This could be amazing! The yard cuold be multi-leveled in order to maximise space and the classcould be broken up into rotating groups so each students has the opportunity to be involved in all aspects of the yard. It could be really engaging with the students helping design it, incorporate maths and english as they work out what is required and how to go about asking the right people for help to make it.
Like many others have mentioned, the unit Indigenous studies did not cover the 8 ways of learning so it was very interesting to learn about this pedagogy. What I also enjoyed was that you can add one or two elements of this pedagogy to a lesson plan.
Lesson Plan
Context
• Consider you are teaching in a low socio economic (SES) school with limited access to resources.
• Develop a lesson plan based on The Australian Curriculum in either English, History, Mathematics or Science for either Year 4 (EC and Primary students) or Year 8 (Secondary) that demonstrates the use of group work.
Curriculum
Lesson Objectives:
Students Prior Knowledge:
• Students know how to create a concept map and have had experience in multiple concept map options
• Students have experience in doing group work
LESSON STRUCTURE:
Time Introduction & Motivation: Teaching Approaches & Resources
• Invite an Elder to the classroom and share stories about why volcanos occur. The Elder spends time with the students throughout the lesson
• Take the students down on the oval and in
the shade, make a really big volcano, and let it erupt
• Explain that today the students will be making volcanos in groups of 4
• Shoe students where the resources are and have an outline of where they can build their volcanos and let them go
• The resources include a chart that tells the students what to put where and how much of it
Time Main Content:
1. First make the ‘cone’ of the baking soda volcano. Mix 6 cups flour, 2 cups salt, 4 tablespoons cooking oil, and 2 cups of water. The resulting mixture should be smooth and firm (more water may be added if needed).
2. Stand the soda bottle in the baking pan and mould the dough around it into a volcano shape. Don’t cover the hole or drop dough into it.
3. Fill the bottle most of the way full with warm water and a bit of red food colour (can be done before sculpting if you don’t take so long that the water gets cold).
4. Add 6 drops of detergent to the bottle contents. The detergent helps trap the bubbles produced by the reaction so you get better lava.
5. Add 2 tablespoons baking soda to the liquid.
• Give the groups butchers paper and texts from the library and they have to brainstorm why a volcano erupts (This will be used as the resource for the following lesson where the computer labs have been booked for the class)
Time Conclusion: Teaching Approaches & Resources
• The students then go around as a class and watch each group slowly pour vinegar into their volcanos and watch them erupt. Pictures are taken, printed and put up around classroom with the use of the teachers phone.
Assessment of Learning
Observation checklist:
Largely a task related checklist used to gauge students understanding of key concepts in lesson. However, this checklist also provides behaviour related information and a good way to monitor students’ social skills including how they interact with each other in a group setting.
Students evaluation of own learning:
Used to consolidate student learning, completed after the period of work, at the end of the day so that information can be processed. The skill of retrieving information is focused on. This gives students ownership over their learning because it is a reflection of their progress and they are responsible for it.
Lesson Plan
Context
• Consider you are teaching in a low socio economic (SES) school with limited access to resources.
• Develop a lesson plan based on The Australian Curriculum in either English, History, Mathematics or Science for either Year 4 (EC and Primary students) or Year 8 (Secondary) that demonstrates the use of group work.
Curriculum
Lesson Objectives:
Students Prior Knowledge:
• Students know how to create a concept map and have had experience in multiple concept map options
• Students have experience in doing group work
LESSON STRUCTURE:
Time Introduction & Motivation: Teaching Approaches & Resources
• Take the students down on the oval and in the shade, make a really big volcano, and let it erupt
• Explain that today the students will be making volcanos in groups of 4
• Shoe students where the resources are and have an outline of where they can build their volcanos and let them go
• The resources include a chart that tells the students what to put where and how much of it
Time Main Content:
1. First make the ‘cone’ of the baking soda volcano. Mix 6 cups flour, 2 cups salt, 4 tablespoons cooking oil, and 2 cups of water. The resulting mixture should be smooth and firm (more water may be added if needed).
2. Stand the soda bottle in the baking pan and mould the dough around it into a volcano shape. Don’t cover the hole or drop dough into it.
3. Fill the bottle most of the way full with warm water and a bit of red food colour (can be done before sculpting if you don’t take so long that the water gets cold).
4. Add 6 drops of detergent to the bottle contents. The detergent helps trap the bubbles produced by the reaction so you get better lava.
5. Add 2 tablespoons baking soda to the liquid.
• Give the groups butchers paper and texts from the library and they have to brainstorm why a volcano erupts (This will be used as the resource for the following lesson where the computer labs have been booked for the class)
Time Conclusion: Teaching Approaches & Resources
• The students then go around as a class and watch each group slowly pour vinegar into their volcanos and watch them erupt. Pictures are taken, printed and put up around classroom with the use of the teachers phone.
Assessment of Learning
Observation checklist:
Largely a task related checklist used to gauge students understanding of key concepts in lesson. However, this checklist also provides behaviour related information and a good way to monitor students’ social skills including how they interact with each other in a group setting.
Students evaluation of own learning:
Used to consolidate student learning, completed after the period of work, at the end of the day so that information can be processed. The skill of retrieving information is focused on. This gives students ownership over their learning because it is a reflection of their progress and they are responsible for it.
Taxonomy refers to the technique of classification into ordered categories. Commonly used in science, particularly biology it can also be transferred to the classroom. Theorists such as Bloom developed taxonomy in relation to the varying stages of reflection. This is commonly used when structuring the conclusion of lessons where reflection to gain an understanding of the students understanding is needed.
The collaborative, cooperative and group learning spaces are all designed to be forums where information sharing takes place through social interaction. There is a lean towards using the cooperative learning space as it provides the best means in assessing if students understand the content through the use of individually assessing each student. It also provides the best results because the students have to work collaboratively and individually in order to be successful, which caters for more learning styles than constantly being involved with group work.
The curriculum is described as a learning space that enables collaborative and cooperative skills to be harnessed in order to share information and knowledge. It requires both teacher and students to be partners in this learning however, it could, if effectively executed, incorporate parents and guardians. It is important to remember that there is a medley of mediums which can be suited and/or tailored to fit the particular students or learning environment which a teacher finds themselves in.
A group learning space is seen in many classrooms. It provides educators with a colleague that they can share ideas and concepts with; it usually increases both teachers flexibility, understanding of curriculum, and communication skills. Concepts taken from the Student Team Learning methods may be implemented in order to effectively implement this type of teaching into the classroom include but are not limited to, team rewards, individual accountability and equal opportunity for success. Incorporating these three concepts into the classroom allows for team bonding and increased participation from the class. It is about working together as one unit and supporting and engaging others in order to be successful.
Technology enriches and sustains everyday life on a global scale. It is ever changing and can be easily and quickly adapted in order to fulfill a new function. It is so profound that it is a requirement in education/curriculum that all students be exposed and that critical practice will be undertaken with the aid of technology. It is beneficial in that it delivers a systematic approach to problem solving, evaluating and analyzing ideas, concepts and information that is easily transferable from one means to the next. Many people hold the argument that it is a medium that cannot be trusted, these however are usually people that have limited understanding of the technology they wish to use and with students coming to school with instant answers and resources at the finger tips, to rebuke the use of technology in the classroom would not be the most logical practice a teacher could hold.
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