Students as owners of their learning

Leader’s agenda

1. 5′
2. 5′
3. 25′15:40
4. 20′16:05
5. 15′16:25
6. 5′

1. 15:30

   1Introduction

   5 min15:30–15:35

   1. a.
      Hand out the TLC agenda.
   2. b.
      Share the learning intentions of this workshop. We are learning to:

      • share successes and failures, and support each other
      • activate students as owners of their own learning.
   3. c.
      Tell the group that you will choose people at random (e.g. using name cards) throughout this workshop.
2. 15:35

   2Starter activity

   5 min15:35–15:40

   1. a.
      Ask everyone to think of something that happened at school in the last month that made them feel good; it could have been in or out of the classroom. Each teacher has a maximum of 30 seconds to tell the group what it is, and no one can ‘pass’. When it is not their turn, teachers should be actively listening.
   2. b.
      Use the stopwatch, and choose respondents at random (e.g. name cards).
   3. c.
      Everyone must be involved in this activity, and you will need to stop people after 30 seconds.
3. 15:40

   3Feedback

   25 min15:40–16:05

   1. a.
      Hand out ‘my personal action plan’. If necessary, remind the group that each teacher keeps their own plan, and that you will keep a copy of each one at the end of the workshop so that you have a record of what they said they would do between sessions.
   2. b.
      Ask teachers who have attempted a formative assessment technique to choose one that was successful and complete the first section of the planning sheet. If no one observed them using the technique, they leave that section empty (2 minutes).
   3. c.
      Choose someone at random to be the challenger and share the challenger’s role with them. During feedback, the challenger challenges the feedback that each member brings, to get everyone thinking about formative assessment, with questions like:

      • What’s formative about that?
      • What did you do with the information you collected?
      • How did this alter your teaching?
      • How did this benefit student learning?
   4. d.
      Give each person one minute to share with the group a formative assessment technique that they have used successfully, choosing respondents at random (e.g. name cards). Everyone who was at the school last year should be involved in this activity.
4. 16:05

   4Activating students as owners of their own learning

   20 min16:05–16:25

   1. a.
      Explain that this strategy is at the heart of formative assessment. In most classrooms the teacher takes responsibility for identifying the current level, the desired level and a way to close the gap, but students can develop the capacity to move their own learning forward when they are given appropriate structure and guidance.
   2. b.
      Distribute handout 1.8.1 Activating students as owners of their own learning. Ask pairs to discuss each of the techniques, choose which ones they could use in their classes and decide how they would use them. They should also come up with three other techniques that are not on the list (10 minutes).
   3. c.
      Choose teachers at random to feed back one technique that their partner may use and how it may be used in one of their classrooms, and encourage other teachers to comment on this feedback (10 minutes).
5. 16:25

   5Personal action planning

   15 min16:25–16:40

   1. a.
      Using ‘my personal action plan’, each teacher should choose which one or two techniques they are going to use during the next month and what they will do less of (teachers will need pushing on this).
   2. b.
      Pair-share: each teacher spends two minutes sharing their plan with their partner, then they swap.
   3. c.
      Hand out the peer lesson observation sheet for the teacher and the observer to use. Both are advised to keep a copy as evidence for performance management; there will be no centrally held copies.
   4. d.
      Ask pairs to arrange when observations will take place (they can be for a whole lesson or just for 20 minutes at the start, middle or end of a lesson).
   5. e.
      Choose two teachers at random (e.g. name cards) to share with the group what their partner is planning.
   6. f.
      Keep a copy of each teacher’s personal action plan so that you can follow up at the next session.

   Your school’s technique menu: choose one or two

   • Strengths and weaknesses discussion
   • Model papers
   • Choose-swap-choose
   • WALT, WILF, TIB

   What each technique looks like in class
6. 16:40

   6Summary of learning

   5 min16:40–16:45

   1. a.
      Ask members to share something they learned in the workshop, using a method of your choosing.