Using Social Media to 'produce' the @RossettHistory School Trip

At the end of the October half-term we took 41 @Rossett students from years 9, 10 and 11 to Ypres and the Somme to gain an understanding of the trenches, cemeteries, museums and memorials of the First World War. This is a yearly trip which follows a similar pattern each year.

The big difference this year was the use of social media to 'produce' the trip. At the parents meeting before the trip I explained that parents could follow the trip on twitter. I set up the @RossettHistory twitter account and explained that parents would be able to watch the trip unfold here.

Why?

• A trip to the sights and memorials of the First World War is an emotional an moving experience that deserves to be documented.
• Using social media allowed the parents to see where we were and what we were doing. Twitter is public and you do not have to have an account to see the Tweets.
• I also believe that it probably had a reassuring effect as parents knew we were safe and well.
• I believe that it involved parents (and other interested parties) in the trip.
• It was (wifi permitting) real time and the story unfolded on Twitter as it happened on the trip.
• Upon returning to the UK it allowed the students to see how the trip had been documented.

How did it work?
1. Wherever we went on the trip I took my iPad and photographed and filmed what was happening.

2. Whilst we were on the bus between the sights I wrote out Tweets, such as the ones you can see on the right, I saved these tweets to my drafts. I also used iMovie to edit together the footage.

3. When we were in a wifi zone (on the ferry, In Flanders Fields Museum, at Thiepval, in the hotel) I Tweeted my drafted tweets and uploaded the footage to YouTube. This was quick and easy because they were pre-written.

4. Parents and other interested groups could see what was happening on the trip.

What was the impact?

• Whilst we were still in Belgium the footage of the first two days on YouTube received over 40 views. This shows that the videos were being watched.
• About 5 or 6 parents engaged directly during the trip by Tweeting, Re-Tweeting and favouriting the tweets that were being sent.
• Some parents had never been on Twitter but explained to me when we returned that they were now 'adicted' and had 'loved' seeing the trip on twitter.
• Whilst we were still in Belgium several students showed me texts from their parents saying that they had seen the photos and videos.
• Several students said that, although their parents didn't have Twitter, they had still seen the photos and videos because they had just 'Googled' @RossettHistory.
• Several students told me that Grandparents and other family members had seen the videos and photos.
• Upon returning to the UK several students looked back through the feed and Re-Tweeted and favourited the tweets.
• A media company affiliated with the school is producing an article about the trip which has been based on the information in the Twitter feed.
• As I write this blog the cumulative views of the videos from the trip stands at just over 500.

Reflections

When assessing the impact of using Social Media in this way it is difficult to be precise. I could ask students to fill in a questionnaire but I believe that the huge amount of 'anecdotal' evidence I have suggests that this has clearly been a worthwhile exercise.

I would encourage anyone planning a trip to use social media in this way.

If you would like to see the videos of the trip the playlist is embedded below:

The Best Type of Feedback - Students Reflecting on my lessons using Google Forms

I have recently been receiving and analysing feedback on my teaching provided by my last GCSE class. Using a GoogleForm I anonymously asked them several questions about my teaching. The questions focused around what they thought was good about my lessons and what I could do to improve them. This is a process I repeat at regular intervals and is something that I believe has real value. It provides me with some of the most useful and valuable feedback I have had as a teacher.

Why does this provide the best type of feedback?

•  The feedback is real. Most feedback we are given as a teacher is based around short lesson observations which, for various reasons, do not always reflect the normal classroom practices. I had taught my GCSE history class over 150 times. Their experience was real and their feedback is based around that period as a whole. This means that it is not only fair but also allows the students to comment on a whole series of activities and lessons which are far more wide ranging than several 30 minute observations.

•  The feedback is provided by experts. My GCSE class is a combination of Year 9, 10 and 11 students who have spent their whole lives in education. They know what works well and what needs to be improved because they live it everyday.

•  The feedback is personal. The students in my class spoke only about my lessons and provided me with the kind of detailed focus that would be difficult to achieve without the GoogleForm.

•  It profoundly alters the classroom dynamic. This is perhaps the most significant reason. I am a big believer in students co-constructing the lessons (see Co-Construction Blog) because it places greater responsibility on the students and allows them to 'own' the learning. When students see that they have the chance to influence what is taking place I believe they become much more engaged. When I explain to the students how the shape of the learning has been altered by the information they have given you can clearly see the impact of the process.

The class that filled in this GoogleForm are a group that I no longer teach. @Rossett we change the school timetable 4 weeks before the summer and begin teaching our new groups. I was keen to use the advice my former students provided to improve the learning for the new cohort.

What did I learn from this process?

•  The Impact of my YouTube Channel. Nearly all the students referred to the videos I have made explaining how to answer exam questions. The vast majority said how useful they had found them and how the pause/fast-forward/rewind had individualised feedback. This is obviously something I will continue to do.

•  The need to keep changing the seating plan. My students felt that they were stuck working with the same people too often. My new group have been constantly changing partners and groups. I have made use of the random pair generator and at least once a lesson the students are working with 'random' other students. In just the first 4 weeks I have seen the benefit of this. My class is mixed Year 9-11 and the constantly changing pairing's have really developed the class dynamic. I am grateful to the students who pointed this out. One of my students actually tweeted me to say he enjoyed an activity partly because it allowed him the chance to meet new people.

•  The need to improve the revision sessions. In the run up to the exams I held a series of revision sessions after school. One of my class pointed out that most of the work that was completed in these sessions could have been done, by them, at home. They had attended but had not got the most out of the sessions. This led me to consider the work that was going on. For some of my students this was exactly the aim of the sessions because they were completing work that they would not otherwise have done at home. However, for a significant group, the sessions were not working. I have decided to develop my revision session around the principle of Solo Stations. Setting several activities that allow the students to select where they begin their revision journey. I am confident that this will improve the quality of the revision sessions and am pleased that the plight of this student (and doubtless others like them) has been brought to my attention.

I hope that you have found this blog interesting. I hope I have shown why I believe student reflections using GoogleForms is the best type of feedback. I also hope I have shown the type of quality outcomes that this kind of interaction can produce.

Creating Opportunities to Fail - Resilience and the Rossett 'Independance Day'

On the 3rd July we had an 'Independence Day' (#IDRossett2012) @Rossett. The aim of the day was to embed and showcase the Rossett 3R's: Responsibility, Reflection and Resilience. Below is a video of what I believe the 3R's look like in my history lessons:

The main 'R' I was looking to incorporate into the students learning on Independence Day was Resilience and I was looking to create an activity that made the majority of students fail. 

The lesson was focused around the key question "What was it like to live in the British Empire?" but I believe the activity could easily be adapted to any question. The main activity centered on students producing a museum-style exhibit that aimed to answer the key question. They worked in groups to produce this. During this I repeatedly interrupted their work to offer them a chance to book an actor who could add another dimension to their exhibit by explaining 'their' view on what it was like to live in the Empire.

So often we talk about the importance of learning from mistakes but all too often our achievement driven outlook stops us from planning failure into our lessons.

Before the lesson - The Responsibility

In the lesson before the Independence Day I grouped the class into groups of 5 and gave them a worksheet each that looked at what it was like to live in the Empire from the point of view of a different country. I emphasized that this was only a starting point and that they could do extra work and bring in extra resources. I also gave them a flavour of the kind of competition they would be involved in. I explained that they all needed to pull together, to work hard individually at home, to make the group successful.  

During the lesson - The Resilience

When the students arrived at the lesson they sat in their groups and after a quick numbered-heads-together where they defined what makes a good exhibit they were off working on their exhibits. Apart from providing them with paper, glue and scissors I did not give them any direction about how they should produce their exhibit. It was completely up to them to decide what it should contain and how it should look. After about 5 minutes I stopped the students and explained that they had the chance to book an actor for their exhibit. I played the first section of the following video to the whole class (the video 'stars' the @Rossett history department and a guest from REP):

I paused it after 'Chief Cakobau' had finished speaking leaving the key points on the screen. I then asked one random person from each group to come up and speak for 20 seconds (speaking at the screen, as if the actor was in the room) explaining why the Chief should be a part of their exhibit. After they had all finished speaking I explained

that unfortunately the actor playing Chief Cakobau could only work at two exhibits, he was a busy man, this meant that 4 group would be unsuccessful.

I awarded the actor to the two successful groups (by giving them a small picture of him to display). I then explained that I had made the decision based on 5 success criteria which I would not be sharing with them. They had to spend the next minute thinking about why they had, or mostly, had not been successful. I encouraged them to talk about the successful groups and focus on what they thought made them successful. I then asked the students to carry on with their exhibits but repeated the process with the other parts of the video until every student in the group had the chance to explain why an actor should work in their group's display.

At the end of the lesson - The Reflection

At the end of the lesson I gave merits out to the most successful group. I also gave every group the chance of winning a merit by reflecting on proceedings and coming up with their own success criteria. The group with the closest answer was the winner. Obviously groups that had been resilient and reflective had the most chance to win in the end.

My Own Reflections

• The students were very engaged by this form of learning and produced some excellent work.
• Working in groups certain students took it upon themselves to be responsible for other members in their group by making sure they knew what to do.
• The groups that had been the most responsible and produced the best homework had the best chance of doing well.
• The group that won the activity (claiming three actors for their exhibit) did not win anything on the first run through but were resilient and worked best together to try and work out what was success looked like.
• Every group tried to reflect on what they were doing and the standard of the work increased throughout the lesson. It got much harder to pick my two winners later in the lesson.
• This lesson was part of @Rossett School's Independence Day which was designed to promote Responsibility, Resilience and Reflection. The day was brilliant and I really enjoyed teaching a lesson like this. I will definitely be doing this type of activity again.

I would like to thank Mrs McFarlane (@rowmc64) for her help refining my original idea and for helping with the lesson plan and the resources. I would also like to thank Mr Grainger (@MrG_Ranger) for producing some excellent SEN homework resources.    Part of the lesson plan is below

 

ROSSETT SCHOOL

LESSON PLAN

Teacher:		Subject:	Date/Period:
Teaching Group:		Unit/Module: (if applicable)
Learning Objectives  By the end of the lesson students will understand/know/do:
Learning Outcomes  By the end of the lesson students will be able to: recall, describe, demonstrate, explain, evaluate etc: All will be able to: show responsibility by bringing research to the lesson on what it was like to live in Empire Reflect on why they/or other groups have been successful. Show resilience by not giving up if they are not successful. Most will be able to: show responsibility by ensuring that all of their group is working toward producing a good exhibit. Reflect, and apply those reflections, to improve their exhibit. Apply what they have learnt from observing more successful groups and applying it to their own pitches (resilience) Some will be able to: Some will show responsibility by explaining to the group why and how an improvement could be made. Some will be able to draw and apply reflections from other members of the group. Some apply observations of good practice to develop/suggest alternative approaches.
Resources Minds and Machines pages 98-103
Starter(s): (5-8 mins)	Get the groups to all-write-round-robin things that they have learnt about what it was like to live in the Empire.
Main Activities: Check progress-refer to learning objectives & outcomes. (8-10 mins)                Mini-Plenary	Students work in groups of 5 to produce a a1/big sheet poster about the topic. They must show responsibility and work independently using the resources provided by the teacher. While this is happening at intervals the teacher puts on a mask and explains a bit about a character who can help visitors to the exhibition understand what it was like to live in the Empire. One person from each group must then come forward and explain for 20 seconds why their groups exhibit should have that actor in it. They should try and persuade the teacher. The teacher will then judge each group by the set of criteria (that the students have not seen) and say they will feature in two of the groups exhibits. This means that 3 groups will be unsuccessful. The groups will have to try and work out why the groups were successful and this shows resilience and reflection. The teacher could ask the students to discuss what they think made the successful groups successful. The teacher will repeat this process 4 or 5 times (using the 5 'ruled' sources from page 102-103 except Chief Crowfoot) during the lesson and each time a different student from the group must pitch. These need simplifying for lower sets. There will be merits for the group who produce the best exhibit. This will be a combination of their work and the actors they have managed to 'book' for their exhibit. There will also be merits available in the plenary for the group that can explain what the success criteria was. Success Criteria Show an understanding of the country the source comes from. Show an understanding of the theme that the source talks about. Make a quality exhibit for the actor to be part of. Be enthusiastic. Be creative.
Final Plenary: (5 Mins)	There will also be merits available in the plenary for the group that can explain what the success criteria was.



Developing the use of YouTube within the 'Classroom' – A PGCE Session

Last week I was privileged to spend a morning with the current cohort of history PGCE trainees at York University. The aim of the session was to show how YouTube could be used within the history 'classroom'. I aimed to provide some stimulus and then asked the trainees to film themselves, upload their films to YouTube, embed them within a Wiki and reflect on the experience.

I believe that this is interesting for a number of reasons:
1) It allows the reader to see the potential impact that creating YouTube videos can have.
2) It also shows a good way to start students/staff/trainees creating YouTube videos.
3) It shows the brilliant levels of creativity that are displayed by the trainees.

We began with the question "Why could creating YouTube videos be useful within the history classroom?" This question was deliberately open ended and vague to allow the trainees to run with their own ideas. After feeding back we then produced this video to explain our thoughts:



For many in the group this was their 'debut' on YouTube. I wanted to showcase their ideas within a framework that reflected the element of fun that YouTube can bring. This was also an excellent icebreaker as the trainees had to say their name, three words to describe themselves, and then give their views on how YouTube could be used. Watching this back I am struck both by the engaging atmosphere within the room and also by the quality of the ideas being presented. The spinning went down a treat!

This video served several purposes.

1)    It broke down the barriers within the 'classroom' and allowed everyone involved to see the kind of creativity that the session would focus on.

2)    Within the 'safety of numbers' it allowed many within the group to take their first steps in a supportive environment.

3)    It was a powerful vehicle for tapping into the knowledge that already existed around the topic.

After this starter I then showed some examples of how I have used YouTube with a particular focus on engagement and differentiation. Some examples of which are below:

I then asked the trainees to 'go away' into the university campus and produce a short 1 to 2 minute video that they could see themselves potentially using in their classrooms. I also asked the trainees to reflect on how their videos might aid engagement and differentiation. All of the videos that were produced can be viewed on the WIki by clicking on the trainee pages (right-hand side)

http://westylishpgceyorkuni.wikispaces.com/

We then reconvened and watched the videos together as a group in a kind of show-and-tell style.

This process highlighted the following:

1) The atmosphere within the room was 'electric' some trainees were literally rubbing their hands together in anticipation of watching the videos.

2) All the videos were excellent.

3) They all showed a creativity that made the end product very memorable.

4) They were all engaging and would all have been excellent tools for differentiation.

Some of the reflections from the trainees are below:

Reflections

• The session showed the creative power of YouTube .
• All the videos produced were excellent tools to promote engagement and differentiation.
• I believe that teachers should empower their students to achieve. Whilst the PGCE trainees are not my students, using YouTube in this way allowed me to empower 13 brilliantly creative people to produce excellent work.

The last point is perhaps the most important thing that this session showcased. YouTube is a very poweful vehicle to tap into the creativity of the people we teach as it makes any topic instantly 'fun' and when we are young we can all do with that.

Massive thankyou to Paula Mountford (@pgcehYork) and the excellent trainees for throwing themselves so wholeheartedly into this session. The future of the history teaching profession looks very good.

If you are interested in having a session run similar to this or have any further questions please do not hesitate to tweet me @Westylish

The Excellent York University History PGCE Trainees

"Stroll-Pair-Musical Chair" @Westylish's Very Own Kagan esk Structure



Staff engage in stroll-pair-share 



About a month ago we had our third instalment of Kagan Structure training @Rossett. This allowed us to re-evaluate our progress so far and taught us a few new structures. One of these was Stroll-Pair-Share. The aim of this was to pair students up, get them to stroll around arm-in-arm (like off-of a promenade at a generic coastal resort, I'm thinking Whitby N-Yorks but you can insert your own coastal-resort-of-choice) and share their thoughts on the topic being taught. The teacher then selected 'students' at random to feedback the thoughts of their'Strolling-Partner' to the group. The aim of the structure was to 'oxidise' our brains and 'get the glucose going'.

My initial reaction to this was that it was a bit of fun.

I had two thoughts about the structure:

1) I thought that the students wouldn't take it seriously and the arm-in-arm style might be an issue.

2) That said, I liked the element of fun that it brought to our staff training and felt that if it could bring that element of fun to my classroom it would be a good thing.

With this in mind I tried it with my Year 7 classes that week using my random selector to pair the students and get them to discuss the Renaissance:

Year 7 Students @Rossett stroll-pair-share

The students really enjoyed the experience but the responses that the students gave were pretty poor. Many of them had little idea about what their partner had said. They hadn't really focused on the task.

The Stroll-Pair-Musical Chair

With the above reflections in mind I decided to keep the strolling and pairing elements of the structure but to add a 'musical chair' element. This activity could be used as a starter but I feel it is better placed as a plenary at the end of the lesson. The lesson needs to have been based around two or more different themes. In the case below we had been looking at the Reformation and some basic differences between Catholics and Protestants in the 16th Century. This was an introductory theme to Henry VIII and the Tudors.

Here is how to make it happen.

1) Randomly Pair the Students; and explain that they cannot leave their partner.

2) Set up a space with two or more lines of chairs.

3) Get the class to stroll around, arm-in-arm, in the middle of the space.

4) Shout out a fact that applies to one of the lines of chairs, the students have to try an get a seat in the correct section.

5) Any students who do not find a seat (for both them and their strolling partner) in the correct section are out. If one of the pair gets a seat but their partner doesn't they are both out.

6) Keep reducing the number of chairs until you have a winner.

Below is a (poorly taken) video of my Year 7 students Stroll-Pair-Musical Chair-ing:

Reflections

1) The students seemed to really get into it.

2) We played it a couple of times, with different winners.

3) Unlike the original stroll-pair-share the student focus was excellent.

4) Even those who were 'out' were still getting involved.

5) It brought an element of competition to the classroom (my co-constructos always talk about how they would like more competition).

I am going to speak to my groups next week and add some of their thoughts onto this blog.

Using iPad's to give Exam feedback and Create AfL Targets

I have been using my iPad @Rossett for the past month or so. It has really helped transform and invigorate giving exam feedback and today I tried to take this to the next level. In the past I have created a video that goes through the exam and we have watched it as a class or as a homework. This has worked okay but I wanted to develop this and develop the 'personal learning' aspect of the feedback.
Before I continue I am in debt to Mr Mark Bulmer @MrBulmerPE (Rossett's-most-featured-in-iPad-magazines) for his excellent blog on using iPad's in this kind of way in PE. I also do not profess to be breaking any new ground with this but simply to be recording my reflections of the process.

I started by marking a mock exam that I had set for homework and then produced the following video using the app Explain Everything. (I wouldn't watch all of this but if you flick through it you can get the idea of what I have produced)

At the start of the lesson I gave each of my students their scripts back, a piece of blank card, and i gave each pair an iPad. Then I asked them to watch the video and produce a AfL target sheet with targets for each question that applied to their individual performance. They had to write targets that could apply to any GCSE history paper of this type in one colour and more specific ones in another colour. I told them to pause the video whenever they required. I then set them off, most students used their headphones but some just let my video play out loud. I had an activity ready for when they finished. The students worked through the video (itself 22 minutes long) in about 25-30 minutes. Below is a short video of them working on the task. All the students were on task throughout and produced a lot of targets.

Reflections

1. It was quite a surreal experience; whilst the students were watching the video I was essentially redundant, my work (hopefully) already done, and all I could hear was snippets of me speaking.
2. The class seemed to be more on task; normally when I go through an exam there are times when certain students seem to 'glaze over' with the 'teacher-talk' overload. This didn't seem to happen here.
3. It was a 'lesson' that was individualised; it was like i was having the same conversation 25 times but in a way that was tailored to each of the students as they were pausing when it was relevant to them and moving on when it wasn't.
4. It glamorised exam feedback; at this time of the year students must have exam feedback overload. By using the iPad's in this way it made the activity 'new' and to some degree 'exciting'. This obviously had a positive impact on engagement and hopefully made their targets more memorable.
5. The students enjoyed it and found it worthwhile; this is the most important reflection. Below are the Tweets that my GCSE class have sent reviewing the lesson. I am grateful to them for taking time out of their evenings to share their opinions. As you can see they are a very perceptive bunch.

Jemma said "I thought it was fun and helped me, a lot better than reading the board! We should do it more often :D"

Robyn said "it was a different way of learning and going through exam questions, seems like everyone enjoyed it and we could all be involved"

Liz said "You usually go through the exams as a class, and i think we learnt more using the iPad as it was like an individual lesson. #great"

Ryan said "it was useful to go through the questions to find ways of improving source skills. It was decent"

Dannie said "i think it worked well today and is a good activity to do every so often as it suits some students more than others"

Tyler said "I genuinely liked it even though I'm not a fan of that kind of stuff usually"

Kerry said "it was better than having you just go through it in the lesson, I feel like I absorbed more of the info, no offense there sir"

Thea said "learnt a lot more because you could go through it at your speed and understand everything better."

"When the leader came to power" - Hinge Question based Introduction to Nazi Germany

 

For a number of years I have used this activity as a way into studying Nazi Germany, it works well with Year 8 students but could easily work with older students too. On the face of it it is quite teacher led, however when you get into the student responses it can go a number of ways.

The basic principle that needs to be explained at the start is that the teacher has become the new leader of the country and the class represents a block of flats in that country. At this stage I would not mention the Nazis, Hitler or even Germany. The teacher/leader is going to do three things and at each stage the class must note down their views of both the teacher/leader and what he has done.

1) The first stage of this requires the leader to explain that upon coming to power he has given everyone "what they have always wanted". In the past I have printed out small pictures of iPad's and GHD's and handed those out physically but more recently, with groups I know better, I use my knowledge of the class to decide what to hand out on an individual basis. The important thing to note as the teacher (but not to communicate to the students) is that these gifts represent the Jobs that Hitler 'created' in 1933.

Upon 'receiving' their gift ask the students to complete the following sentence:
"When the leader gave me what I had always wanted I thought..."They should look to comment on both their opinion of the leader and what he has done.

Then go around the class taking feedback. Take care to mentally note those students who are very positive and those who are suspicious or down-right negative.

2) Announce that the leader is going to create "two block leaders" to ensure that there is no "mis-behaving" and "crime" in the block of flats. Select two of the students who gave the most gushing and supportive responses and ask them to walk around the class (I have some dodgy old 'police looking' hats that I give them to wear to add some glamour).

Then ask the students to compete the following sentence:
"When the leader created the two block-leaders I thought..."They should look to comment on both their opinion of the leader and what he has done.

Again take feedback mentally looking for those who are most suspicious. If necessary look to defend your actions and explain how "if you have nothing to hide" you will be fine.

3) Select two students and ask them to sit on the floor. These students need to be ones who have been the most critical of your leadership (but don't explain this) and they also need to be, if possible, the nicest students in the class.

Explain to the group that both of these students have been involved in terrible crimes (I usually pick something like "knife crime" etc.) which your block leaders have found out about, and that you have decided to throw them out of the block of flats. You may need to explain that they will not be returning for the foreseeable future.

Then ask the class to complete the sentence:
"When the leader threw out the 'criminals' I thought..."They should look to comment on both their opinion of the leader and what he has done.

4) Finally, you should ask the class to rate your leadership out of ten and explain why they think this.

Then get the class to show their answers on their fingers. This should give you a great snapshot of what they each think and should allow you to target groups with different answers.

Take some feedback and then explain what you've been doing, how you selected the block leaders and criminals. Explain that the criminals haven't done anything wrong but it was all made up.

For those that bought into your leadership (7-10 / 10) get then to reflect on that and how easily they were duped and what being so supportive would have meant for them in Nazi Germany.

For those that partly bought into it (4-6 / 10) get them to reflect on why they weren't more critical and what being partly supportive would have meant for them in Nazi Germany.

For those who didn't buy into it (1-3 / 10) get them to reflect on what advice they may give others if they faced a similar situation and what being so unsupportive would have meant for them in Nazi Germany.

ReflectionsThis works really well with all abilities. But the most interesting is with the most able who are drawn naturally into obeying and following the teacher. The reflections of this group of students in my year 8 top set today posed some interesting and ultimately difficult questions about what their role might have been in Nazi Germany.

Added to that is the reflections of some students who were prepared to follow the teacher blindly without question.
Finally, the reflections of what I would term a middle set student highlight that they were the most prepared to challenge the leader and to not buy into what he was trying to create.

The reflections of one of my students shows how easily they had taken on board what I was trying to do, (for some reason my blog won't show this the correct way round but i hope you can still read it)

This is certainly an interesting activity which allows the teacher to differentiate on a different level than simply ability.

 

I look forward to any comments.