8/12: 2017 Inquiry Overview

2017 Inquiry Overview

8th December 2017

As the year draws to an end it is time for me to share the findings of my 2017 inquiry. This year's inquiry was based around creating independent learners within my Level 2 class. I noticed early on that as a whole the group was quite dependent.  More information explaining the start to my inquiry process can be found here. A further post outlining the progress I had made can be found here.

What progress did I make?
I really struggled to find my way and start my inquiry. I was unsure where to start. Soon after I realised I was struggling to start was because I was unsure what an independent learner looks, sounds and feels like, therefore unsure what I needed to change in my practise. After starting to look into techniques I realised a lot of things I had been already doing in class were forms of strategy, for example the use of rewards and punishment for motivation. However, these weren't proving very successful.

From here I ensured to use student voice more. This was done through collating student voice via Google Forms on my teaching style and the learning activities I was using. This was to let them show preference of how they like to learn, what they like and what they want to change. From here when we were completing activities I was able to link these back to the feedback and why I was doing something in a certain way. This proved to be slightly effective but it also helped students to realise they didn't actually know how they like to learn. I started to reiterate why we were doing certain tasks. Students said they found more purpose in the activities when they understood why we were doing it. However, I soon learnt that this also meant that only if it related to the assessment that they would find it important.

Example of student results from Google Form

 I also introduced the use of Google Classroom. This allowed students to find all resources and notifications in the one place and receive email notifications about them as well. This meant students were able to spend more time completing their work rather than creating copies etc. Upon reflecting on this yes it made it easier for both myself and the students - yet it did not help create independent learners.

Another strategy I trailed was the Release of Learning. I completed this process when preparing students for their 2.7 assessment. This was completed as follows:
Part 1 - break down of assessment with teacher, what certain words mean, what are the questions asking us to do, what sentence starters could we use, example answers. Students can use this information to answer questions and complete PMIs
Part 2 - Students working with a partner to brainstorm answers to questions & PMIs
Part 3 - Students completing the questions and PMIs individually
Part 4 - Students are able to complete the assessment
I found this strategy one of the most effective. By starting with breaking down what questions are asking and what answers look like and slowly building independence students were able to see more clearly what was expected of them. I believe that this strategy and the authentic learning environment of snow camp helped to create the high grades achieved by the students.

The checklist strategy was starting to become effective but too late in the year. Only got the the point where I was creating checklists for them to ensure they had completed with assessments and learning tasks, not co-constructing or them creating their own.

Certain strategies I trialled I felt weren't successful as I brought them in too late in the year, such as  as ask 3 before me and checklists. I was trying to get students into these habits in Term Three. I feel like if I had brought them in earlier on in the year and set them up as a part of the classroom culture and expectations that they would have been more successful.


So what did I learn throughout my inquiry?

As my inquiry tracked along I found that I was already using a lot of strategies in the class that I was unaware of. In short some worked and others didn't. I learnt that by instilling these strategies as expectations and making sure they were very clear and consistent helped to create greater success. This is something I know I personally need to work on.
I believe overall it would have been more effective using these strategies from the start of the year and building them into the culture of the class as a expectations. I believe that it was harder trying to start half way through the year when students already had set ideas of these expectations.

Where to from here?

I really enjoyed this inquiry and felt a sense of achievement seeing it start to pay off in the classroom. Because of that I am going to ensure that I continue this inquiry next year with my IGCSE class. By learning from past mistakes and starting right from the first class I am hoping that the results will be more effective.

22/5: Reflection - 12 PED Lesson Observation & 2017 Inquiry

Reflection: 12 PED Lesson Observation & 2017 Inquiry

22nd May 2017

Today I met with Melissa to review the lesson that she observed on the 16th of May. She observed me teaching my Level 2 class with the purpose of giving me some sort of starting point for my 2017 Inquiry. The lesson observation can be found here.

So for my inquiry this year I have decided to focus on my Level 2 class and how to create independent learners. One problem, I have been stalling and have been unsure about where to start. I thought that Melissa's observation would be a great start to identify strategies I am already using in class and to make any suggestions of what to try or what I can change within my classroom and my own practice.

Melissa identified that I already have some great strategies in place such as making my students working for the answer and finding it out for themselves, rather than telling them. This was something I had not even considered before!

A couple of days after my observation I had my regular meeting with Alex. We spent this time focussing on my inquiry for the year. She helped me to realize the reason why I was stalling and struggling to start was because I was unsure myself what I was hoping to get out of my students. I knew I wanted them to be more independent but was unsure what an independent student might look like.

So where to from here?

Obviously before I can start applying strategies to my students to help create independent learners I need to figure out what an independent learner might look like, sound like & feel like. I will start with a spiral inquiry researching this. This could be through readings and also talking to other teachers about independent learning and observing their strategies in action.

After reading into what an independent learner is, I will research strategies to see what I may already be using and what other strategies I can try applying. I will aim to find 2-3 new strategies to apply within Term 3. 

1/5: PD - Term 2 Staff PD

PD - Term 2 Staff PD

1st May 2017

Today's Staff PD was based around the idea of inquiry and appraisal. For a lot of staff the idea of inquiry was new last year and this is the first year that the school has built up an appraisal system, through the use of the Interlead system. The aim for using Interlead is that staff will be able to complete their inquiry and appraisal in the same place, while collecting a portfolio of evidence for PTC criteria. 

The day started with Judith, from Interlead, coming in and introducing the system to the staff as a whole. Before jumping straight into the basics she went through some key points as to why inquiry and appraisal are important. 

Interlead was created to be "a tool for growth"by intrinsically motivating yourself to improve rather than being told. It was based off a book called 'An everyone culture'. Judith also covered Professional Capital and the 3 parts it is split into:

1. Human Capital - the talent of the individual teacher comprising their knowledge, skills & ability
2. Social Capital - the ability of the teacher to learn with and through their professional relationship
3. Decisional Capital - the wisdom and expertise of the teacher to make sound judgements about learners (cultivated over many years)

She used this diagram of Tātaiako to explain certain points of inquiry and appraisal. An example is the accountability circle - self assessing around the King's Pillars in our appraisal questionnaire to create goals. She also said that due to us as teachers having more data is means that we will be able to lead the discussion with our appraiser in terms of how we are tracking and our needs. This could include you setting the scene and telling our appraiser how we want to be appraised. Whether you want an appraiser who is appreciate (which is 96% of NZ teachers), evaluative (gather data and observe for about 5 mins and then give the data back), a coach or a mentor who is good in the area that you want to improve on.

She also compared teaching as inquiry to coming 'upstream'. Important questions could include:

• What are you doing & changing? 
• Why are you getting the results that you are?

Judith explained how judgements are dangerous and gave some examples of how we may want to improve our own practice. These included:

• observing others to learn
• getting others to observe you in areas that you want to learn
• how can be open up to receive open & honest feedback
• final evaluation at the end/completion 

So what is the difference between an inquiry & a goal? An inquiry can also be known as "action research" as we research the unknown. Goals are the completion or the 'destination' and could be dependent on a school target for you and your department. Judith recommended setting goals & inquiries in the 'Health Anxiety' zone as we can then push ourselves outside of our own comfort zones.

When writing a new inquiry/goal make sure to write a question and end with a goal. This helps you to envisage the destination or end point. Then ask yourself 'what steps do I need to take'? Possible steps could include:

1. Collect student voice as much as possible and then taking their voice back to them to see how they want you to improve
2. Relevant research/professional readings
3. Visit other teachers
4. Invite someone to observe my practice
5. Get feedback 
6. Engage in professional conversations with a coach/mentor

Remember: "It's not about the person giving you the feedback, it's about how you react to the feedback"

She recommended the book 'Thinking fast and slow' by Daniel Kahneman. Judith explained how it gets inside the teacher's head where we have a fast brain and a slow brain. A fast brain is based on intuition & instinct (school's are a fast brain place). The slow brain is based on evaluating, analyzing, planning, reflecting & inquiring.

For the next part of the day we moved into department time. This time was allocated for us to focus on appraisal & inquiry. Our departments aim was to brainstorm possible inquiry ideas and then look at how we might go about some of them or why. Here is my brainstorm of possible inquiry topics:

• 21st century competences
• Visible learning
• Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
• Higher order thinking
• Literacy/language of learning
• Self regulated learners/creating independent learners

Unfortunately we didn't get to spend too much time on this as a department so hopefully this will be too be continued.

8/3: Reflection - PRT Meeting #1

Reflection: PRT Meeting #1 of 2017

8th March 2017

Today was the first chance to meet with Melissa in regards to the PRT program. We have both identified that as a second year my needs are slightly different to a first year. As I am the only second year teacher in the school I am having individual meetings with her rather than joining in with the first years. We have also acknowledged that there will be certain times in which I could be an asset to the first years and provide some of my own advice or knowledge from my experience as a first year.

In todays meeting it gave us the opportunity to chat about the following; this year’s inquiry, last year’s inquiry, stress management and goals for the year.

Currently my idea for this year’s inquiry is to get my Level 2 Class to become more independent with their learning. Throughout the term I have felt like I am trying to pull them through their assessments and theory work. I am aiming to find a way to ensure they feel more responsible for their own progress and learning so I don’t feel like I am chasing them for not having done their work all the time. As to how I am going to do this - I’m not entirely sure yet. However she gave me some pointers on trying to connect my inquiry to things such as the school's strategic goals and pedagogical model, 21st century skills and other components from my inquiry last year & key competencies. 

In regards to last year’s inquiry Melissa was interested to find out what my focus was, what key areas where and the evidence that I collected. We discussed different aspects I looked into in terms of building classroom rapport such as culturally responsive pedagogy.  She said it was a great inquiry for a first year teacher and that I need to ensure all my evidence is collated onto my blog.

As for stress management Melissa asked me to recall times when I felt stressed as a first year. I was then to compare them to how I have felt in those situations this year and to try and identify new challenges I have noticed this year. As we had so much to cover in our meeting she suggested I work through the pages in my Induction & Mentoring Programme Year 2 booklet so we can discuss the things I identify in our next meeting. These activities include:

• time management e.g. what takes up my time (tasks and time wasters)
• stress management - causes & relievers
• impact on wellbeing
• extended support

And lastly we discussed some of my goals for the year. I informed Melissa of my main goals for the year which are becoming more confident on my iPad, greater parent contact and ensuring I continue to put relationships first. we spoke briefly as to why I choose these goals and then talked more about the parent contact. I told Melissa about improvements I could have made in regards to parent contact such as getting in touch with parents after interviews to give them an update on their child or to ensure I give parents warning before getting in contact with them about their child failing an assessment. Melissa agreed and also emphasized the need for checkpoints. She suggested as many as possible to help keep track of student progress. She also suggested that by sharing these check points with parents and keeping them up to date with how their child is tracking it will help to minimize surprises if they do not do so well and can increase support from home. 

Overall I thought it was a great opportunity to sit down and discuss multiple topics with Melissa and it was exciting to see the outline she has created for the year. It was also nice to know I had some direction as to where our next meeting would be going and some things to do before that meeting.

16/2: PD - SAMR Model

PD - SAMR Model

16th February 2017

Tuesday's Professional Development time slot was allocated for Departments to look into their technology use. Our eVangelist (department expert), lead the session based around the SAMR model. The aim of our PD this week was to refresh ourselves as to what the SAMR model is and to identify where we think we currently sit in the model. Below is the YouTube clip we were shown that nicely explains the SAMR model:

SAMR standing for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification & Redefinition: 

Substitution - using technology when you could complete the same task without it e.g. answering questions or writing an essay on Google Docs

Augmentation - technology slightly enhances the task e.g. students can comment on each others work 

Modification - technology now has a great impact on the task e.g. creation of videos 

Redefinition - tasks that are set would be impossible without technology e.g. QR codes for gaining new information or interactive textbooks in iBooks

Pictures above give further examples of different apps and where they may fall in the SAMR model

Last year was the first time I had heard of the SAMR model. I was interested to see how one teacher was using the SAMR model to increase her use of technology in the classroom. As this is one of my goals for the year I thought this would be a prefect way to reflect on my use of technology so far this year.

When we were asked to identify what level we are currently sitting at on the model I originally thought I was at the Augmentation stage. My example to the department was a recent lesson I have completed with my Year 9 Health class. They had been given a task to answer about themselves and find a visual way to present this. As I gave the class the opportunity to choose how they would like to present the task this meant that I would have stepped closer towards Modification. I gave students ideas as to how they might like to present. Some stayed in their comfort zone while others decided to try something new.

I suppose this discussion made me feel that maybe I'm not as far behind in the technology scene as I thought I may have been although I know there is definitely still room for improvement and creativity.

19/01: Goals for 2017

Goals for 2017

19th January 2017

Hello 2017!

After such an exciting year in 2016 I seriously can't wait to see what 2017 holds. With the start of school just around the corner I thought I would take the time to write down some of my goals for the year.


Goal 1: Become more confident using my iPad

Considering I have been brought up with technology I almost want to cringe that this is one of my goals for the year, but hey at least I can identify my weaknesses. I was so excited on my first day of school last year when I was issued with my iPad and Laptop, but in all honesty I barely used my iPad. I have always felt more comfortable using my Laptop but King's is an Apple school with a 1:1 iPad to student ratio - so I need to change.

So what am I planning on doing about it?

• I have spent more of my own free time playing on my iPad and testing how I would use different apps
• I have looked into doing a Postgraduate Diploma in Digital and Collaborative Learning through  The Mind Lab
• I will ensure there is more planned activities allow students to use their iPad
• I will look more deeply into the SAMR model and try and move away from the Substitution stage
• Explore flipped classrooms

Goal 2: More parent contact

Towards the end of last year  I realized that I didn't have much contact with my parents. Apart from sending the occasional warm fuzzy email, most of my parent contact was negative. So what am I planning on doing about it?

To increase contact with my parents I am going to do the following:

• Start the year by emailing the parents of all my students, introducing myself and inviting them to contact me
• Be consistent with my warm fuzzy emails - 3-5 per week
• Try and call parents more in regards to issues rather than just email
• Send out acknowledgement emails in regards to standards - if a student has tried really hard and gained a good grade
• Send emails informing them that their child is not on track towards achieving a standard, rather than just notifying them of the failure
• After parent interviews email parents a couple of weeks after in regards to their child's progress

Goal 3: Relationships first

This year I am planning to continue building on last years inquiry of building classroom rapport. As you can see from different blog posts I trialled different teaching styles and techniques to see how they would effect the relationship I had with my classes. I also tended to put content before the relationships with my students and important skills they should be learning. Towards the end of the year I started to get it right. Now with a fresh start I am looking forward to continuing on with this goal.

To help with this goal I will:

• Spend more time at the beginning if the year getting to know my students and allowing them to get to know me
• Ensure I allow relationships to come before content - "Positive teacher-student relationships involve trust, fairness, open communication and maintenance to sustain and impact student learning. " (Practices that work to accelerate student learning) 
• Focus on teaching skills (e.g. 21st Century Skills) rather than focussing on content
• Be firm fair and consistent with my teaching approach - "Trust, competence, energy, enthusiasm, and consistency are among the top characteristics students consider when determining if their teacher is credible and if they are going to choose to learn from them." (Practices that work to accelerate student learning) 

Knowing myself I will probably end up working on more than three goals throughout the year but here's a good starting point. Wish me luck!

23/8: Reflection - Class Reset

Reflection: Class Reset

23rd August 2016

Last week Gina asked to see me regarding an incident involving a Taylor student. While having a chat we started to speak about classroom and behaviour management. I mentioned to her a chat that I had recently had with Alex. This was regarding the fact that a lot of my relationships I had built with students were based off a relationship base of liking each other. These relationships are starting to backfire and some students are trying to push their luck because not all cases had a form of respect. I made a comment to Gina that this was what I was worried about at the start of the year and wish I could redo it. She mentioned that in the past she has done what she calls a reset. When she is not happy with the way a class is going she tells them they are going to reset and lays down the rules.

After this chat I decided that is exactly the type of strategy I need to try with my boys health class, so before their next health class I decided to write down my key points and rules that I wanted to bring up with them. These included:
-I have not been happy with our health classes recently, mainly behaviour and work ethic
-even though I have trialled different activities to see if I would get a positive response they are still being disruptive and rude - I know they wouldn't behave like this in other classes
-moving forward; if this continues I will write a seating plan for each class and will assign groups instead of being able to work with friends, hands up - no calling out whether its a proper answer or not, verbal warning and then name written on the board - if name is still written on the board at the end of the lesson they will receive DT

After waiting for the class to arrive and settle I went through my points with the class. I was pretty impressed with the reaction I received as they were all dead silent and looked a bit stunned. Overall the reset worked really well and I wish that I would have thought to have done something like this earlier. They completed all tasks set and behaved much better. Although there are still some points to work on I believe that if I remain consistent with this new reset I will have much more productive lessons in the future.

5/8: Taking the Focus Off Content

Meeting with Alex 

Friday 5th August

Last week I met with Alex regarding key points she is starting to pick out of my lessons. These included:

• instructions given
• teaching to make students confident, connected, actively involved lifelong learners rather than focussing on content

Over the past week Alex has given me some key points to work on in regards to giving instructions:

• keeping instructions concise (she demonstrated an example which included repeating instructions 3 times to students and it only took 2 1/2 minutes for instructions to be given and students to be working on that task)
• checking for understanding e.g. body language (glazed looks) rather than asking
• repetition of instructions (repeating 2-3 times)
• demanding of attention e.g. use of whistle, making sure all girls are paying attention (off screens, not talking)
• use of "when I say go..."

In regards to teaching to make students competent future learners, Alex got me to watch a video Ken Robinson - Creativity in Education (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFubmeHDtII) or full length video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY). 

Key points I took from the video:

• education killing creativity?
• children aren't afraid of being wrong but by the time they become adults they have lost this
• we are educating people out of their creavity as we are taught that mistakes are bad
• due to being afraid of mistakes we are less likely to be creative/original
• we grow/are educated out of our creativity
• intelligence is diverse, dynamic and distinct

Alex expressed her concern that I am too busy focussing on the content that I am teaching rather than focussing on creating competent learners (which is the key different between the new and old curriculum). We then looked into the 2007 curriculum. She pointed out to me that within the curriculum strands that they don't specify certain topics that need to be covered in either PE or Health throughout the year, they are only a method of reaching the aims within the strands. She then pointed out the main aim of the curriculum is expressed through the vision, principles, values and key competencies. To make myself concentrate on achieving these rather than focussing on the content and context of the lesson Alex has asked for me to highlight how I am supporting and developing these 21^st century competencies within each lesson by writing them in my plan book.

To help me with this focus she has given me a list of things she would like me to use within my lessons for the week:

• Padlet
• Kids to create a video
• 3 different ways of getting people into e.g. pre planned groups, similar background etc – be able to explain why
• Question dice
• Post-it
• Students to reflect in 3 different ways e.g. think-peer-share, exit slips, email
• Students to teach

4/8: Reading Reflection - High Impact Leadership by John Hattie

High Impact Leadership by John Hattie

4th August 2016

Key points taken form the reading:

• Two types of school leaders - instructional & transformational leadership
• transformational leadership focus on teachers e.g. setting visions and creating goals
• instructional leadership focus on the students e.g. concerned with the impact that teachers and the school are having on the students learning

(Key points describing attributes of high-impact instructional learners)

• high impact leaders are able to create a space were everyone successfully learns and where learning is welcomed rather than tolerated
• both teachers and students being able to look at errors as an opportunity for learning 
• visible learning so students clearly understand what they are learning and the progression e.g. learning intentions and success criteria known and seen so students are able to understand the purpose of their learning and are able to monitor their progress
• as students move towards student-centered learning they are able to discuss about what they are learning in classes, not what they are doing

My copy of the reading with highlighted notes and points can be found: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8SyJqn0M1mhaG9zSmxxWVU0bUE

Even after reading this and recognising that instructional leadership aims to focus on student-centered learning I failed to reflect this in class today. In my girls PE class instead of allowing students the opportunity to sort themselves out into even teams, with a range of abilities before their netball assessment today, I took charge. I went through the assessment papers (which the girls had graded themselves) and read out their names to put them in teams. To make sure the girls didn't get mixed up I asked them to move out to certain areas. After all names had been read I then asked them to come back in to listen to instructions of getting bibs etc. In short I wasted a lot of time when simple instructions of get into even groups of mixed ability would have ended with a similar result. I could have also given the instruction that once the teams have been sorted to get bibs on and jump onto a court ready to play. 

By giving those simple instructions not only would I have saved time but also presented students with an opportunity to organize themselves and have a choice of who was in their team. 

30/6: Phil Coombe's Lesson Observation

Phil Coombe's Lesson Observation (Official Copy in Folder)

30th June 2016

Key points from overview meeting:

• A lot of my teaching points and learning intentions are implicit. To get the students to make the most out of these, make them explicit at the start of the lesson. Students will then know the point of the lesson
• Get students to identify or create their own success criteria, this way they will know if they have been successful
• Create links as to why this topic is important and how it relates to other aspects of life e.g. interpersonal skills can e taken into team environments, social settings and group work within other classes 

LESSON OBSERVATION: Miss M Bish

DATE:                                    16 June 2016

SUBJECT:                              11 PED. Physical Education and Health

Encouraging and Supporting (Moonball)

Environment

Observation:	Suggestion – Aim for:
A very positive, purposeful atmosphere evident in all aspects of learning and behaviour within the class.  Effective beginning to the lesson.	Consideration to the time element for the formal beginning of the class.
All planning is thorough and detailed; subject links are clear; assessment opportunities could be identified and developed; an integrated approach through the lesson.	Look for cross-curricular links; self and peer assessment by students in a more explicit way.
Full range of classroom resources and specific lesson resources are effectively prepared, available and distributed, routines lead to minimal disruption.

Learning

Observation:	Suggestion – Aim for:
Learning objectives permeate all aspects of the lesson; effective routine for sharing, reflecting and assessing the learning objectives are in place.
Success criteria are shared, and children are not given clear indications of what constitutes success, although this was implicit in the lesson	Students are actively involved in developing effective success criteria before the task commences.  Success criteria are referred to throughout whole lesson and used for group/peer/self-evaluation.
Clear links are drawn between previous learning and how the lesson builds on this.	There is a shared and understood link between previous learning and the lesson; preparation is made to link learning to next/previous lesson, although this was the final lesson in the module.
Tasks are carefully designed, chosen and adapted to meet the full range of learners needs; a range of effective strategies is employed.
Learning objectives and success criteria form the basis for praise; reasons for success are articulated and explained.	Evident culture of success being celebrated based on specific aspects of learning objectives and success criteria; students know that their success will be recognised and celebrated.
Reference is not made to cross-curricular links.	Specific links are made to how skills, knowledge and understanding can and will be used in other areas.
All students make progress against their previous learning and most fully meet or exceed the expectations of the lesson.	All students engage fully with the learning and demonstrate that progress has been made in their learning.

Miss Bish:

Observation:	Suggestion – Aim for:
Able to use subject knowledge beyond that being taught to support learning.	Uses her in-depth subject knowledge to support learning, support able students and extend learning for all.
Asks students questions in the course of the lesson.	Carefully chosen closed questions are used strategically to explore, for example, levels of understanding, misconceptions and for assessment.
Asks carefully chosen open questions to encourage thinking skills and discussion.	Uses carefully chosen open questions to extend students learning and understanding.
Completes examples of what the students might be expected to do.	Clearly models student expectations through modelling, and indicates how to both meet and exceed expectations in learning objectives and success criteria.
Makes effective use of speaking and listening strategies to support learning.	Effectively uses a range of carefully chosen, effective speaking and listening strategies to enhance student learning.
The lesson has a clear, appropriate structure that ensures each section is built on the last and supports the next at a pace that continues to engage the students throughout.	The lesson has an effective structure that injects a sense of determination and perseverance into the lesson.

Student’s Habits

Observation:	Suggestion – Aim for:
The lesson is planned and presented in such a way that the students are actively involved throughout the lesson.
Opportunities for dialogue are planned in the lesson and used to promote learning.	Effective use of dialogue, including modelling, within the classroom ensures that all children have opportunities to express and discuss aspects of their learning, including with the teacher.
The students have opportunities to use skills of independence in the course of a lesson.	Work in the class is organised in a way that the students must use skills of independence to succeed, while support mechanisms are also effectively used.
Opportunities for students to demonstrate are planned and used to support learning.	Students demonstrations are used effectively by the teacher to encourage, praise, support learning, model and support self-review, and to provide opportunities to extend learning.
The students have some opportunity to assess their own work.	The students use the learning objectives and success criteria to effectively assess their own work, identify strengths and weaknesses and set targets.

A well structured lesson, which was well designed.  The students enjoyed the lesson and developed encouragement and support strategies as the lesson progressed.  Ensuring that the objectives of the lesson and the measures of success are more explicit will focus the students on learning behaviours that they can then transfer.  There is clear progression in terms of overall lesson planning as well as planning for the student group as learners.  Emphasising learning concepts and areas of externsion are two areas of recommended focus for the future to provide an expert teaching and learning environment.

________________________________________________________________

Philip Coombe

Director of Studies

22 June 2016