Introduction to OER4Schools
The OER4Schools Professional Learning Resource
“Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.” (Chinese proverb)
The unit offers an introduction to interactive teaching with and without ICT. It introduces the idea of “plan-teach-reflect”, as well as lesson planning to include interactive activity. The unit covers the following aspects:
- What is interactive teaching?
- Designing interactive lesson plans
- ICTs in interactive teaching
- Effective use of ICTs including collaborative writing using ICTs
The unit is presented here in four section or "sessions" of approximately two hours length (when used in a workshop setting), but you may want to divide the material to suit your own setting.
Introduction to running the workshop.
What are the issues with primary education in your country? Why are people invited to the OER4schools programme?
What are teachers’ expectations (attend for the whole year - starting off weekly)? Some people will be concerned with big picture, others with detail. Agree the day of the week for f2f meetings.
Some expectations about what a workshop should be like. Modelling activities in the workshop on activities planned for the classroom. (Modelling participation and interactivity at all levels.)
Modelling: A key “interactive” principle is for the “students” to start from what they know, and then to extend that knowledge. We apply this to the workshop by asking the teachers about their own experience of interactive teaching.
The facilitator should say explicitly that they will not judge the views put forward, but simply make notes of the views put forward.
As the workshop facilitator, clearly signpost what is happening at each stage in the workshop. E.g. you might say “We now look at interactive teaching.“
Introduce this resource and the topics within it
introduce strategies to incorporate interactive elements (things you might say, things you might do)
thinking about your own practice; do you think you’d like to try one of these new approaches?
Do you want a buddy system (pairs of teachers matched by grade or subject)?
Running the first session.
What are the educator notes here?
Setting up the room - remove tables? Chairs in circle? Tables arranged in islands?
What props are needed? Sheets of papers and pens? May be hard to find for some schools.
Ice breaker Welcome everybody to the workshop.
You start the workshop with an “ice breaker”.
We would suggest first name basis.
Icebreaker 1 (for a group of colleagues):
Stand up and sing a song together.
Icebreaker 2 (for group of participants who don’t know each other well):
People say one or two words that describe themselves (such as “funny”, “sociable”, “shy”).
OR Chat in pairs, and then introduce your neighbour to the group.
Icebreaker 3 (for either colleagues or strangers):
- people form themselves into groups of 3
- they have a conversation for no more than 3 min, 1 min each, on a specified topic, e.g. their favourite foods, what activity they are glad to be rid of and don't have to tackle today, their worst fantasy about what could go wrong as a consequence of the workshop...
- facilitator claps their hands after each minute to signal changeover; after 3 min, groups dissolve and form new groups; facilitator changes the topic at this point and after every 3 min until everyone has spoken to everyone else
- people have to stand up the whole time and move around - it is very energising, normally beginning quite quietly and ending up very loud!
- the next activity might connect with this icebreaker, for example asking volunteers to report back on their worst fantasy about what could go wrong in their classroom as a consequence of the professional development programme?!
Need a list of topics here - workshop facilitator to decide these in advance.
Consider whether there is a hierarchy among the participants?
To continue the workshop, present the aims of Unit 1.
