Creative Teaching & Learning

Classroom practice: letting students ask questions

What if teachers stopped shouting “Silence in the classroom!” and started letting students ask questions? Jane Smith tried it with her class – and was thrilled with the results.

What if teachers stopped shouting “Silence in the classroom!” and started letting students ask questions? Jane Smith tried it with her class – and was thrilled with the results.

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      string(5777) "67Teaching Thinking&Creativity  Vol 10:1www.teachingtimes.com   Teaching approachesAny questions?What if teachers stopped shouting “Silence in theclassroom!” and started letting students ask questions?Jane Smith tried it with her class – and was thrilled withthe results.What’s the tallest self-supporting structure you can build with newspaper, sellotape and scissors?After spending a fascinating half hour talking to a friend’s four-year-olddaughter, I was reminded how innately curious children are. She was areally bubbly character who wanted to know everything! Why are younot living here? Do you have little girls? How old are you? It was a real barrageof curiosity – totally refreshing and very funny at times. 68Teaching approaches   www.teachingtimes.comTeaching Thinking&Creativity  Vol 10:1It got me wondering – how do we go from being curious,confident, outspoken four year olds to eleven-year-oldswho are happy to sit passively and be told what to do? Theprobing questions from the four year old lacked any form ofguise – she wanted to know so she asked! No worries for herabout getting the question wrong.  She was unconcernedabout looking silly or asking an inappropriate question.She was confident that I was with was as interested in heras she was in me.This made me question my classroom practice. As an AST,I’m fortunate enough to attend many training courses. Afew years ago I attended a course where I learned that 95%of the questions in the classroom come from the teacher.I wanted to test the theory. I decided to use a year 11 classthat I had been teaching for about a year.I asked one of the pupils to observe the lesson andrecord only the questions that were posed by pupils.After an hour of torture, being acutely aware of whathe was doing and knowing that the results were goingto show a real issue, I looked in horror at the questions.Pupils were compliant and pleasant – there were no issuesof discipline.  All the pupils undertook the task I set andno one said anything other than: “Can I go to Matron’sand get a hot water bottle?’ On the surface it seemedlike a productive lesson. But it was clear that the pupilsthought their role was to receive information and werehappy to be passive.I had made this deliberately difficult for myself – I couldhave set up a discussion lesson where I would have hadmore questions from pupils. But it was still a shock to realisethat the culture in my classroom was one where pupils justdid as they were asked. How could I get pupils to think forthemselves and not just accept what they were told at facevalue? There was no way to measure the students’ truelevel of understanding.I began with my Cultural Studies class for 2008 – 2009,where we discussed what makes a philosophical question.We played question games – and I stressed that, in our class,we would never laugh at anyone’s questions.In the first term, we developed ‘ground rules’. Theseweren’t written down, but evolved from our classdiscussions. We have a poster on the wall that says: “Theonly dumb question is the one you don’t ask”. WhenI pointed this out to the class, I was overjoyed whena student, Ashleigh, said: “I don’t get it, what does itmean?”As a class, we had we had already discussed Philosophyfor Children (P4C) questions. We examined ‘Erika’s Story’while reading, ‘The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas’.In the story, Erika’s mother throws her from a cattle truck 69Teaching Thinking&Creativity  Vol 10:1www.teachingtimes.com   Teaching approachesdestined for a concentration camp and she, miraculously,survives. Pupils asked: Was Erika’s mother right to abandonher? Was the woman who looked after her a German? Didit make a difference if the woman was German? How didit feel to be on the train? Do you need to know where youare from? Once the pupils understand that there is no rightor wrong answer and that their emotional reactions arevalued, voicing an opinion is less pressured.When they are still in the early stages of year seven, Pupilsare very keen to join in lessons. Often their questions arespontaneous – spoken without any deliberation. They arekeen to know “why?”. Once the stigma of admitting theydon’t know something has been removed, lessons becomea much louder.When I gave this introductory lesson (below), all 7Opupils in 7O spoke about it in their end of year ‘Assessmentfor Living’ presentation.Yet it needs virtually nopreparation!Introductory lessonResources: Two large piecesof newspaper, one pair ofscissors and one role ofsellotape per group.Task: To build the tallestself-supporting structure,using only the materialsgiven.This activity helped pupilsto overcome their naturalshyness and soon they wereall joining in. Soon they werestanding up, kneeling ontables and firing questionslike: Did you say we couldstick it to the table?  Howlong have we got? Canwe tear the paper? Thiswas a fun lesson wherethe children had to askquestions to progress.Later in the term, twooutside speakers came into lead a session on e-safety.They were alarmed at allthe questions thrown atthem! By Christmas, I waspleased to note how diversethe class’s questions were.Various students asked: Canwe take the next lesson if weprepare it? Shall we researchRemembrance Day and share it with the class? I don’t knowwhat Heil Hitler means, can I go and find out? Can we reallyplan this trip ourselves?I introduced a ‘Mantle of the Expert’ project to furtherchallenge the class. The students were commissioned toproduce resources on"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Any questions?

22 Nov 2009

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      string(5667) "“To be genuinely thoughtful we must be willing to sustain and protract that state of doubt which is the stimulus to thorough inquiry, so as not to accept an idea or make a positive assertion of a belief until justifying reasons have been found.” (Dewey, 1933:16)No “quick fixes”Once you have refined the focus of your inquiry by translating a ‘hunch’ into a question that is both answerable and manageable, found or devised tools for your inquiry and formed a community inquiry with your partners, you need to make sense of what you are finding.  The extent to which this will be more or less difficult is dependent on how successfully you have negotiated the previous stages but making sense of the outcomes of an inquiry is always a challenge.  It is not unusual to end up with more questions than you started with and as one teacher put it ‘I am confused but at a higher level!’   However, the absence of an easy ‘quick fix’ answer need not be discouraging and the learning that takes place during an inquiry is powerful and rewarding in itself.  Frequently, teachers embark on a series of cycles of inquiry as the review of one ‘plan-do-review’ sequence generates new hunches.  Nevertheless, there is a need to make sense of an inquiry if subsequent actions are to be evidence informed and particularly if you are to be able to share what you are learning with other people.  Messiness and transparencyThe first thing to do is to embrace the ‘messiness’ of inquiring into what is happening in your own classroom, what is valuable about your inquiry is that it is conducted in an authentic setting and this means that it will reflect the fast pace and shifting, multiple variables that are integral to teaching in the real world.  Rigour in teacher research is achieved by ensuring that your account  is transparent so that everyone can know exactly what you did (and didn’t do) and why so that another teacher can express an opinion regarding your decisions and replicate your inquiry in their own context if they so wish.  The best way to ensure transparency and replicability is to focus on the process as well as the outcomes of your inquiry and pose questions to yourself to stimulate recall.Professional learning task: Reflecting on how things wentReflect on an inquiry you have undertaken by considering the following:What went according to plan?What was easier than anticipated?What was more difficult?What had you predicted?What surprised you?What other things would you tell someone, drawing from your experience of how the inquiry went?Letting the data speakBecause your inquiry has been integral to your teaching then you are likely to have generated a lot of different forms of information at different points in time and one of the first steps is to make a table of what you have got.  It can be helpful to organise the table according to the kinds of data (observations; lesson evaluations; student work etc.), details of the participants (who observed, who was observed etc.) and the tools you used (fortune line; student logs etc.) and when you collected information (frequency and dates).  You should also consider if there is any school data available that has been collected for other purposes but which could help in the analysis of the outcomes of your inquiry.  You will be aiming to triangulate the different forms and sources of information as this will help you to draw conclusions and test the robustness of any conclusions you may be reaching.  You will also, inevitably, be triggering a lot of tangential thoughts and you will need to postpone these for the moment as you focus on answering the question you posed at the start of this cycle of inquiry.  The key to success at this stage is to guard against finding what you are looking for and this is where working with other people in a community of inquiry is vital.Professional learning task: Constructing your table of inquiry Consider an inquiry you have or are carrying out.  Using the guidance given in the last paragraph construct a table which sets out: the kind of data gathered; the source of the data; details of participants; and the tools that you used. Using the benefits of collaborationWorking collaboratively with colleagues and research participants is the best way to ensure that your interpretation of the data is reasonable and representative.  There are a variety of ways that you can approach this: you can ask a colleague to watch a short piece of video or read part of an interview transcript, without telling him what your conclusions have been and simply ask him what seems to be interesting or important. 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'How to do it' Guides

How to … make sense of your inquiry

20 May 2019

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      string(5178) "at a geography networkmeeting in November.A conference held in October for Learning SupportAssistants was attended by 36 colleagues from a rangeof local schools both primary and secondary. Theconference was extremely well received with localexpertise shared and presentations delivered on topicssuch as “Outstanding Interventions” and “PositiveBehaviour for Learning.”A spin off from the collaborative work outlinedabove – as we work more closely with other schools– has been two very successful Teachmeets witha Leadmeet planned for February and a furtherTeachmeet planned for July. Feedback from delegatesis shaping future provision in this area and closelymatched to identified need, leading unsurprisingly toconsiderable success and positive outcomes which arehaving an impact in our schools and helping to shapepractice to secure greater student progress.“I enjoyed this even more than the first one Therange of presentations was spot on and all weredelivered in an engaging way. It was good to see thatno-one was “monkied” for not sticking to time!!”“Fascinating to hear Jenny Smith talk abouttaking on the leadership of a school in such differentcircumstances to those we work in.”■■■ Future priorities and aimsThe CPD Strategic Team continues to be driven,committed and focused on refining and developingprovision to secure greater impact. To this end we65……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Referencecontinue to strive to improve what we offer and tolook for other creative solutions to enhance classroompractice and leadership development at all levels.Future developmental work will include:■ Leadership development programme for “coasting”middle leaders followed by an ongoing networkgroup designed to sustain impact.■ Refinement of “operational” and administrativeprocedures to effectively monitor and supportcontinued development and augmentation of rangeof networks on offer.■ Re-evaluation and focus on the science networkwhich has failed to thrive or develop under the LFand was poorly attended at the last two meetings.■ Forge stronger and more workable links with theonline administrative tool e-PD in order to refinebooking systems and ensure networks are easilyaccessible and promoted well.■ To review the rolling agenda feedback forms witha focus on audit of participants’ needs in order toinform generic CPD needs which could be addressedby the strategic team through other channels.■ To set up a conference / joint network event wherenetworks run on the same day followed by acelebration with all colleagues and recognition ofachievements as well as the opportunity to receivefeedback.■ To engage in effective impact evaluation – bothqualitative and quantitative using Guskey’s modelin order to draw up a case study of overall impacton participants’ skills and students’ learning to date.We are excited not only about this element of ourwork but also the other developmental elements of ourleadership responsibilities for CPD across The MillaisAlliance as a whole.Sue KellyTeam Leader CPD Strategic TeamCollaboration in ActionIntelligent Learning is a teaching practice course, executed through six half hour video sessions,which address in detail the changes in pedagogy you and your school need to introduce to startaddressing the issues of motivation and becoming a thinking and learning community.The central theme of the course is to give students the skills to ask more and searching questions.…it’s the questioning skills, not of the teacher but of the student that really count in developingtheir cognitive abilities and engagement. Their questions dominate the learning agenda and theownership of learning follows.At the end of the course teachers will have the skills and practical strategies to:facilitate more and more sophisticated student questioningsupport children in using concepts to organise their thinkingmanage dialogue and discussion to develop children’s ideasplan lessons and study programmes that promotes questioning and dialoguecreate communities of inquiry in their classroom•••••Written and presented By Steve WilliamsAcclaimed by the NUTWhat sort of teaching allows students to take ownership oftheir own learning?What will motivate and excite children’s curiosity and haulthem out of passivity?What style of teaching will develop their intellectual skills tothe point that they can become effective agents of enquiryin any field?Become a Thinking School withIntellIgent learnIngIn the pack are:Six half hour videos on DVDSupporting guides for each video,written by programme users inschools themselvesA CD of supporting articles andmaterials to stimulate professionaldevelopment and curriculum design•••To order call:"
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Professional Development

Setting up and sustaining collaborative networks

21 Sep 2015

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      string(5855) "they don’t hit certain parameters within the virtual class – such as not asking enough questions or failing to move around enough – then the children become distracted and visually fade to prompt the user to vary their style of delivery, helping to hone their skills.In addition to physical feedback markers, we also aim to teach more abstract pedagogical skills, such as how best to frame a response to a question from a student, or the importance of moving around the room to engage more fully with the whole class. The fully interactive experience uses aspects of gamification to monitor and assess the user’s performance, helping them hone the skills they need to teach a comprehensive lesson and keep a class’ attention in the process. An example lesson plan:In one of the lesson plans for the Ericsson project, the teachers are tasked with teaching their students about Pascal’s Law. They are given a brief at the start of the experience, which includes their aims. This is an overview of the tasks they have to carry out and the skills they get to practice during the experience. Each choice the teacher makes during the session has variable outcomes that determine how well they do.Lesson aimsToday’s topic is Pascal’s Law. In this session you will:guide students through recall of prior knowledge as you introduce the topicpresent the concept through a brief lecturecheck for understanding of the conceptYou will practice the following pedagogical skills:backward designrecalling prior knowledge and observationindividual workstudent demonstrationpair workYou will have opportunities to engage your students in ICT-integrated activities, including:Google image searchYouTube videocollaborative learning platform Teaching activities Once you have introduced the topic, you will spend the remainder of your class guiding the students through activities to help them more fully grasp the concept and practice using the formula.Choose two activities from among the four below. When choosing your activities, consider activities that:offer a mix of pedagogiesinclude ICT- and non-ICT-integrated methodsare in an order that you think will most effectively build students’ understandingYou will receive feedback on your choices at the end of the module.Choose from: Ask 2 different students to 1) organise a formula and 2) solve the equation in front of class. Have students research examples of machines that use hydraulics by doing a Google image search, and share findings with class.Send students a multiple choice question set via the learning app and ask them to work on it and send their answers through the app when they’re done.Ask a student to come and show how to solve a practice question on the board.Interaction pointsThroughout the lesson, you will have points where you can interact with students. These include:asking a student a question inviting a student to write on the boardcomplete a task using learning appask students to complete task in pairs In addition, the dynamic feedback mechanism built into the experience will cause students to ask questions if it gauges that teachers are not engaging students as well as they could be.Feedback At the end, the programme generates feedback on their teaching activities and on individual aspects of their class management, from the tone of their voice to the accuracy of setting time limits, based on the choices the teacher made throughout. The teacher can then repeat the experience if they so wish – with different variables and options available for them to experiment with, helping them to improve. Less pressure, more progressFor teachers in developing countries, this is a way to train without access to the resources we have here in the UK – but these are skills that any new teacher can benefit from practising before they face the pressure of a real class. The global teaching community TES offers a handful of key tips on what makes a good teacher, including: knowledge of subject matter, classroom skills, planning skills, adaptability and communication skills. Often, these are skills that take time to build up as teachers gain more experience in the classroom. This is where a virtual simulator can come in really handy – by giving new and training teachers the confidence and initial experience of facing a class in a low-pressure, risk-free environment. For example, a training tool with similar functionality to that of the Ericsson Virtual Classroom can help a new teacher experiment with, and improve, their body language – helping them find the delivery style that best suits them and their class, making them a more open and more confident educator. In the same way, it can help teachers prepare for the unpredictability of the classroom. No class is the same two days running and, while no digital application can replicate the true unpredictability of human nature quite so well as a real class, a virtual classroom can nonetheless help teachers get used to dealing with surprising situations such as student injuries or badly behaved pupils, which require quick thinking and flexibility. What’s more, it allows teachers to learn quick and adaptive thinking without the risk of alienating a class of real students who might lose respect for their teacher – while giving the teacher some of the confidence and skills they will need when faced with a real-life situation. Such a training tool does not have to be limited to new or training teachers. Even those with years of experience in front of a real class could"
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Leadership

Upping the Ante on Teacher Training: The Virtual Classroom That’s Just for Teachers

13 Nov 2018