Effective Teaching

Effective Teaching

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Effective Teaching episodes

  • Episode 101 How to implement gamification in your classroom

    Gamification is a great tool you can use to help your students enjoy their learning, but often teacher think it takes too much time or leads to less learning. I ask Lindsay to provide to guidance around some of the barriers to using gamification and where you can get started with your journey.

    Lindsay is the co-founder of PurpleZA providing professional development to teachers in South Africa and around the world. She is an international keynote speaker, passionate educator, and an all-round wonderful lady. You can connect with her over at www.purpleza.co.za

     

     

    18 min
  • Episode 100 5 Key strategies from 100 episodes of research

    Dan shares 5 key strategies teachers use to create lifelong learners. Listen and discover simple adjustments you can make to really improve your students' ability to learn. https://www.teacherspd.net/100

     

    Enter the book competition here

     

    Students MUST have a why?
      1. Without a why? There is no motivation, no willingness to learn.
      2. We cannot make them learn, only they can do that.
        3. Focus on the learning, not the teaching
          1. Check for learning and build on it, don’t just teach the content and tick a box
          2. eg) have students tell you how they are going, what they know well or don’t and then help them discover what to do next.
            3. Teach the skills for learning not the content
              1. Use the content to develop the skills
              2. Check skill development
              3. eg) always ask students what they are going to do about not knowing or being able to do something? Ask them how they are going to solve the problem. What process will they use to learn the next content? etc
                4. Care less about assessment and results
                  1. Grades are not all they are made out to be
                  2. Success does not require a mark or a grade just an attitude and skill
                  3. Assessment does not always show the learning. Find more ways to know what your students are capable of.
                  4. eg) a student with poor writing skills may actually know how to create amazing stories, just ask them to share one about their life or something they care about with you.
                    5. The brain adapts to how it is used
                      1. Students can change their intelligence
                      2. They don’t have to be “dumb” or “smart”
                      3. Explicitly teach students how to learn and get them to practice learning in order to develop their brain/learning power
                      4. eg) explain how to read for understanding, demonstrate it for them
                        5. Bonus great reads
                          1. Check out The Learning Power Approach and everything by Guy Claxton
                          2. I am currently enjoying Jim Kwik Limitless Mind, motivation, method
                          3. If you as a teacher need some work life balance, or just feel overworked and constantly busy, check out Work Less, Teach More.
                            4. 20 min
                          4. Episode 99 What we are doing wrong with formative assessment

                            Learn what we are doing wrong with formative assessment and how we can fix it. In this episode, Dan discusses the purpose of formative assessment and challenges Hattie's statement that all assessment is first and foremost for teachers.

                             

                            What are we doing wrong?
                            • We always focus on what we should be doing.
                            • We focus on what we should be doing to help the students.
                            • I am guilty of this, and have promoted that formative assessment is for teachers first to adjust our approach and help our students. Agreeing with many experts around including John Hattie
                            • But I have since changed my mind.
                              • The Learning Power Approach
                              • I am reading The Learning Power Approach by Guy Claxton and after reading a single line I felt I had a big realisation
                              • This podcast is meant to be about how we help our students become lifelong learners. There are other topics, but many focus on this.
                              • If formative assessment focuses on what I do as a teacher how is it helping my students become lifelong learners? A: It’s not
                                • Who is formative assessment for?
                                • Sorry Hattie, I now disagree. 
                                • If we focus on what we can do differently this does not help the student develop the thinking skills needed for lifelong learning. It just helps them get more used to being spoon fed, as the teacher changes the spoon and the drama to try and get them to eat.
                                • No, we need to see formative assessment as something used by and for the student to help them identify what they need to do next. 
                                • We need to teach them how to use assessment or really evidence of learning to feedback to the student how they are going. What their strengths and weaknesses are and to guide them to develop their weaknesses.
                                  • Teach the skill
                                  • So as teachers then, we are focusing on the skill for the student as they learn to check their own understanding and then develop actions based on the result.
                                  • And yes, the formative assessment helps us help them, but the focus in on helping them learn to help themselves, not to find another way we can teach them. It is to help them discover what they don’t know and another way they can learn it.
                                    • This week
                                    • If you do a formative assessment of any kind, switch the questions around. 
                                    • Instead of asking yourself what you can do differently so the student gets it, ask them how they think they are going? Where are they struggling? And then as them what they are going to do about it? If they don’t know, provide some leading questions or ideas, but don’t do the work for them.
                                      • 10 min
                                    • Episode 98 A Mindful Classroom with Kailey Lefko

                                      Kailey introduces us to the methods she uses for herself and to help other teachers have a calm and mindful classroom. These strategies will help you maintain your sanity and provide you with go-to activities you can easily implement with your students when you can feel them struggling to focus.

                                      Check out Kailey's resources at Educalme

                                      21 min
                                    • Episode 96 The importance of focus

                                      Dan discusses how focus impacts our effectiveness. Our culture of distraction is training our brains to avoid focus, but focus is vital for effectively doing hard work. Access the show notes at https://www.teacherspd.net/96

                                      12 min

                                    About Effective Teaching

                                    From the publisher's feed

                                    Through research and interviews Dan looks at all things education in order to help teachers implement strategies that focus on developing student capacity to be self-sufficient learners as well as…