Now that the academic year of 17/18 is officially concluded with GCSE results been published yesterday and the new year starting just next week it is a great time to be reflective but most importantly it is a great time to be very honest in your reflections. I have always believed through honest reflections we improve most. I have completed my first year delivering GCSE theory content (AQA) and I can proudly reflect on good lessons I planned and I am especially happy with the range of revision tasks/worksheets/games I created which have had a positive impact on my student's attainment (all of which shared on my twitter account). However, as much as you look back at what you did well you must be critical and one of the big improvements I hope to make this year is embedding more deliberate practice into my classroom. I am guilty at times of "rushing" through a topic and not properly checking for understanding.
Have you ever been in this situation? You have 20 minutes left of the lesson which you are determined to complete and as you almost dictate through a topic from a PowerPoint and look up at 20 nodding smiling faces you think to yourself "the class must be really getting this" and you ask an open question taking the first hand up who gives the correct answer and you think brilliant the whole class now understands training methods? I might be over-exaggerating a little as I would not sum a whole topic up in this way but definitely small parts of the topic for example, the definition of altitude training.
This example might be more relatable - you present the definition of altitude training, you give time for students to write it in their books and digest the new information and you may even give an exam question. The whole class gets the answer right and you happily move on. But how can you ensure that all students will take this from their short-term memory into their long-term memory? It is from asking myself this question, "how can I ensure students learn and remember content?" that I read several books, articles (referenced below) and took part in a brilliant network CPD (Ark) in deliberate practice and started to figure out an answer. In this blog I will attempt to explain how and why I went through my medium term plans and lessons plans of last year and created more opportunities for students to take part in deliberate practice in my lessons.
Firstly, if you are wondering what exactly is deliberate practice? Deliberate practice refers to a special type of practice and is broadly argued the most effective type of practice. This is referenced by many authors but most recently recognisable Matthew Syed refers to this type of practice in his popular book ,"Bounce". Syed contributes his table tennis success to his purposely practice regimes and his commitment to active focused practice. Malcolm Gladwell's theory of 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at any skill dictates this must however be purposeful practice. Even the famous quotably Vincent Lombardi passionately restated the well-known sayings about practice as he proclaims, "Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect". In a nutshell this is exactly what deliberate practice is - it is practice which requires thought, concentration and is testing. Deliberate practice requires many things but most importantly demands focused attention and is conducted with the specific goal of improving performance or knowledge where in contrast regular practice might include mindless repetitions and is completed without focus. A quote that has really stuck with me was that "Memory is the residue of thought" as essentially we remember what we think about but how can we ensure our students will actively think about what we are teaching? The answer - Deliberate practice.
Understanding what deliberate practice is and why it is so value is easy. The difficult task begins when attempting to foster deliberate practice in your classroom. I was helped massively by the Ark Network after their brilliant CPD course on deliberate practice and I used their steps which they are broken down into 6 points (as seen below) to edit my previous mindless tasks into deliberate practice.
Using these steps as a framework I went through my lesson plans editing and creating tasks that I knew my students would have to actively engage in, would be challenged by, have an element of repetition and could receive instant feedback within. Below is one example of how I edited a simple task in a lesson that I would of previously "rushed over" without really checking for embedded understand into a progressive deliberate practice task.
Last year the following lesson on training types I delivered using PowerPoint slides of the 8 different training types shown back to back which students copied into their books, asked and answered questions on both independently and in pairs. We drew comparisons and differences then summarised the lesson using an 8 connect the word to definition task (as seen below). Overall, this was not a terrible lesson but it did not ensure all students were actively engaged, thinking and learning. As you can see below these slides were efficient in terms of short, sweet with contained pictures to summarise the content students needed and the summary task was a link up words and definitions which is commonly used across all subjects and can be successful.
The way I have adapted this lesson can now be seen below (As you read this next paragraph please refer to the below pictures as you go along for best understanding). I start by introducing only 4 of the training types before a low stakes link up tasks (Checkpoint 1) students complete without looking at notes to test their knowledge. Answers can be given out loud allowing immediate feedback with misconceptions addressed and key points revisited or partner marking both have valued impacts. I then introduce only two more training types using repetition with the same layout to present each slide and using the same task but this time with 6 training type instead of 4 (Checkpoint 2). Again answers can be quickly given/cold called with feedback. Instead of introducing more ideas I test knowledge again but with a slightly different task as I remove the names of the training types (At this point if it was clear students had not learnt the content we would revisit previous slides).This ensures students have to actively engage and think about the solutions building on the two tasks they have just completed (remember: "Memory is the residue of thought"). I then introduce the final 2 training types using the same lay out before a final quiz of all 8 training types using the original task I went straight onto last year. Alongside a homework task worksheet I will tell student to revise these 8 training types and definitions to begin next lesson with a more difficult progression as a mixture of only definitions or only words are given and students must fill in complete blanks on their own.
One of the distinct benefits I think my students will gain from this lesson is they are not been overwhelmed with information but knowledge is gradually built on making spotting misconceptions easier before they become embedded in a learner making it harder to overcome. Another benefit is the progressive tasks allows rewards and the feeling of success which will hopefully motivated student to continue focusing. In the previous years lesson all 8 types were tested at once straight away which would be overwhelming and is less lightly for students to feel successful (unless getting all correct). I find the symmetry of the slides makes it easier for students to digest in the information but the constant small tasks and slightly different tasks means students must be concentrating and engaged at all times. Also, Graham Nuthall in his book "The hidden lives of learners" suggests for a student to learn a new concept or idea, they must revisit it three times over a few days or weeks. This task I have created alongside the homework task and starter activity for the next lesson will enable at least 3 revisits of these new ideas making this learning experience powerful.
I hope this example and explanation has helped you understand deliberate practice more clearly and giving you ideas on how to slightly adapt your existing tasks to get the most out of your students. If you have any questions or want to share ideas please do contact me on either oliverpark27@gmail.com or via my twitter @OPPE2715.
Thank you again for reading
Written by Oliver Parkinson
Inspired and referenced by
Graham Nuthall "The hidden lives of learners"
Shaun Allison and Andy Tharby "Making every lesson count"
Matthew Syed "Bounce"
Fiona Findlay and Johanna Klinsky "Deliberate Practice" - Ark Network
Have you ever been in this situation? You have 20 minutes left of the lesson which you are determined to complete and as you almost dictate through a topic from a PowerPoint and look up at 20 nodding smiling faces you think to yourself "the class must be really getting this" and you ask an open question taking the first hand up who gives the correct answer and you think brilliant the whole class now understands training methods? I might be over-exaggerating a little as I would not sum a whole topic up in this way but definitely small parts of the topic for example, the definition of altitude training.
This example might be more relatable - you present the definition of altitude training, you give time for students to write it in their books and digest the new information and you may even give an exam question. The whole class gets the answer right and you happily move on. But how can you ensure that all students will take this from their short-term memory into their long-term memory? It is from asking myself this question, "how can I ensure students learn and remember content?" that I read several books, articles (referenced below) and took part in a brilliant network CPD (Ark) in deliberate practice and started to figure out an answer. In this blog I will attempt to explain how and why I went through my medium term plans and lessons plans of last year and created more opportunities for students to take part in deliberate practice in my lessons.
Firstly, if you are wondering what exactly is deliberate practice? Deliberate practice refers to a special type of practice and is broadly argued the most effective type of practice. This is referenced by many authors but most recently recognisable Matthew Syed refers to this type of practice in his popular book ,"Bounce". Syed contributes his table tennis success to his purposely practice regimes and his commitment to active focused practice. Malcolm Gladwell's theory of 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at any skill dictates this must however be purposeful practice. Even the famous quotably Vincent Lombardi passionately restated the well-known sayings about practice as he proclaims, "Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect". In a nutshell this is exactly what deliberate practice is - it is practice which requires thought, concentration and is testing. Deliberate practice requires many things but most importantly demands focused attention and is conducted with the specific goal of improving performance or knowledge where in contrast regular practice might include mindless repetitions and is completed without focus. A quote that has really stuck with me was that "Memory is the residue of thought" as essentially we remember what we think about but how can we ensure our students will actively think about what we are teaching? The answer - Deliberate practice.
Understanding what deliberate practice is and why it is so value is easy. The difficult task begins when attempting to foster deliberate practice in your classroom. I was helped massively by the Ark Network after their brilliant CPD course on deliberate practice and I used their steps which they are broken down into 6 points (as seen below) to edit my previous mindless tasks into deliberate practice.
Using these steps as a framework I went through my lesson plans editing and creating tasks that I knew my students would have to actively engage in, would be challenged by, have an element of repetition and could receive instant feedback within. Below is one example of how I edited a simple task in a lesson that I would of previously "rushed over" without really checking for embedded understand into a progressive deliberate practice task.
Last year the following lesson on training types I delivered using PowerPoint slides of the 8 different training types shown back to back which students copied into their books, asked and answered questions on both independently and in pairs. We drew comparisons and differences then summarised the lesson using an 8 connect the word to definition task (as seen below). Overall, this was not a terrible lesson but it did not ensure all students were actively engaged, thinking and learning. As you can see below these slides were efficient in terms of short, sweet with contained pictures to summarise the content students needed and the summary task was a link up words and definitions which is commonly used across all subjects and can be successful.
The way I have adapted this lesson can now be seen below (As you read this next paragraph please refer to the below pictures as you go along for best understanding). I start by introducing only 4 of the training types before a low stakes link up tasks (Checkpoint 1) students complete without looking at notes to test their knowledge. Answers can be given out loud allowing immediate feedback with misconceptions addressed and key points revisited or partner marking both have valued impacts. I then introduce only two more training types using repetition with the same layout to present each slide and using the same task but this time with 6 training type instead of 4 (Checkpoint 2). Again answers can be quickly given/cold called with feedback. Instead of introducing more ideas I test knowledge again but with a slightly different task as I remove the names of the training types (At this point if it was clear students had not learnt the content we would revisit previous slides).This ensures students have to actively engage and think about the solutions building on the two tasks they have just completed (remember: "Memory is the residue of thought"). I then introduce the final 2 training types using the same lay out before a final quiz of all 8 training types using the original task I went straight onto last year. Alongside a homework task worksheet I will tell student to revise these 8 training types and definitions to begin next lesson with a more difficult progression as a mixture of only definitions or only words are given and students must fill in complete blanks on their own.
One of the distinct benefits I think my students will gain from this lesson is they are not been overwhelmed with information but knowledge is gradually built on making spotting misconceptions easier before they become embedded in a learner making it harder to overcome. Another benefit is the progressive tasks allows rewards and the feeling of success which will hopefully motivated student to continue focusing. In the previous years lesson all 8 types were tested at once straight away which would be overwhelming and is less lightly for students to feel successful (unless getting all correct). I find the symmetry of the slides makes it easier for students to digest in the information but the constant small tasks and slightly different tasks means students must be concentrating and engaged at all times. Also, Graham Nuthall in his book "The hidden lives of learners" suggests for a student to learn a new concept or idea, they must revisit it three times over a few days or weeks. This task I have created alongside the homework task and starter activity for the next lesson will enable at least 3 revisits of these new ideas making this learning experience powerful.
I hope this example and explanation has helped you understand deliberate practice more clearly and giving you ideas on how to slightly adapt your existing tasks to get the most out of your students. If you have any questions or want to share ideas please do contact me on either oliverpark27@gmail.com or via my twitter @OPPE2715.
Thank you again for reading
Written by Oliver Parkinson
Inspired and referenced by
Graham Nuthall "The hidden lives of learners"
Shaun Allison and Andy Tharby "Making every lesson count"
Matthew Syed "Bounce"
Fiona Findlay and Johanna Klinsky "Deliberate Practice" - Ark Network
Thanks for writing this blog, Ollie! I'm so glad you're giving it a go. Please let us know the impact it has on your students.
ReplyDelete