1. Don’t make all the decisions
Allow choice. Encourage students
to make decisions about how they learn best. Create opportunities for them to
pursue their own interests and practise skills in a variety of ways.
Cater for different learning styles. Don’t expect everyone to respond in
the same way. Integrate technology to encourage creative expression of
learning.
2. Don’t play guess what’s in my
head
Ask open-ended question,
with plenty of possible answers which lead to further questions.
Acknowledge all responses equally. Use Thinking Routines to provide a framework for students to
engage with new learning by making connections, thinking critically and
exploring possibilities.
3. Talk less
Minimise standing out front and
talking at them. Don’t have rows of learners facing the front of the
class. Arrange the seats so that students can communicate, think
together, share ideas and construct meaning by discussing and
collaborating. Every exchange doesn’t need to go through the teacher or
get the teacher’s approval, encourage students to respond directly to each
other.
4. Model behaviors and attitudes
that promote learning.
Talk about your own learning. Be
an inquirer. Make your thinking process explicit. Be an active participant in
the learning community. Model and encourage enthusiasm, open-mindedness,
curiosity and reflection. Show that you value initiative above compliance.
5. Ask for feedback
Get your students to write down
what they learned, whether they enjoyed a particular learning experience, what
helped their learning, what hindered their learning and what might help them
next time. Use a Thinking Routine like ‘Connect, extend, challenge’. Take
notice of what they write and build learning experiences based on it.
6. Test less
Record student thinking and track
development over time. Provide opportunities for applying learning in a
variety of ways. Create meaningful assessment tasks that allow transfer
of learning to other contexts. Have students publish expressions of their
learning on the internet for an authentic audience. Place as much value on
process and progress as on the final product.
7. Encourage goal setting
and reflection.
Help students to define goals for
their learning. Provide opportunities for ongoing self-evaluation and
reflection. Provide constructive, specific feedback. Student blogs are
great tools for reflecting on learning and responding to their peers.
8. Don’t over plan.
If you know exactly where the
lesson is leading and what you want the kids to think, then you‘re
controlling the learning. Plan a strong provocation that will ‘invite the
students in’ and get them excited to explore the topic further. But don’t
plan in too much detail where it will go from there.
9. Focus on learning, not
work.
Make sure you and your students
know the reason for every learning experience. Don’t give ‘busy work’. Avoid
worksheets where possible. Don’t start by planning activities, start with the ‘why‘ and then develop learning
experiences which will support independent learning. Include appropriate
tech tools to support the learning.
10. Organise student led
conferences
Rather than reporting to parents
about their children’s learning, have student led 3-way conferences, with
teacher and parents. The student talks about her strengths and weaknesses, how
her learning has progressed and areas for improvement. She can share the process
and the product of her learning.
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