Embedded Files
Hoplites - Hop to it!
Hoplites - Hop to it!
Shelley Woodland, English - August 31st, 2018
This term Year 11 Ancient History students have been engaging with Greek military strategy, ideating how they could train young warriors.
Within this project, students all took on different roles. Some creating weaponry like chest plates, shields, spears and greaves, whilst the rest of the class learnt battle strategy. They say this was no easy task, “We had no idea how to execute the phalanx and it was hard to research. We had to get a few different researchers working on it” With all its challenges, this was clearly a process that inspired a great deal of fun. “It was so funny teaching our class to do the battle formations” observed one student. “It was great to use our creative side and interact with the class”.
Their in class battle drills will soon move into a public arena, where they will train a Year 7 class in Ancient Greek warfare techniques.
Mrs Knight is often inspired to find hands on ways to bring her subject to life. She says she has loved watching her class laughing together as they discuss how to create their weapons and drills.
Keep an eye out for them at Expo@UHS on Thursday 6th September - they’ll be marching into the quad to show our guests what they’re made of!
Project Spotlight:
Project Spotlight:
Can a little shirt make a big change?
Can a little shirt make a big change?
Shelley Woodland, English - August 31st, 2018
Earlier this year, Year 8 HUB students started questioning the equality surrounding trade and consumption. Is it fair that Nike shoes are sold for $100+ when the people making them struggle to earn a living wage? And why are we still purchasing palm oil based products when the damage is so prevalent?
As part of our deeper learning HUB, students’ designed logos advocating their chosen issue. They used their scientific skills to experiment with sustainable dyes, like turmeric and beetroot. Once they’d refined their magic mixture, logos were screen printed onto shirts resulting in some amazing creations! Our students loved the hands on nature of this project, and the way core subjects weaved together in a real way.
“I like it because instead of doing a writing project, it was more learning about it and then putting it all into your design” commented one student. The actual creating of the shirts, dying and screen printing logos, was by far the most popular element of the project. This was also the moment we saw teams really band together, helping each other get things just right.
This project was inspired by a workshop one of our teachers, Gemma Schrederis, took part in. She had the chance to use sustainable dyes to make silk scarves over the holidays and couldn’t help thinking how much our students would enjoy it!
Entry Events - Building the Hype
Entry Events - Building the Hype
Shelley Woodland, English - August 21st, 2018
An entry event is designed to get students excited about their learning, and the excitement can start long before the event itself. Delivering teasers and cryptic clues before a project commences can generate buzz amongst your students and make them more receptive to the project once it finally arrives.
Here are a three simple ideas to get you started:
- Create a simple ‘coming soon’ sign where your product will eventually be curated.
This will not only get your students talking, but the rest of the community who walks by. Once students are ‘in the know’ on the project, they can even take over and update the sign with teasers of their own.
- Guerrilla Advertising
Get creative in the way you promote your project. In a project about mosquito eradication, pictures of mosquitos and the slogan “what’s the buzz?” were written on windows. It had students guessing in the days leading up to the Entry Event.
- Digital Promotion
Posting photos, clues or even short clips on your class communication page can get students thinking. This could be you setting up your resources for the entry event. One past project involved filming envelopes being sealed with wax. The enigma of such posts should be enough to get students asking questions, and one step closer to buying into the project without even realising it.
A reflection on student reflection
A reflection on student reflection
Sarah Hunt, HSIE - August 27, 2017
How students learn, the way students learn is key to understanding what students learn. As a teacher I am often challenged by the question ‘how do you know’? How do I know what my students have learnt? How do they know what they have learnt?
Dylan Wiliams, a front runner in proactive teaching, posits 5 key strategies of formative assessment (see below), and while this is not a new strategy to the teaching profession (it has been in existence in one form or another since Socrates himself!), it is a truly transformational tool to progress student learning forward.
And self-reflection is a key aspect in transforming that learning.
As I learn to authentically embed formative assessment in my own classroom, I have witnessed the power of student reflection as key to moving their understanding forward, as a transformative process in their own learning journey.
Project Based Learning is a constant process of drafting, critiquing and reflecting which has helped both my students and me ‘know’ what they have learnt.
So for my 5 top tips for slipping in five minutes of effective reflective learning see below!:
1. Prioritise it
1. Prioritise it
Often we feel so pushed for time, to cover the content. Yet, students who have the opportunity to reflect on what they have learnt, where they succeeded, and where they need to focus to improve have a better chance at actually doing so.
2. Model it
2. Model it
Being self-reflective is not an innate ability, like all skills it needs to be taught, explicitly, and practised often.
3. Scaffold it
3. Scaffold it
Similar to modelling, I have found (particularly early on) that my students need structure to help them reflect. Whether you get tech-savvy and create a google form, stick with the basics and write it on the whiteboard or like to colour it up with a rainbow sheet (see below), scaffolding is essential to effective reflection.
4. Revisit it
4. Revisit it
Reflection is only effective if it is used to inform. Recently I have taken to embedding structured reflection weekly into our PBLs. Students need to revisit their previous reflections, gain feedback from their team members and use this to form their ‘intentions’ for the coming week.
5. Celebrate it
5. Celebrate it
While I am working on becoming paper-free, I still LOVE a good butcher’s paper display on the classroom wall. Our PBL wall is often littered with coloured reflections, gallery walk critiques and student intentions. It really sets the tone by giving ‘airtime’ to reflective learning practices.
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Self-reflection is KEY to activating students as owners of their own learning - a skill that will serve them long after the content seems irrelevant.
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