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Friday Gem #25 – harnessing the self-reflection of Motivational Maps and R&R

Autumn Focus: Metacognition – students driving their own learning through reflection

Teaching and learning Gem #25  – harnessing the self-reflection of Motivational Maps and R&R

This Friday Gem comes from Clare Duncan 

One clear example of student self-reflection is their termly Review and Reflection session, and none more so than this year with our holistic approach. Using the Motivational Maps tool, students completed a series of questions which generated a report detailing their top motivators. They reflected on what these motivators meant to them and how they could harness them to develop strategies for success in every aspect of school life: academics, co-curricular and friendships.  These thoughts were captured during R&R and their report has been transferred to their profile page on Firefly.

So how can we use these in our T&L to encourage students to take control of their learning and reflect on their progress?

Well, each student reflection was captured in a report on Firefly. If there is a student in your class who you feel is not connecting with your subject, why not look at their self-reflection and discuss with them their motivators: together, plan how the student can use those motivators to drive their progress in your subject.

By way of an example:

Take Ceri, her top motivator is a Director: she has a need for power and influence. Here is her reflection:

I am struggling with finding my feet in class and in the Sixth Form. This is particularly true in Politics and English as I feel that the more confident girls always speak over me and when I do say something; they challenge what I’ve said and I am unable to speak up or share my opinions.

Through Ceri articulating this, you and she can discuss and plan an approach to her having a voice. For example, giving her a lead role in an initiative, you will be addressing her motivational need. This is a great way of using a student’s self-refection to help them to flourish in your subject.

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Teaching and learning Gem #24 – questioning for students to connect personally with the ideas

This Friday Gem comes from Steph Harel, who I saw use this sort of questioning in a lesson I observed.


She frequently asked questions that encouraged students to develop their own engagement with the learning, helping them think about the broader context of their learning, but also about what that learning means for them from an individual, personal, ethical as well as academic perspective.

I found these three questions from Steph particularly effective. They can be answered from different perspectives: personal/ethical/academic:

  1. “Why do we care about…?”
  2. “Are you surprised by…?”
  3. “Why does it matter…?”

 

 This sort of questioning is effective because:

  • It develops a student’s personal connection with topics: what do these topics mean to them as individuals. The learning resonates with them as thinking, feeling humans?
  • It encourages students to interrogate their reactions to new ideas: great for metacognition.
  • It helps the teacher build strong a strong rapport with the class, getting to know their students’ personal perspectives.
  • Linking the academic work to a personal response will help the learning be contextualised for the individual. It will thus build it into a schema/network so it sticks in the long-term memory.
  • It prompts debate and encourages student’s to raise their voice…if this is their opinion, they are less worried about being right or wrong.
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Teaching and learning Gem #23 – Socratic questions

This week’s Friday Gem comes from James Porter, Experientia Scholarship lead in the Upper Junior School and English specialist.

 

Experientia Scholarship forms part of the weekly timetable for all girls in Years 3-6. It is an ambitious programme which considers the contentious issues that affect our daily lives and introduces pupils to the concept of critical thinking and the art of Socratic discussion.

James’ WimTeach article brilliantly shows the importance of asking questions. He writes that “open-ended questions [are vital] as part of the Experientia programme, so that arguments are dismantled into their constituent parts which can then be evaluated, and the implications considered.”

He uses the table below, which is from ‘The Thinker’s Guide to Socratic Questioning’, to show the types of questions that are integral to the Experientia ethos.

The Thinker’s Guide to Socratic Questioning – Thinker’s Guide Library, Richard Paul (author), Linda Elder (author)
Paperback (01 Jan 2016)

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Teaching and learning Gem #22 – 1 on 1 Questioning

Questions by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images

 

Teaching and learning Gem #22 – 1 on 1 Questioning

This Friday Gem comes from Dan Addis and the Classics department

In Classics we get the opportunity to have 1 on 1 academic opportunities that many other subjects do not, and so I thought it a good opportunity to highlight a few principles of 1 on 1 academic discussion as well as including some universal questions that can be used for every topic, whether it is something you are well read on or not. The principles are very similar to normal student questioning but I hope this might help encourage some staff who are not as comfortable with 1 on 1s to have a go. Apologies if it feels very rudimentary!

General principles of 1 on 1 questioning

  1. Make sure body language is relaxed and open. By maintaining an open relaxed pose it becomes a fun conversation rather than an intense grilling. Combine this with nodding and smiling at points to encourage the student to continue.
  2. Allow the student to finish their point completely. If you think of something you would like to ask, jot it down and ask later with reference back to the point they were making. By finding a link between a later topic and the previous point you can help the students connect differing aspects of their study.
  3. Don’t be afraid of asking the student to repeat their point in a different way if you didn’t understand. This is good practice for them to think of other methods of explanation, and should be done on occasion even if they have made themselves clear.
  4. Like with much questioning, don’t feel the need to fill the silence. It will become more awkward quickly, but due to it being 1 on 1 the student is likely to relent and make a point which you can expand upon.

Some questions to ask students that will always be relevant and useful:

  1. Can you simplify your point into a single sentence/How would you explain this to a child? (Very useful for them to break it down to more simple terms on which you can expand)
  2. Are there any other perspectives you have read into this that you disagree with? Why?
  3. Why do you think the terminology is used? Would you change the wording and how?
  4. Can you think about how this links to other things you have learnt, in this subject and others?
  5. What do you think is the next step? (Either for the author or research or the curriculum)
  6. Which elements of this did you find difficult to understand?
  7. Where would you like to take this further?
  8. Do you think there is a problematic background to this topic? How might you challenge this?

 

We hope you get the opportunity for some 1 on 1s in the future!

Dan Addis and the Classics Department

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Teaching and learning Gem #21 – Kinaesthetic questioning

This Friday Gem comes from Dan Addis and the Classics department


There are several different ways you can incorporate some physical movement into your questioning of students.

  1. Simple use of physical movement in multiple choice questioning. Simply labelling each direction as an A or O you can ask the students to hold their hands straight in the air and lean to the side they think is correct and say either “AAYYY” or “OOOH”.
  2. Creating physical gestures  with aspects of understanding so that questions can be done using physical gestures rather than words.
    1. E.g. Mark Wilmore connects the Latin verb endings to a physical gesture “-o = I (thumb pointing at own chest), -s= you (s) (finger pointing away), -t = he/she/it (thumb pointing to the side)”. The question then can be asked or answered by gesture rather than vocally.
    2. E.g. Catriona Irvine adopts a pose connected with the meaning behind a grammatical point (Superman pose for the Subject doing the action and crossed arms for Object receiving the action)
    3. This can also be used to prompt students in their answers and to help model correct answers for students.

Kinaesthetic questioning is effective because

  • It helps students strengthen storage in long-term memory, as the variety can help increase the number of neural pathways connected to certain aspects of knowledge.
  • It helps interleaving as it is a quick and easy way to start or end a lesson to remember previous material.
  • It requires students to focus on the front of the class rather than at their device, which helps ensure engagement in the lesson.
  • It helps all students focus, especially those with ADHD, by adding a physical component, especially important in KS3 groups where they are not moving around between lessons
  • In example 1. It helps students stretch their lumbar area and helps improve posture.
  • It encourages students who don’t want to speak up to demonstrate their knowledge, as well as allow for easier assessment of knowledge in the group.
  • It’s FUN! Fun to do, fun to watch. Just generally fun.

Points to bear in mind

  1. Ensure students understand the rules and boundaries you want in place before such activity. They will get excited but if the rules aren’t clear they can become raucous.

We hope you enjoy some physicality in your lessons!

Dan Addis and the Classics Department

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Teaching and learning Gem #20 – Popcorn Questions

This Friday Gem comes from Priscilla Abeelack who shared this idea with the Geography and Economics department.


  • The teacher starts by posing a question. At the end the teacher says “Popcorn + student name”
  • That student then responds fully and then asks another related/development question to take the discussion further. The student says “Popcorn + student name”
  • Or the student asks another question that is unrelated, for a good bit of interleaving!
  • And so on…until the whole class has been ‘popcorned’.
  • The teacher could start with something very ‘small’ and see how ‘wide’ the discussion goes, or vice versa; or the teacher could start on one topic, and see whether students can move to another topic through their questioning.
  • This would also be relevant for languages and other subjects to consolidate new vocabulary or terminologies. For example, ‘define …’, ‘what is the formula for …?’, ‘Explain one effect of …’, ‘Explain one cause of …’.

Popcorn questions is effective because:

  • It helps students create networks of ideas, proven to strengthen storage in long-term memory.
  • It could be useful in revisiting past material (interleaving!).
  • It requires students to really listen to each other and to respond appropriately.
  • It encourages a questioning mindset for students, identifying ways to develop and deepen discussion through asking questions.
  • It puts the responsibility on the students to shape the discussion – they are not reliant on the teachers.
  • It encourages students to take ownership of their learning and classroom experience.

 

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Friday Gem #18 – the problem with interrupting the pause

Autumn Focus: Questioning

Teaching and learning Gem #18 – Guest Edited by AFB – the problem with interrupting the pause

Following on from Isabelle’s gems about questioning, and the need to pause…

We have also been discussing what interrupting that pause might actually do.

Why do we interrupt a pause?

  1. We teach in a bubbly, vibrant school. We are not used to silence in the classroom. It’s a bit awkward.
  2. We move around our topics and texts fairly swiftly, and are not always comfortable with slowing down.
  3. We want to help. If we feel awkward, how awkward must THEY feel? I know, we’ll turn the question around! Changing the word order will not only help them understand the question better, but it will break the awkward feeling!!

INCORRECT!

Jumping in, to ‘help’ a student, or to break a silence might relieve someone, sometime. But it is also likely to:

  • confuse
  • or disorientate the thoughts about the first question
  • or embarrass by drawing attention to the pause
  • or even patronise by perceiving a problem where there isn’t one

 

Today’s top tip: embrace the pause

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Friday Gem #17 – “What if?” questions

Autumn Focus: Questioning

Teaching and learning Gem #17 – “What if?” questions

This idea comes from Clare Duncan, who has thought about how “What if?” questioning could be incorporated into any lesson. She suggests that these sorts of questions can be used as starters, or to deepen understanding within the lesson. Most powerfully, they can be used as flipped learning opportunities to spark intellectual curiosity.

Whether posed by either teachers or pupils, ‘What if’ questions can be an invitation to innovate, discuss and debate.

·       What if we mixed these two colour together?

·       What if we altered a variable in an experiment?

·       What if we did nothing about climate change?

·       What if we put the character of Hamlet in the plot of Othello, and vice versa. Would the tragedies have happened? – This was a genuine question from Jess Leunig last week.

Clare says that when posing their own questions, students could end up going down rabbit holes, or they could end up flying high with the question. Either way, the learning experience is valuable.

She suggests that this sort of questioning is effective because:

  • ‘What if’ questions nurture curiosity and develop a sense of wonder (one of our key aims as a school).
  • They encourage playfulness and tinkering.
  • They take the student out of their discipline – encouraging that STEAM+ mindset.
  • They focus on enquiry rather than answers, discouraging perfectionism.
  • They encourage girls to take a germ of an idea and voluntarily delve further into it to satisfy their own inquisitiveness.
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Autumn Focus: Questioning

Teaching and learning Gem #16 – questioning for neurodiversity, the miracle of the pause.

This comes from Isabelle Alexander, thinking about the experience of class questioning for neurodiverse students.


  • Isabelle says that these students have been used to working at their own pace during lockdown, and are finding the speed of lessons on return to school a challenge. When ‘cold called’ to answer a question they freeze and feel the attention is sharply on them.
  • Her top tip is, “It’s not how you question, it’s how you let them answer.”
  • It is essential to give all students time, but especially those with those with slow processing.
  • Formulate a rigorous question, and tell students “I don’t want any thoughts about this for 3 minutes”. Allow students to collate their thoughts in any way – jot down bullet points, draw diagrams, do a mind map, or just sit and think. By saying ‘thoughts’ it shows that you are no expecting a ‘right’ response and encourages students to be exploratory who might otherwise be anxious.
  • The educational researcher John Hattie says that teachers well know which students do or do not know the answers and they “use this [knowledge] about whom to ask to maintain their flow of the lesson. Students are given, on average, one second or less to think, consider their ideas, and respond (Cazden, 2001): the brighter students are given longer to respond than [others]” and thus those students who most need the wait time are least likely to get it. Let’s break that trend!
  • In addition, writing the question on the board will help those students stay focused on track. It reduces their cognitive load, freeing up their working memory to consider a response to the question.

Giving significant pauses before getting answers is effective because:

  • It allows neurodiverse students and those with slower processing to think and be in a position to share: it facilitates participation from all learners.
  • It reduces “I don’t know” answers.
  • It builds students’ confidence and reduces anxiety.
  • It increases the number of speculative responses.
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Friday Gem #15 – big questions with Oxplore

Autumn Focus: Questioning


Teaching and learning Gem #15 – big questions with Oxplore

 

This Friday Gem comes from Monique Nullens, who recommends this brilliant (and snazzy) website – Oxplore.org. The site is created by Oxford University and offers approaches to challenges and questions underpinned by the latest thinking and research.

  • It poses a plethora of big questions on socio/political/economic/scientific/cultural issues.
  • They are thorny and provoking.
  • For example, ‘Does fake news matter?’, ‘Are humans more important than plants?’, ‘Are Explosions always destructive?’, ‘Would it be better if we all spoke the same language?’
  • Importantly, the website is beautifully crafted, and the big questions are springboards to an astonishing range of engaging articles, videos, quotes, facts etc.

Check out the website…it will be a genuinely fascinating experience.

 

Asking big, open questions in class is effective because:

  • With such big questions, there are no right answers. It discourages perfectionism and ‘learning for the test’.
  • It helps students realise that they don’t have to get everything right first time. In fact, in ‘big discussions’, students can get things wrong, reassess and change direction. That’s part of the fun and the freedom of these types of discussions.
  • It encourages students to play around with ideas and to throw things into the discussion to see where they lead. You could contribute an idea big or small.
  • It encourages higher order, critical thinking that transcends subjects. It draws concepts/knowledge from across a spectrum of disciplines. These discussions epitomise our STEAM+.
  • To quote Dan Addis in his recent WimTeach article on scholarship: “we can encourage students to attack a problem from multiple angles, playing with the blurred lines between the subjects, and discovering links that were hidden to them before. Quite apart from the fact that this lateral thinking is a skill that will benefit them in whatever avenue they wish to pursue in later life, it is also fun and rewarding.” 

    Try out a ‘no right answer’ big question as a starter to set the tone for the sort of experimental engagement you’d like from students for the rest of the lesson.