#179 Tools and Tips for Teachers: Episode 6 (with Ollie Lovell, Emma Turner and Tom Sherrington)
Sep 25, 2023
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Tom Sherrington highlights the importance of teachers being attuned to students sitting in the back of the classroom. The speakers discuss regularly changing seating plans, implied competences, and Montessori education. They explore the effectiveness of pre-testing, using manipulatives for deeper understanding, and strategies for enhancing learning comprehension.
Montessori education offers valuable ideas that can be applied in mainstream settings, such as the specificity of teacher training and lesson plans, self-correcting activities, and the development of self-regulated learners.
Manipulatives are valuable tools in math education for visualizing abstract concepts and bridging conceptual gaps, but teachers need proper training to utilize them effectively.
Group coaching fosters a sense of collective teacher efficacy and allows for a deeper understanding of teaching strategies, making it a beneficial and time-efficient approach in education.
Deep dives
Montessori education focuses on explicit instruction and self-correcting activities
Montessori education follows a curriculum that specifies how to teach every concept, with materials that are self-correcting. Each concept has a specific lesson taught by the teacher, and students work on hands-on activities to solidify their understanding. The approach emphasizes mastery and self-regulation, allowing students to progress at their own pace. The curriculum is highly detailed, with teachers creating albums for each subject that guide their instruction. This approach also values play-based learning and encourages students to make choices and plan their day.
Montessori education could provide valuable insights for mainstream education
While not scalable for all classrooms, Montessori education offers valuable ideas that can be applied in mainstream settings. The specificity of teacher training and lesson plans, the emphasis on self-correcting activities, and the development of self-regulated learners are aspects that can be borrowed and implemented in other educational approaches.
The importance of manipulatives in math education
Manipulatives are valuable tools in math education, not just for younger students but also in key stage two. They help students visualize and understand abstract concepts, make their thinking visible, and provide a tactile and visual representation of mathematical ideas. Manipulatives should be carefully chosen and used effectively to support learning and bridge conceptual gaps. However, teachers need proper training to utilize manipulatives in their lessons and help students make meaningful connections between math concepts.
The power of group coaching
Group coaching can be a more time-efficient and beneficial approach in education. By bringing teachers together, they can discuss common challenges, share ideas, provide support, and learn from one another. This collaborative approach fosters a sense of collective teacher efficacy and allows for a deeper understanding of teaching strategies and techniques. Group coaching can be particularly effective when teachers are working on a shared goal or step in their professional development.
Exploring the value of pre-testing
Pre-testing is a strategy that involves testing students on topics or concepts they have little prior knowledge of before teaching them the content. Studies have shown that pre-testing can enhance learning and retention, even in classroom settings. By engaging students in a pre-test, they become more attentive during subsequent lessons and are more likely to retain the information. However, careful consideration should be given to question selection, motivation, and students' perception of the pre-tests' purpose to ensure its effectiveness.
Recognizing the effectiveness of Montessori education
Montessori education has often been misunderstood and not considered evidence-based. However, a deeper exploration reveals that Montessori principles, such as self-corrective mastery and design principles, yield positive outcomes for many children. While it may not be suitable for all children or curricula, Montessori education offers valuable insights and approaches that can be applied more broadly. The importance of going beyond initial judgments and exploring educational approaches to gain a comprehensive understanding is highlighted through the example of Montessori education.
For this special episode (kindly sponsored by Casio Education), Ollie Lovell and I are joined by Emma Turner and Tom Sherrington to discuss coaching, the view form the back of a lesson, pre-testing, implied competencies and more! Access the show-notes here: mrbartonmaths.com/blog/tools-and-tips-for-teachers-6
Time-stamps:
Be wary of the view from the back of your lessons (05:29)
Implied competencies at primary (21:52)
The Montessori approach (37:01)
Why cannot Craig not make pretesting work? (58:45)
Is coaching in groups better than one-to-one? (1:21:53)
The power of manipulatives (1:35:15)
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