The ultimate goal of the 'Gradual release of responsibility model' is to create a student who:
owns their learning
is a self-directed learner
is an independent and interdependent rather than dependent learner
can apply their learning in a variety of situations
Links to online resources:
In this post Skills and Drills, I explore the idea that, in order to play ‘the match’ – an analogy for a complex area of learning – students need to balance learning component skills and engaging in match=play, putting the skills to use in context. The essence of this is the idea of practice. Increasingly I feel that teachers should devote more time and energy to this and also make the need for practice a much more explicit feature of their mental model for how learning happens.
A review of all of the Rosenshine's strategies and how teachers move through the phases of practice, moving into the Independent practice phase.
Independent practice is also known as the “you do” component of an explicitly taught lesson. Independent practice provides an opportunity for students to practise the skills or concepts from the lesson. Its purpose is to increase students’ fluency, enabling for a more automatic recall of the skills that have been learnt as well as freeing up space in working memory so that higher-order tasks can be applied. Independent practice should be meaningful and directly link to the key concepts and learning intentions of the lesson. Students should be able to complete independent practice tasks with a minimum of teacher assistance. During this component of teaching however, teachers should still check for student understanding and provide effective feedback.
6 minute read - Rosenshine's principles
For his 9th principle, Rosenshine states that teachers should not only make independent practice a mandatory part of their lessons – they should monitor students’ practice as well. This is so the knowledge and skills that students acquire becomes automatic to them and memory recall is easier.
Teach like a champion
Technique 11: Affirmative checking
Teach like a champion
Technique 27: Change the pace
Podcasts:
This episode sees us mulling over the hot topic of independent learners; what do they look like, how we achieve it and how we see this moving forward from Covid-19 and school closures.
We are joined by a returning guest Sam Bury and Vicki Homes (Head of Biology) who have been working on a project exploring this very topic.
We hope you enjoy it and let us know what you think.
To Learn, students need to do something.
In this podcast, Jen Gonzales explores the classic lesson plan format.
How can we ensure that the learning will stick?
ERRR #082: Creating independent learners.
In this episode we focus on this framework, with Kelly providing phenomenal and practical advice on how to help students to become more effective learners, and sharing insights on how to create a whole-school approach to achieving this goal!
SWPBS ELTP strategy: Active supervision.
Professional reading - Active Supervision: Preventing Behavioral Problems Before They Occur