This is the companion resource to ‘Playing the Learning Power game’ online programme for staff. It is designed to support senior leaders in introducing teachers to their programme and to take a strategic approach to sustaining momentum as the teachers’ programme develops.
An overview of the purpose and content of:
This resource is designed to take a leadership perspective on developing student’s learning power, giving leaders a glimpse of the strategic concerns that will arise. The complementary programme for staff is titled Playing the Learning Power Game.
[/twocol_one]This resource is designed to give senior leaders a glimpse of the strategic concerns that will arise when a school decides to take on ‘Playing the Learning Power game’. It provides questions, think pieces, frameworks, PPts and diagrams to help leaders;
This first interactive training session is designed to introduce staff to the field of learning behaviours namely, what they are, why they are important and how their development can happen.
The session design knits together interesting, knowledge based inputs with engaging interactive activities that serve to reinforce new ideas by applying them to the practical reality of the classroom.
From the start staff are encouraged to contribute their own learning habits to ensure the session is a rich learning opportunity for everyone.
The Advance Organiser provides information about what the school and staff members will need to understand and act on in order to make best use of the remote training session. The material will be sent to staff at least a week before the training session and will be found by going to the Building Learning Power website, and logging in to My courses.
By reading and acting on the material in the Advance Organiser we hope that staff will;
In preparation for session 1 staff are encouraged to watch this short introductory video and absorb its messages. It will help staff to tune-in to the what, why and how of building powerful learners.
Although this video was made some years ago its messages remain true. Headteachers, teachers and students talk about the impact of changing the classroom culture to give students a more genuine role in the learning process. Listen to how these students have begun to talk about their learning. How fluently could your students discuss their own learning?
Each session will be supported by a Resource Book of training material.
These are made available as PDFs (colour) in the Advance Organiser for staff to print out for themselves. Most of the PPt slides used in the presentations, the group activities and the gap tasks can be found in the Resource Books.
We believe that the best way to secure staff learning after an online training session is to relate the ideas to their own students. By doing so staff will begin to connect practically with what learning power is all about.
The tasks should be undertaken before session two where possible.
(depending on course timing this task may be used as an introductory task to be completed before the training)
To ensure the Zoom facilitated training sessions work well the TLO coach will contact a named person in the school, using Zoom, a couple of days in advance to establish:
On the training day the Zoom meeting will open 15 mins prior to start time to allow people to arrive and settle, to ensure technology is working effectively and to allow any informal introductions and welcomes to take place.
There are two main inputs by the learning coach in session one.
The first will focus on the Supple Learning Mind framework and include;
The follow-up Gap Task will enable staff to better understand this initial input by exploring and applying its messages to their own pupils (task 1) and their curriculum (task 2)
The second input will focus on how learning behaviours have the potential to develop ( to be used more frequently, in more situations and with greater skill), how Learning Power progression charts are constructed and how they can be used.
Understanding progression will be taken up in more practical detail in Session 2 and a Session 2 Gap Task.
During this first session there are 2 group activities.
The first involves staff considering what their pupils think good learners do, and how this may differ from their own views of learning. (20 Mins including discussion)
The second involves staff considering picture of a happening, considering clues and working out what has happened. This task is about staff applying their own learning habits to solve the puzzle or imagine the solution. (20 mins including solution and patterns of habits used)
For each of these tasks please assign a member of staff to distil the feedback/findings and report back on behalf of the group.
Activity 1 At the end of the activity please discuss and feedback on;
Activity 2 At the end of the activity please discuss and feedback on;
This rich discussion will serve to show the importance of understanding, using and developing learning behaviours.
The job of any teacher is to give learners as real or as ‘whole’ an experience of learning as possible. So as writers of this introductory course about building better learners we wanted to do just that.
This is the companion module to ‘Playing the Learning Power game’. It is designed to support senior leaders in introducing teachers to their module and to take a strategic approach to sustaining momentum as the teachers’ programme develops.
