ERRR #082. Kelly Tatlock on Creating Knowledgeable and Expert Learners
Sep 3, 2023
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Kelly Tatlock, Assistant Headteacher in charge of Teaching and Learning at Beckfoot School, shares practical advice on creating knowledgeable and expert learners. Topics include developing independent learners, constructing knowledge organizers, instructional coaching, using flashcards as a learning tool, behavior management system, involving parents in students' learning, and systematization of teaching.
Using knowledge organizers and strategies like Quizit, Linkit, Mapit, and Shrinkit promotes active engagement, comprehension, and connections in student learning.
Teaching and learning approaches at Beckfoot School include collaborative planning, instructional coaching, and the use of knowledge organizers to cultivate independent learners.
Knowledge organizers support retrieval practice and revision, fostering active engagement and strengthening memory.
Beckfoot School utilizes instructional coaching, collaborative planning time, and knowledge organizers to enhance student learning and foster independent learners.
Beckfoot School emphasizes summarization skills and the use of flashcards to promote effective revision and memory retention.
Deep dives
Using Knowledge Organizers to Enhance Learning
Knowledge organizers are powerful tools that condense key information from a curriculum into a concise format. They are designed to be quizzable, enabling students to test their recall and strengthen their memory. At Beckfoot School, students are taught to use knowledge organizers through the Quizit, Linkit, Mapit, Shrinkit strategy. Quizit involves self-quizzing using the cover-right check method. Linkit encourages students to make connections between different knowledge items on the organizer, fostering a deeper understanding. Mapit focuses on using graphic organizers, such as mind maps, to visually represent the information. Finally, Shrinkit involves summarizing the content in a concise form. These strategies foster flexible knowledge by promoting active engagement with the information, facilitating connections, and supporting comprehension.
Teaching and Learning Approaches at Beckfoot School
At Beckfoot School, various teaching and learning approaches are used to support students' academic growth. The school emphasizes collaboration and has established collaborative planning time and twilight sessions for curriculum development. Instructional coaching is also integrated into the school's approach, supporting teachers in their professional development. Knowledge organizers play a central role in promoting student learning, and different strategies, including Quizit, Linkit, Mapit, and Shrinkit, are employed to enhance students' understanding and application of the information. These approaches aim to cultivate independent learners, assist with memory retention, and help students make connections between different concepts.
The Role of Knowledge Organizers in Enhancing Learning
Knowledge organizers provide a condensed representation of essential information from the curriculum, helping students to focus on important concepts. They support retrieval practice and revision, and foster active engagement with the content. By quizzing themselves using knowledge organizers, students strengthen their memory and reinforce their understanding. The Linkit strategy encourages students to make connections between different knowledge items, enabling them to see relationships and patterns within the content. The Mapit strategy uses graphic organizers, such as mind maps or flowcharts, to visually organize and represent information. This enhances comprehension and aids in the recall of interconnected concepts. Together, these approaches promote flexible knowledge, enabling students to apply their understanding in various contexts.
Implementing Teaching Strategies at Beckfoot School
Beckfoot School utilizes a range of teaching strategies to support student development and academic achievement. These strategies include instructional coaching, collaborative planning time, and twilight sessions focused on curriculum development. The school has embraced knowledge organizers as a tool to enhance learning. Through the Quizit, Linkit, Mapit, and Shrinkit strategies, students actively engage with the content, make connections between concepts, and represent information visually. These approaches are designed to cultivate independent learners who can retrieve information, analyze relationships, and summarize knowledge effectively. By implementing these strategies, Beckfoot School aims to promote student success and foster a deeper understanding of the curriculum.
Teaching Students to Summarize
Teaching students to summarize has been approached in four steps at Beckfoot School. The first step involves skimming the knowledge organizer to identify key information. The second step is to highlight or underline important points. In the third step, students rank the most important points from the list. Finally, students summarize the five most important points using as few words as possible.
Using Flashcards Effectively
The use of flashcards at Beckfoot School is part of their revised 'Revise Like a Beckfoot' strategies. Flashcards are one of the core four strategies taught to students. Students are taught to create flashcards with clear and concise information, and they are encouraged to quiz themselves or others using the flashcards. The aim is to make flashcards a regular practice and ensure students understand how to use them effectively.
Evaluation and Communication in Implementing Independent Learning
Beckfoot School emphasizes the importance of evaluation and communication in implementing their independent learning program. Through surveys and focus groups, feedback was gathered from parents, students, and staff. The evaluation process helped identify areas for improvement, such as reducing overwhelming choice for students and clarifying expectations. Constant communication with stakeholders, including through the use of a platform like Class Charts, ensures clarity and promotes engagement.
Reward System for Student Behavior
The podcast episode discusses a reward system for student behavior at Beckford School. Students are given a score of one at the start, and clear criteria outline how to maintain this score. If a student does not work their hardest, they may receive a score of two and have a conversation. Additionally, there is a community behavior policy that awards community points for positive actions and has a range of sanctions for negative behavior. The school ensures student identification by having them wear lanyards with ID badges. Staff can address misbehavior by reporting it to support and challenge staff. A system called class charts is used to log behavior incidents and provide appropriate sanctions, including loss of points, detentions, and parental notifications.
Involvement of Parents and Collaboration Among Schools
Beckford School places importance on involving parents in their child's learning. They provide resources and guides to help parents support their child's independent learning at home, such as praising and asking questions about their homework and maintaining a home learning routine. The school also emphasizes the importance of communication with parents through tools like Class Charts and email. Additionally, the podcast highlights that Beckford School is part of the Beckfoot Trust, a network of schools that learn from and share ideas with each other. While each school retains its uniqueness, they collaborate to improve education and benefit from shared resources and the economies of scale. The podcast suggests books like "How to Outsmart Your Brain" by Daniel Willingham and "Meaningful Learning in Action" by Sarah Cottingham, as well as the Inner Drive website and Nikki Sullivan's blog for further resources and information.
