Effective Teaching

In this episode Dan interviews Prof. Michael Anderson discussing how the 4Cs: Creativity, Critical Reflection, Communication, and Collaboration can be used to transform teaching and learning.

Episode 51 looks at how you can improve student engagement through differentiation by focusing on both the student and the classroom.

Episode 50 was celebrated via live stream on Facebook discussing 3 ways to integrate your curriculum, covering multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches. Dan shares stories of how he has applied these approaches at his own school and at home with his son.

Episode 49 is all about using the 6 senses - hearing, smell, taste, sight, touch and proprioception - in your classroom to improve student learning.

Using sight to help students learn can mean lots of different things in various classrooms.  It means to use colour, visual organisation, video or images, Modelling and demonstration. Examples could include: modelling to students how to solve problems with visual demonstrations or giving a demonstration of how to pass a football.Using a historical timeline to set a scene in History or a taxonomy for identifying animalsIt means showing finished products in project based learning or in technology, creative arts or EnglishIt means using visual clues to draw attention to critical or important pieces of information and so much more.HearingUsing hearing can be as basic as:ensuring that there is clear pronunciation of each term when you are talking and removing background noises where possible.But is also includes:Helping them to associate sounds with specific items to recallUsing music to help with memoryMaking use of rhythm and timing etcExamples include:Providing the sounds of animals to go with the study of them, or providing the sound of a rainforest when studying them.Developing jingles to aid with recall… we can all recall the jingles from the ads we watched growing up.. This is much the same idea.Introducing your lesson with up-beat music to help increase the energy and mood in your classroomReading poetry using a set pacing or timing for each lineTouchTouch is about texture. We have a book at home that talks about the animals and on each page my daughter is encouraged to pat one of the animals to see what they feel like. How can you incorporate something similar to your lessons:Perhaps you could bring in different samples of rocks for the students to touch and compare when learning about the layers of the earth, or different types of soilHave students get wet as they learn about the water cycle, or feel the heat experienced by elite tennis players during the Australian open.I remember learning about heat and the transfer of energy when I was at school and my science teacher getting us to feel this transfer but having us cool our hands in cold water, before putting them into warm water TastePersonally I think taste and smell are connected, but obviously not everything that you might encourage a student to smell they can taste. But how can you use taste, food, drink to help your students to learn? In episode 28 with Camilla, she mentioned making Mango Milkshakes when teaching the letter M… and it can be this simple. I remember one of my Indonesian lessons when our teacher brought in fruits and made food that was traditional in Indonesia. You could have students taste the pH scale… They could compare the acidity of coffee, coke, chocolate, lemons, kiwi fruit, cucumbers, water, pancakes and anything else you can think of.SmellSmell is all about the nose and engaging it to learn ideas and is one of the best memory markers as far as your brain is concerned.I use this for my lesson on supplementation (and combine it with taste, depending on the supplement). I lay out lots of different supplements athletes might use and ask them to try and identify them and then have them smell it as they learn about it. Maybe you could do this as students learn about the different types of gas that make up the atmosphere, or when they are studying volcanoes. Have students smell plants they are studying. You can probably even connect new ideas to specific smells that exist everyday… such as a type of deodorant or air freshenerProprioceptionFinally, my sixth sense, which is proprioception… to know where your body is without looking.

In this episode, Emeritus Professor Dylan Wiliam will discuss formative assessment and why it is the most important thing teachers need to get right in their classroom. He will also provide details on how to do formative assessment well at school, develop students to become lifelong learners and provide practical guidance to help educators get started with formative assessment. Learning doesn't stop once the bell rings. Students choosing to learn outside the classroom should be the goal of teaching. In line with this, teachers can use formative assessment to mould the student into someone who chooses to learn on their own. Rather than improve the work of the learner, improve the learner.In today’s episode, Emeritus Professor Dylan Wiliam will discuss formative assessment and why it is the most important thing teachers need to get right in their classroom. He will also provide details on how to do formative assessment well at school, develop students to become lifelong learners and provide practical guidance to help educators get started with formative assessment. Tune in to the episode to find out how to instil a lifelong love of learning in your students. If you're an educator aiming to help your students become independent learners, this show is for you!Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode: Discover why formative assessment is critical to student learning. Learn how teachers can perform formative assessment in their classrooms.Emeritus Professor Dylan Wiliam will share strategies on how to use formative assessment in helping students become lifelong learners.Video showhttps://youtu.be/WdPdmdM6ZTUEpisode HighlightsIntuitive and Empirical Cases for Formative AssessmentThe intuitive case emphasises the importance of what the learner already knows and using it as the starting point in their education.  Good teachers start where their students are. Knowing their students' capabilities can greatly improve their teaching.Assessment of what a student knows is the bridge between teaching and learning. Formative assessment proves to be effective based on empirical data presented by various studies.Teachers using formative assessment in class observed considerable improvement in their students. Listen to the full episode to find out how!  How Students Become Lifelong Learners Through Formative AssessmentFormative assessment is composed of five strategies: success criteria and learning intentions, collecting evidence of learning, providing future-focused feedback, collaborative learning, and activating students as owners of their learning.The primary purpose of feedback is to make students become self-regulating learners.Students shouldn't be dependent on feedback. The purpose of teachers' feedback is to help students become able to take over their learning.Peer assessment is a stepping stone to self-assessment. Listen to the full episode to hear examples of how the five strategies of formative assessment work inside the classroom. How Teachers Can Do Formative AssessmentIf you want to meet the learning needs of all of your students, then you also need to get evidence about what's happening to all the kids in the class.Teachers need to model effective practice so that the students can take it over themselves. Teachers should think of one teaching technique that they would like to try and use it until it's second nature to them. Create a culture in the classroom where students feel okay about making mistakes. Plan and use a hinge question to determine where the lesson will progress to based on the answers the students provide. On Feedback, Collaborative Learning and MotivationThe purpose of feedback is to improve the..

In this episode of the Effective Teaching Podcast, Dan interviews Trevor MacKenzie author of "Dive into Inquiry" and "Inquiry Mindset". Throughout this interview Trevor explains the difference between inquiry-based learning (IBL) and Project-based learning and why we should consider using the inquiry model to instill lifelong learning in our students. He discusses the need for an inquiry mindset and throughout the interview Trevor explains how he implements IBL in his classroom. You will also learn some of the mistakes teachers make when implementing IBL and how you can avoid these to help students become successful in the inquiry process. This episode provides practical tips to help you begin to implement IBL in your classroom. Inquiry Based Learning with Trevor MacKenzie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.Join the Facebook CommunityVideo showhttps://youtu.be/SdcvsRfxkOkShow notesWhat is inquiry-based learning?Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is a teaching and learning approach that puts the process of learning front and centre and utilises questions to drive learning. Within this approach the teacher shifts to a facilitator of learning or a learning coach.Why would a teacher use inquiry-based learning?IBL focuses on the process of learning and so a teacher would use this approach if they valued the process of learning along with the content that is learnt. Using IBL helps to develop student as lifelong learners because it is the learning process that is taught, fostered and developed, as well as the learning of the content.How do you implement inquiry-based learning in your classroom?Trevor trains his students using the Understanding By Design template. He co-creates the learning with the students and progresses them from teacher driving inquiry to free inquiry with multiple steps in-between.How can inquiry-based learning go wrong?Often the mistakes come from teachers not having a clear definition of what IBL is or by jumping to free inquiry too quickly, which results in messy, un-focused learning.Where should a teacher start with inquiry-based learning?Start by heading over to Trevor's Website and looking through the resources.Start using questions to drive learning and see them as central to the learning process.Model, scaffold and guide the students through the inquiry process.ResourcesCheck out the Swimming SketchnoteCheck out Trevor's WebsiteDive Into Inquiry BookUnderstanding by Design BookInquiry Mindset BookLeave a comment below and tell me how you have implemented inquiry-based learning in your classroom!

In this episode, Dan talks about some of the highlights of the reforms recommended, including the emphasis on understanding, inquiry-based learning, application, skill and providing time for teachers.Curriculum reforms, reviews and some fantastic directions to move us forward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.Join the Facebook CommunityVideo showhttps://youtu.be/ULQeA87VEmwShow notesContextThis was our first review in almost 30 years… on this scaleThe aim is “to equip students for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century”Reforms include:building strong foundations for future learning by 2022 with new English and Mathematics syllabuses for Kindergarten to Year 2more time for teaching by 2022 by reducing the hours teachers spend on extra-curricular topics and issues and compliance requirementsstrengthening post school pathways by 2022 with new learning areas for Years 11 and 12 that clearly link learning to future employment and study optionsa new curriculum from 2024 with new syllabuses focused on what is essential to know and do in early and middle years of schooling, and key learning areas in the senior years. (copied from NESA's website here)Curriculum Changes AimPrioritise core knowledge, understanding and skills and give teachers time to focus on depth of learning. Key features include: Learn with understandingBuild skills in applying knowledgeMake excellent and ongoing progressReferencesEpisode 28 Early Years Literacy with Camilla OcchipintiGrant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, Understanding by DesignJohn Hattie and Gregory Yates, Visible Learning and the Science of How we LearnNESA, NSW Curriculum ReviewLeave a comment below and tell me your thoughts on the NSW curriculum reforms!

In this episode, Dan explains why he uses class profiles along with a few tps to help make sure the profile is useful.Why I use a Class Profile is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.Join the Facebook CommunityVideo showhttps://youtu.be/JD5u0-E1ea4Show notes1. To give me specific information on each of my students that I can use to differentiategather as much information as you can to get insights into your students:prior knowledgeinterestcontexttest resultsdiagnosed learning difficulties2. To help me remember this for each of my studentsWe often have so many students it can take us ages to get to know them.Having a profile in an easily accessible place helps you know your students, where they are and what they need next to achieve the goal/sLeave a comment below and tell me how you use your class profile