Developing your learning language

Here is a range of things you can say to nudge empathy & interdependence. When you use this kind of language you are talking as a learning coach, encouraging students to think for themselves. Using such statements encourages your students to:

• imitate you;
• start to think in this way;
• become conscious of these phrases and their meaning.

Eventually you will hear some of the questions pop up in students’ self-talk….in speech or even in writing from time to time, but mostly these will go on inside their heads. As your work on empathy & interdependence gathers pace see if you can detect students who talk, or think, in these ways.

My learning talk nudges to encourage Empathy & Interdependence

Teacher talk – as a learning coach

(To ensure students do the thinking for themselves)

Talk to nudge

1. How do you think (s)he feels about what you just said?
2. What would someone who had a very different set of beliefs than we do feel about it?
3. Put yourself in his/her shoes – how would you have reacted?
4. Do you wonder what (s)he really means?
5. How is (s)he feeling? What is (s)he not saying? What does (s)he believe?
6. How might you help . . . . to  . . . . . ?
7. Who could help you to . . . . . . ?
8. Is it always right to hang on to your own ideas when faced with opposition?
9. Will you do this together, or on your own?
10. (How) can you find a way forward together?

Some ideas to encourage an Empathetic & Interdependent frame of mind.

1. Firstly… make students aware of empathy & interdependence…when, where, why. 
2. Then… explore empathy & interdependence a little more through the language of empathy & interdependence
3. Try… using empathy & interdependence as a lesson starter to tune students into using it
4. Then start… blending empathy & interdependence into the way you teach the content. Use specific empathy & interdependence strategies to deepen content understanding.
5. Ensure… students reflect on the success or otherwise of their empathetic & interdependent mindframe.

1. Making students aware of Empathy and Interdependence

How you make students aware of the words that describe the behaviour and why it is important to use it.

2. Exploring the language of Empathy and Interdependence

How you might extend the language and understanding of this behaviour

3. Using Empathy and Interdependence as a lesson starter

Use a quick starter to key students into the learning behaviour you want to concentrate on in the lesson. i.e. here you are starting up the need to demonstrate empathy and interdependence. 

As you get deeper into a lesson you will need activities which, by their very nature, will develop students’ empathy and interdependence AND their understanding of the content.

Here is an idea where, by using empathy and interdependence, students will gain an understanding of the content AND will develop a empathy and interdependence habit.

4. Focusing on Empathy and Interdependence as a learning strategy

Draw out the empathy and interdependence behaviour being used in a thinking routine.

Primary and Secondary

And here is an idea that will help students to understand the empathy and interdependence processes.

5. An activity to highlight and strengthen Empathy and Interdependence

Design specific activities to highlight and strengthen the behaviour

6. Reflecting on Empathy and Interdependence

Primary and Secondary

NB. None of the behaviours above will lead to instant understanding in students nor instant changes of behaviour. You will need to drip them in over time and keep building and refreshing your language of learning.

Building Learning Power is about creating a culture in classrooms – that systematically cultivates habits and attitudes that enable young people to face difficulty calmly, confidently and creatively. By a ‘culture’ we mean all the little habits, routines and practices that implicitly convey ‘what we believe and value round here’. 

So ‘culture’ concerns the details of the micro-climate that you create in your classrooms. What you do and say, what you notice and commend and what you don’t, what kind of role model of a learner you offer – all these are of the essence. The micro-climate of a classroom can inadvertently stifle, or specifically enhance,  the very behaviours you are seeking to promote.

Does my classroom climate encourage Empathy & interdependence?

Here is a selection of features which might begin to shape the emotional climate of the classroom to encourage empathy & interdependence.

Apply your own attentive noticing and consider whether you already use any of these features and which you fancy trying.

What do we mean by Empathy and by Interdependence ?

We link Empathy with Interdependence because each supports the other – we need empathy to learn effectively with others, and learning with others is the situation in which we hone our empathy skills.

Empathy involves being able to see the world through the eyes of others, putting yourself in their shoes. Empathetic learners understand that others may hold different views from themselves and are interested in these alternative views on reality. It is an essential skill in creating and sustaining positive relationships, it is the oil that lubricates all of our relationships. 

Interdependence is the ability to ‘rub along’ with others, to balance rights with responsibilities, willing and able to take personal responsibility for the actions they take and the choices they make, willing and able to offer support to others when necessary, so contributing to the greater good. It is about working constructively with others while retaining our own individuality – a balancing act that requires high levels of empathy for others. 

A well formed Empathy and interdependence habit involves being ready, willing, and able to:

• Be genuinely interested in others and in understanding their point of view, engaging with them with curiosity and respect;
• Balance sociability and self-reliance, knowing when it is appropriate to learn on one’s own or with others;
• Contribute to others’ experiences and learning by seeking to understand issues from their perspective;
• Maintain one’s own judgement while remaining open to others’ views, resisting ‘group think’ when necessary, but contributing to ‘group thinking’;
• Seek to understand and value what others are saying; sharing, challenging, supporting and building on ideas;
• Build consensus and defuse conflict, looking for win/win outcomes that benefit everybody;
• Interact effectively and appropriately in a range of different situations with sensitivity to occasion.

Spotting the Empathetic, Interdependent learners in your classes

Just to get you tuned in – have a quick think about ‘Empathetic, Interdependent learners you may know’. Make a note of students you know who display these characteristics.

Being a learning powered teacher means developing a keen awareness of the subtleties of your students’ learning behaviours. 

Developing your learning language

Here is a range of things you can say to nudge distilling. When you use this kind of language you are talking as a learning coach, encouraging students to think for themselves. Using such statements encourages your students to:

• imitate you;
• start to think in this way;
• become conscious of these phrases and their meaning.

Eventually you will hear some of the questions pop up in students’ self-talk….in speech or even in writing from time to time, but mostly these will go on inside their heads. As your work on distilling gathers pace see if you can detect students who talk, or think, in these ways.

My learning talk nudges to encourage Distilling

Teacher talk – as a learning coach

(To ensure students do the thinking for themselves)

1. What do you think are the three most important things you have found out?
2. If you only had to tell someone one thing about what you have learned today, what would it be? Why did you choose that?
3. Think back to when you  . . . What did you learn from that?
4. How could you use what you learnt last week to help you now?
5. How could you teach someone else the key things about . . ?
6. Just think over what we have been doing. What went well? What could be improved? What lessons can we learn from this?
7. Where/when else could you use this skill, knowledge, idea?
8. The main thing here is . . .
9. What do you have to know? What must you do?
10. Is any of this unnecessary?

Some ideas to encourage a Distilling frame of mind.

1. Firstly… make students aware of distilling…when, where, why. 
2. Then… explore distilling a little more through the language of distilling
3. Try… using distilling as a lesson starter to tune students into using it
4. Then start… blending distilling into the way you teach the content. Use specific distilling strategies to deepen content understanding.
5. Ensure… students reflect on the success or otherwise of their distilling mindframe.

1. Making students aware of Distilling

How you make students aware of the words that describe the behaviour and why it is important to use it.

2. Exploring the language of Distilling

How you might extend the language and understanding of this behaviour

3. Using Distilling as a lesson starter

Use a quick starter to key students into the learning behaviour you want to concentrate on in the lesson. i.e. here you are starting up the Distilling behaviour 

As you get deeper into a lesson you will need activities which, by their very nature, will develop students’ distilling AND their understanding of the content.

Here is an idea where, by using distilling, students will gain an understanding of the content AND will develop a distilling habit.

4. Focusing on Distilling as a learning strategy

Draw out the distilling behaviour being used in a thinking routine.

Primary and Secondary

And here is an idea that will help students to understand the distilling process.

5. An activity to highlight and strengthen Distilling

Design specific activities to highlight and strengthen the behaviour.

6. Reflecting on Distilling

Primary and Secondary

NB. None of the behaviours above will lead to instant understanding in students nor instant changes of behaviour. You will need to drip them in over time and keep building and refreshing your language of learning.

Building Learning Power is about creating a culture in classrooms – that systematically cultivates habits and attitudes that enable young people to face difficulty calmly, confidently and creatively. By a ‘culture’ we mean all the little habits, routines and practices that implicitly convey ‘what we believe and value round here’. 

So ‘culture’ concerns the details of the micro-climate that you create in your classrooms. What you do and say, what you notice and commend and what you don’t, what kind of role model of a learner you offer – all these are of the essence. The micro-climate of a classroom can inadvertently stifle, or specifically enhance, the very behaviours you are seeking to promote.

Does my classroom climate encourage Distilling?

Here is a selection of features which might begin to shape the emotional climate of the classroom to encourage distilling.

Apply your own attentive noticing and consider whether you already use any of these features and which you fancy trying.

What do we mean by Distilling ?

A well formed Distilling habit involves being ready, willing, and able to:

• Reflect on what has been learned, and how it has been learned. Link newly acquired learning with existing knowledge, both in terms of factual information and learning about learning;
• Identify key features that might help elsewhere. Think about where else they might apply the learning, actively seeking to transfer new learning into other contexts;
• Mull things over, either alone or with others.  Draw out useful lessons from experience and learn from those experiences so that mistakes are not repeated in the future;
• Identify what is, and what is not, important, separating key features from underlying detail. Balance both the big picture and the fine-grain detail;
• Use their understanding of what they already know or can do to identify what they need to find out and/or develop in the future.

Spotting the Distillers in your classes

Just to get you tuned in – have a quick think about ‘Distillers you may know’. Make a note of students you know who display these characteristics.

Being a learning powered teacher means developing a keen awareness of the subtleties of your students’ learning behaviours. 

Developing your learning language

Here is a range of things you can say to nudge revising. When you use this kind of language you are talking as a learning coach, encouraging students to think for themselves. Using such statements encourages your students to:

• imitate you;
• start to think in this way;
• become conscious of these phrases and their meaning.

Gradually you will hear some of the ideas pop up in students’ self-talk….in speech or even in writing from time to time, but mostly these will go on inside their heads. As your work on revising gathers pace see if you can detect students who talk, or think, in these ways.

My learning talk nudges to encourage Revising

Teacher talk – as a learning coach

Here are 10 ideas to ensure your students do the thinking for themselves

1. Good learners are flexible – they watch how they are doing and change things as they go
2. Are there other ways you might do it?
3. What can you learn from this mistake?
4. Ask yourself: ‘Am I happy with what I have achieved?’
5. Think about your success criteria as you go along. Check that you are still on track to meet them.
6. Ask yourself from time to time: Is this going ok?
7. It’s OK to amend your plan and approach it differently.
8. How can you improve this?
9. How will you do it differently next time?
10. How will you act on this feedback?

Some ideas to encourage a Revising frame of mind

In the early stages of building learning power your role is to; make students aware of the behaviour; talk about it (what, how, why, when, if); celebrate its use; give opportunities to practice it, both in lessons and elsewhere; reflect on it to improve it. This staged start is reflected below…

1. Firstly… make students aware of revising…what, when, where, why. 
2. Then… explore revising a little more through the language of revising
3. Try… using revising as a lesson starter to tune students into using it
4. Then start… blending revising into the way you teach the content. Use specific revising strategies to deepen content understanding.
5. Ensure… students reflect on the success or otherwise of their revising activities.

1. Making students aware of Revising

How you make students aware of the words that describe the behaviour and why it is important to use it.

2. Exploring the language of Revising

How you might extend the language and understanding of this behaviour

3. Using Revising as a lesson starter

Use a quick starter to key students into the learning behaviour you want to concentrate on in the lesson. i.e. here you are starting up the revising ( Re-thinking) behaviour

4. Focusing on Revising as a learning strategy

Use an appropriate thinking routine to practice the behaviour.

Primary and Secondary

Develop classroom activities that put the behaviour centre stage, helping students to understand the content by using the behaviour i.e. revising.

5. An activity to highlight and strengthen Revising

6. Reflecting on Revising

Primary and Secondary

NB. None of the suggestions above will lead to instant understanding in students nor instant changes of behaviour. You will need to drip them in over time and keep building and refreshing your language of learning.

Building Learning Power is about creating a culture in classrooms – that systematically cultivates habits and attitudes that enable young people to face difficulty calmly, confidently and creatively. By a ‘culture’ we mean all the little habits, routines and practices that implicitly convey ‘what we believe and value round here’. 

So ‘culture’ concerns the details of the micro-climate that you create in your classrooms. What you do and say, what you notice and commend and what you don’t, what kind of role model of a learner you offer – all these are of the essence. The micro-climate of a classroom can inadvertently stifle, or specifically enhance,  the very behaviours you are seeking to promote.

Does my classroom climate encourage Revising?

Here is a selection of features which might begin to shape the emotional climate of the classroom to encourage revising.

Apply your own attentive noticing and consider whether you already use any of these features and which you fancy trying.