Teaching

Support assessment for learning Compare and contrast the roles of the teacher and the learning support practitioner in assessment of learners achievements In order to assess pupil’s achievements the teacher will take the main lead in doing so and the learning support practitioner will take guidance from the teacher’s assessments in order to support the pupil’s progress.

In order to have a clear vision of the students ability and how they are progressing, the class teacher will monitor and assess students achievements, conduct reports of the achievements found for the department; other staff including year learning co-ordinators; and for the parents, they will also have meetings to share examples of pupil’s progress and discuss why they think that child is working at that particular level, this will further help the teacher to shape and adapt their teaching to a child’s individual needs.

The teaching assistant’s role at this time will be to support the teacher and have an input by discussing how they also believe the student is coping with the subject and to help set targets that can be put into the report so the student can achieve to their full potential.

In order for students to progress in a lesson a teacher will plan each lesson by producing a scheme of work, so that the learning objectives for that lesson are clear, the teaching assistant will support the teacher by looking at the scheme of work prepared and after discussing with the teacher will prepare differentiated materials for SEN and targeted students and make sure these are done before the lesson is due to take place.

The teaching assistant can also support the teacher by helping manage classroom behaviour, and keeping students especially targeted students focused on the task at hand, encouraging students by making positive comments and prompting them to participate in the lesson. Summarise the difference between formative and summative assessment. A formative assessment assists the teacher in developing their lesson so that they can improve the student’s attainment and is designed to give pupils eedback in order to improve in their learning. There are many different types of formative assessment which include; observations to understand how a student works and what strategies they use; write backs; diagnostic testing which can be done at the beginning of a term to check students strengths and weaknesses in learning; and engaging pupils in reviewing progress where at the end of the lesson teacher asks questions about the material that has just been learnt to check they have understood the learning objectives.

Whereas a summative assessment comes at the end of a topic, term or year for a summary of what the student has learnt and is the formal testing. The results of these tests are then used for different types of reports including whole school, departmental, and parent reports. Explain the characteristics of assessment for learning. The main characteristics of assessment for learning are to encourage pupils to take responsibility for their own learning.

This can be done by; making sure that pupils are actively involved in lessons from the very start; students are continuously referred back to the learning objective throughout the lesson so they know they are on the right track; helping students understand and know the standard of work that they are aiming for in class by reflecting and questioning themselves, for example ‘what have I learnt? ’ and ‘what could I have done/do to improve that piece of work? ; allowing time for peer assessment and getting students to provide each other with constructive critism; teachers providing constructive feedback that will help pupils identify improvements and by also educating pupils in self assessment methods in order to ascertain areas for development. Explain the importance and benefits of assessment for learning Assessment for learning is an essential part of education as it defines whether or not students have fully understood the learning objectives.

However assessment for learning plays a significant role in raising a student’s academic achievements and is centred on the belief that in order for pupil to progress in school, they must understand the purpose of their learning, where they are in relation to this purpose and how they can achieve their goals, and research has shown that students that are involved in the assessment process are more likely to show higher motivation for their learning and take an active role in making improvements to their work by reflecting on their own development.

If a pupil is given the opportunity to discuss their learning either with a teacher or one of their peers then they will develop a deeper understanding of their learning which can build confidence, raise their self esteem and motivate them as students. Effective assessment will identify individual educational needs of all children as well as informing them about their specific performances and achievements, this will then allow teachers to use approaches that are personalised to the needs of a child.

Assessment can be used not only to measure learning but also to promote learning by teaching pupils how to ask questions as well as answering them, by emphasising to a child that it is acceptable to ‘have a go’ and that by giving the wrong answer is still an opportunity to learn. It further provides the student with an understanding of what levels they are working at, what level they would like to working towards, and plan on how they are going to reach that level. Explain how assessment for learning can contribute to planning for future learning carried out by:

Day to day assessments are a crucial phase of effective teaching, and consists of the teacher and teaching assistant in the class focusing on how the students learning is progressing in that particular lesson and defining where improvements can be made. If also allows both the teacher and teaching assistant to recognise what steps should be taken to support each student achieve to the best of their ability. The teacher It is important for the teacher to carry out a number of observations on their students and conduct topic knowledge test to have a greater understanding of students’ abilities.

Once this is done the teacher can measure what the child can do and what they know, and they can determine what is successful and what approaches they are going to take when they are planning their lessons i. e. do some students need differentiated materials, does pair/group work activities need to be incorporated within the lesson to help students growth and development of their skills and knowledge. When this is in place the teacher will be able to measure the students progress and then they can encourage the pupil to take responsibility for their own learning and be involved in the assessment process as a whole

The learners The assessment process for students will encourage and teach them to reflect on their work on a regular basis, and question themselves on whether they have met the learning objective for that lesson. This in turn will teach them to assess their own work and look at how they can make improvements to it, in accordance to the criteria they need to meet, furthermore it will make them feel included in the learning process and provide them with the confidence to ask for help when they are unsure or to say when they feel they have not understood the learning objectives correctly.

The learning support practitioner The teaching assistant (TA) should always work in partnership with the teacher, to gain a greater understanding of how you can support and enhance the learning of the students. If you have more than one students who is low ability or a targeted SEN student, it can be an idea to sit them at the same table so that the TA can sit with them all so they can work at a pace that is suitable for them.

This also allow the TA to help clarify the learning objectives for the lesson by asking questions such as “what are we learning about today? ”, “can you highlight the key words in the learning objectives? ”. It also provides low ability students’ with an opportunity to ask questions about their work and have clarification that they are on the right path. Thus assessment for learning provides the teaching assistant with knowledge of the students’ abilities and what types of questions to use to gage their understanding.

A plentiful amount schools in the U. S. Are beginning to consider bringing forth school four days a week rather than the usual five days. However, classes will be in session more hours per day. By doing this the schools will conserve money, have more instruction time per class, and longer weekends. First of all, the schools will preserve loads of money, as well as those who drive to school. They will have one less day of transportation because people aren’t in school for that one extra day.

The schools will also have much lower electric bills because the lights are off for another day. Also, if the school is under construction, there will be more time to complete it because there aren’t kids in the hardhat area. Not only that, but the Janitors will have more time to tidy up the school while the kids aren’t in there to create a safer and cleaner learning environment. Secondly, having longer days meaner more time per class period. Lots of kids aren’t passing because they need more instruction time.

Giving more time per class period gives the teachers time to explain tough material to students who are behind. The students will better understand the material being taught. Some lessons can last for more than a day, like reading a novel. The students will better understand what they are reading if they do it all in one day than if they have to pick up where they left off the day before. Longer school days and less days in school will lead to a better education for students, there may even be less homework because the students use the extra time given In class to complete It.

Plus, the school day also will last until almost dinner time, so the students will go home eight after school. They won’t be out on the streets getting In trouble In the time period between school ending and dinner. Yet another reason to say yes to longer school days four days a week Is the longer weekends. While schoolwork Is obviously Incredibly important, so Is time off. Most kids need time to relax, they are busier in today’s world than ever. They have homework, practices, and projects to work on.

Some even have Jobs, by the time the weekend Is over, the students haven’t had any time for themselves. Schools should be open four days a week and have longer days because the schools will save money, by having more time per class a more quality education will be provided for the students, and the longer weekends will give the kids time to relax after long week. Agreeing with this Idea Is beneficial to your child’s education. Adding school hours and reducing the amount of hours per school makes more time for academic pursuits.

Longer Weekend more time to tidy up the school while the kids aren’t in there to create a safer and emperor because the students use the extra time given in class to complete it. Plus, right after school. They won’t be out on the streets getting in trouble in the time school days four days a week is the longer weekends. While schoolwork is obviously incredibly important, so is time off. Most kids need time to relax, they are busier in Some even have Jobs, by the time the weekend is over, the students haven’t had any kids time to relax after long week. Agreeing with this idea is beneficial to your child’s

The bigger the change, it seems, the more difficult the task. Education is one of the most important things in a child’s life, so what happens when someone decides to present new challenges to our way of thinking? Vivian Stewart attempts to bring some very good points to light in chapter three of her book A World Class Education. Most successful systems tend to have the same basic elements when it comes to education.

Strong leadership with ambitious vision is necessary for a profitable future in American instruction. High quality teachers and administrators who focus on global and future orientated goals help guide their students toward a more equitable state. Teacher accountability is also extremely significant; the nation board standard number four states that teachers should strive to strengthen their skills as an educator and critically examine their practice in order to improve their performance.

Lastly, teachers should always keep an open mind for the future and continuously learn new ways to develop curriculum. This relates to national standard number five. In physical science, students are required to manipulate mathematical equations in order to solve for a range of variables. Here in the United States, we use the English system as our standard for measurement: However, nearly everywhere else in the world, the metric system is used.

I apply global orientation to my classroom by teaching my students the metric system and explaining why it is important for scientists to have the same system of measurement. We should be mindful of learning the way others do things and less consumed with the our own systems when we can all benefit from a unified structure. Stewart, V. (2012). A world-class education: learning from international models of excellence and innovation. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.

The process of educating one’s self can be a difficult process. That is if you don’t understand your habits and the way you learn and absorb information. Luckily in these times educators are becoming more understanding to their students learning habits and are able to adapt to a students learning styles to better educate them. Some may not know in what category of learning style that they are, there are online surveys one can take to find out there learning style strengths.

I myself have Just aken a survey and my results are as follows; Visual: 7 Aural: 9 Read/Write: 4 Kinesthetic: 9. Pretty much what this means is that I am good at listening and hands on learner. The survey also provided learning strategies to better help me. I scored strong on the Aural side (Auditory) strategies that were recommended are, Step 1: INTAKE: attend class discussions and tutorials, discuss topics with others and your teachers, explain new ideas to other people, use a tape recorder, pretty much any method that is easier for you to “intake” the information.

Step 2: “SWOT” which means study without tears, convert your notes into a smaller package, as an Aural learner it would be key study with another aural learner like yourself, also have your partner listen to your understanding of the material discussed, and reading your summarized notes aloud to yourself is also key. Step 3: Output, which is how you will use this information on your tests, assignments and examinations. Imagine talking with the examiner or speaking the answers aloud and writing them down, listen to your voice nd write it down, spending your time in a quiet place is also helpful in recalling the information.

I also scored strong on the kinesthetic part of the survey, which is someone who needs to experience something to learn from it, or you need to be able to relate to it, something real, or an easy way to remember it is a hands on person. Studying for every learning style uses the same three step process I discussed in paragraph

The next stage in the curriculum development process according to Tyler, Tab and Alexander & Sailor is the implementation of the curriculum plan. The final destination of any curriculum (whether it be a school, college, university or training organization) Is the classroom Involving students, teachers, administrators and the community. Implementing the curriculum is the most crucial and sometimes the most difficult phase of the curriculum development process.

In this unit will focus on determining whether the curriculum plan implemented has achieved its goals and objectives as planned. In other words, the curriculum has to be evaluated to determine whether all the effort in terms of finance and human resources has been worthwhile. The information collected from evaluating a curriculum forms the basis for making Judgments about how successfully has the programmer achieved its Intended outcomes and the worth or value of the programmer.

It Is most Important that the results of a curriculum assessment are used to Improve the curriculum. This Includes building on the strengths of the curriculum and improving or eliminating the weaknesses. An assessment that is placed on a shelf to gather dust is major waste of time and money that could be used elsewhere. Knowledge in the curriculum implementation would greatly help future educators n being equipped and globally compatible with the demands of the changing world.

When one has fully grasped the idea of curriculum development, he will not be caught off guard with the sudden change that might happen. Thus, It would be easier to adapt to the new curriculum structure without prior delay. As a future educator, is highly significant to analyze a particular curriculum before implementation. Evaluation process would be a great foundation to know whether the curriculum Is effective.

Multigrade teaching involves the teaching of children from two or more grade levels in one classroom. Such contexts requires the employment of particular teaching methodologies and classroom administration. Since Multigrade classes are smaller and can be established more cheaply than complete schools, they can be more numerous, therefore more dispersed and thus located closer to the settlements where the children live. This means both that younger children can attend and that the time children spend travelling between school and home can be reduced to an acceptable level.

This in turn means that there is sufficient time outside school hours for the children to continue to contribute to the family’s economic activity . Attending school is therefore likely to be more acceptable to the families concerned, and thus both increase the number of children receiving education and reduce the failure rate. Multigrade schools, being smaller and more dispersed, would enjoy much closer links with the smaller communities that they would be set up to serve. This would have a very positive effect on local attitudes and access to education. The professional teacher is a key resource person in the Multigrade context.

The local content is a significant part of the curriculum, it is particularly important to resolve the issue of appointing well-trained and locally-oriented teachers.

Introduction

1. An average primary school teacher is ill equipped to handle a multigrade classroom situation.
2. The nature of the curriculum and textbooks, which are prepared almost entirely in a monograde context create further problems.
3. Teacher training programmes have not focused on practical issues and techniques for handling multigrade teaching studies.
4. There is no training package for multigrade teachers. The aspects could be:

• Time management
• Improving teaching skills
• Preparation and organisation of the teaching learning materials.
• Organisation of art and cultural activities.
• Timetables are not flexible enough.

Teachers of MC should have extra preparation time. Teachers assigned to MC should preferable be those who are most willing to teach. In service and information concerning appropriate groupings, classroom organization, instructional strategies and curriculum modification should be provided to principals and teachers. In a MC there is respect for different learning styles. Teachers structure a positive learning environment where children feel successful, develop positive self-concepts and are helpful and sensitive to others. The student benefit from having the opportunity to stay with the same teacher and classmates and experience the same teaching style and routine over a two-year (ore more) period. In a MC there is time to recognize that a childs social and emotional needs are as important as academic needs. Another advantage of more than one year in a MC is the relationship developed between the teacher and the entire family.

Students feel they are successful when they are working at their own level and know that everyone should be able to do the same thing at the same time. Each child is accepted at his or her own place on the developmental learning situation. The teacher takes time to assess evaluates and plan next steps for each child. Separate subjects are replaced by an integrated curriculum, which engages children in meaningful activities that explore concepts and topics relevant and meaningful to the lives of the children. In a classroom where all children are learning at different rates and are not all the same age, there is a little competition.

By helping each other, students reinforce their own understanding of knowledge, skills and attitudes. Conversations are encouraged as the children talk through their work in progress. These conversations help them understand just what they have learned. Multigrade classrooms take the focus of meeting the needs of the whole group of learners instead meet the needs of each individual student.

• On the conference on MGT in 1988, organised by UNESCO, five general problems came out:

1. Inadequately trained teachers.
2. Scarcity of varied levels and types of materials.
3. Lack of flexible and special types of curriculum organization.
4. Inadequate school facilities.
5. Lack of incentives for teachers in multiple classes.

Multigrade in Vietnam, the problems

1. There is a serious shortage of teachers, especially skilled teachers for MGT.
2. Teachers of MGT are working in different isolated conditions.
3. The training of teachers for MG classes does not meet the requirement in either quality or quantity.
4. Most of the MG schools lack textbooks, guidebooks and reference material.
5. Multigrade classes are in very bad conditions.

What is the principals role in a multigrade chool?

1. The principal plays a key-role in creating a supportive school culture.
2. The principal, the head teacher must ensure that all teachers feel supported.
3. The head must provide teachers with opportunities to learn multigrade teaching methods, monitor the progress of implementation and give the teachers praise, feedback and suggestions.
4. The head should be adept at facilitating positive, cooperative interactions among teaching team members.

There are definite characteristics of successful multigrade teachers, which should be considered in teacher selection.

1. Well-organized
2. Creative and flexible
3. Willing to work hard.
4. Resource full.
5. Self-directed.
6. Willing to work closely with the community.
7. Strong belief in the importance of cooperation and personal responsibility in the classroom with the ability to develop these characteristics in pupils.
8. Prior successful experience at the grade levels to be taught.

Seven general types of activities found in most classrooms:

1. Quiet or individual study.
2. Testing
3. Whole class instruction.
4. Partner work.
5. Group discussion.
6. Reference work.

Questions/Activity

1. How will / can you create an enabling and effective teaching- learning environment in a multigrade classroom.
2. How could teachers spend more time on a particular subject or practice work?
3. How can a teacher maintain discipline in a multigrade classroom?
4. Which teaching aids are specific for a multigrade teaching?
5. How can a teacher be enabled to organise the subject matter in the best possible way?
6. How can the teacher understand the gaps in his or her teaching method, and appreciate student needs better?

Facts

1. Multigrade teachers must be trained to give different lessons at the same time to pupils at different grade levels.
2. Children sit in grade-groups facing their own blackboard (BB)
3. If there are two grade groups in the class the BB are placed either end of the classroom with children facing opposite directions.
4. During the lessons the teacher moves frequently between the different groups.
5. Give reading instructions to one grade; give dictation to the other grade.
6. One grade is copying handwriting math exercises from the BB, the other grade will be instructed on a new math item.
7. The extra work involved in multigrade teaching must be recognized by giving teachers 50% additional salary for two rades and 75% for three or more grades.
8. Teachers in multigrade classrooms must receive a lot of support and must meet regularly with teachers from other multigrade schools.

Direct instruction

Direct instruction is highly teacher-directed and commonly used. It is effective for providing information or developing step-by-step skills. This strategy also works well for introducing other teaching methods or actively involving students in knowledge construction.

• Structured Overview – organizing concepts and materials in a manner that is easily understood by students.
• Explicit Teaching – explicit teaching involves six teaching functions:

1. daily review
2. presenting new material
3. conducting guided practice
4. providing feedback and correctives
5. conducting independent practice
6. weekly and monthly review

• Mastery Lecture – a method to deliver significant amounts of information in a relatively short period of time. The quality of a lecture may be improved by incorporating audio and visual aids and encouraging interaction between the teacher and the students.
• Drill and Practice – structured, repetitive review of previously learned concepts in order to increase level of mastery.
• Compare and Contrast – students look for similarities and differences.
• Didactic Questions – tend to be convergent, factual and often begin with “what,” “where,” “when,” and “how. ” These may also include “why” and “what if” questions.
• Demonstrations – teacher shows and tells how to do something. h. Guides for Reading, Listening, and Viewing – providing leading questions, diagrams, or statements to assist students in focusing on the important ideas within text, lecture, media, or other presentations. A follow-up discussion may assist in summarizing the activity.

Indirect Instruction

Indirect instruction is mainly student-centred, although direct and indirect instruction can complement each other. Indirect instruction seeks a high level of student involvement in observing, investigating, drawing inferences from data, or forming hypotheses. It takes advantage of students’ interest and curiosity, often encouraging them to generate alternatives or solve problems. It is flexible in that it frees students to explore diverse possibilities and reduces the fear associated with the possibility of giving incorrect answers.

Indirect instruction also fosters creativity and the development of interpersonal skills and abilities. In indirect instruction, the role of the teacher shifts from lecturer/director to that of facilitator, supporter, and resource person. The teacher arranges the learning environment, provides opportunity for student involvement, and, when appropriate, provides feedback to students while they conduct the inquiry (Martin, 1983). The indirect instruction strategy can be used by teachers in almost every lesson. This strategy is most appropriate when:

• thinking outcomes are desired
• attitudes, values, or interpersonal outcomes are desired
• process is as important as product
• students need to investigate or discover something in order to benefit from later instruction
• there is more than one appropriate answer
• the focus is personalized understanding and long term retention of concepts or generalizations
• ego involvement and intrinsic motivation are desirable
• decisions need to be made or problems need to be solved * life-long learning capability is desired

1. Problem Solving – students work through a situation or problem in order to arrive at a solution.
2. Case Studies – real life scenarios are presented for analyzing, comparing and contrasting, summarizing, and making recommendations.
3. Inquiry – as topics are explored, thinking is emphasized as students ask relevant questions and develop ways to search for answers and generate explanations.
4. Reading for Meaning – information and insight are obtained from written material.
5. Reflective Discussion – discussion occurs in order for students to understand a concept in more depth.
6. Concept Formation – students are given data about a particular concept. The data is classified or grouped and descriptive labels are given to the groupings. By linking their examples to the labels and explaining their reasoning, students are able to form their own understanding of the concept.
7. Concept Mapping – a word or topic is used to generate other related words. These may be organized in web form.
8. Concept Attainment – examples and non-examples are given to develop an understanding of a concept.
9. Cloze Procedure – students need to supply key words which have been omitted from a passage.

Experiential learning

Experiential learning is inductive, learner centred, and activity oriented. Personalized reflection about an experience and the formulation of plans to apply learnings to other contexts are critical factors in effective experiential learning. Experiential learning occurs when learners:

• participate in an activity
• critically look back on the activity to clarify learnings and feelings
• draw useful insights from such analysis
• put learnings to work in new situations (Pfeiffer & Jones, 1979)

Experiential learning can be viewed as a cycle consisting of five phases, all of which are necessary:

• experiencing (an activity occurs)
• sharing or publishing (reactions and observations are shared)
• analyzing or processing (patterns and dynamics are determined)
• inferring or generalizing (principles are derived)
• applying (plans are made to use learnings in new situations)

1. Field Trips – students are given an opportunity to learn by taking part in educational activities that take place outside of the classroom.
2. Conducting Experiments – students are given a hypothesis to test under specific conditions.
3. Simulations – the students are presented with an artificial problem, situation, or event which has some aspect of reality.
4. Games – these are structured learning activities which have rules and methods of establishing who wins or how the activity ends.
5. Focused Imaging – students visualize an object, event, or situation.
6. Field Observations – students make observations of naturally occurring events found outside of the classroom.
7. Role-Playing – students are presented with a real problem situation and given individual parts or roles to play.
8. Synectics – analogies are used to help students compare and contrast topics which appear to be unrelated.
9. Model Building – students design and construct an object.
10. Surveys – are research tools that involve asking questions to a specific group of individuals.

The responses are then analyzed.

Independent Study

Independent study refers to the range of instructional methods which are purposefully provided to foster the development of individual student initiative, self-reliance, and self-improvement. While independent study may be initiated by student or teacher, the focus here will be on planned independent study by students under the guidance or supervision of a classroom teacher. In addition, independent study can include learning in partnership with another individual or as part of a small group.

Independent study encourages students to take responsibility for planning and pacing their own learning. Independent study can be used in conjunction with other methods, or it can be used as the single instructional strategy for an entire unit. The factors of student maturity and independence are obviously important to the teacher’s planning.

1. Essays – writing that students do that involves some level of research. Research may be used to support their opinions on a specific topic.
2. Computer-Assisted Instruction – programs which are available to be used on the computer to assist student learning.
3. Reports – enable students to express their knowledge or ideas related to a given topic. These reports may be presented in written or oral form.
4. Learning Activity Package – a planned series of activities for the students to complete.
5. Correspondence Lessons – lessons that are administered through an outside agency other than the school. Typically this was in print form, but now may involve audio, video, or computer elements.
6. Learning Contracts – these allow for instruction to be individualized and encourages student responsibility. When students are new to this method, teachers may have to provide a more structured format that includes the learning objectives, some choice of resources, as well as time constraints. As students become more familiar with this method and more independent, increased responsibility can be given to the students.
7. Homework – assignments and activities that are to be completed away from the school.
8. Research Projects – these projects contain some elements of research and may be conducted individually, with a partner, or in small groups.
9. Assigned Questions – questions that are given to the students to complete individually or in small groups.
10. Learning Centres – stations are set up in the classroom which include tasks or activities that may need to be completed individually or in a group. Interactive instructionInteractive instruction relies heavily on discussion and sharing among participants. Students can learn from peers and teachers to develop social skills and abilities, to organize their thoughts, and to develop rational arguments. The interactive instruction strategy allows for a range of groupings and interactive methods.

It is important for the teacher to outline the topic, the amount of discussion time, the composition and size of the groups, and reporting or sharing techniques. Interactive instruction requires the refinement of observation, listening, interpersonal, and intervention skills and abilities by both teacher and students.

1. Debates – students are divided into two groups. Each group is assigned a side of an issue to defend. After developing arguments for their side, students present new information or introduce rebuttals for information presented by their opposition.
2. Role-Playing – a topic or theme is chosen and relevant concepts are identified. A concept is selected which involves a compelling issue and adequate roles for everyone. A key question from the concept is chosen and possible viewpoints are discussed. Situations and viewpoints are chosen and students are assigned roles to play.
3. Panels – students are divided into small groups. Each student individually presents information to the rest of the class. The panel is run by a moderator.
4. Brainstorming – as many ideas as possible are suggested. All ideas are recorded with no criticism or evaluation permitted.
5. Peer Practice – students practice what they have learned with a peer.
6. Discussion – familiar material is used for discussions. The problem or issue can be one that does not require a particular answer or one where it is important for students to discover an answer. Opinions must be supported. Discussion should conclude with consensus, a solution, clarification of insights gained, or a summary.
7. Laboratory Groups – groups of students in a laboratory setting.
8. Co-operative Learning Groups – small groups of students, usually two to six members, share the various roles and are interdependent in achieving the group learning goal.
9. Problem Solving – real-life problems are presented to the students to solve. The teacher, acting as a facilitator, encourages the students to use an “If . . . , then . . . , because . . . ” method of solving the problem.
10. Circle of Knowledge – small groups of students sit in a circle to think and discuss information. The ideas from each small circle are then shared with the rest of the class.
11. Tutorial Groups – groups set up to offer remediation. This remediation may be done by the teacher or a peer.
12. Interviewing – students familiarize themselves with the topic of the interview and create questions to ask the interviewee. Interviews usually take place face-to-face.

Cooperative teaching

According to Bauwens and Hourcade (2001), cooperative teaching refers to a direct form of collaboration in which a general educator and one or more support service providers voluntarily agree to work together in a co-active and coordinated fashion in the general education classroom.

These educators who possess distinct and complementary sets of skills, combine roles and share resources and responsibilities in a sustained effort while working towards the common goal of school success for all students. Collaborative teaching, where two educators take responsibility for planning, teaching, and monitoring the success of all learners in a class, looks different from day to day and classroom to classroom. Why?

Collaborative teaching, when done right, is a dynamic process that educators constantly reconfigure to fit their instructional plans and the learning needs of their students. team teaching – a method of coordinated classroom teaching involving a team of teachers working together with a single group of students didactics, education, educational activity, instruction, pedagogy, teaching – the activities of educating or instructing; activities that impart knowledge or skill; “he received no formal education”; “our instruction was carefully programmed”; “good classroom teaching is seldom rewarded”

Peer Teaching Practice in which students take on a teaching role in a school setting in order to share their knowledge with other students. multi-grade teaching  ‘ technique of simultaneously teaching more than one grade by a single teacher’.

Describe the importance of continuing professional development – Unit 206 – 2. 2 In all professions trends are always changing. Procedures and practices change. Research is always discovering new processes and learning strategies. It is important to stay on top of these changes within your professional field. Continuing professional development raises the standards of your skills set. To always be updating skills and developing knowledge and finding ways to do this is a positive attitude to take, to be successful at what you do and what will set you apart from the rest.

In a school it is very important that it takes a keen interest in continuing professional development, it means its standards are likely to be high and would make it more appealing to parents seeking a placement for their child. In education and in the classroom it is important for all staff to be proactive in their own continuing professional development. In order to feel more positive and confident about their profession and to keep motivated and inspired by new ideas. It also means keeping up to date with the latest teaching techniques, regular reviews of procedures and practices, such as first aid and child protection.

Most importantly is the benefit to the childrens education, it means they will always be receiving the most up to date and the highest standard of teaching, and using the latest equipment. It is equally important for employers to support and encourage continuing professional development for their staff, providing opportunities for teachers to develop their skills to create a better learning environment, and will enable every teacher and pupil to reach their full potential.