OER4Schools/Review of AfL and lesson pacing

Title: Introduction to OER4Schools
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The OER4Schools Professional Learning Resource

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  Introduction to OER4Schools

  2.3 - More on questioning

Table of contents.

Introduction to OER4Schools >>>

Facilitator's version, Participants' version

Review of homework

Whole Group Discussion (11 min).

• What peer- or self-assessment strategy did you try out this week and what topic was it on?
• Do you think that peer and self-assessment may only work for teaching certain topics? Why?
• Did you find that it has worked well for you and for your students? Did some students respond better to peer or self-assessment than others? Why?
• How will you prepare yourself further to introduce peer and self-assessment in future lessons?

Objectives for this lesson

The objectives for this session are to

• review what has been learnt and tried out for AfL,
• discuss ways to ensure lessons are paced appropriately and adapted to learners’ needs,
• and to try out AfL during an ICT-supported activity.

Review of AfL

Individual work (11 min). You have learnt quite a lot about how assessment can support students’ learning (AfL) and some activities that you can carry out in lessons.

You should have been updating your assessment inventory regularly, and you should have at least five rows of entries in your inventory by now, to remind yourself of what you have understood of an aspect of AfL each week and how you have tried to carry out AfL measures in your lessons.

Referring to your inventory, complete the following questionnaire to review how much you have learnt and tried to practise AfL in your classrooms. Circle the choice that best represents how you feel about each topic in this unit. There are no right or wrong answers!

4.1 Assessment for Learning (AfL)
How much do I know about the difference between AfL and what I used to think of ‘assessment’ as?	very much	somewhat	not much
How interested am I to learn more about AfL?	very much	somewhat	not very
4.2 Learning objectives and success criteria
How much do I know about learning objectives and success criteria?	very much	somewhat	not much
How skilled am I at using learning objectives and success criteria?	very much	somewhat	not very
How often do I make use of learning objectives and success criteria	routinely	sometimes	not often
How interested am I to learn and improve on using learning objectives and success criteria?	very much	somewhat	not very
4.3 Formative feedback
How much do I know of formative feedback?	very much	somewhat	not much
How skilled am I at giving formative feedback?	very much	somewhat	not very
How often do I give formative feedback?	routinely	sometimes	not often
How interested am I to learn and improve on giving formative feedback	very much	somewhat	not very
4.4 Peer and self-assessment
How much do I know of peer and self-assessment?	very much	somewhat	not much
How skilled am I at making use of peer and self-assessment in the class?	very much	somewhat	not very
How often do I make use of peer and self-assessment in the class?	routinely	sometimes	not often
How interested am I to find out more and improve on making use of peer and self-assessment?	very much	somewhat	not very

You can print this content on a separate sheet here: OER4Schools/4.5_Review_of_AfL_and_lesson_pacing/questionnaire .

Pair work (11 min). Share your responses with another partner teacher and reflect on whether there are any similarities or differences in the entries. Each pair of teachers will report to the whole group on the similarities and differences of your responses. Try to explain to the whole group why there could be these similarities or differences.

Whole Group Discussion (11 min). As a group, review the responses of each pair of teachers and identify if there are any conclusions that are common to the other pairs of teachers. Identify in particular if there are any particular topics of assessment that will require more follow-up. What are some specific ways that you may require more support and assistance? Can your peers help you?

Educator note

The facilitator may like to record on the blackboard or a large sheet of paper what each pair of teachers have mentioned to remind the group what has been said.

If you are participating in our facilitators programme, please collect the data, and submit it for review.

Lesson pacing: Your experience

Individual work (11 min).

1. Think of a lesson which took more time than you had planned or less time than you had planned. On your mini-blackboard or sheet of paper write reasons for why you think this happened?
2. Also consider what are some ways to ensure that you can pace lessons effectively such that you have sufficient time and learner engagement is maintained – for example, students get bored if they are not gainfully occupied and have to wait a long time for assistance or for peers to complete a task. Have you ever noticed this happening?

Pair work and whole group work (11 min). Compare your responses with another partner teacher and report to the group on your responses. Write down three strategies that you would like to try in your classroom and keep this safely in your ring binder. Choose one or two of these to commit to trying out this week to maintain the pace of your lesson and ensure that all students are actively engaged throughout.

Educator note

The facilitator may like to record what lesson pacing strategies each pair of teachers has suggested, to remind the group what has been said. You could do this on the blackboard, a large sheet of paper, or using a computer and projector. These could be some possible responses for over-running of a lesson:

• too much information in one lesson,
• unrealistic estimation of what children know / do not know,
• inappropriate concept about timing,
• too much repetition of the same concept, and
• not keeping an eye on the time left and re-adjusting the lesson accordingly

As part of the group work, brainstorm how this can be avoided. Here are some examples for improving lesson pacing:

• hang a wall clock that both you and students can see [or use timer on a netbook],
• avoid repetition when it is not required (e.g. do not tell each group individually, but address the whole class with common instructions)
• assign timings to different parts of the lesson plan, revise after teaching so it is more accurate next time, keep trialling this until your accuracy improves,
• do not wait for the slowest learner to finish, and make sure that the pace of the slowest learner does not determine pace for everybody: every child should be active (consider what other tasks high capability learners can do like design problems for peers, and how they can progress).
• have activities, or materials such as storybooks, on which students can work on their own after finishing their work,
• use fast workers as classroom assistants (they could even develop resources for you such as making traffic lights, creating maths problems that other children could solve, making charts that you would like to display for the lesson next week etc).

South African videos on lesson pacing

In this session we are watching video that was produced in a school near Cape Town in South Africa. The school is located in a township, and the class is a Grade 7 class, with about 40 students. The teacher (Noxolo) planned a mathematics activity day on making three-dimensional shapes out of paper, so that the learners could get hands-on experience of building and understanding those shapes. We will return to this lesson in the unit on enquiry and project-based learning.

Video watching (11 min). Watch the two clips below, showing

1. how the teacher, Noxolo, tries to find out what students know about polygons prior to her teaching the topic (see first video) and
2. Noxolo responding to the students after she observes them working in groups on naming polyhedron (see second video).

Before you watch the clips, read the questions below (in your own time), and consider them as you are watching the clips:

• Why do you think Noxolo has made the effort to ask so many questions to the whole class and individual students?
• Do you think the majority of the students know what is a polygon and naming of the polyhedron?
• Imagine if Noxolo had directly told the class at the beginning of the lesson the definition of a polygon and naming of the polyhedron, how different would the learning for the students be? Would she know whether her students are learning?
• Do you think that Noxolo has paced her lesson effectively? (Was she in a hurry to teach the topic or did she take too much time to repeat certain ideas?)
• Do you think that effective lesson pacing will always result in avoiding over-running or under-running of a lesson? Why?

Bear these questions in mind as you watch the video:

VIDEO

Noxolo_3Dshapes_1.1_AfL1_prior_knowledge.m4v

The description of the video

Video/Noxolo 3Dshapes 1.1 AfL1 prior knowledge.m4v, https://oer.opendeved.net/wiki/Video/Noxolo_3Dshapes_1.1_AfL1_prior_knowledge.m4v, Duration: 12:34 watch on YouTube, local play / download options / download from dropbox)

VIDEO

Noxolo_3D_shapes_1.3_AfL4_acting_on_obs.m4v

The description of the video

Video/Noxolo 3D shapes 1.3 AfL4 acting on obs.m4v, https://oer.opendeved.net/wiki/Video/Noxolo_3D_shapes_1.3_AfL4_acting_on_obs.m4v, Duration: 12:34 watch on YouTube, local play / download options / download from dropbox)

After watching the videos, share some of your responses as a group.

Educator note

As the clips are short, and not shown in the context of the lesson, you may have to provide some guidance for the participants to draw out the key points. For instance,

• The teacher says “I can see that you are struggling with naming shapes.” indicating that she has made an observation about how her class is learning, that she is now acting on through whole class dialogue.
• The teacher probes the answers further (“You say yes, why do you say yes?”).
• The teacher uses questioning to assess prior knowledge.
• The teacher is clarifying common misconceptions.

It may not be possible for the teacher participants to comment on the pacing of Noxolo’s lessons without seeing the entire footage of the lesson. The facilitator can highlight to the participants that Noxolo used a combination of teaching strategies in this lesson to ensure that the lesson pacing is according to the learning pace of the majority of the students – finding out what the majority of students understand through a series of inquiry questions, group work and direct teaching.

Highlight to the teachers that the pacing of the lesson needs to consider how much students are learning from their teaching. The teacher needs to balance delicately what he/she wants to teach (that is according to a lesson plan or what is in his/her mind) with an understanding of how much the students are learning there and then. It may be the case that MORE time is required than they expect, particularly if the majority of students do not seem to be following their lessons.

Reflection on lesson pacing and making connections

Whole group discussion (11 min).

Adapting to learners’ needs

You have learnt about what good pacing is about, which is to help as many of your students as possible to understand and keep up with your teaching in the classroom. No matter how good your initial lesson plan is, it is highly likely you will have to adjust your pacing or even totally change your teaching strategy, especially if you have been listening to students’ responses and checking what students have learnt. For example, if Noxolo knows that most students know what is a polygon and naming of the polyhedron, she will have to teach her lesson in a different way. There could be different ways to know whether to adjust the pacing during a lesson.

Now discuss these two questions below on making connections between what you have learnt about differentiation through group work and AfL, and lesson pacing:

Question 1: What did you learn about differentiation in the group work unit that might help with lesson pacing?

Educator note

When we talk about differentiation, we mean differentiation by task, not by learners. Stress the point that learners may work at different paces in different subjects or even different lessons in the same subject, depending on, for example, how confident they are with the material. “Slow learners” are not always slow learners and fast learners likewise, so these labels are not necessarily helpful.

Question 2: What did you learn about AfL measures that might help with lesson pacing?

Educator note

One thing relevant here is: assess what children know at the beginning, assess whether they’ve understood after an activity or task before deciding to explore the topic in more depth or not – and again, re-adjust the lesson according to what students know. It is not a good idea to rigidly “stick to the script”.

Allow time for participants to raise other points too.

Write down your main take-away messages about lesson pacing, group work and AfL in your assessment inventory.

An ICT activity: Picture sequencing

Introduction to activity

The purpose of this activity is twofold:

1. First, for you to learn more about an application, with a view to using it in class.
2. Second, to try out AfL during an ICT-supported activity.

So while you do the activity, imagine that you want to introduce it in the class. Think about the following:

• Identify what are the possible lesson objectives and success criteria?
• What kind of formative feedback would you likely be giving your students during the class?
• Do you think the issues typically arising with lesson pacing will be the same or different in a lesson using ICT? Why?

Bear these questions in mind, as you do the following activity!

Educator note

During this activity, ask participants to use traffic lights to indicate their progress of completion of the activities. The traffic light cards can just be placed in front of each participant, with the relevant color visible on top. Explain to the participants that the red light should be shown if they need immediate and urgent help from the facilitator. Use the orange light if they are unsure about some issues with the activities which they can consult their partner teachers about. Use the green light to indicate that everything is going smoothly for them so far. They are encouraged to use the traffic lights at all times while they are engaging with the activities while you go around assisting them. There is no need for the participants to “vote” by all using the traffic lights simultaneously at specific times.

ICT activity: Picture sequencing

This activity requires one of the following files

• File:Monarch Life Cycle.odp for OpenOffice Impress or
• File:Monarch Life Cycle.ppt for MS PowerPoint.
• Alternatively, you can view the pictures here: life cycle of a butterfly and use your own software for arranging them.

Pair work (10 min) to download the files. Start by downloading the presentation files above (or the pictures individually), and look at them. With a grade buddy, use presentation software to arrange and present them in the right sequence. If you have difficulty arranging the slides, read the background note below.

Whole class discussion and brainstorm (10 min) on topics for sequencing. Brainstorm some topics that you can assess using the activity ‘sequencing’. Note those topics down, so that you can find images later.

Then discuss:

• How many pupils should work together on this activity in the class for appropriate AfL?
• Is it feasible to carry out this activity in the class? Why?
• What steps can be taken to make this activity more feasible?
• What can be the formative feedback if

1. a student is quickly able to sequence accurately
2. a student is partially accurate in sequencing, and
3. a student gets them all wrong?

Background reading

Arranging slides in OpenOffice Impress

When you open a presentation, you see the first slide displayed in a larger window in the middle of the screen. To the left, you see small pictures of all of the slides in the presentation, like a "film strip". To rearrange the slides, you can simply click on a slide with the mouse, and (while holding down the mouse button), drag it to a different position.

As a follow up activity, chose a topic which you are teaching, and for which this activity is useful. Find some appropriate images, and make your own presentation for your students to re-order. You can find pictures that are open resources (Creative Commons licensed) at http://www.flickr.com/search/advanced/.

Discuss in your pair. (11 min). How did you find the ICT activity on using slides to show the life cycle of a butterfly? What are the advantages and disadvantages of making use of ICT for such an activity? Can this activity be completed without using ICT?

Discussion of ICT activity

Group discussion (11 min). As a group, discuss how this exploration went. Discuss the questions posed above!

Educator note

If there is time, the facilitator may like to record what the teachers have suggested in a table format on the blackboard:

Lesson Objective:
Success Criteria:
Formative Feedback:
Any issues of lesson pacing?:
Advantages/disadvantages of using this ICT for activity in the classroom:

You can print this content on a separate sheet here: OER4Schools/4.5 Review of AfL and lesson pacing/table for lesson objective .

If you are participating in our facilitators programme, please collect the data, and submit it for review.

Unit 4 review and assessment portfolio

Educator note

You may want to adapt this section to your particular needs.

As we have done before with other units, you could review all sessions in the current unit, and discuss what participants have found most useful.

You could also consider asking the participants to do an assessment of their progress so far, by producing a portfolio, as detailed below.

Work in your own time (11 min). To reflect on your progress so far, produce a portfolio. This portfolio should include your 5 “best” pieces of work (e.g. completed activity template or lesson template, concept map, etc) from what you’ve done so far this year. These should be quality items that illustrate what you have learnt, and what you feel you have implemented successfully.

You may already have material in your workshop materials that you can dig out or draw on. It can be one technique (eg traffic lights or no hands up) or a whole lesson.

As part of this assessment portfolio, reflect on each item. You could do an audio reflection for this, if you have access to an audio recorder. At the start of each reflection, state clearly which item you are talking about (eg. “my class discussion about how diseases are transmitted”, or my “concept map on parts of a plant”), and then discuss the following questions:

• Why have you chosen the item?
• What does it illustrate? For example, what new technique did you decide to trial and how did you apply it in your lesson? How well did it work in practice?
• What did you learn from that about what works or doesn’t work to support interactive teaching and learning?

We encourage you to include your progress on developing new computer skills, but please do this through showcasing your new knowledge about interactive teaching techniques rather than just including computer skills by themselves – so your chosen activities or examples of learning about interactive teaching may or may not involve computer use!

Homework

• Do a final update of your assessment inventory on any AfL measures you have tried out this week.
• As above, commit to one or two techniques that you will try out this week to maintain the pace of your lesson and ensure that all students are actively engaged throughout.
• Try out the sequencing activity in class. (Try to find your own images for a forthcoming lesson topic. You can find pictures that are open resources, i.e. Creative Commons licensed, at http://www.flickr.com/search/advanced/) Bear in mind AfL measures, and try them out during the lesson.
• Prepare / complete your assessment portfolio