TDA 3 3 Support learning activities Pearson Education

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities The planning cycle Plan Evaluate Teach Record Observe Assess © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities Working with the teacher If you attend planning meetings, you will have an opportunity to understand: ● the reasons behind each lesson ● the learning objectives of the lesson ● what the teacher expects you to do ● how to support pupils during activities that you have not done before. How can your knowledge about the learners you work with support planning? © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities 1. 1 Suggesting activity ideas for the group I work with when the teacher is planning My role in planning, delivering learning and reviewing © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities Planning The teacher may require you to plan an activity to implement with the pupils. Think about: ● objectives of the lesson ● time constraints ● resources ● behavioural issues or SEN. Discuss your plan with the teacher if possible. © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities Preparation Before the start of each lesson, make sure you know: ● the learning objectives for the lesson ● your role within the lesson – will you be working with a group, are you to question the pupils, explain the work, or monitor progress and responses? ● what the teacher expects the pupils to have produced or completed by the end of the lesson. © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities Resources Good resources should: ● match the requirements of the learning objectives ● help pupils to increase their knowledge, skills and understanding ● be easily accessible. Make sure you know where resources are kept across the school. Prepare all necessary resources well in advance. © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities Guidance ● Get to know the pupils you are working with. ● Make sure you understand the task and the teacher’s expectations. ● Prepare ‘key questions’ to ask pupils during the activity. ● Show the children that you are genuinely interested in their work. © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities Inclusivity You can include all pupils by: ● using individual whiteboards, flashcards or other personalised resources ● allowing them time to think individually ● using differentiated questions ● ensuring children put their hands up (or use another signal to show that they are ready to answer) ● incorporating a range of topics to motivate children with different interests. © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities Challenge and extension work You can challenge pupils by: ● encouraging them to solve problems independently ● setting individual research projects or investigations ● asking them to evaluate their own work ● tailoring questions to suit different abilities. © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities 5. 1 Explain why it is important to evaluate learning activities © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities 6. 1 My personal strengths Impact on support I am good at asking key questions to check children’s understanding By asking relevant questions, I can find out a lot about children’s knowledge and understanding and feed this information back to the teacher My personal areas for development Impact on support I am not very good at making sure I give sufficient time to every child in a group Some learners may misunderstand the task, or may not develop their ideas as much as they could © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities Take part in a group discussion about why it is important to give feedback to learners on the progress they are making within the curriculum. Discuss the language you may use which is relevant to the age and stage of the pupils you work with and how they can use this feedback to help them to improve their work. Consider how to give positive, constructive feedback that will motivate pupils. © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities Preparing to support learning activities is essential to ensure that you can make the most of the time available and maximise learning opportunities. Consider the following case study and answer the questions below. Case Study: Measuring for a maths activity The Year 3 class that you support will be carrying out a task measuring length. The activity will be to measure the length of ten objects around the room and record their findings in their exercise book. Task 6 In your group discuss how you could support the activity. 1 What resources could the children use in completing the activity? 2 What resources could you encourage children who are struggling to use? 3 Consider how you could extend the activity for more able children who complete the activity quickly? Task 7 1 What might you discuss with the teacher before implementing the activity? 2 What suggestions might you make if you were carrying out the activity with the children in the class? © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities A key role in supporting pupils during learning activities includes being able to adapt learning activities and resources to meet the needs of the pupils. Discuss with your group the ways in which you can adapt activities and resources to make them easier for less able pupils and more challenging for more able pupils. © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities It is important that you are aware of the health and safety of pupils you work with at all times. Consider the following questions and complete your answers on a separate piece of paper. 1 How do you help to maintain the health and safety of the pupils in your classroom? 2 What checks do you do at the beginning of each school day or learning session? 3 How do you ensure that the equipment you are using is being used in line with manufacturers’ guidelines? 4 How can you encourage children to monitor health, safety and security concerns for themselves? © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities Match each of the learning support strategies in the first column with a phrase or definition from the second column. Learning support strategies Managing behaviour Prompting shy or reticent learners to ask questions and check understanding Phrase/definition Will help pupils to measure their own success against the learning objectives Can be key to a bilingual pupil accessing the curriculum Translating or explaining words or phrases Maintains a safe learning environment where children are able to focus on learning Reminding pupils of teaching points made by the teacher Is vital to the achievement of the learning objectives for the lesson Modelling correct use of language and vocabulary Ensures that pupils feel challenged but not overwhelmed by their tasks Ensuring pupils understand the learning tasks Can be done a little at a time to encourage gradual participation and confidence building © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted Modifying or adapting activities Will help pupils to learn from your example in their speech and choice of words

TDA 3. 3 Support learning activities Task 11 Consider the problems you may encounter in relation to the learning activity, resources, learning environment and pupils. Record each possible problem in the table below, with details of ways to prevent it. An example has been completed. Issue with. . . The learning activity What types of problems may arise? How can you prevent the problems arising as a Teaching Assistant? Activity too difficult Ensure the task leads on from a previous learning activity and learners are ready to move on to the next step. The learning resources The learning environment The pupils © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Assessment for Learning © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Assessment Reform Group 2002 Assessment for Learning is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and teachers, to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go, and how best to get there. © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Assessment © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Forms of assessment Formative: ongoing assessment, checking understanding ● Can be included in every learning session Summative: provides summary information of what a pupil has learned at the end of a topic, scheme of work, term, year, etc. © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Teachers who have switched the emphasis away from marking and grading to give comments and feedback are finding that their pupils try much harder. Public exams like GCSEs and Alevels give pupils a final grade, known as summative assessment. Recent research, however, has focused more on formative assessment which happens every day, not just in a single ritual. Formative assessment can range from a smile or a raised eyebrow to detailed feedback about how and what a child is learning. It's extremely effective in raising pupil's eventual achievement in tests and exams as well as capturing their interest and commitment http: //www. teachers-media. com/videos/hot-research-assessment-for-learning http: //www. teachers-media. com/videos/afl-and-app-what-is-going-on-with-assessment http: //www. teachers-media. com/videos/primary-assessment-formative-assessment-1 http: //www. teachers-media. com/videos/primary-assessment-formative-assessment-2 © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning The information required to contribute to assessment for learning: • The learning objectives for the activities • The personalised learning goals for individual learners • The success criteria of the learning activities • The assessment opportunities and strategies (the occasions, approaches and techniques used for ongoing assessment during learning activities) relevant to own role in the learning activities © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Assessment ● How can current understanding be checked at the beginning of a new topic? ● How can you support the teacher when assessing a learner’s knowledge? © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Questioning Effective questioning can be used to find out: ● what pupils know ● what pupils understand ● what pupils can do already. Use questions to identify any gaps in their knowledge and target teaching more effectively. © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Questioning: Group activity Consider an activity or lesson that you have recently supported: ● What questions could you ask to check the pupils’ understanding? ● How could you develop their answers further to ensure they have fully understood the activity or lesson? © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning What do the pupils need to know? • For assessment for learning to be effective, pupils will need to know what they are learning, why they are learning it and how assessment will take place • As well as the earning objectives, pupils may need to know their own personalised learning goals, so that they can integrate them in their work. For example: • What pupils are learning – where capital letters need to be applied • Success criteria – pupils able to use capital letters consistently • Why they are learning it – to enable them to use the correct form of written English • How assessment will take place – teacher and teaching assistant will check that pupils are using capital letters consistently in their written work © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Feedback ● How can you offer feedback during an activity or lesson? ● Why is it useful to give regular feedback to pupils? © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Feedback to the teacher ● What can you do during lessons to provide good Af. L feedback? ● What information can you give the teacher at the end of the lesson? ● What can the teacher do with this information? © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning In order to help you review pupils’ progress, it may be helpful for you to follow a checklist like this: • Ensure pupils understand the learning objectives and any individual learning targets so that they can assess their own progress to meeting these as they proceed • Talk to pupils about what they have to do and whether they need to hand in work • Inform pupils how they will be assessed and ensure they understand • Give examples of work produced by other learners, if possible, so that pupils can see how the assessment criteria are applied • Provide individual support and oral feedback as pupils are working, praising learners when they focus their comments on their personalised learning goals for the task • Ensure that their are opportunities for either peer or self-assessment • Encourage learners to review and comment on their work before handing it in or discussing it with the teacher • Provide written feedback © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Constructive feedback • Gives information to a pupil which focuses on performance • Is delivered positively • Is not personal, but based on facts Affirmation feedback – should be delivered as soon as possible: ‘Well done Heidi, you have remembered to include all the points we discussed. ’ (motivates pupils) Developmental feedback – will suggest what to do next time. ‘Nathan, try to remember to use finger spaces next time by using the equipment. ’ © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Best practice checklist • Remain non-judgemental • Focus on strengths • Work through one thing at a time • Give constructive advice where needed and guidance on how a child can improve • Link feedback directly to what has been observed or written • End positively © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Provide opportunities and encouragement for learners to improve upon their work • Children’s progress will be measured against their own previous achievements rather than being compared with those of others • Pupils’ learning should be set at a level which ensures that they are building on what they learn. Therefore, they should be starting from a point of previous understanding and then extend their learning to take in new information. • Pupils will benefit from discussing previous learning experiences to consolidate what they know and reinforce their understanding before moving on to take in new concepts and ideas • You may need to adapt or modify what they have been asked to do in order to help them © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Help learners to review learning strategies and future needs and encourage them to communicate needs and ideas • The learning process is such that we should be reviewing learning with children throughout learning sessions • Where possible encourage the pupils to measure their achievements against the learning objectives and think about how they might approach their learning in the future based on this • They should consider their work at each stage against the final outcome to see whether it has met the objective. This could be from a whole class discussion or pupils may work in their groups or with partners on reviewing their learning during activities. © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning There my also be whole-school strategies which are used to check on pupil learning • Traffic lights/smiley faces/thumbs up – show they are feeling about their learning at different points during the session. Good reviewing visual tools for younger children • Foggy bits – pupils are given the opportunity to write down or talk about the parts of the session which have not been clear • Write a sentence – key points of their learning • Talk partner review – children talk to their partner about their learning and parts that they enjoyed or found difficult • Post-it-notes/whiteboards – what they have learned, found easy/hard © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Clarify the purpose of the task • This is so that pupils understand why they are doing it Keep assessment criteria simple • Be very clear on what pupils are being assessed again. If you have more than two criteria, make them very specific Support pupils with self assessment techniques Ask pupils to tell you what they think they are doing and why • This enables you to check that children have understood the task and how their learning will be measured © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted Encourage pupils to periodically check learning against the criteria • This will keep them focused on • what they have been asked to do

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Peer assessment • Purpose and outcomes need to be very clear • It’s not to compare work • Look at one another’s work and notice how it relates to the assessment criteria • They can discuss what they have been asked to do and how their work reflects this • This will bring their attention to what teachers are looking for when measuring achievement © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning • As children reflect on their learning, they will start to identify what they need to do to improve • Children who have a fear of ‘getting it wrong’ may find the process challenging, so you may need to support them through it • You could use misconceptions or incorrect ideas as a discussion point so that pupils can talk about how they approached the task and what led them to their answer. This can lead to a more positive approach to learning from mistakes and seeing it as an opportunity rather than something to be feared. © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Contribute to reviewing assessment for learning • You will need to work closely with the teacher so that you can discuss and review how you present learning activities to pupils and the kinds of opportunities which are available for Af. L • Need to consider how pupils have responded to the process and which strategies you have found useful and thought provoking for pupils. In this way you will be able to develop the opportunities available for use in the future • The teacher needs to be aware of pupil engagement, difficulties they had and progress they have made © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Use the outcomes of assessment to reflect on and improve own contribution • Following the activity you should be able to check that it has enabled pupils to take more responsibility for the learning experience and has influenced what they have learnt. • You will also need to be able to reflect on your own learning and experience when supporting pupil learning, so that you can adjust your approach if necessary. Think about - how you questioned pupils and encouraged them to look closely at the assessment criteria - how you gave feedback to pupils - how you supported both peer and self assessment © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Ten key principles: Assessment for Learning: ● ● ● ● ● is part of effective planning of teaching and learning should focus on how pupils learn is central to classroom practice is a key professional skill must be sensitive and constructive must take pupil motivation into account must show commitment to learning goals must provide pupils with constructive guidance must develop pupils’ capacity for self-assessment must recognise the full range of achievements of all pupils. © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted

TDA 3. 7 Support assessment for learning Over to you! ● Why is Assessment for Learning important? ● How can you include Assessment for Learning during everyday activities with the pupils you work with? ● How can you work alongside the teacher in using Assessment for Learning? © Pearson Education 2010 Printing and photocopying permitted