Task 5 - Starting points

These task sheets cover eight exemplar themes which represent starting points for development. Each has room for you to add your own ideas. The themes inevitably overlap, and you may wish to combine parts from two or more of the grids or to develop a theme of your own. Use a copy of the template to record your ideas.

Photo of teenage boys in clasroom with male teacher talking at board

Themes covered here

5A Encouraging independence and responsibility for learning
5B Personalising learning
5C Developing collaborative group work
5D Improving motivation to learn
5E Making language learning more relevant to a wider range of learners
5F Motivating boys
5G Improving reading skills
5H Applying Assessment is for Learning principles

A further two themes are included in Unit 6: Citizenship (Valuing diversity) and Developing curriculum and community links.

All the starting points can be viewed as PDF files or downloaded as customisable Word documents.

The tasks

In each version of Task sheet 5:

the main heading indicates a goal you might want to aim for
the first column indicates some of the more detailed points that might be involved in working towards that goal
the second column will serve for your rough notes - and these will later feed into your Action Plan.

Step 1

Choose a theme which seems particularly relevant to your target class or group.

Step 2

The first column lists some of the steps you could take. Highlight those steps that seem most doable and consider/discuss how they could be implemented in the context of your target group. Add any other ideas that occur to you.

Step 3

Decide on a limited number of activities which you feel could realistically be carried out by you or you and your support colleague(s). Note these in the second column. Don’t try to do too much all at once. Even a small improvement can make a significant difference to motivation and achievement. Once you and the learners have experienced success you can develop further ideas. (You may find that some suggestions in the first column lead naturally to other grids. In this case you may wish to consider them together.)

Step 4

After looking at a few grids you may wish to identify a theme of your own, based on a combination of starting points or on the particular needs of your class or group. Use a copy of the template to develop your ideas.

Step 5

Once the brainstorming work has been done, transfer your thoughts to a copy of the Action Plan. This will be particularly useful if you are using an amalgam of starting points or have developed your own area of interest.

PDF file: Maximising Potential - Unit 5 - Task sheet 5A - Encouraging independence and responsibility for learning (31 KB)