Pre-work for many subjects is an excellent thing. Setting prior-reading, whether it be a historical extract, a case log, a poem, a magazine article, whatever, is incredibly useful in setting the scene, developing ideas and broadening students' learning.
On the other hand, I have heard of pre-work being set that is so essential to that lesson, that if students have not completed it they are sent from the room to do it before being allowed to return. I guess the idea is that those students would never 'make that mistake again', but this doesn't sit right with me whatsoever, not just because you're inevitably going to face the hard discussion with a student about why they haven't done it before sending them away and hence breaking any flow or momentum in the lesson that you had, but also because the student may not have completed the pre-work just because of laziness (which in the end is likely to be our go-to reasoning, depending on the student).
There could be a whole host of reasons why the student hasn't read the 8 page article on 1950s Japanese cinema. What if all of their other subjects from the previous day had all set large pieces of pre-work (on top of their weekly homework assignments)? What if at home they don't have a quiet place to study, or the internet at home was on the blink, or it was a close relative's birthday party the night before, or they hadn't been feeling well, or any of the other millions of real-life excuses it could be, other than 'I couldn't be bothered'?
It begs the question as to why such large pieces of pre-work would be set a day in advance if it was so integral to the lesson. It may well be that once a few students have been sent from the classroom to complete their pre-work, hence missing out on class-time, they quickly learn to never 'make that mistake again', and know that for your lesson, you'd better have your pre-work done, or else!
I think sometimes at Level 3, we expect students to be able to manage this kind of huge workload because that's what they'll get when they're at university as undergraduates. It's certainly good practice, until you remember that at university, they may only have 10 hours of contact time a week, not 18, and so are much more able to handle large pieces of pre-work between lectures.
So unless I become a teacher that is happy to send students out of the room for goodness-knows how long for them to find an available computer, print off the required work, read through and annotate it, meanwhile missing what could be important course content, then that leaves me with three options.
Option 1: You reduce the amount of pre-work to about 10-15 minutes.
For A-Level Maths, it's not like I would ask my students to read an 8 page article after every lesson. On what, exactly? The majority of maths articles are so far beyond Level 3 students that they would be incomprehensible. For Maths pre-work, we're really talking about a few algebra questions that could pre-empt what we'll be doing in class. For example, to be ready to find the Volume of Revolution, you might want students to practice rearranging equations to get y^2.
Option 2: You make the pre-work not essential for the learning in the next lesson.
Then why would you set it? The whole idea about pre-work is that it prepares you for the next lesson, otherwise it could just be a couple of follow-up exercises based on last week's work. If that's all it was, then why wouldn't it just be set as part of the weekly homework?
Option 3: You set the pre-work further in advance.
This of course takes a lot of forward planning, which I've got to admit I find quite challenging to do. I'm very organised when it comes to my lessons, but once I come to the end of a 1.5 hour lesson, when I'm wrapping up the day's learning, if I remember to set the pre-work it's always a "Oh wait, before you go, there was some pre-work I need you to complete before next lesson..." as they start running through the door.
Part of the problem also is only setting it now and again. In comparison, my homework routine is set in stone - every Monday the work is due in via Google Classroom and every Monday the next piece of work is set for the following week. It's like clockwork. For pre-work, there could be a few weeks gap between pieces of work being set, so it's probably no wonder that I often forget to set it at all.
I'm the kind of person that must do something properly, if I'm going to do it at all - I can't leave a job half done. Take my teaching videos for example - it would be easy to give up half way through a 200 video playlist, but I just can't bring myself to do that.
So with pre-work, I either want to be setting it every lesson, or once a week on a specific day, or some other regular time, or not at all. It doesn't make sense to set it always on a specific day, unless you always have the good fortune of teaching a new topic during that next lesson. With INSET days, mock exams, half-days, bank holidays, the idea would be scuppered before you could properly begin. If your lessons were on a Monday, Tuesday, Friday, then I could see the merit in always setting work between Tuesday and Friday to bridge the gap, but if your lessons are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday then you've got problems. I don't want to be in a position where I set pre-work with one group and not another because of timetabling.
If I were to set pre-work every lesson, a lot of it would be non-essential. It could be set via Google Classroom and submitted that way also, just as homework is. I do like that idea, but as I say it would have to be non-essential, as not every student will be able to complete it (perhaps due to one or more of the reasons as mentioned above), and may have to complete it a day or so after the required lesson.
I also like the idea of setting pre-work further in advance, but not for just a specific lesson. Think of it as a half-termly pack of algebra practice that feeds directly into the topics that are taught in the following half term. Teaching the Equation of a Circle between October half term and Christmas? Then make sure there's plenty of completing the square practice in the booklet for the Sep-Oct half term. Teaching Mean and Standard Deviation between February half term and Easter? Then make sure there's plenty of finding the mean from grouped data and histograms for Jan-Feb half term.
So on top of the weekly homework assignments, there's a half term assignment as well to ready them for lessons in the following half term. It would take some doing as a resource, but I believe it could have potential.
So while I absolutely see the benefits of setting pre-work, the pitfalls are plentiful, whether it be down to the students' own organisation, the teacher's organisation, timetabling, or whether it is necessary or relevant.
Friday, 24 February 2017
Flow: Waiting is Wastage
The department went through a 3D review the other week, focusing on Differentiation. We had the opportunity to go on a learning walk and visit each other's classes - something I have grown to like very quickly, especially now that formal observations have bit the dust.
The colleague I visited had a great activity running. It was an introduction to Partial Fractions for Core 4, and involved triangular diagrams that asked students to add and split algebraic fractions apart (without actually going through the partial fraction procedure). The activity itself was well-scaffolded and challenged the stronger students, as well as being accessible to the weaker students - perfect differentiation, everyone was involved.
But although this activity was excellent, and one I'll be borrowing (stealing) for next year, this wasn't the part I found the most interesting when reflecting on my own teaching style. That part came next.
After a brief discussion that involved going through an example of using Partial Fractions, another example was written on the board so that the students could have a go themselves.
This is where I would have paused to 'work the room' to make sure everyone was on the right path, to field any questions, to make sure everyone was at the same point, before getting them started on a few textbook questions.
The problem is the pause, because during that pause there will definitely be one or two or perhaps more students that will have to wait before they know what the next activity is, and waiting is wastage.
My colleague, however, was prepared.
Projected onto the interactive whiteboard was a flow chart that described what the students should do next, depending on their confidence, starting them all at the same point for a couple of textbook Qs before it branched out. The teacher could still 'work the room' in exactly the same way that I would have done, but no student would be left waiting if they finished quickly, wondering what they should do next.
It's a tiny thing I know I'm guilty of, and it may seem obvious, and all I need to do is click one slide ahead and I would be setting them very similar exercises (not in a flow chart, I'll admit, but colour coded RAG), but until I observed it I wasn't really aware that I was doing it. I believe it's a case of letting go and letting the students get on with it, something I've always thought I was strong at doing.
I expect my colleague believed it was the success of the initial exercise that I would be most interested in, but it was actually the structured flow of the lesson that impressed me the most.
The colleague I visited had a great activity running. It was an introduction to Partial Fractions for Core 4, and involved triangular diagrams that asked students to add and split algebraic fractions apart (without actually going through the partial fraction procedure). The activity itself was well-scaffolded and challenged the stronger students, as well as being accessible to the weaker students - perfect differentiation, everyone was involved.
But although this activity was excellent, and one I'll be borrowing (stealing) for next year, this wasn't the part I found the most interesting when reflecting on my own teaching style. That part came next.
After a brief discussion that involved going through an example of using Partial Fractions, another example was written on the board so that the students could have a go themselves.
This is where I would have paused to 'work the room' to make sure everyone was on the right path, to field any questions, to make sure everyone was at the same point, before getting them started on a few textbook questions.
The problem is the pause, because during that pause there will definitely be one or two or perhaps more students that will have to wait before they know what the next activity is, and waiting is wastage.
My colleague, however, was prepared.
Projected onto the interactive whiteboard was a flow chart that described what the students should do next, depending on their confidence, starting them all at the same point for a couple of textbook Qs before it branched out. The teacher could still 'work the room' in exactly the same way that I would have done, but no student would be left waiting if they finished quickly, wondering what they should do next.
It's a tiny thing I know I'm guilty of, and it may seem obvious, and all I need to do is click one slide ahead and I would be setting them very similar exercises (not in a flow chart, I'll admit, but colour coded RAG), but until I observed it I wasn't really aware that I was doing it. I believe it's a case of letting go and letting the students get on with it, something I've always thought I was strong at doing.
I expect my colleague believed it was the success of the initial exercise that I would be most interested in, but it was actually the structured flow of the lesson that impressed me the most.
Thursday, 9 February 2017
Me & Meetoo
We recently had representatives from Meetoo come into the college to give a lunchtime presentation on what this new technology could do for us. It is software that is feeding its way into education that allows for live polls and classroom chat.
There are several ways to take polls in class and one of the most well known is Kahoot. I have gone off Kahoot entirely (even though I was never really convinced by it), as I did not like every time having to go through the familiar process of students giving themselves silly names, and then competing to see who could guess the correct answer the fastest. It didn't do me or them really any favours.
Two summers ago I completed a Dylan Wiliam-led MOOC that taught me about hinge questioning. This was an idea I've been wanting to embed into my lessons since then, but I've struggled to do it because of planning time and appropriate technology.
Meetoo could well be the appropriate technology.
What's great about Meetoo is that I don't have to close my Powerpoint mid-lesson to conduct a poll, and I don't need any expensive clunky clicker hardware either. Meetoo is a free add-in that places a new tab into Powerpoint that allows you to conduct live polls. Students can log in to Meetoo via a free app or through their browser using their phone, tablet or chrome book. As long as you're not lecturing to more than 100 students at a time, this is all free.
The students are also able to ask questions during the lesson via their devices. This is especially useful for students that don't want to ask for help verbally, or want to check a point.
There are options to enable or disable student names, and also to turn on moderation. If you're intending to use this tool for quiet students to ask questions, I would disable student names (keeping everyone blissfully anonymous), and to avoid students inserting silly comments into the feed, turn moderation on. That way you can review all messages before they are placed into the visible feed.
The polls themselves are very easy to set up and really engages the students. They need to be dispersed throughout the lesson, and with multiple choice hinge questions, each possible answer should tell you something about the way the students are thinking. However, sometimes if the answer to a question is 5, it's easy to put the other three answers as 4, 6 and 7, even if the students could never arrive at these answers. I know that it then loses all of its hinge-questioning-ness, but sometimes you just want to improve student engagement.
We had some trouble setting up the Meetoo add-in initially but IT were able to sort it out fairly quickly. I found that you aren't able to use the Meetoo polls when you project the Powerpoint using Extend Mode, which I have always prefered as I get to see one slide ahead. Instead, you have to have your presenter on Duplicate, which I will have to get used to.
Your Wifi needs to be strong as well, which for my classroom is an issue, so I've had a little trouble using it with all my students at the same time.
Overall, Meetoo is certainly something I'd like to develop more fully into my lessons - the opportunity for easier differentiation, live polls and fuller classroom discussion participation are benefits too great to ignore. Once my Wifi has been boosted, I'll be set up and ready to go.
There are several ways to take polls in class and one of the most well known is Kahoot. I have gone off Kahoot entirely (even though I was never really convinced by it), as I did not like every time having to go through the familiar process of students giving themselves silly names, and then competing to see who could guess the correct answer the fastest. It didn't do me or them really any favours.
Two summers ago I completed a Dylan Wiliam-led MOOC that taught me about hinge questioning. This was an idea I've been wanting to embed into my lessons since then, but I've struggled to do it because of planning time and appropriate technology.
Meetoo could well be the appropriate technology.
What's great about Meetoo is that I don't have to close my Powerpoint mid-lesson to conduct a poll, and I don't need any expensive clunky clicker hardware either. Meetoo is a free add-in that places a new tab into Powerpoint that allows you to conduct live polls. Students can log in to Meetoo via a free app or through their browser using their phone, tablet or chrome book. As long as you're not lecturing to more than 100 students at a time, this is all free.
The students are also able to ask questions during the lesson via their devices. This is especially useful for students that don't want to ask for help verbally, or want to check a point.
There are options to enable or disable student names, and also to turn on moderation. If you're intending to use this tool for quiet students to ask questions, I would disable student names (keeping everyone blissfully anonymous), and to avoid students inserting silly comments into the feed, turn moderation on. That way you can review all messages before they are placed into the visible feed.
The polls themselves are very easy to set up and really engages the students. They need to be dispersed throughout the lesson, and with multiple choice hinge questions, each possible answer should tell you something about the way the students are thinking. However, sometimes if the answer to a question is 5, it's easy to put the other three answers as 4, 6 and 7, even if the students could never arrive at these answers. I know that it then loses all of its hinge-questioning-ness, but sometimes you just want to improve student engagement.
We had some trouble setting up the Meetoo add-in initially but IT were able to sort it out fairly quickly. I found that you aren't able to use the Meetoo polls when you project the Powerpoint using Extend Mode, which I have always prefered as I get to see one slide ahead. Instead, you have to have your presenter on Duplicate, which I will have to get used to.
Your Wifi needs to be strong as well, which for my classroom is an issue, so I've had a little trouble using it with all my students at the same time.
Overall, Meetoo is certainly something I'd like to develop more fully into my lessons - the opportunity for easier differentiation, live polls and fuller classroom discussion participation are benefits too great to ignore. Once my Wifi has been boosted, I'll be set up and ready to go.
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