with Y7 today - a really silly thing, that party game where you put a word on someone's forehead and they have to guess it by asking a series of closed questions. I trialled this with 7A1, 7B1 & 7B2 - guess who did it best...???
My mission was to use body language instead of speech in an activity, so i didn't speak for about 15 minutes at the start of lesson with 8a1 and just indicated using body language/signals what i wanted them to do. They seemed to enjoy it, (can't imagine why), but also seemed a bit lost as to what to do. I think it was an interesting activity because there were lots of times when i would normally have jumped in and influenced their views. As long as they are clear about what they have to do, it is really good to practice the art of silent teaching!!
For mission 4, I went back to one of my earlier missions of using G&T students to teach part of a lesson. Here's the feedback...
Yesterday a couple of G&T students from 9a1 did the starter and I loved their activity - it was very original. Others in the class are keen to do it after half term when they have finished their TASC projects.
Today I had the whole of 8a1 being teachers and it was brilliant fun! They were in expert groups and had to teach a type of rainfall each. They could choose from a range of resources as teaching aids (pupil whiteboards, sugar paper, A3 paper and play dough) and they were fantastically creative. Some groups acted out types of rainfall (I never thought it could be done), others used diagrams, others used play dough models. It was fun and they learnt a lot. They fed back saying that they learnt more by teaching it - which is exactly what the research says! I can't wait to do it again sometime with another topic.
In the meantime, I had 2 G&T students planing next lesson's starter on laptops. Will let you know how that goes.
The post-it note is a beauty. I had a chat with Marie about the pitfalls of it and tried it in a slightly different way. Feedback was good - some liked the way I set it up, others preferred a more simple version. Will try it again for sure! Just need a massive pile of post-its. Have looked for opportunities to work in a different room (ie LT) but haven't found something appropriate as yet. I think working in another room needs to be 'fit for purpose' - just haven't found something that fits as yet.MPe
I decided not to talk to my yr 7 groups for the first 15 mins or so. First group was amazing - p1 they really took to it, the lesson got worse as I started talking. The non-talking really got them working together and by themselves. Tried with other yr 7's with less success but still worthwhile - could really see the ones who rely on being told what to do. Tried with yr 8's as well, again, it highlighted those who weren't willing to get going without 'prodding'. MPe
I've been using a prop with Y7 today - a really silly thing, that party game where you put a word on someone's forehead and they have to guess it by asking a series of closed questions. I trialled this with 7A1, 7B1 & 7B2 - guess who did it best...???
ReplyDeleteSorry - should have said - the prop was Post-its!
ReplyDeleteDid you guess it was 7B2?
That sounds good - I may do that in a revision lesson tomorrow! Sian
ReplyDeleteMy mission was to use body language instead of speech in an activity, so i didn't speak for about 15 minutes at the start of lesson with 8a1 and just indicated using body language/signals what i wanted them to do. They seemed to enjoy it, (can't imagine why), but also seemed a bit lost as to what to do. I think it was an interesting activity because there were lots of times when i would normally have jumped in and influenced their views. As long as they are clear about what they have to do, it is really good to practice the art of silent teaching!!
ReplyDeleteWhose was the last one? That sounds fab! I am going to try that one out again tomorrow - good when voice is going!
ReplyDeletePost-its are great for peer assessment - quick bullet points and don't ruin work. Also can be used for computer screens.
Another other missions?
N
For mission 4, I went back to one of my earlier missions of using G&T students to teach part of a lesson. Here's the feedback...
ReplyDeleteYesterday a couple of G&T students from 9a1 did the starter and I loved their activity - it was very original. Others in the class are keen to do it after half term when they have finished their TASC projects.
Today I had the whole of 8a1 being teachers and it was brilliant fun! They were in expert groups and had to teach a type of rainfall each. They could choose from a range of resources as teaching aids (pupil whiteboards, sugar paper, A3 paper and play dough) and they were fantastically creative. Some groups acted out types of rainfall (I never thought it could be done), others used diagrams, others used play dough models. It was fun and they learnt a lot. They fed back saying that they learnt more by teaching it - which is exactly what the research says! I can't wait to do it again sometime with another topic.
In the meantime, I had 2 G&T students planing next lesson's starter on laptops. Will let you know how that goes.
Alison
The post-it note is a beauty. I had a chat with Marie about the pitfalls of it and tried it in a slightly different way. Feedback was good - some liked the way I set it up, others preferred a more simple version. Will try it again for sure! Just need a massive pile of post-its.
ReplyDeleteHave looked for opportunities to work in a different room (ie LT) but haven't found something appropriate as yet. I think working in another room needs to be 'fit for purpose' - just haven't found something that fits as yet.MPe
Please let me know if I can help with rooms!
ReplyDeleteN
I decided not to talk to my yr 7 groups for the first 15 mins or so. First group was amazing - p1 they really took to it, the lesson got worse as I started talking. The non-talking really got them working together and by themselves. Tried with other yr 7's with less success but still worthwhile - could really see the ones who rely on being told what to do. Tried with yr 8's as well, again, it highlighted those who weren't willing to get going without 'prodding'. MPe
ReplyDelete