Plenaries

1
Plenaries

• Hellesdon High School Norwich

2
Personnel

• The trainee involved with the project at
  Hellesdon was Mr John OLeary Geography teacher
  trainee based at The University of East Anglia.

• The person to contact at the school about
  Geography case studies developed is Mrs Joan
  Collings, Assistant Head.

3
Background to the project

• Hellesdon High School is a true comprehensive on
  the outskirts of Norwich. It has 1,100 Pupils on
  roll including some 200 in the Sixth Form.
• The Geography Department has been involved with
  the UEA Partnership for Initial Teacher Training
  for many years and support at least two trainees
  each year.

• The school aims
• to give all pupils the space and encouragement to
  develop to their full potential
• to give all pupils what is necessary for them to
  become active and responsible citizens
• to provide a caring and sharing community which
  encourages respect and awareness of the needs of
  others
• Priorities for the School Development Plan this
  year are
• by using data, assessment and reporting to raise
  achievement
• role of ICT in teaching and learning to raise
  achievement
• rewarding positive behaviour and discipline to
  raise achievement

4
Priorities and school agenda

• Hellesdon High Schools lesson observation cycle
  for this year is concentrating on starter,
  middles and plenaries
• The first round of observation is on starters.
  Lead staff have identified key activities
  desirable in the start of a lesson and undertaken
  developmental training for colleagues in
  observation techniques.
• For lesson middles and plenaries key
  activities will also be discussed and identified.
  This research will add to that process and
  provide a fresh slant into ways of taking stock
  of learning. It gives an opportunity to help
  pupils understand why and how they are learning
  things.
• The research also identifies what training and
  support trainees need to develop practice so that
  the move is made from the end of a lesson to a
  plenary session which evaluates
  pupil learning
  outcomes. It provides a focus for understanding
  both theory and practice of learning and
  development.

5
Designing the training programme

• We identified seven key areas in the process of
  putting together a plenary. The module of work
  studied was on Settlement with Year 8 pupils.
• 1. Clarify the outcomes - what do we want the
  pupils to learn?
• 2. What kind of learning do we want the pupils to
  engage - are skills and knowledge enough?
• 3. What activities would guarantee this learning?
• 4. Organise the activities into bitesize
  chunks.
• 5. Design the activities - pupil participation
  rather than sitting watching or listening.
• 6. Plan, check, refine, make resources.
• 7. How can trainee practice be developed in the
  process of delivering the lesson - what
  competences can be incorporated?

6
Introductory lesson on Settlement

• Planning an introductory lesson was initially
  undertaken by Mr OLeary.
• We then realised this lesson could be taught to
  different classes on separate days giving the
  opportunity of trying out activities with the
  same learning aims.
• When refining the lesson plan a move was made to
  develop teacher exposition in the first lesson
  into pupil tasks for the second, and to
  incorporate ICT.
• Designing resources for activities was
  determined by type, purpose and style making sure
  there was clear direction for the pupils and
  pictures or graphic materials to maintain
  interest.

7
Lesson 1 activities

• Lesson Plan
• 0-20 minutes
• Teacher Settle class. STARTER 3 minutes in
  pairs looking at history of settlement (why did
  hunter/gatherers settle down about 10,000 years
  ago?) What natural factors were important when
  choosing a site? QA session draw spider map.
• Pupils Take part in QA copy spider map into
  books.
• 20-45 minutes
• Teacher Explain worksheet hand out
• Pupils Complete worksheets
• 45-60 minutes
• Teacher Instruct PLENARY activity pupils in
  pairs are to discuss and label colour photograph
  of Warkworth indicating the natural factors which
  make it a good settlement site. Task is a
  competition.
• Pupils In pairs complete task as fast as
  possible. The winning pair must report back their
  answers to the rest of the class.

8
Introducing the plenary

• Lesson 1 - Middle ability group
• Pupil worksheets were designed to provide two
  tasks before the plenary
• In the starter the pupils created a spider chart
  showing the factors affecting settlement and then
  proceeded to consolidate learning on worksheets.
• The plenary task was a worksheet on which the
  pupils were asked to show, from the information
  provided, where natural features supported the
  development of a settlement.
• This activity was turned into a competition with
  pupils working in pairs.
• The winners were asked to explain to the class
  where, and why, they had written their answers.

9
Video clip of the plenary
10
Case study 2

• Top set - theme Settlement
• Moving trainee practice forward building on the
  success of the first case study.
• The starter introduced the topic through one task
  on the following website
• The class undertook to complete the worksheets
  and the plenary was a role-play situation with
  groups of four pupils having to decide where to
  put their Saxon houses on a sketch shown on an
  OHT. The Saxon houses were created out of
  post-its

11
Lesson 2 activities

• Lesson Plan
• 0-20 minutes
• Teacher Settle class. STARTER 10 minutes -
  Instruct pupils - they must do settlement
  exercises on Learn.co.uk internet site. They
  must organise themselves in their group and make
  notes, which can be used later.
• Pupils Do as much of the exercise as possible in
  the 10 minutes
• 20-45 minutes
• Teacher Explain worksheet hand out
• Pupils Complete worksheets
• 45-60 minutes
• Teacher Instruct PLENARY activity in their
  groups the pupils are Saxon settlers. They have
  to decide the factors which make an ideal site
  and then put their post-it hut on the OHT
  projection of a V-Shaped valley
• Pupils In their Saxon groups they must discuss
  the location of their settlement.

12
Video clip of plenary
13
Case study 3

• Top set - theme Settlement
• Moving trainee practice forward building on the
  success of the second case study.
• The starter was modified still introducing the
  topic through a series of tasks on the following
  website
• The class undertook to complete the worksheets
  and the plenary was a role-play situation with
  groups of four pupils having to decide where to
  put their Saxon houses on a sketch shown on an
  OHT. The Saxon houses were created out of
  post-its

14
Trainees evaluation

• Case study 1
• I felt that the element of competition was vital
  to the pupils enjoyment of the exercise and it
  resulted in them all being extremely focused and
  on task
• The winning couple had to debrief the rest of
  the class as to their labelling decisions. This
  was a very useful for the winners and the rest of
  the class who felt like they were learning from
  their peers.
• The only negative point was the look of
  disappointment of the winners when they realised
  the prize was only a Geography Department
  certificate!

• Case Study 2 and 3
• I thoroughly enjoyed doing this plenary with this
  class and I felt that it was an excellent
  progression from the last task
• It was enjoyable for me and the class because it
  was a much more unique task compared to the
  last plenary, which was much more of the
  traditional worksheet style of exercise.
• They had to work as a group and debate the
  possibilities and some groups I noticed even
  delegated a leader and a spokesperson.
• Once all the settlement choices had been made, I
  ensured that each group debriefed the other
  groups as to their choice. This was very useful
  because it enabled me to assess their
  understanding.
• The joy of this plenary is that it could also be
  used as an excellent starter exercise. It would
  re-cap learning and create a constructive
  atmosphere in the classroom for the remainder of
  the lesson.

15
Video clip of the plenary
16
Support from UEA

• For Trainee
• UEA provided written information of the role of
  plenaries in the classroom.

• For trainer
• UEA has a successful partnership with schools in
  Norfolk and Suffolk.
• The outstanding features of the partnership are
  support given to schools and quality personal
  relationships nurtured between UEA and school
  staff
• An initial meeting and discussion established
  research purpose and goals and was provided with
  information on plenaries.
• Continuous interaction between UEA and school
  with on-site observation of one activity.
• Joint participate with open and free discussion
  between all parties.

17
Pupil and trainee performance

• Pupil
• Three classes were selected, two from tier one,
  the other from tier two.
• They were asked to evaluate the plenary.
• Pupils responded to the task really well, some
  employing team strategies to ensure they all
  participated in the activity.
• The plenary used in Case Study 1 involved the
  element of competition which the pupils
  thoroughly enjoyed.

• Trainee
• Provided challenge and support, building
  self-esteem by setting tasks which allowed pupils
  to succeed, with built in rewards
• Contributed positively, developing confidence as
  a professional.
• Took on the challenge willingly and positively.
• Analysed situations and outcomes well.
• Acted positively to improve the quality of
  teaching and learning.
• Achieved measurable improvement in a very short
  time scale.

18
Benefits

• Pupils
• Positive feedback on recognising they had
  achieved the learning objectives
• Tackling tasks set without having to ask for
  help they knew where they were heading in their
  learning
• Recognition that the class achieved the learning
  objectives well
• Enjoyment in undertaking the tasks set
• Recognition that learning was achieved through
  practical activity
• Working as a team, listening to others opinions
  and discussing ideas together

• Trainees
• Teaching skills improved speedily
• Confidence and satisfaction with effective
  teaching
• Willingness to move away from comfort zone and
  try out a range of ideas and teaching strategies
• Instilled professional characteristics in
  developing classroom climate conducive to raising
  pupil achievement
• Heightened awareness of assessment by immediate
  monitoring of pupil progress to enable planning
  and preparation for next session
• Being able to draw on a wide range of teaching
  experience on ways in which to present content
  that will motivate and engage learners.

19
Benefits

• For teachers
• Creates a basis for communication about the
  quality of teaching and learning
• Appreciation of the effectiveness of
  collaborative planning, resourcing, evaluation
  and reflection.
• Exchange of ideas about teaching and learning
• Provides an opportunity to analyse generic skills
  from the perspective of subject-specific
  relevance
• Increased awareness of the responsibilities and
  obligations in providing trainee support
• Develops mentoring skills through passing on
  skills, providing guidance and support, providing
  additional knowledge and expertise and acting as
  a critical friend.
• Acknowledgement of the need for on-going personal
  professional development

20
What next?

• For the school
• Encourage team planning for improving teaching
  and learning (subject and cross-curricular)
• Provide more opportunities for the exchange of
  good practice
• Research teaching strategies which help pupils
  learn more effectively i.e. learning to learn
• Refine the role of subject mentor to incorporate
  more joint planning on focused activities
• Use research model to develop practice

• For the trainee
• Enjoy the success of the research
• Consolidate learning and use confidence gained to
  take risks in planning and practice
• Research teaching strategies which help pupils
  learn more effectively
• Develop links for work place and peer support
• Share knowledge of the research with peers
• Use research model as tool for professional
  development

21
Lessons learned

• Trainer and trainee had a precise focus on which
  to concentrate for a specific period of time.
  Short term research is effective as a means of
  making significant gains in moving practice
  forward.
• Planning meetings should included the following
  steps problem solving, information sharing, data
  gathering, resource acquisition and decision
  making.
• Evaluation needs planning - who should be
  involved, what is to be evaluated and how is it
  to be done?
• Increased competence gave confidence to
  experiment and move away from the comfort zone
  for both participants.
• Include the wider school community in the
  research - departmental and support staff. Use
  their ideas and expertise.
• Involve pupils in research. Positive feedback
  from pupil participation is highly motivating.
• Research model can be used to provide
  development opportunities for all teachers.