accelerated learning
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Accelerated learningTRANSCRIPT
ACCELERATED LEARNING
How can you learn most effectively?
~Or
Learning how to learn
THE BIG PICTURE
Physical and
emotional state
environment
Relationships
Accessible and
inclusive
Breaks and revie
w
Variety and
challenge
PREPARE TO LEARN
Relax
The correct diet
Hydrate
Temperature
Oxygen and light levels
Reduce stress
Motivate
Sleep
RELAXATION
Basic meditation techniques can be learned. A
simple focus on breathing, in through the nose out
through the mouth is good. A visualisation of an
activity or environment that makes you happy, that
can be recalled prior to learning or assessment,
DIET
Vitamins A/B/C/E help to make you alert, improve vision,
improve memory and help support proper brain function.
Avoid starch, sugar and caffeine.
Never miss breakfast.
Eat regularly throughout the day.
HYDRATION
Hydration helps to maintain optimum brain
functioning.
Always explain the benefits of water.
Allow/encourage use of water bottles. This will
also minimise interruptions.
TEMPERATURE
Have a thermometer in your room, this will allow you to maintain
an optimum temperature that is not too hot and not too cold.
OXYGEN AND LIGHT LEVELS
Open your windows.
Keep plants in your room, they also filter out harmful gasses
from computers.
Allow as much natural light as possible, avoid fluorescent
lighting if at all possible.
REDUCE STRESS
Acknowledge the presence and importance of
stress to your students.
Use music to relax your students.
Use basic meditation techniques.
Have plants in your room.
MOTIVATION
The most effective motivation is intrinsic not
extrinsic.
Establish “what’s in it for me”. Allow students
to set their own learning goals. Use SMART
targets.
SLEEP
Sleep helps you to remember what you have learnt during the day.
Remember, the hours before midnight are more important than after!
ROOM TO LEARN
Your class room should be a multisensory environment.
Displays are an essential part of this.
They should include :
Students work, including examples of different abilities.
Work to illustrate assessment objectives.
Motivational posters.
Key words of the topics.
MUSIC TO AID LEARNING
Its not just baroque music that helps.
Remember, most students will listen to music at
home while studying.
Some even find silence unsettling!
MUSIC TO AID LEARNING-PLAN IT, DON’T JUST PLAY IT!
Upbeat positive music at the start of the class.
Music linked to the topic of study.
Use relaxing background music (60 beats per
minute) to aid learning.
Use dramatic music to conclude a lesson.
CREATE A SUPPORTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT.
Ensure there are clear class room rules, and clear sanctions
negotiated by the students. Focus on helping others to learn.
Allow students to express what they expect from their teacher.
Keep expectations high and linked with ability. Allow, even
encourage mistakes. Listen to everyone's views and do not allow
personal put downs. Give frequent praise and don’t always try
and be right.
TEACHING STRATEGIES.
Starting a lesson
Structuring a lesson
Questioning
Use variation in your teaching style
Explaining and introducing tasks
Setting tasks
Show them what they have learned.
Review
Homework
STARTING A LESSON
Arrive before the students.
Greet each student
Insist students enter quietly and settle quickly
Consider using music to set the tone of the lesson.
Ensure equipment and hand-outs are already on
desks.
Engage students interests with a starter or warm
up activity.
Part 1: put the
learning in context.
Review learning from
previous lesson.
Relate learning to
syllabus
Make learning outcomes
clear.
STRUCTURING A LESSON
Part 2: Starter
A short activity that
engages the students
interest – a
prop/story/exciting
stimulus.
Try to put prior
knowledge in context.
Prepare for main task.
Part 3: Main teaching and
learning.
Students should be engaged for
75% of the lesson.
Act as facilitator, don’t talk for
too long.
Learning should be multi-sensory
and engage different learning
styles.
Works should be differentiated,
challenging and broken into
achievable chunks.
STRUCTURING A LESSON
Part 4: Plenary
An opportunity to
review learning.
A chance to reflect on
the main learning.
Careful questioning.
Q U E S T I O N I N G
Pitch language and content at an appropriate level
Ask open and closed questions
Prompt and give clues
Allow thinking time
Invite answers
Wait before commenting
Allow students to devise their own questions
USEVARIATION IN YOUR
TEACHING STYLE
A greater variety in teaching styles is more
effective for learning and stimulates interest and
motivation, Use the check list provided to reflect on
your teaching styles.
E X P L AI N I N G AN D I N T R O D U C I N G TAS K S
Give the tasks verbally and in writing.
Make sure everyone understands the
assessment criteria.
Carefully differentiate all tasks.
Break up all new information into chunks
Give a time frame.
SET TING AND MANAGING TASKS
Offer a choice in the task or the way the results are
presented.
Include a variety of task to appeal to different types
of learner.
Allow plenty of opportunity for
individual/group/pair work.
Circulate widely.
Do not insist on silence as long as they are focused
on the task.
Maximise the time spent on carrying out and
reflecting on the task.
SHOW THEM WHAT THEY HAVE LEARNED
Checking answers.
Reading out responses.
Presentations to the class.
Completion.
REVIEW
Students need plenty of opportunities to review what
they have learned. This could take place in the
plenary.
Writing out summary points
Drawing a mind map of a lesson
Naming the most important thing they learned.
Preparing flash cards or summary diagrams.
Effective:Used to extend learning
Builds on what is learnt
in the lesson
Takes advantage of
students home lives
Is enjoyable
HOMEWORK
Ineffective: Finishing of work done
in lessons.
Optional
Give to specific students,
eg those who did not
complete work in class.
DIFFERENT LEARNING STYLES
Auditory
Kinaesthetic
Visual
CharacteristicsListen to music when relaxing
Prefer to talk on the phone
Eager to talk
Forget faces but remember
names
Talk when inactive
Outburst when angry
Don’t like reading books or
manuals
AUDITORY
Learning ActivitiesHearing a presentation
Reading aloud
Making a tape to listen to
Verbal summaries
Explaining to another student
Internal verbalisations
Practice saying words before
writing
CharacteristicsPlay games or sport to relax
Prefer to talk while doing
something else
Slow talkers, using gestures
and expressions
Fidget when inactive
When angry they clench fists,
grit teeth and storm off.
KINAESTHETIC
Learning ActivitiesCopy demonstrations
Make models
Record information as they hear
it, preferably as a mind map
Walk around as they read
Underline/highlight new
information
Use index cards for key points
CharacteristicsPrefer to watch a film or TV or read
a book to relax
Prefer to talk face-to-face
Fast talkers, don’t enjoy listening
Forget names but remember faces
When inactive they doodle or watch
something or someone
When angry they remain silent and
seethe
VISUAL
Learning ActivitiesWrite down key facts or
draw a mind map
Visualise
Create pictures or diagrams
Use time lines for
remembering dates
Create strong visual links