Introductions O A warm welcome to all Comenius partners from the British team: O Andy Marshall

Learning to Learn: Solutions Strategies for students to learn independently and in small groups. Andy Marshall, Assistant Headteacher The International School, Birmingham, UK

Strategies to improve students learning 1. Planning lessons – TASC approach 2. Delivering lessons – group work 3. Marking lessons – STAR approach

Planning Lessons Group Work

TASC: Thinking Actively in a Social Context O The TASC approach fosters independent learning. O What is TASC? O Thinking O Learning is dynamic and can be developed and adapted to changing needs O Actively O Learners are involved, empowered, motivated, engaged O Social O Learners are in a climate of interaction, sharing and co- operation O Context O Learners are engaged with relevant, ‘real-life’, meaningful tasks.

TASC: Thinking Actively in a Social Context O The TASC approach fosters independent learning. Independent learning gives me the challenge I need Learning how to Learn

TASC: Thinking Actively in a Social Context O Reasons why the TASC approach works with children. They: O Understand the relevance of their learning. O Can relate to the cultural context. O Can appreciate the significance of the tasks set. O Can see the purpose of the fragments as part of the whole picture. O Feel that they are capable of learning. O Develop more complex mental schemes that are extensions of what they already know. O Can hook into new knowledge from the base we already have O Acquire new techniques and thinking skills through modelling and demonstration. O Try out skills for ourselves until we gain the competence and confidence to be independent.

TASC: Thinking Actively in a Social Context

Delivering Lessons Group Work

Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills O Use the Personal Learning and Thinking Skills (PLTS) to guide lesson planning: O More group work = more active learning by the students and less teacher-led learning…a key component of an Outstanding lesson Independent Enquirers Creative Thinkers Reflective Learners Team Workers Self- Managers Effective Participators

O Collaborate with others to work towards common goals O Reach agreements, managing discussions to achieve results O Adapt behaviour to suit different roles and situations, including leadership roles O Show fairness and consideration to others O Take responsibility, showing confidence in themselves and their contribution O Provide constructive support and feedback to others Team Workers

Group work: principals O For maximum flexibility and to extend team-working skills, vary your groupings by using: O Ability groups or mixed ability groups (informed by data) O Gender groups O PLTS groups (i.e. place students with a disposition for creative thinking into one group or split between groups) O Expert groups (students master a topic before ‘teaching’ it to another group) O Friendship groups (total choice or friendship pairs) O Random groups O Allow for evolution and revolution (not the most common meaning of the words): O Revolution – students offer ‘expertise’ to different groups as necessary O Evolution – students adapt role as necessary throughout the task

Group work: principals O Allocate different roles and responsibilities within a group so that students have an individual (accountable) role within the group: O For any group work session, always get students to complete a simple peer and self-assessment sheet that focuses on learning and progress: O How did our group do?How did I do? What did we learn? Our learning would be better if we… What did I learn? My learning would be better if I… MotivatorCoachScribeClerkLeaderChairpersonFinisher Completer Ideas generator ChallengerExpert

Group work: principals O It is important to tell students that it is normal for groups to go through challenges and disagreements – this is how we improve teamwork skills. O Establish ground rules: O We will all take turns to speak O We will all get the chance to speak O We will all listen to each other when we speak O We will support each other’s contributions and collectively prevent any negative comments O We will all help each other to learn as much as possible from this activity O We will all work hard to make our team successful Mr Marshall’s Ground Rules

Marking Lessons STAR Marking

What STAR marking is… O Everything we already do that is good and outstanding marking practice; O The difference is…a whole-school strategy and approach to good and outstanding marking practice. O Every member of teaching staff will have a new STAR stamper, plus the current purple star stamper.

How STAR marking is used… O A piece of work is marked as usual and the stamper is used to consolidate a: O Strength: knowledge or skill based O Target: knowledge or skill based O Response: the student responds to demonstrate they understand the target that the teacher has written. O The purple star is used to acknowledge where the improvement is evidenced.