#Niedchat, Wednesday 20th November 2013.

‘How do we enable students to take control of their learning? How do we monitor progress in this scenario?’

Lots of ideas were shared in what was a very high quality discussion. Some old favourites like "SNOT" (Self, Neighbour, Other, Teacher) were mentioned as well as some novel ideas such as allowing pupils to choose their homework task from a menu or a list of options.

What is clear is that many of you see promoting independent learning to be much easier achieved in Key Stages 1-3 but much more difficult when GCSEs and A Levels come in to play. 

I've added a few of the links tweeted during the chat. If you'd like to add to the conversation feel free to use the comments section below.

You can see an archive of the chat here.

LINKS:

Homework Options (shared by @lcgeography)

http://t.co/k0t4yB5c2I

Solo Taxonomy to encourage deep learning and improve written and verbal responses (shared by @dmchugh675)
http://www.learningspy.co.uk/solo-taxonomy/

The Teaching and Learning Cycle (shared by @lcgeography)
http://whatslanguagedoinghere.wordpress.com/2013/03/23/blog-3-the-teaching-and-learning-cycle/

The amazing power of critiques and feedback (shared by @evlury)

Advice for a trainee teacher

We recently received this request via one of our online forms:

"I am a PGCE science student and I start my first secondary school placement 11th November. I was wondering what advice other members could give for the teaching novice?! Much appreciated!"

 So I thought it would be a good idea if the teachers who follow and contribute to #Niedchat could share some thoughts and ideas via the Padlet below. This will take the place of our Wednesday night chat this week. Many have been finding it difficult to take part recently due to school commitments so hopefully this will give more of you the opportunity to share your thoughts.

Get sharing everyone!

Created with Padlet

Topics for Wednesday 29th May

Are VLEs a waste of time?

Post-chat it seems the answer is a resounding  'No!'...but with a caveat. Many of our contributors are keen to utilise the power of VLEs to enable learning outside of the classroom but they are not content to limit themselves to the tools within any particular VLE preferring instead to use their VLE alongside other services such as blogs and wikis.

You can view the tweet archive from the chat here

You can view the VLE survey carried out during the chat here

112 Simple Ideas for your Classroom

Below are 112 ideas (at the time of publishing) crowdsourced in one hour on #niedchat. 

Simple ideas for the classroom

On Wednesday 27th March we will be engaging in a crowdsourcing exercise using a collaborative Google document edited by multiple users in real-time (see YouTube video below).

The aim is to gather as many ideas for the classroom as we can in one hour from as many teachers as we can.

In particular we are looking for SIMPLE ideas; things that teachers can try without having to invest too much in the way of time or resources.

So far I have come up with a few sub-sections;

• Snappy Starters
• Delicious Discussions
• Lovely Literacy
• Working Smarter...not harder
• Perfect Plenaries

If you think of more subsections then please contact us via the @niedchat Twitter account.

The link to the shared Google document will be shared on #NIedchat at 8.30. Please retweet it far and wide!

Technology and the changing nature of the classroom.

Posted at 3pm Wednesday 13th February 2013 

Tonight's #NIedchat is entitled "The impact of technology on the concept of 'the classroom'."

Technology has made information on any topic availabile to our students when and where they need it. They can make connections with people from across the globe and have conversations in real time. So tonight we're asking if the whole concept of a classroom - as a place where children go to learn - has changed. Is the classroom still relevant? What impact has the availability of technology had on your classroom? How do you see things changing in the next 5 years?

 We hope you can join us at 8.30 and share your thoughts.

Poll for #NIedchat on Wednesday 30th January

http://polls.tw/kyo/p

Powered by Polls.tw

Working Memory Difficulties

@littleladyjayne was our guest host on #NIedchat on Wednesday 17th January 2013. She has kindly agreed to share her knowledge of how teachers can recognise and help pupils with working memory difficulties.

“Approximately 10% of children have a poor working memory” (Gathercole & Alloway 2008)

What is working memory?

Working memory is what enables us to keep several pieces of information active while we try to do something with them. Working memory is quite purposeful -- we hold all these pieces of information together in order to solve a problem or carry out a task.

How do we identify these children in our classrooms?

Typically, children with poor working memory:

• are reserved in group activities in the classroom, rarely volunteering
answers and sometimes not answering direct questions.
• behave as though they have not paid attention, for example forgetting
part or all of instructions or messages, or not seeing tasks through
to completion
• frequently lose their place in complicated tasks that they may
eventually abandon
• forget the content of messages and instructions
• make poor academic progress during the school years, particularly
in the areas of reading and mathematics
• are considered by their teachers to have short attention spans and
also to be easily distracted.

Children who suffer from working memory difficulties may have a specific learning need such as
Dyslexia
Asperger’s Syndrome
ADHD
ASD

How can we help these children?

Frequently repeat important information
It is good practice when working with children with working memory difficulties to regularly repeat information that is vital to ongoing activities. This will include:  
• general classroom management instructions;
• task-specific instructions (brief & simple steps);
• Children should also be encouraged to ask for information to be repeated if they forget.

Encourage the use of memory aids/visual tools

• number lines
• multiplication grids
• personal dictionary
• wall charts
• audio devices
• computer software

Organisation

• Daily timetables
• List of items needed for various classes/activities
• Diaries

Writing

• Copying from the board should be avoided
• Use alternative methods of recording eg mind maps, diagrams, storyboards, dictaphone
• Encourage joined handwriting ( reduces place finding and orientation difficulties)
• Dictation sentences are a good method of practising and testing spelling.
• An alternative to reading comprehension - cloze passages/ sentence completion exercise/ paragraph analysis

Brain Training Activities to improve working memory

• Yes hunt out Dr K’s Brain Training DS game you know you have it somewhere.
• Digit recall - Call out about 5 numbers then get students to repeat them to you ( not as easy as it sounds)
• Object recall - as above only object names ( like a prize list in a game show )
• Directions recall - call out directions and get students to recall ( Touch head ,eye,ear toes, knees ) in order.

Homework

Does Homework have an educational value?

It was no surprise that this topic attracted a lot strong views but what was surprising (for me anyhow) was the strength of feeling against  traditional homework routines. It was generally agreed that a number of myths surround homework:

1. The setting of homework is the mark of a good teacher.
2. Homework promotes independent study/learning
3. Homework provides an necessary home-school link

The consensus seems to be that the setting of traditional type homework task are generally no more that time fillers. Homework is set because teachers feel that parents and school leaders expect it to be set, not because pupils need it. It does not promote independent study as children are compelled to complete it in a specified manner and quite often they learn to resent independent study. Many participants also resented the fact that the needs of the school came first in their relationship with their children and would be happier if they , as parents, could decide on evening activities for their children.

Effective Homework

A discussion on 'effective homework tasks' developed and it was interesting to read the types of activities that are being set

* designing new chocolate bars
* Facebook group discussions
* Optional maths puzzles
* Blogging - Learning journal
* Using LNI or Edmodo to put all homework activities online

A collaborative document was hastily set up to collect ideas on what 'Effective Homework' looks like and what our guiding principles should be when assigning a homework task. You can view it and add ideas here.

Selected Tweets

Below are selected tweets from the discussion. A full transcript of the discussion is available here.

Would we ask most adults to work from 5pm to 8pm most evenings - repeating stuff they did during day? ~ @computing_teach

Homework can be so generic, leaving little room for differentiation, not to mention stressful for SEN pupils, major de-motivator! ~ @MrsAMcCrory

I liked a teacher who didn't just give homework but gave you something to think about! ~ @donn00

Surely if a pupil is enthused about a topic you have been teaching they would go home and further their knowledge? ~ @bcripps078

As a parent I'm dreading t thought of my son starting school and getting hwk! Wld prefer to choose how I spend my time with him! ~ @kmi_edu

read somewhere that traditionally teachers wanted to control students home environment as well as classroom ~ @johnmayo

Found in ks3 maths, lots of hw needed to cover course. In ICT, plenty just love Scratch and don't

need to be asked ~ @computing_teach

Homework is still very relevant and useful although we will need to update our views, things like

Edmodo etc can greatly help ~ @keenan_robbie

too many home works are just time fillers and it turns students off work at home. It

needs to challenge ~ @PeadarHynes

[Homework has] no value...source of stress for families, pain for teachers.. With range of abilities in class, v hard 2 strike balance 2 suit all ~ @CathyabcCathy

I had a teacher who gave tons of HW so seen to be "a good teacher" - so bad in classroom only way we learnt was doing HW ~ @johnmayo

We may need to change views. many think that if their child has no homework they are not learning

and you're not doing your job ~ @keenan_robbie

We set easy tasks because teachers have done that for years, and because we haven't time to mark better stuff!~ @computing_teach

Really need to rethink homework. It seems to be one of the major stresses for families.

Is greater use of ICT the answer? ~ @s7teach

I tend to suggest small tasks on our class Facebook groups. Committed students do the work & others learn from their shared work ~ @camaxwell

I give optional maths puzzles on class blog every night using puzzles from 7Puzzle Blog. Lots of kids love these. ~ @seomraranga

When I was a student I never saw the point of homework and I see it even less as a teacher. ~ @dmurray742

Can't wait for homework in a few weeks! Design & make a new chocolate bar & wrapping!! Turns into a chocolate feast! ~ @MrMalcontent

KS3 Assessment: what purpose does it serve?

A pdf archive of the chat  is available here

One suggestion to come out of tonight's chat was that we could have a virtual meeting some night to give coordinators a chance to share ideas. This could be via Twitter or maybe through a Google+ hangout. The aim would be to provide peer support for coordinators and exchange ideas.

It was also suggested that tasks could be exchanged between schools on a like-for-like basis - credit to @mapsman. More on this later.

How can in-school CPD be improved?

A very interesting #NIedchat on how in-service can be used more effectively and what was striking was the number of people who believed that their in-school CPD was worthwhile.

A poll reveal that most participants in the chat believed that their in-school CPD was effective - I'm not sure how representative this is of the entire teaching profession but it was encouraging given the bad name that in-service training has in the main.

A collaborative document was also produced on ideas for CPD sessions in schools. You can view it here.

And finally, a link to the archive of the chat were you can catch up with all the great ideas that were shared.

Could you host #NIedchat?

If you are reading this then it's more than likely that you are a teacher who already values the opportunity to share ideas with other practitioners from near and far via social networks such as Twitter.

If  this sounds like you then you're just the person we are looking for!

At #Niedchat we are always on the look out for teachers like you to host our regular Wednesday night chat. No doubt you have seen #NIedchat in operation and maybe you've contributed to the discussion but now you have the chance to take the reins for a night and see where it takes you. As host you have the opportunity to provide the topics for discussion as well as prompt the discussion throughout the duration of the chat.

Interested?

Contact us via our Twitter account or if you prefer you can contact one of the regular hosts.We are happy to talk you through the process (it's simple really) and there are always a few of the regular hosts on hand to help out if needs be. It's great fun and very rewarding.

Go on. You know you want to ;)

Daithi's amazing collaboration idea rocks #NIedchat!

What an amazing #NIedchat we had last Wednesday!

The collaborative writing exercise organised by @dmurray742 certainly caught the imagination of the #NIedchat community. Together we have produced an amazing document cram-packed with ideas to use in your classroom. A huge thanks goes out to Daithi for bringing this to fruition - it was the first time our community tried such a thing and it wasn't without it's risks but the gamble paid off.

Daithi has written an excellent article about the collaborative writing event on his blog.

You can access the collaborative document here.

Crowd Sourcing in Education

Wednesday 7 November 2012 @ 8.30

CROWD SOURCING IN EDUCATION

‘I not only use all the brains I have, but all the brains I can borrow.’

 (Woodrow Wilson)

This Wednesday’s #Niedchat is a little different to our previous chats.

I’m proposing that instead of discussing a topic of educational interest, we spend our sixty minutes crowd sourcing and creating a collaborative document that can be referred to and used in each of our classrooms.

The philosophy for this week’s #Niedchat is firmly based in the maxim ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ – and that when we harness the phenomenal experience, expertise and ideas that exist in the #Niedchat ‘community’, we have the potential to create something huge that will exist as a lasting document.

So… to specifics – over the sixty minutes of our weekly #Niedchat I’d like to run a collaborative Google Doc, along side the usual Twitter feed.

The document is accessible to anyone with the link, and I’m inviting everyone in the #Niedchat community to take the document, and add to it however they wish.  I've suggested some titles to start the ball rolling – but these titles are not exclusive, or are not in any order of importance.  This document belongs to us all, so if you feel there is something missing that would improve the document, feel free to add a heading and hopefully others will help populate it.

Hopefully the document will become populated with lots of great ideas, tips and links that can be shared and used by the #Niedchat community when we go back into our classrooms, and will remain as an archive for future reference when needed.

SOME TIPS FOR CONTRIBUTORS: 

1.  You don’t need a Google Account to access the document – the link should allow anyone on the web to access it and to edit. 

2.  Please put your Twitter name in brackets after your contribution – this will allow you to take credit for the idea, and will help facilitate further sharing of good ideas through Twitter.

3.  Feel free to post as many ideas, links and resources as you like.  You can jump from topic to topic, or add new topics if you’d prefer.

4.  Please don’t remove any other contributor’s ideas.  Everyone’s contributions are valid and have a place in the document.

At the end of the sixty minutes, I’ll publish the document digitally and share the link with the #Niedchat community.  You can then bookmark this and use it whenever and wherever you see fit.

This is a very different #Niedchat from our usual Wednesday conversation.  We’re going to be creative and to share the millions of great ideas that exist in our own good practice with our colleagues.  I’m convinced that this model of collaborative crowd sourcing is an extremely effective way of facilitating professional development, and it leaves a lasting archive that can be referred to again and again.

For those who are interested, I saw this workshop demonstrated at the BLC conference in Boston this summer.  The amazing Tom Barrett led the workshop in a room with fifty educators all collaborating on a Google Doc.  It struck me that this model could work just as effectively via Twitter and #Niedchat, and I’m very grateful to Damien who has given me the time to try out this idea.  I really hope it works.

Thanks for sharing and enjoy the wonderful document we’re going to create this Wednesday night.

- Dáithí Murray

PS – While most of the creative work will be taking place on the collaborative Google Doc, please feel free to continue ‘chatting’ on Twitter using our usual hashtag #Niedchat.  This might be a good place to catch your breath from all the collaborating and bounce ideas off other members of the community. PPS – Link to the Google Doc is:  http://bit.ly/niedchat  (The document is now open.  If you’re unable to make Wednesday night’s #Niedchat – feel free to ‘drop in now’ and leave your idea!

NI Education System - Blue Sky thinking

The topic for our chat on Wednesday 10th October 2012:

'If you could redesign the NI education system which bits would you keep, what would go and what bits would you borrow from other education systems?'


This topic was inspired by a tweet from @tgeducation:

How Finland Survived the Financial Crisis and Built a World Class Public Education System – by Pasi Sahlberg http://t.co/sNW8J6Yu

...and that prompted this reply from @AnGaeilgeoir1

@tgeducation What are the top 10 things that you would like to see implemented here? That would surely promote a debate on it

So, what would you like to see in a revamped NI education system?

Poll for Wednesday 26th September

This poll closes at 8.30 on Tuesday 25th September.

What do you want to talk about?

We were delighted to see so many teachers taking part in our first #niedchat of 2012-13 last Wednesday night. If you were one of them we hope you found the discussion interesting, engaging and maybe even inspiring!

I order for the weekly chat to remain relevant and useful to teachers we are always looking for topic suggestions. You can make a suggestion via the link below.

http://twtpoll.com/2mv0zk

NIedchat is back...and we want you to join us!

Niedchat is back on Wednesday 5th September and we want you to join the growing community of teachers who are sharing good practice on Twitter.

What is #NIedchat

#NIedchat is a weekly chat for teachers in Northern Ireland which takes place at 8.30 each Wednesday evening on Twitter.

What do we talk about?

Participants in #NIedchat choose the topic for discussion each week. You can see an archive of all our previous chat topics by visiting our wiki.

Who runs #Niedchat?

#NIedchat is run by the teachers who take part in the discussions. We are not linked to any education bodies - it is truly for teachers, by teachers.

Why are we doing this?

We are doing this because we've found that Twitter is possibly the most effective tool for sharing ideas and learning from other teachers. Think of it like a staffroom chat only you are talking to teachers from across Northern Ireland and further afield. We have successfully developed a supportive community of innovative teachers who are keen to learn from each other and become the best teachers that they possibly can be.

Who can take part?

The chat is for teachers in Northern Ireland but we have attracted interest from teachers throughout Ireland, the UK and even from across the Atlantic. If you have an interest in the topic we are discussing then you are welcome to take part.

How to take part.

Simply search '#Niedchat' in Twitter and you can follow the stream of Tweets from our community of teachers. At the beginning of each weekly chat the host will ask chat participants to introduce themselves. We would encourage you to take the plunge and dive straight in although we know that a lot of people new to Twitter prefer to watch at first. If you prefer just to watch the chat without contributing your own thoughts (what the Twitter community calls 'lurking' - not a nice word I know!) you can let us know you are there by retweeting tweets that you find interesting or helpful.

Never taken part in a Twitter chat before? Here's how:

What is a 'beermeet'?

#NIbeermeet
Friday 24th August @7.30
The John Hewitt Bar, Belfast.

Beermeets are an opportunity for teachers to meet socially for a chat. There is no agenda, no running order, no minutes and no apologies.

The first beermeet organised by the #niedchat community is happening on Friday 24th August @ 7.30 in the John Hewitt Bar, Belfast.

All are welcome :)