Independent Learning
Research is telling us If you become an independent learner you can begin to:
Improve the standard of the work that you produce
Feel more confident
Become more creative
Create more opportunities for yourself now and in the future
In order to become an independent learner you should:
How will i know i am becoming an independent learner?
You may get 'eureka' moments when you understand something and then you want to find out more about it so you do!
You plan ahead yourself. You know which homeworks need to be completed and for when. You fill in your planner with all the necessary information you need to complete a homework well. You tick tasks off when they are completed.
You adopt a growth mindset and use the 4Bs in the correct order: Brain, Book, Buddy & Boss. Using some of these techniques below may help:
You are organised. You know where all your books are and you pack your bag the night before.
You keep and organise your revision work throughout the year so that you can use this work and activities again, retrieving and building upon them.
You try different methods of retrieval for your different subjects and you begin to problem solve - working out which methods help for the different ideas you are trying to understand and remember.
You begin to think for yourself more and show greater initiative in finding things out for yourself.
You give yourself goals and work out how to achieve them. You then take responsibility for making them happen.
some of the ways your teachers will help you to become independent learners
Ask you to respond to the feedback they give you
Ask you to read through your work so that you begin to think more critically about it
Encourage you to spot your own mistakes and correct misunderstanding
Ask you to mark your own work so you begin to understand your own progress
Encourage you to be curious and ask questions
Ask you open ended questions which you need to think about
Ask you to retrieve your learning from previous lessons
Ask you to solve problems
Show you how to do things
Show you how to work things out
Talk you through the steps involved in learning
Show you examples of excellent learning
Give you different methods to record your learning
Ask you lots of different questions to make you think
Encourage you to work collaboratively so you think about different perspectives
Give you choices
How are you progressing?
How many of the above do you do regularly?
To think about: the thinking skills
How does the independent learner prepare for their future? As you develop as an independent learner do you need to be thinking how you can be developing your thinking skills?
Other useful pages worth reading which will help you become more independent: