AS/A2 revision and collaboration

I had a really successful double with my year 13 Computing class on Thursday and wanted to share the plan with you. It is a small class of 7, and we have finished covering the course content so are now revising. 

To start, I had a list of topics on the board and asked the students to pick one (different) each. They then had an hour to create a Wordle of key words from their topic and prepare a 1 minute talk. They presented to the class with their Wordles displayed as inspiration for their talk. I also timed them and told them when their minute was up. 

The topic and Wordle really helped them to focus down to what they needed to cover. Also, getting them to present with the usual PowerPoint behind them meant that actually had to discuss their subject and not read off a set of slides.

What are your go-to revision activities?

Building theory whilst completing controlled assessments

Hands up if you spend a lot of lesson time (maybe too much?) focussing on controlled assessments?

 

Yes, me too.

 

It's so tempting to get in to a routine with these types of lessons where the students come in and just get on with their controlled assessments lesson after lesson.

 

However, as we all know if we teach courses that also have an exam; learning and revising the theory is equally important.

 

Welcome the "theory builder".

 

Myself and a couple of my colleagues came up with the idea of putting together a collection of theory questions and short activities that can be used as starters, plenaries, home works etc. I have just started work on this and I am currently taking past paper questions from Exampro to use.

 

This helps build the theory at the same time as getting through your controlled assessments.

 

 

Demonstrating progress

I've just came across a great blog post via @CodeBoom on Twitter.

5 great ideas for demonstrating progress in your lessons by @mrocallaghan_edu.

http://mrocallaghanedu.wordpress.com/2013/02/12/taking-the-temperature-of-learning-in-lessons-a-few-tried-and-tested-strategies/

Objective Led Learning

I was a joint leader in an 'objective led learning' working group a little while ago. We were tasked with researching and trying different techniques then creating a handout for the rest of the staff.

Everybody came up with some great ideas and we produced a really helpful handout.

I suggest you try post-it note objectives with controlled assessment or coursework based lessons. This is personal favourite of mine that I picked up during my training year. Or getting the students to RAG the objectives at the start and then again at the end of the lesson to use as an assessment tool to show progression is a handy technique.

Which are your favourites?

You can download the handout here.

The 5 minute lesson plan

At our staff meeting today we were introduced to the "5 minute lesson plan" from the teachers toolkit. Now this is something I can get on board with!

It looks quite straightforward to fill in, though I am having a bit of difficulty in getting to grips with "stickability".

Another bonus is that it is apparently Ofsted friendly!

I shall definitely be giving this a go. In fact, I've already planned a lesson tomorrow using it.

Download it here.