Cover Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash
Teaching has always been one of those jobs that everyone has an opinion on. This is primarily because it is one of the few jobs we have all been able to evaluate and critique closely over a longer time than we probably cared for. Yet now we find ourselves in unique times, scary times where a virus has threatened everything we took for granted and many are forced to put their thoughts on teaching into unrehearsed practice. There aren’t any right or wrong answers in our current situation so I just thought I’d share my thoughts and hopefully help you and, more importantly, your kids survive homeschooling 2020.
1. Stay Calm
Quite simply there are bigger things to worry about than schoolwork at the moment. However, one of the few good things to come out of this horrible situation is families having to hit the reset button and appreciate each other and time together. Clearly, most important thing is to stay safe, stay home and make the best of the difficult situation.
2. Year 11 & 13
While the above sentiment still holds, it is different for the pupils who were expecting to be sitting their exams this summer. The teachers of these pupils will be putting together a file of evidence to back up the grade they are predicting the pupil would have got. These should not be confused with ‘targets’ that appeared on reports over the last few years. This is the teacher saying “this is what this pupil would have achieved and here’s my evidence to support this”. As a result, whatever work these pupils are set needs to be completed promptly and to the highest standard possible. Treat it like a final exam being taken in the comfort of your own home. Teachers will only ask these pupils for what they need at this stage!
3. The End Game
Ask yourself what is the goal, after all, none of us knows how long this will go on. Personally, my advice to my youngest is just to keep up. Obviously, schools can’t enforce what is set but when they go back they need to be up to speed. Don’t let your kids drop behind everyone else but now isn’t the time for pushing them for a PhD either. It’s a medical crisis, not an educational one and they are scared whether they admit it or not. Find a balance that works.
4. Resource Management
There is a world of online resources out there both for teachers and pupils. Now, thanks to the virus there is an awful lot more! While a lot of the new content may be well-intentioned to relieve boredom and be helpful, some of it may be to boost online profiles and audiences. While Billie Eilish Teaches Covalent Bonding may sound slightly more appealing to your Tween, it may not be the best source in terms of GCSE preparation (no offence to Billie but she’s been busy with other things!). Try to stick to relevant content for specific subjects, not someone who has just jumped on the bandwagon. However, if it’s something general such as replacing PE with exercise then anything from Just Dance to Joe Wicks will fit if it makes you smile. Look for resources that are suitable and have risen to the occasion like Carol Vorderman’s The Maths Factor. There will be many lists online so find the ones that suit your little ones.
5. Boredom Is Your Enemy
Usually, when your class starts to misbehave, it’s because they are bored! Teachers know this, parents know this. Learning should be fun! If the method you’re using is tedious then find a more interesting way. For example, your biology teacher is using online methods so may be limited with what they can set. If they set a leaf diagram to study…..go and get samples of different leaves and compare in more depth. Take breaks, get creative, mix it up!
6. Have Fun
As a teacher, my primary goal was to have my classes look forward to and enjoy my lessons. Happy smiley kids are more receptive to learning. It’s the same for adults. We’ve all been on the course for work that drags on all day and you learn nothing you can use. Well don’t let the kids feel that way. Laugh, mess about and enjoy finding out and understanding what you needed to. Learning is important but it should never be boring.
7. Be Honest
Kids know as soon as you start blagging. Therefore, if you don’t understand something don’t pretend you do. Work at it together, it helps and is why kids like to work together in class. It’s less pressure on them and gives a greater sense of achievement when you both finally get it.
8. Do Unto Others....
You need empathy! With just a couple of wrong words or the wrong facial expression, you can embarrass, humiliate or demotivate. Be patient, kind and positive and you will inspire, empower and encourage. Don’t let the mask fall and be constantly aware that you have enormous influence over the emotion of the situation.
9. Rewards & Goals
A lesson objective is taking it a bit far but you should have a goal or finishing point in mind before you start. What are you trying to achieve in that hour/session? Pupils will work better if they know what they are working towards and don’t perceive it to be endless. We all tend to put off things we don’t want to do so if it’s a difficult topic they don’t like then have a reward for once it’s over. This can be as simple as “let’s nail this then make a lunch of your choosing”, it’ll work wonders.
Photo by Michael Jasmund on Unsplash
10. Reach For The Stars!
This final point is the most important. You can learn very quickly how to assess whether your mini-me understands what you have been studying by the level of the question they can answer. Exam questions are usually levelled by the words they often start with. To make it clear and memorable we’ll go back a few years to when levels were all the rage…
Levels were the chosen method ten years ago for trying to label where a pupil was up to so that the powers that be could then predict GCSE grades from them and use these to set targets. They could then attempt to measure schools and teachers on achieving these targets.
Level 3……. Grade E
Level 4……. Grade D
Level 5……. Grade C
Level 6……. Grade B
Level 7……. Grade A
Level 8……. Grade A*
I know, I know! If only our children were predictable little robots this would all be smashing. These levels are no longer used so please don’t stress about them. Anyway as flawed as this was…..it was quite useful for illustrating to the pupils what they needed to do to produce higher-level answers to questions and how to recognise higher-level questions in the first place!
We used to use the term IDEAL to explain this.
Level 3: You can say what something Is
Level 4: You can Describe something in detail
Level 5: You can Explain what is happening
Level 6: You can Apply your knowledge to a new situation
Level 7: You can make Links between key ideas
It’s a bit out of date but in terms of being plunged into your new home-teaching career, it gives you a very obvious way to recognise and ask higher-level questions and therefore provoke and identify a more detailed understanding of topics.
A quick example….
- That is a leaf!
- Describe the parts of the leaf…stem, veins, etc
- Explain what happens in the parts of the leaf. Eg water transported through the veins, etc
- Take your leaf knowledge and apply it e.g. go outside and find two similar plants growing in different conditions…. For example, a dandelion growing in shad should have bigger leaves than a dandelion growing in direct sunlight as the light needed for photosynthesis is harder to come by.
- Link in other topics you have studied and relate to the leaf. A good example question is:
Should hospital wards be filled with green plants? Obvious answer when thinking about photosynthesis is yes, they produce oxygen for the patients. The correct answer is no because they also respire (take in oxygen and produce carbon dioxide) and once the sun goes down they stop photosynthesising and only respire.
We have applied our knowledge of the leaf to photosynthesis but also linked in respiration….Top marks!!
So, keep it as pressure-free as you can and enjoy all this family time we wished for before all this started. Every cloud as they say…
If you need further help… just email us or get social!
The Classmate Team
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