Weeks 17 & 18 - 04/02/14 & 11/02/14 - Karl... Learn to walk before you run.

I have taken the unusual step of merging two weeks together.

It was a sad end to the lesson, just before half term. Decisions were needing to be made...

Active Research

or

Inclusive Practice

You get used to those in your class and it will be sad to see some leave us to pursue the active research route. I can understand why, choosing a topic and researching it independently does sound very engaging.

For me though, the option was pretty simple. Working in further education is very new to me, I would rather learn how to walk before I go off running... So a more structured, tutor led curriculum seemed the wiser choice.

The rest of this week 17 was spent looking at Questioning techniques, unfortunately I had to leave the class to attend an interview with Zaeed... Fortunately I had already written a blog about this subject on week 12.

Week 18 was an opportunity to catch up with the Portfolio and prepare ourselves for what is to follow after the half term break.

All the best to those leaving us to do the Active Research.

Week 16 - 28/01/14 -You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth.

Not my quote, but they are the words of an American - Evan Esar. It struck a chord with me when I reflected on the class last week - Mission Impossible. Assessment and Feedback is a critical element in taking the schooling experience beyond simply the retention of some facts and figures.

Still, there is a trap that remains. Don't continue through your teaching career believing that assessment and feedback are one and the same. Assessment has it's place, it creates the benchmark or grade that has been achieved... For student and teacher alike, the feedback is considerably more important - it lays the stepping stones that allows the student to move forward.

It was our week to give presentations on how we had assessed and given feedback during one of our own classes.

It all started with another Prezi...


My Video presentation can be viewed here


Once completed, we were paired up and sent to video ourselves offering one on one feedback, based upon a fictitious scenario linked to our specialist subject. We were encouraged to use the "Praise Sandwich" template.

Finally we were handed a piece of work that had been produced in college. Our job was to review it and offer written feedback - using the sandwich approach again.

In discussion afterwards, I raised a concern about the feedback model ( Praise Sandwich ). There seems to be an insistence on always finding something for the student to improve on. I am a firm believer in offering honest, constructive feedback. But if we are always trying to find some fault or flaw, the tutor may start to "nit pick", this can make the whole feedback process negative and possibly move the student to think that the praise elements are lacking sincerity.

While the model is very useful, like most things in education - one size never fits all. If it's good tell the student. If it needs work, tell them that too. If feedback is given with sincerity and tact it'll always move the student to add "width and depth".

BSL mini course - Week starting 03/02/14

Monday - 3pm - 4pm

Tuesday - 2pm - 3pm

Wednesday - 3pm - 4pm

It's 5 weeks into the course and I have been encouraged to see the progress made by many students. Even those individuals that aren't quite as capable are still prepared to have a full and active share in class. I kept reminding them that they have only had 4 hours of learning, so if some of the vocabulary hasn't quite stuck in the memory, it's not a problem. What matters most is clinging to the key principles behind how to sign, vocabulary can be picked up any time from books and the internet.

I endeavoured to make this week as much about being student led as I could. So all three main activities were engineered to that end.

1. Affirmation and Negation - all based around a list compiled by the students. I found it a great tool to see the direction the student's minds were taking, often dictated by the vocabulary they wanted to learn. It saves me the job of being a mind reader, although I reserved the right to insert the odd useful sign from time to time.
2. Conversation - Again the only criteria I placed on this session, was that the conversation should have questions built into it. I found that this student led approach kept the collective class focus in focus... This was their conversation that they either used to try something amusing, revisit some old vocabulary or stretch forward and try out something new - each class was different and inadvertently built differentiation into my lesson plans themselves. 
3. Finally I used a very simple approach to teach some more vocabulary. Each student wore a badge that identified the Multichannel sign they had learnt. They all went around the group at a pace comfortable to them and repeated the circuit as often as they liked, learning from each other, even correcting each other if necessary. Eventually we all got together and had a quick fire memory test... 

Areas for improvement :

While I would like to believe my classes have been quite interactive, this week took it up a notch in my humble opinion. I would like to carry this forward and keep up the levels of student led learning.

The only draw back is that It's difficult for me to produce vocabulary worksheets if I'm not fully aware of the content of some exercises. Perhaps, I can still add some key signs to each lesson that can form the handouts I produce. Any student generated vocabulary can always be recorded in their own notes.

BSL mini course - Week starting 27/02/14

Monday - 3pm - 4pm

Tuesday - 2pm - 3pm

Wednesday - 3pm - 4pm

Week number 4 has arrived quickly, at long last I located a video for this week's Prezi. 

It's an element from the feedback that I was particularly keen on addressing. It's not that I didn't want to utilise video, the problem has been trying to find a suitable clip. The internet is full of content... Suitable content, that is a whole different kettle of fish.

I found that combining the flash cards and linking it to a small video clip was very effective. I have previously discussed the benefits of flash cards. The video session had several positives associated with it.

1. It built confidence within the students... rather than thinking " I hope I never meet a deaf person, I won't know what they are saying...", they were able to prove to themselves that they can read a person and comprehend what was being said.
2. It affords an opportunity for students to see someone else sign rather than just their tutor. They get to see regional variations and signing styles in action.
3. Using a visual medium they can more easily identify new vocabulary and technical skills - with this week's clip we identified the use of "placement" in a conversation, which we put into practice later on. 
4. It's also an effective way to reinforce what was learnt previously in class.

Areas for improvement :

Looking at the seating arrangement in class, I noticed that when class exercises involved group interaction, the table arrangements often hindered the students from mingling effectively. This can reduce the opportunities to practice what they have learnt and for the more reluctant student, it presents them with an opt out to the exercise. 

Perhaps the better option would be to have the tables away and set the seats in a horseshoe, allowing everyone to get around easily and still see each other as they sign.

BSL mini course - Week starting 20/01/14

Monday - 3pm - 4pm

Tuesday - 2pm - 3pm

Wednesday - 3pm - 4pm

It was my first week back after my first observation and after I was introduced to the wonders of Prezi. View my "week 3"  Prezi here. 

This week I have tried to implement some of my feedback - a less cluttered lesson plan, with timings added. More adjustments to follow...

Again, without exception, the behaviour of all the students was commendable. Not even one phone issue, so no hovering required.

I used a new technique that worked well - flash cards. I had previously used this method with a voluntary class I taught a couple of years ago. It's a great way to quickly learn vocabulary, rather than just trudge through a dry list - in my experience with a visual language like signing, relating the vocabulary to imagery rather than text, aids memory retention. 

Using the cards also allows the students to take control of the speed of the exercise as well as revisit tricky vocabulary at their leisure. The cards were also useful in prompting a student in later exercises, for example seeing an image of an apple quickly moved the student to mimic the action of " biting into the apple" which is the recognised sign. Better that they dig deep into their grey cells rather than just being told.

Last week we decided to make an adjustment to the starting time of the Wednesday session. Giving the students a 10 minute breather certainly helped with their focus this week.

Areas for improvement :

Make more of the Prezi facilities for video to aid reception skills - although locating suitable video clips has been presenting a challenge.

BSL mini course ( Observed ) - Week starting 13/01/14

Monday - 3pm - 4pm

Tuesday - 2pm - 3pm

Wednesday - 3pm - 4pm

It was very satisfying to see that the vast majority of the students had taken the time to practice what we had considered the previous week, I was especially impressed to see a number of individuals from each class quickly understand the names of fellow students as I finger-spelled the names with increasing speed. Many people are keen to learn a few signs, but it is easy to ignore the receptive skills that are equally as important. Conversations should be two way!

Thankfully the attendees increased in number this week and were keen to move on with this week's plan and I was happy to see that the varied activities seemed to work - time line on the floor, whole class conversation building and colour vocabulary linked to images.

This was my first week that I had some minor behaviour management issues to address. Both were to do with the use of mobile phones... So what did I do? Well I tried two different low key approaches from the PEP list - Proximity; Eye contact and Pose a question.

Firstly, I used the question approach. Using the student's name I asked a question, not one to embarrass, but asked whether what was being discussed was something they had personally experienced?

Secondly, I hovered, using the proximity approach.

Both worked a treat and I had to say very little.

It did come to my attention that one class this week was a little more rowdy. After a conversation with the students it became clear in my mind exactly why... They had just had a two hour English lesson and had been asked to come immediately to my lesson... I think I would have been a bit fidgety too. We agreed to give the class a 10 minute break, I am keen to see how this works in the weeks to come.

Areas for improvement :

I was given my observation this week, my areas for improvement and personal comments can be seen on the forms.

Week 15 - 21/01/14 - Mission Impossible?

Petty,G. (2009). The learner's practical and emotional needs. In: Teaching Today a practical guide. 4th ed. Cheltnam: Nelson Thornes Ltd. 68.

As was true in the original late 60's TV show and the later movie spin off, the mission was never impossible, just tricky. It was always made easier by having specialists added to the team that could successfully meet the challenge. This was not possible unless Mr Phelps knew his teams and knew the mission. One without the other would certainly have ended in disaster.

For a tutor, the concept is similar. We have Goals and indeed as referred to by Petty, Medals or commendation are invaluable, but what takes things forward for any student is the Mission - what is the next step?... A blanket, class wide mission will not help, but tailored missions to the individual are best.

This is why the class discussions this week were key. ASSESSMENT in it's various forms will allow the tutor to know the specifics of each student under their care.

• Summative - a final measure / test of the progress, usually in the form of a grade.
• Formative - steps along the way that prepare the student for the final Summative asessment - such as a mock test.

Summative, what's the point? was what we discussed. The benefits to the student are minimal, all they are aware of is that on one specific day they met a minimum standard. For example, you can pass a driving test one day, does it make you a good driver though?

The only true beneficiaries are the future employers, university administrators and clients that can look and say... " Oh, they have achieved this standard." end of story.

Education should never be just about summative assessments.

Within this assessment world exists various forms of referencing:

1. Norm referencing - this is the approach education has often used. It measures a student against his fellow peers, using the Government standard that has been set, for example a C grade in English is the standard for acceptance into colleges.
2. Criterion referencing - Using specific, objective criteria within a program of education to measure the student against. It's flaw is in that once an element of the criteria is determined by the subjectivity of a tutor, it reverts back to a Norm referencing.
3. Student referencing - Using the student's present accomplishments as a bench mark to build upon.

Like most things in life, there is a right and a wrong way to go about assessing a student and giving feedback.

From the class discussion certain key elements became very evident.

Be Kind, Specific and Honest.

Make the effort to give out medals - remember though to be sincere. Note the benefits referred to by Geoff Petty.

Petty,G. (2009). Praise and Criticism . In: Teaching Today a practical guide. 4th ed. Cheltnam: Nelson Thornes Ltd. 71.

It's interesting that the Medals referred to in the above quote are not Grades or Marks, these are measurements. Rather medals, written or verbally given are specific pieces of information about what was exactly done well. Then by following the same template by being clear, specific, constructive and honest in the mission assignments will only aid learning.