Resources/Toolkit

This is a space that is designed to provide a centralised area for all staff. This area contains the Learner Success Resources that will support our staff provide a positive learning experience for all our students. These resources include the diversity calendar, the MS Teams backgrounds you can use, posters to display, recorded workshops, link to external resources and information sites. You can also "meet" the team within the Yoobee Colleges.

The Hub is found on the Yoobee Sharepoint LINK

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There are training sessions that have been recording in the Learner Success Hub. Have a look in the space for a workshop that will expand your knowledge. LINK

There are other resources that might be of use to you. Click here LINK

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Learning Outcomes:  

• to explore what pedagogy is and what pedagogy the reader takes. 
• to explore the role of the teacher and the student. 
• to identify your stance in the role and the possibility to develop. 
• to open the idea of a student centred, student empowered classroom. 

 

What you see are thoughts, ideas, suggestions, recommendations, (strong or not so strong) all based on the concept of teaching and learning (T&L). Pedagogy is the beliefs you hold around T&L – your thoughts, ideas, actions and how your beliefs support your teaching. So in other words pedagogy is about HOW you teach and WHY you teach in that way – the theory and practice of educating.

But your beliefs can adapt, develop, change to result in better learning (or not, therefore more change is needed). Pedagogy informs you on the role you take as a teacher and the roles students take as learners. 

Being a teacher may mean to disseminate information, but in modern education a teacher does so much more. Think about it as all mini tasks a teacher does: an informer, a planner, a diagnostician, an involver,  a monitor, a manager, a motivator, a mentor, a facilitator, a support person, a guide. There are many roles beyond teaching the information. 

 

While you work through these sections, take notes on your answers to the questions asked. At the end of this section you will be asked to submit a summary of your thoughts. There is no pass/fail on this submission, however the submission will be accessed by your manager. It might be a great starting point for your Performance Appraisal/Yearly review. 

 

The following sections can be used to develop yourself. When working through these sections work out which are must dos, which are can dos for you. Take the ideas and then experiment, reflect and connect, question, discuss, ponder, do, fail, collaborate: anything and everything to develop. Just don't stand still and do the same old same old.

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Section 1: Understanding pedagogy, modern pedagogy and what is your pedagogy. 

Read: What is pedagogy? LINK here 

Which pedagogy is more aligned to yours? Which one sounds a complete no-go? Which one sounds interesting to see in action (perhaps you don't know how, just would like to see)? 

What is the role of a teacher from your point of view? 

Pedagogy is the HOW we teach which is supported by how we think students learn. Now put yourself in the students shoes, in the classroom, with you teaching: 

• What is the lived experience by the students of your teaching? 
• What is the role of a student from your point of view? 

(Don't base your thoughts from feedback in previous surveys.)  

• Do all students learn from your style of teaching?
• Where could things have changed and why?
• What is the cultural experience of the students when in the classroom?
• Have there been moments where an expectation by you as a teacher have clashed with the reality of the students' learning?
• Have you asked students how they would like to be taught?
• Perhaps more importantly – how they don't want to be taught?
• Do you know the educational background of all your students? 

Teaching excellence 

What are roles have the teachers and students taken here? 

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Section 2: Teaching and Learning from the other side. 

In the previous sections you considered your thoughts on T&L, and how students might experience your teaching.  

It's now time to consider the expectations that students have on a teacher. 
 

How does the students see the role of a teacher? What would be considered a "great  teacher" from the students' point of view? Are you meeting those expectations? 

 

When you experiment always consider the experiences the students have with the new lesson style. It's your belief on the teaching but is it the same for the student on the learning side of things as well as their expectation on what teaching is. 

 

Read this New Zealand research on the role of teacher-student interactions in tertiary student engagement. Link here
What was interesting about the article? What was confusing?

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Section 3: The 'aha' moments 

1. Watch the following video until the point 9.30 (when the suspended man is slammed against the canvas) 

View video LINK here

 

While you watch consider:  

• What has been some aha moments for you – breakthroughs that seem to happen randomly and occasionally?
• What brought them to be an aha moment?
• Have you seen any moments like that for students?
• What caused an aha moment for the student? 
• What aspects of the optimal conditionals for a creative environment do you have in the classroom?
• What would you like to have there?  
• Which of these can you see your colleagues promote within the classroom?
• What can you do to develop these – and why would you?  
• What do the students experience through these optimal conditions?  

 

Before you watch the next section:  

Think back on your education:

• What aspects of school worked for you, and didn't work?
• What aspects worked for or failed your friends? 

 

Think about creating a new school: – i.e. the classroom next week

• What are the three qualities you would like to see there?
• Who creates these qualities and how?  

 

2. Watch the section until 11.00 

• What qualities resonate with you?
• Would you like to have gone to that school?
• Would you like to send your children/ family/whānau there? 

 

A new school – What qualities would the students say were important?  

 

3. Watch the next section to the end.

• As you listen to what the 6th graders said, are they saying what you thought?
• Are they saying what Yoobee students would like?  

 

End: change takes time.

• After reading and watching thoughts on pedagogy, T&L, and the roles students and teachers take, what aspects would you like to change about your teaching?
• How can you change?

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Section 4: Different pedagogies 

Ako pedagogy 

In te ao Māori, T&L is ako, but ako is more than T&L. Ako is about the relationship within the T&L, the reciprocity of learning from as well as teaching each other. No one is higher or lower within the T&L. Ako also sees the student and whānau as one, inseparable. 

A modern approach to T&L and ako is where the teacher/tutor/educator's role is as a facilitator or a guide in the student's learning journey. As guides, we share the experience and learn from the situation. 

Visit this website to explore the pedagogical concept of ako and how you can embed ako into teaching. LINK here

 

In fact New Zealand is unique and every aspect of society now considers te ao Māori in its process and operation. The recent (2019) Ako Aotearoa paper on the professional standards for tertiary teachers outlines the possible future. LINK here

 

If you would like more reading about ako and Māori pedagogy, read this: LINK here

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Section 5: Other aspects of pedagogies. (optional) 

As you can see gone are the days of a teacher lecturing content to students, where students are passive in their learning. The teacher's role has moved away from "sage on the stage"  and a lot more to "guide on the side". There is no one answer on how to be a teacher. 

Perhaps a simpler approach would be look at the concept of who has the power and when does it shift from one side to another. Is it the fact that by giving up the control of the learning (the power), students and teachers are more empowered? 

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SUBMISSION ACTIVITY 

Summarise what you have watched, read and considered by answering these questions. There is no word limit. 

Submit your summary 

• What is your pedagogy?
• Where do you sit in the teaching and learning relationship?  
• How has this position effectively supported the students learning?  
• What could you do to create more learning happening? 

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Learning Outcomes:

• to outline and explore student-centred learning 

• to investigate current practice of student-centred learning for changes to future practice 

Before we start with HOW to create a student-centred classroom, we need to start with WHY the classroom should be student-centred.
The answer to that goes back to the development of Learning theories through time. Learning is not a simple process and it is not consistent for all people, all ages, all nationalities; it would be simpler if it was.

Think back to when you learnt something at primary school vs at high school vs now. Is it the same? Think about when you learnt to ride a bike or drive a car vs when you learnt a skill related to the content you teach. Was it that same process? 

There are four main learning theories and in order of "discovery" they are: 

• Behavourism 

• Cognitivism 

• (Socio-) Constructivism 

• Connectivism 

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Section 1: 

1.Watch the video and think about the teaching approach. LINK here
Which learning theory do you think your primary school teacher subscribed to? How about your university lecturer? 

2.Read through this table. In each section think "Yes that is what I believe" or "No, don't believe that".
LINK here

 

Where are you placing your 'yeses'? 

 

3. Read through this article. Use the reflective sections to develop your thoughts.
LINK here 

From the above readings and videos you can see that as educators we need to create an environment that is supportive for the student to maximise their learning opportunities, depending on the content. In most cases nowadays educators subscribe to the Socio-constructivist learning theory. And that is the why student-centred learning is forefront in education.  

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While you work through the following sections, take notes on your answers to the questions asked. At the end of this section you will be asked to submit a summary of your thoughts. There is no pass/fail on this submission, however the submission will be accessed by your manager. It might be a great starting point for your Performance Appraisal/Yearly review. 

Section 2: 

This resource was created by the University of South Australia.
On this page is a quick introduction to Student-Centred Learning. It covers teaching of all ages. While you watch this video, think back to The Role of the Teacher and Student section. How does what you learnt about the role of the teacher and the role of the student carry over into this video? 
LINK here

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Yoobee is a place where students learn many skills, rather than a more traditional academic setting of facts and figures. Students have the freedom to practice the skills, rather than just be told how to do something. 

So how do we make the classroom student-centered?  

1. Don't throw everything you have ever done out the window and think you need to recreate material, lesson plans, tasks and your approach. It takes time and experimentation as well as preparing students for more and more power in their learning. Things you do work, it's a case of developing so that things work better 
2. Read the resources and work through the tasks below. They are there to spark thoughts and actions for your to change.  
3. Read more, experiment, share, ask students for feedback, ask students for direction, give students choices in how they learn the material and reflect. 

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Resource/Task  

This is a summary of a book by Maryellen Weimer called Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice. (easily found on Google Books, although missing a few pages).  

• Which of the five characteristics of student-centred teaching are in your current practice? Which characteristic(s) do you have questions about. 

• From the four most common reasons for resistance resonates with how you think? 

• What's your takeaway from this summary? 

LINK here

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Resource/Task  

This is an excellent resource on Active Learning from AUT. Remember when reading through it is set in a University setting, with an academic focus. Yoobee is also a tertiary provider with qualifications that are degree etc level, however Yoobee provides a much more creative, skills based learning experience. You cannot compare Accounting with Web Design, nor History with Animation. So use this resource and adapt to your context. 
LINK here

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Section 3: 

If you are wondering how student-centred the classroom is here are two tips on how to calculate. 

TIP 1

Lesson plan: In your lesson plan ensure you have an interaction column. In the interaction column write the following codes for every interaction, including the smallest moments such as the feedback/answer giving stage or the instructions stage. 

T	Teacher speaking
S	Student speaking. Student working alone on a task.
Ss	Whole class speaking I.e.. a class mingle
S-S or Ss-Ss	Students in groups speaking I.e. a pair/group work stage

Once you have the codes in, scan the column. What code is predominate? What code is the least? The answers to these two questions gives you an indication of how student-centred the class is. 

TIP 2

Power: Think of power as a ball of energy, something to hold but something to pass on. Imagine this ball moving through the lesson, around the room, held by different people during the lesson. 

Question yourself throughout the lesson "Who is currently holding the power of learning (and teaching)?".  If the answer is majority "Me" then you know if the class is student-centred or not. 

• When you give answers to questions, you are holding the power.  
• When you control/manage the stages so that the students work alone, with a partner or in a group, you hold the power.  
• When a student asks a question, and you ask the class to answer it, then echo the answer from a student – you still hold the power. However if you respond to the student's answer with praise, the student giving the answer holds the power.  
• If you asked the students how long they need to do a task, and they replied "10 minutes.", then you give them 10 minutes, and they finish in 8, the students hold the power, you are just managing the classroom for them.  
• If a student asks you (individually) a question, which situation is the power held by the student: the situation where you answer the question with explanation, or the situation where you ask questions guiding the student to the answer? 

 

Extra tip

Be student driven, not topic driven. Yes you are passionate about your subject, yes you have loads of experience within the content, yes you enjoy doing what you are doing, but the class is for the students. It's important to see the content from the student's point of view, so take that passion and create activities and tasks to hook the students into the subject. Engaging students and building their motivation is far better than using your motivation to instil the passion. 

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SUBMISSION ACTIVITY 

Reflect and Connect on your practice. Consider a class you taught recently. With that class in mind, complete the following table.
The table is to be submitted to your Team Leader. 

Areas of consideration 

Details  What was the lesson, how long, how many students, when in the term was it, what was the lesson aim, learning outcomes for the lesson?.	Your response:
Tasks  What activities/tasks were in the lesson? Who decided those tasks? Who had the power during the tasks?	Your response:
Challenges  What were the challenges of the lesson? Challenges for you? Challenges for the students? How were the challenges overcome?	Your response:
Roles  What was your role within the lesson? Did you change roles? What roles did the students take? Did they change roles?	Your response:
Energy levels  What was the energy level during and at the end of the lesson? Did it change? How and why did it change?	Your response:
Future learnings  Considering the answers to the above areas, where would you change the lesson if you could teach it again to the same students? Why would you change it? How would you change it?	Your response:
This is the section for future development: What is your timeframe to develop? What and when can you report to your manager on your experimentation and successes?	Your response:

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Learning Outcomes:

• To develop a future focused infographic based on learning of the importance of feedback. 
• To examine the importance of feedback. 
• To reflect on past actions within giving feedback and critical evaluate in order to improve future actions. 
• To open the possibility of creating a culture of feedback from students to improve teaching 

Think about the last time you did something where there was a judgement on the action or product. I.e. a nice dinner you cooked, your creative design (painting, writing, knitting, music, floral arrangement, a blog post etc), or the present you bought for a loved one. What was the response, how did you feel after that response and if there was no response...what did you think? 

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Section 1: Feedback

Feedback could be considered a response to your cooking as much as a response to your assessment. Feedback is a judgement which informs you on how the receiver feels or what the receiver thinks of the action/product. Infact feedback has a significant impact on learning and according to John Hattie is in the top ten influences. 
LINK here

The main objectives of feedback are to: 

• justify to students how their mark or grade was derived 
• identify and reward specific qualities in student work 
• guide students on what steps to take to improve 
• motivate them to act on their assessment 
• develop their capability to monitor, evaluate and regulate their own learning (Nicol, 2010). 

 

What would happen if the feedback to you on your performance was only points on how to improve or be better? How would you feel if it was only a grade or a mark? Or if it was only the good points? Or if it was long after the performance? Your answers to these questions probably tell you what feedback should be for the students. 

Feedback needs to be:  

1. Constructive / Effective – noting the strengths and weaknesses is important, but including the how weakness could be developed adds value to the feedback. 
2. Meaningful – feedback needs to be evidence based on the performance of the individual and linked to the specific criteria or learning outcome being assessed. 
3. Timely – within a timeframe where students can act upon the feedback in order to develop. 
4. Understandable – using language which the student can easily process and act upon.

 

Importantly student need to be able to receive feedback. Can they interpret the feedback given and implement it into action? What do they understand from the feedback given? 

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While you work through the following sections, take notes on your answers to the questions asked. At the end of this section you will be asked to submit a summary of your thoughts. There is no pass/fail on this submission, however the submission will be accessed by your manager. It might be a great starting point for your Performance Appraisal/Yearly review. 

Section 2: Resource/Task

This video has Professor John Hattie discussing the types and purpose of feedback. Hattie is a leading professor in education who has researched the aspects that influence learning, which resulted in a huge meta-analysis on all the aspects and their effect size. You can find more HERE

   

Watch this video: What the key takeaways from it for you? (Ignore the fact that Hattie often talks about kids... replace that word with students.) 

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Section 3: Resource/Task 

This pdf booklet comes from the University of Waikato. It looks at Feedback and how it is used to support learning.  

LINK here. As you read make notes on the following 

Page 1:

• How many of the Student Concerns have you heard from students in the classroom?
• How many of the Lecturer Concerns have you had? 

 

Before reading the next section.

Make notes on the questions that will be addressed: 

• How can I ensure that students use the feedback that I give them?
• Is there a particular style and language that I should be using when giving feedback?
• What else can I do to maximise student learning in the feedback process?
• How much feedback should I be giving on any assessment task?
• What sort of feedback should I be giving to excellent work?

As you read compare the section's thoughts with your own. Do they match, is yours different or is it just an extension of what is being said? 

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Section 4: Resource/Task

This 2 page flyer was one output by a project called Real Good Teacher Guide, through Ako Aotearoa. You can find all the project information LINK here.

 

The flyer states effective feedback answers 3 questions: 

• Feed up — Where am I going? (the goals) 
• Feed back — How am I going? 
• Feed forward — Where to next? 

 

file:///C:/Users/97279/Downloads/Feedback.pdf 

Think about the feedback you have given – do you feed up, back and forward? Which direction did you do? 

Think about how to change the feedback you have given to include all three directions – how would you do that? 

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SUBMISSION ACTIVITY

Personalised Infographic: Create a infographic for your future reference.

Consider the purpose of feedback, and how to feed up, back and forward. Reflect on some of the strategies in the resources, or how you could create a feedback culture with the students so they receive feedback to develop. Search feedback infographic and click images to give you ideas on words, layout, format.
If you can't create an infographic, choose one that supports you best. 

Once you have created this infographic, submit it for your manager to view your learning and your goals to provide effective, constructive feedback that students will learn and develop from. 

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Learning Outcomes:

• To develop the micro-skill of giving instructions. 
• To explore the concept of task design 
• To gain practice in designing and improving tasks 
• To explore the utilisation of two tools for delivery of content 

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Section 1: Task Design

Before you read this article consider these statements by imaginary students. Have you ever felt like this, said this or hear this from other students? 

• "I don't know what the point of the activity was. It was a waste of time." 
• "Everyone was surprised at the result of the task. No one could expect that we would achieve what we did." 
• "There didn't seem to be a reason for learning that stuff." 
• "We copied the teacher, did the same thing. I felt like a robot." 
• "We had to make another object. I would rather spend time learning how to make last week's object better." 
• "We just did the task, we knew the result. The teacher said do it, so we did." 
• "I can do it in class when the teacher is there. But I can't do it at home." 
• "The teacher was confused with the instructions. We had to stop halfway through to hear the change of information. So annoying." 
• "I still don't understand how to do it. I mean I did the task but don't ask me to do it again." 
• "What do I do with all these handouts?" I get about 10 a day." 

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Quickly read over this article and match the statements above to the 5 steps. 

5 Steps to Design Kick-Ass Tasks for Your Students | by David Weller 

The article is about language teaching, but the steps can relate to most subjects. How can you adapt that statements to the subject and content you teach? 

 

Answers

Your tasks should support your aims	"There didn't seem to be a reason for learning that stuff."  "I don't know what the point of the activity was. It was a waste of time."
Your tasks need a gap	"We just did the task, we knew the result. The teacher said do it, so we did."  "We copied the teacher, did the same thing. I felt like a robot."
Your tasks should build confidence and encourage creativity	"I still don't understand how to do it. I mean I did the task but don't ask me to do it again."  "I can do it in class when the teacher is there. But I can't do it at home."
Your tasks should try to exploit your materials	"What do I do with all these handouts?" I get about 10 a day."  "We had to make another object. I would rather spend time learning how to make last week's object better."
You should "mentally rehearse" your tasks.	"The teacher was confused with the instructions. We had to stop halfway through to hear the change of information. So annoying."  "Everyone was surprised at the result of the task. No one could expect that we would achieve what we did."

 

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Task Design is the concept of planning and preparing (i.e. designing) an activity such as a reading or writing, a project, an exercise, an assessment, (i.e. a task) so that it is worth doing. When designing a task, an educator needs to take in to consideration the following points before planning the steps, instructions and preparing the material. 

• Does it achieve the learning outcome(s) 
• Is it engaging. motivating, challenging? 
• Is it reflective of a real world task? Is it realistic? 
• Is it differentiated? 
• Is it exploitable, extendable, adaptable? 
• Can it be achieved in a reasonable timeframe? 

 

 

Look at the following tasks and decide is it a good task or bad task? What makes it good or bad? How can you adapt the task so that it is better? 

1. Students repeat after the teacher 20 different te reo Māori and the English translations to learn.  
2. The teacher shows a model bird feeder in hard tech and all the students make the exact same one. 
3. Students design an app introducing new students to the school.  
4. In groups students plan out a business to sell their product at a student Market day.  
5. The school decides on new form/house names and colours. Asks the design students to make a logo for each.  
6. Students are given ingredients and told to cook something for the staffroom. 
7. Students watch a film. 
8. Students do the beep test, then plan out a 3 month fitness programme in preparation for the next beep test. 
9. Students are given a musical score and told to practise it. 
10. Students are given the topic "Nature and me." And told to produce a portfolio of work consisting of 5 pieces, in 3 different forms and of 2 different sizes. 

 

For further information. As always consider what is being said and adapt for the context, the subject, and pedagogy you have. 

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1. AUT bookshelf: This module book is designed to introduce you to "some fundamental principles of curriculum design, including constructive alignment, approaches to student learning and how to design learner-focused rather than content-driven teaching." Take a read. 

2. More on the bookshelf: Teaching for Learning. Assessing Learning. Designing Feedback. Evaluating your teaching. Read here. 

3. University of Tasmania: This website has information, resources, examples and much more on task and assessment design. Take a specific look in the section Learning Activities and Delivery mode. 

4. For a longer more academic read, try this one. Read here.

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Section 2: Instructions

Watch this video: how do you think the ubereats driver is feeling? What would have helped the ubereats driver more? 

Did you manage to watch to the end? He was clearly frustrated because he was sent to do a task and he lacked the instructions which would have helped him be successful. So he failed, wasted time, possibly could have been "punished" for being unsuccessful. In order for him to be successful and achieve the task of delivering the food order, he just needed clear instructions on what to do. If he knew where the elevator was, what floor to go to, how many lefts and rights to turn, how many doors to pass to get to the goal, he would have been out of there, and not posted this video on Youtube! It's like he was given this map!

Instructions are important in order for students to achieve the goal. Giving instructions is a micro teaching skill that you can't ignore.  

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KISS your Instructions

(KISS — Keep Instructions Short & Simple)  

• Eyes>ears i.e. model the task if necessary 
• Task before text — instructions before the task 
• Language of Imperatives i.e. do this, then this, then this. If students don't know what to do then they won't do what they should do. 
• Break the instructions down — how many instructions do the students need to do the task, when do they need to know the instructions for the next step — before starting or ending the first task? 
• Check for understanding key aspects not memory i.e. Not Do you understand? How many X do you need? Try to instruction check where the answer is No — it is easier to say yes, than no. 
• Pause and wait — wait before giving instructions, wait to let those instructions sink in, monitor for understanding or confusion. It's not a primary school, the students are still adults, however, instructions are key to the task, and it is only polite that students listen when instructions are said. 
• Have the instructions written down for students to refer to. Some students are very visual and it is easier to process the written word rather than the spoken word. 

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Quiz activity 

Look at the following pieces of advice. Are they T – good advice, or F – advice you don't want to take? 

Use polite language so students don't get offended.	F — polite language adds words and gets complex. Would you mind possibly if you could write the answers to the following questions. Furthermore if you wouldn't mind speaking with your partner before you write the answers that would support you immensely please?  Student says "Huh?
Use simple language so that the instructions are clear.	T — simple does not necessarily mean childish.
Demonstrations are boring and waste student's time.	F — demonstrations of instructions are essential for the visual students.
Demonstrations support students understanding what to do.	T — demonstrations enable students to see what is expected.
Checking instructions shows students I don't believe they get it.	F — if you checked everything within the instructions, you are just repeating instructions. Checking key points of the instructions, supports student's time to process what they need to do.
Checking key aspects of instructions supports students	T — the key words here are key aspects. Don't ask "Do you understand?" Or "Do you know what to do?". People usually say yes, as they don't want to feel embarrassed that they don't understand.
Give handouts to students before instructions.	F — Students will immediately start reading. Usually when eyes are down, ears are off. Wherever possible, have students attention on you for instructions, especially key ones. However these are adults and can read and listen, so flexibility is key here.
Instructions first before handouts, video, slides.	T — follow the Task before Text rule. Students need to know what the task (I.e. instructions) is before what the text (I.e. handout, video, slides, tools, activity) is. Instructions sets the purpose for the task.
For complex instructions do them all at once.	F — if there are many instructions, students will forget some. Break the task into stages and do the instructions for each of them.
Once instructions have finished, students should start straight away.	F — students are still processing the instructions and gaining confidence of motivation to start the task. Give them at least 15 seconds before they get started. After 30 seconds you can usually tell if students have got instructions or not. Remember a teaching second is shorter than a learning second.
It's a waste of time having instructions written.	F — Many students struggle to process verbal instructions. Having them written allows students to understand quicker.  pick up on aspects they have missed, or refer back to them when needed. It will take time, but it's worth it. Perhaps for complex instructions just bullet point them.
Written instructions support students	T — it allows students to process what need to be done.  And it's really great to refer to when the task or the instructions are long.

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Section 3: Delivery 

There are many ways to deliver a lesson. Some are enjoyable, some are creative, some are exhausting and some just don't make sense. A lesson could be flipped, it could be online. It could be student-centred or teacher-centred. It could be considered a lecture, a tutorial, a workshop, a class or a fun time doing stuff. It could be completed planned down to every minutes and students walk lock-step through the tasks, or it could be free flowing across the hour, seemingly with no goal but cleverly designed that when students walk out, they feel they have learnt something.  

Whatever the lesson is there are techniques that you as a teacher can use to deliver it. 

Public speaking techniques 

Addressing the class is a skill. Holding their attention while you talk, engaging thought, asking questions and managing answers. Conveying, expanding and coordinating the display of information along with your spoken information. It's like a TED talk, but not as one-sided. 

Watch the below video for some thoughts on communication. What skills/techniques can you recognise in yourself? What techniques seem achievable in the next few months? 

The 110 techniques of communication and public speaking | David JP Phillips | TEDxZagreb 

 

Powerpoint ideas 

Students don't all learn from you or others speaking.  Consider the learning styles – VARK (visual, aural, kinesthetic, read/write). Which student just wants a task to do so they can show you what they can do?  

Which student could happily learn from a one hour spoken lecture? Which student makes notes in notebooks and on handouts? Which student would love you to just given them a book?  

Powerpoint (or another form of written presentation) is a tool, a resource to convey content. It is not the textbook to read later. It is not the workbook to practise skills. It supports the time when you need to speak and convey content. 

Watch the video below for some thoughts on communication using powerpoint. What aspects can you recognise in yourself? Is that a good recognition or bad? What aspects could you integrate in the next few months? 

Be aware: this is a generalised ideas rich video. Consider your students who have learning barriers and the effects some of the designs make cause even more barriers. So ask them, get feedback on what works for them. 

How to avoid death By PowerPoint | David JP Phillips | TEDxStockholmSalon 

Learning Outcomes:

• To explore what is motivation and the influences teachers have with student's motivation. 

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Motivation is defined by the Oxford dictionary as "the reason why somebody does something or behaves in a particular way".

Look at the two words: reason why. It does not cover the process of doing or behaving, nor does it define the goal or the result of doing or behaving. It focuses on the explanation for the action. 

There are a number of theories around the concept of motivation and an introduction to them can be found here: The role of motivation in learning — THE EDUCATION HUB. Read here. 

To put motivation ultra-simply — consider it divided in 2 forms: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic is the reasons coming from INSIDE the person, and extrinsic is contrasted by the EXTERNAL drivers to act. A quick summary is found here.

 

What does this mean for you the educator? 

Intrinsic motivation is basically out of your control as it is within the student. However understanding how to promote and develop a student's intrinsic motivation is within your control and should be a goal to set when teaching, so consider highlighting things for the student, guiding them on seeing their pleasure from doing an action.

Imagine your parent saying to you as a 14 year old "I noticed that you really enjoyed playing loud music when you cleaned your room. I think you must have had a good time and you were finished so quickly. I'm impressed with your method. I think I will do that for the washing." Yes the parent is an external force trying to change behaviour. However if you as a 14 year old thought, "Oh yeah I really enjoyed the singing and dancing. Mum/Dad didn't yell at me to turn my music down. I enjoyed the last 20 minutes" then this has developed the intrinsic motivation.  

Extrinsic motivation is within your control and you as a teacher is a main driver. Your choice on tasks, content, delivery all influence students' motivation. Your choice on the class environment such as very teacher centred or very student centred, or a balance of in between will build or damage students' motivation. Even the simplest action of you remembering the preferred name and pronoun of the student connects students to wanting to be in the class with you.

One of the biggest motivators students have is the qualification that leads to the real world, therefore connecting the real world to the classroom is important. Supporting students to see how the theory and the skills are relevant in industry, motivates students to practise the skills and theory. Remember when you studied high school maths and did those equations where you just rote learnt the how to do, rather than the why to do. Bet you look back and wonder why you had to do it, cos you never use that concept now. And bet you say once or twice a year "gosh I wish I remember how to do x from school. I need that skill now." Why are you in this position? What could have changed back then? 

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Activity 1:

Have a look at this graphic.

(www.teachthought.com)

 

What do the messages mean to you as a teacher? What would happen if someone said them to you as a student? 

• Choose 5 that you would like to say to students. 
• Choose 5 that you would like to have said to you. 
• Adapt 5 so that they feel more comfortable to say. 

 

Challenge — say them and reflect on the response they create.

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Six Ingredients that Motivate Our Learners to Engage  — Corwin Connect

Ideas on how to get motivation happening that is not just ra-ra-raing student — love the idea of the previous class demonstrating aspects that need to be developed — using student voice rather than just teacher's voice/knowledge.

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Activity 2:

Knowing a Learner Context. 

Watch the below video. It is about the Post-grad cert in Tertiary Teaching and Learning, which is a qualification that is at level 7, where the NZCATT is level 4 and 5. 

Consider the following: 

• Learner context: How does this motivate a student? How does knowing a learner context support you to support the student? Have you had an experience where clarity of a student's context has helped you change your teaching? Reflect – Why? How? What would happen if you had understanding of every individual within the classroom? 
• Learner efficacy: How do you support a learner's efficacy? Why is it important that you, the teacher, support the students efficacy? 
• Self-assessment: What do you think is the connection between having clear self-assessment skills and motivation? What can support students to gain better self-assessment skills? Does self-assessment on your teaching develop motivation within your teaching skillset? Yes – why/how? No – why not/what can change here? 
• The qualification: What aspect of this qualification sounds interesting? What would motivate you to do this programme? What's stopping you? Label those drivers and barriers. Who has control of those drivers and barriers? Now find solutions (no matter how wild) to those barriers.  

 

Learning and learner in context  (PGCert Tertiary Teaching and Learning) | Massey University