Clarity about Learning

Assessment For Learning Archway of Teaching Capabilities Clarity about what is to be learnt Learning Intentions success criteria relevance exemplars modelling Assessment curriculum understanding Pervasive quality Quality Management Promoting Further Learning Learning Conversation Feedback Feed-forward Active Reflection About learning student engagement sense of partnership Shared Clarity about next learning steps Effective Learning Building Learning-Focused Relationships The archway is standing on a firm foundation of trusted and supportive relationships

Shared clarity about what is to be learnt Learning Intentions Success criteria Relevance Examples Modelling

Learning Intentions The first ‘active’ element of formative assessment in the classroom is the sharing of Learning Intentions.” - Shirley Clarke

Be clear in your own mind What it is that you want the students to learn or understand Write it down in ‘teacher-speak’ Translate into student - speak Take your ‘teacher - speak’ Learning Intention and put it into language that your students can understand clearly.

Judging the quality of learning intentions… To make a list of all the words for ‘said’. Write a learning intention that captures the learning behind this activity.

Judging the quality of learning intentions… To create text that clearly conveys the sense of a character. Reword this as a learning intention that students could more easily understand.

Judging the quality of learning intentions… To write a recount about school camp. Rewrite this as a learning intention that is ‘context-free’.

Judging the quality of learning intentions… Learning to use capital letters and full stops. Rewrite this so it captures the ‘deeper’ ideas inherent in the learning.

Where do you start? Learning Intentions may be derived from: Linking to the National Curriculum Other curriculum resources Assessment that has identified a learning need (e.g., asTTle) Reflective discussions between teachers and students that indicate the next learning step

Remember to Establish Relevance Tell the students why they are learning this at all, or….… Discuss with them when they think they will use/need this learning, or...…. Share with them how it fits into the bigger picture

Follow the Learning Intention with an opportunity to create the Success Criteria How will we know when we have met the Learning Intention? How will we show that we understand what it is we are Learning? What will be the evidence that we’ve learnt this? What steps would lead us to achieving the learning?

‘Product’ and ‘Process’ Criteria: Product: What it is about the finished product that shows you’ve been successful Process: What steps I could take to make sure the finished product is successful Depending on the learning, one may be more useful than the other.

Why have Success Criteria? So the teacher and the students are clear about what it is they are going to be judged or evaluated on. So the students have something definitive to refer back to when they want to check if they are on track or not. So as to guide teacher and students in self, peer and student evaluation.

Co-construction of Success Criteria with Students Discuss with students what success criteria are. May begin by just giving students the success criteria Explicitly model for students how to construct success criteria Invite students to contribute to the success criteria Timing / process will vary depending on the learning context

Model the Process or Examine an Exemplar An opportunity to see what we’re learning about and what it might look like – extra guidance for students. Modelling or examples can be used to co- construct the success criteria: Stronger involvement by students Students are making connection between the learning and the task Much more challenging than being given the success criteria.

Examples / Modelling National Exemplars of writing. Journals/books/etc. Teacher-written examples Teacher modelling of a process etc.

Global and Specific Learning Intentions: For example: Global: Learning how to persuade others in our writing. Specific: Learning to write the opening paragraph of an argument. More specific: Learning how to get the reader involved and interested in my argument from the start, or… Learning how to back up a point with convincing evidence.

Learning intentions, success criteria and task need to be separated but aligned. The Learning Intention is what you want the students to learn or understand. The Success Criteria answers the question “How will we know we have achieved this?” The instructions for the Activities and Tasks describe the activities the students will carry out in order to learn

Alignment: LI: Learn how to describe an event in detail (so the reader gets a better picture) SC: I have written about: –What I could see –What I could hear –What I was feeling. Task: Re-write your introduction with more detail (or try a different event)

Check that students understand Give frequent opportunities for students to check their understanding with you or one another Give students time to think before responding to a question Model for the students how they might think and share with others

Display L.I and S.C These need to be visually displayed so you and students can refer back to them Some ideas to save your time & the school’s money: –save LIs and SCs on the computer –record LIs and SCs once on a laminated card that can be shifted from the whiteboard to a display area. –Create a flip-chart or A3 Booklet so students can refer back to them

Recapping......the beginning steps Clarify Learning Intentions at planning stage Create a climate where students expect a Learning Intention Explain the LI in student-speak and display it Discuss the reason for learning this Model the process or examine an exemplar Invite students to say how we will know this has been learnt and write the Success Criteria Introduce the task Check the students understand Get the students to refer back to the LIs and SCs

How the principles of ‘Clarity’ and ‘Partnership’ could be put into action Follow the video and observe the elements of that are present