Student engagement and facilitating learning

Educational Experiences Reflect on your own educational experience. Think about teachers that influenced your journey Good / bad experiences Make it meaningful

THAT teacher Personality traits: Memorable assignments/projects: Personal connection you had with them: Physical layout of classroom:

Golden Rules Make it meaningful Encourage students´self-belief Encourage autonomy Embrace collaborative learning Establish positive Teacher-Student relationships Keep them moving

How? Role of the teacher Facilitator of learning [fuh-sil-i-teyt] to make easier or less difficult; help forward (an action, a process, etc.) How?

Teacher Centred Student Centred Student works independently Student works collaboratively, in partners or independently Correct answers are the goal Thinking and support of answers are the goal Assessments and exams – seperate from learning task Ongoing assessment – observations, anecdotal notes from learning tasks Teacher only assesses Self assessment peer assessment and teacher assessment One size fits all learning Process based leaning – probem solving is all part of the learning process Teacher makes all decisions Shared responsibility and decision making Students answer questions – Empowered teacher Students ask questions – Empowered learner Taylor, M. (n.d.). What Is a Constructivist Classroom? Retrieved September 17, 2016, from http://imaginationsoup.net/2011/01/10/what-is-a-constructivist-classroom/

Collaborative Learning Why collaborate? Example activities Can occur peer to peer or in larger groups. Students can clarify misunderstandings and teach each other Think-pair-share Mix-freeze-pair Jigsaw activities Group investigations Project based learning

What it looks like

Differentiation A person’s strength is also a learning channel. A person’s weakness is not a great learning channel. Modify tasks to be inclusive of all levels Fosters a safe learning environment Motivates students to participate Entire task or small components Encourage autonomy Establish positive relationships Encourage student’s self - belief

Same lesson, different learners Lower level Use post its for students to construct the sentences Show a picture of the pizza in question 1 Higher level Different vocabulary Create a roleplay or comic Draw a picture of the pizza in question 1

Now you try Brainstorm Think about how you could modify the task for lower ability and higher ability.

Now you try Lower: Display flash cards of adjectives Show a video of the two animals Students watch two students impersonate the animals Higher: Use more complex adjectives Have two students impersonate the animals Explain why these sentences are true. E.g. the design features of the body.

Questioning How do you generate questions to ask? Who answers the questions? Do you prepare students beforehand? How long do you wait for a response? How do you handle incorrect answers?

Questioning Students can write questions Random selection Tell students the questions beforehand At least 3 seconds of think time Redirect, clarify and give feedback Students can write questions – great way to ensure they understand question stems. Random selection – 3 groups of students “smart ones”, “not smart” and ones who don’t care. They know how they are perceived and they act their part Tell the students beforehand – write them on the board so students can visually process and have a point of reference. Prepares students for success. 5-7 minutes of wait time – Most teachers only wait 1.5 seconds. Some students need more. Even then you can tell them you will come back to them. Redirect, probe and feedback

Other questioning tips and tactics Give students 30 seconds to share their answer with a partner before feeding back Ask a question, move to another part of the room and repeat it before taking any answers Set a timer Play some thinking music Use interactive tools to select students http://www.classtools.net/random-name-picker/

Teacher Centred Student Centred Student works independently Student works collaboratively, in partners or independently Correct answers are the goal Assessments and exams – seperate from learning task Teacher only assesses One size fits all learning Teacher makes all decisions Students answer questions – Empowered teacher Choose randomly people to answer while giving them a heads up at the beginning. Promotes accountability and autonomy

Handy resources Keeping them moving: http://esl.about.com/od/englishlessonplans/a/braingym.htm https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJfz4ZD1ADS08wFg70j0Niw https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLearningStation Differentiation: http://www.bbcactive.com/BBCActiveIdeasandResources/MethodsofDifferentiationintheClassroom.aspx Online tools: http://www.classtools.net/random-name-picker/ http://www.transum.org/software/RandomStudents/

Encourage students´self-belief Make it meaningful Encourage students´self-belief Encourage autonomy Embrace collaborative learning Establish positive Teacher-Student relationships Keep them moving