Formative assessment and Personalised Learning

There are a couple more stimulating programmes over at Teacher's TV on the subject of Formative Assessment.
There is a useful 15 minute introduction to the subject here.

There is a 30 minute programme here on how John Cabot Academy in Bristol is using Formative Assessment with ICT to promote Personalised Learning.

New Blooms

I've posted earlier about Bloom's taxonomy. I've recently discovered this version below which offers a variety of ways of interpreting the different stages.



To see a more legible version click on the image. To read more about it and to discover a next stage in the taxonomy go here.

System redesign

Teacher's TV has produced a half hour programme that looks at how some different schools have redesigned their curriculum and pastoral systems to help deliver more personalised learning. You can view the video online here.
If you're not familiar with how to view the programme online, just click where it says Windows Media to the right of the main image.

There are some more resources on the subject available here.

Practical approaches to gifted and talented education

Whether you are a co-ordinator, a teacher or a parent, Teacher Tools provides a range of resources and advice on all aspects of gifted and talented education.
Check it out here.

Thanks to Uta Thomas for the link.

Learning Futures: Next Practice in Learning and Teaching

The Paul Hamlyn Foundation, in partnership with The Innovation Unit, are promoting an exciting project that aims to look at Next Practices in curricular or cross-curricular models of learning and pedagogy.
They have published a booklet that sets out the reasons why innovation in pedagogy is needed in order to inspire young people, and enable all of them confidently to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. It argues that some key emergent (and some well-known) practices, taken together, might transform learners' (and teachers') experience of schooling. Learning Futures proposes a way of thinking about these approaches. It is offered both as a contribution to the increasingly urgent debate and it also issues an invitation to secondary schools wishing to develop and extend their work in this direction more profoundly, to engage with the Learning Futures project, commencing in 2008.
You can download the booklet here.
Schools who are interested in participating in the project can sign up for one of two one day conferences. For further information go here.

Pupils respond to a teacher's marking

There is an interesting article here on how pupils respond to different approaches to marking.
One of the main conclusions is this:

I think that teachers sometimes forget that the first thing most pupils are looking for is reassurance that they are doing the right thing, and/or that we respect their efforts. Without that initial support, the formative comment can seem negative to the pupil. They can perceive being told what to do to reach the next level as criticism rather than support. ‘I thought I’d done really well and you’ve just written three things here which I need to do next time… I don’t understand.’

Outstanding

There is a great deal of discussion at present about what makes an outstanding school so it may help to know that there are examples out there.

Ofsted has rated Outwood Grange College in Wakefield as Outstanding in all areas.
Read more about them at their website here.

They are currently adopting a two year KS3 and a three year KS4. To read more about their curriculum structure go here.

They are also adopting vertical tutor groups. To find out more about that go here.

To get a flavour of what the school does download a copy of their school magazine here.

50 tricks to get things done faster, better and more easily

There are some useful tips on this topic at this site along with lots of other ideas on how to make your working life run more smoothly

Diploma support

With new Diploma courses coming along it's good to know that there is some online support for staff (thinking of) teaching them.

Check out this site.

Assessment resources from Suffolk

Suffolk is another LEA that is supporting it's schools by providing guidance and resources for Assessment online.
Check them out here.

Google for schools - Part 1

We are all familiar with Google as a means to search the internet.
What you may not know is that Google offers a far wider range of applications and resources, many of which are designed to be used in schools.

You can find an introduction to what they offer here.

You will find lesson plans, tutorials, tips on using Google Earth in class and the chance to share information with other teachers.
The main focus seems to be on the Humanities at present but hopefully other resources will follow.

YouTube for schools

I discovered this initiative in the SST Arts Newsletter:
Two teachers in Victoria, Australia have tapped into the popularity of sites such as YouTube and MySpace and developed a website that allows schools and students to upload digital audio visual content in a safe and secure environment.
Teachers start by registering the school and their details. Once these are approved by the administrator, the students can then upload a/v content into the teacher’s inbox for approval to be published.
The concept developed out of Thornbury High School’s Class TV, a community television show on Melbourne’s channel 31. Class TV is part of mainstream curriculum and runs as a middle school elective. The students have created over 110 weeks of television since September 2005. The show is ongoing and content is provided by over 30 schools across metropolitan Melbourne.
Class TV has official TV ratings of between 30,000 and 40,000 viewers weekly. The show provides an authentic learning opportunity for young people with a known audience. Rather than creating work in an abstract environment, as classes tend to do, the students have a real-world context and outcome.
Schools across the UK are welcome to participate and are invited to visit the site.

A touch of CLASS

Creative Learning And Specialist Subjects (CLASS) is an initiative from the Specialist Schools Trust that aims to support and celebrate creative approaches to teaching and learning. As they write at their website:
In the creative classroom, children find their own pathways through the world of learning. In these pages you will find examples of how our creative learning lead practitioners have made this happen in their own schools. You will also learn how you can develop similar work in your own schools and classrooms, as well as links to all kinds of useful web sites and organisations which can help to get you started.

Find out more here.