Here are ten creative ways to encourage knowledge retention in your learners:
1 – Ditch worksheets and PowerPoint. I know there are some amazing examples of these being used and for many they are an essential part of the teach armoury, but just see if you can manage without for one day. There are a mass of different, and much more effective, presentation tools out there, such as Haiku Deck, Pow Toon and even Prezi for those of you who don’t suffer from motion sickness. If you cling to worksheets like Rose clings to that door in Titanic, you perhaps need a rethink about how your learners record information in your lessons and how they can utilise it later. You could try setting up a Padlet wall, which they can access through QR codes, or even having a classroom reshuffle to create a working wall which can be accessed next lesson. See here for more info.
2 – In the spirit of point one I would encourage you to indulge in a spot of harmless vandalism. Chalk comes off the floor, and board pens wipe off computer screens, tables and windows. Actually students pretty much like writing on anything they are not supposed to. Try chalk on the playground and outside walls, if you have permission look into more permanent Graffiti, or maybe write on T-shirts or swatches of fabric that you can then stitch (or glue) together to make parachute to use later. Take advantage of the impish nature of many young people and this will really result in engaged students.
3 – If you have a lot of key individual to learn, authors, theorists or scientists – why not make finger puppets of them and work out what they would say to each other in conversation. My sixth formers loved doing this, and made efforts so that their puppets looked like the real people. They are much more likely to remember them knowing what they look like and having spent time writing dialogue in role as them.
4 – Collaborative work in groups is great for instilling knowledge. In particular my students find working with images and text very helpful to produce group resources when working together. I have set tasks based on image response work, where they then filled in the theoretical detail around the images. They had a creative response to the images and then had control over how they chose to present them, which in turn became a mnemonic trigger for the detailed theory that accompanied the pictures on their posters. This works especially well if you use Aurasma app, and create AR with the poster as the trigger image, that takes you to the embedded media showing the students discussing their own work and creative process. Be brave and give this a go, I promise it’s dead easy and I have seen some amazing examples of infant school children producing augmented reality.
5 – This is very old school but going the extra mile to get guest speakers into your school is so worth the extra effort. You could sign up for the ‘Speakers for Schools’ campaign, or just email them yourself. I am delighted to be having a really high profile Sociologist into college in the next few weeks, and we are making arrangements to Google Hangout with another. Distance is no longer the problem it used to be, and you could Skype or GHO with a minimum of technological fuss. Its something the kids will never forget and can really engage them in their academic work. – In our school we call it ‘ask an expert’ so the children can think of what they really want to know to help further their learning or understanding of a subject or area and prepare for the visit, examples are dentists for teeth, mums and babies for ‘all about me’ topics, doctors for science, and so on.
6 – Don’t forget to say well done. I firmly believe that learning should be its own reward. However, a well timed and sincere ‘Thank You’ can do wonders for students. About twice a year I send home a ‘Star” postcard where I reward effort on the part of the student. Another nice way of doing this is to send digital badges, I like Credly website. as the students can design the badges themselves and consequently see the merit in receiving them. I am planning to send badges for Resilience, Collaborative work, Peer Teaching, Creative Thinking and original ideas. A lot of educators are doing this already, and I feel that rewarding positive learner characteristics will reinforce the importance of taking responsibility for their own learning.
7 – Don’t underestimate the importance of student putting things in their own words, writing out information and proof reading it. Literacy skills are key to so many jobs, and if they just take a photo of the board or their work they are not going to have the chance to process the information for themselves. I would advocate allowing them time to write up anything they need to, as well as proof it, and then give them time to develop ideas and opinions of their own using this information. Similarly when sharing objectives, encourage learners to add an extra objective, which is specifically personal to them. When you check at the end of a lesson if objectives have been met, they can then also take pride in their own personal progress that lesson.
8 – If you have a learner who is struggling to retain key information I have found buddying them up with either an older student or competent class mate can do wonders. My student mentors meet with their peer tutees once a week for an hour of discussion and revision. Start this as early in the year as possible so that it becomes a working habit. Remember for my mentors this is also helping their revision, and for older students can be used on their UCAS reference for example, which is particularly useful for getting into competitive courses such as teaching.
9 – I know I’m an advocate of lesson intro music, play, games and so on, all of which can be pretty noisy. I am also a staunch advocate of the power of silence and students being able to work and read independently. It is a powerful thing to see learners really engaged in independent work, immersed in their own learning. Make sure you have the tools they will need to hand – basics such as highlighters, pens to take notes and a stern teacher look for anyone who tried to put in headphones. This is a bit like training for a marathon. You need to build up the time they spend in silence over a period of time. And most importantly silence is not a punishment, it is a glorious opportunity to become immersed in learning. My AS class can now read in total silence for about 20 minutes. Its lovely. My A2 class by the end of last year could manage an hour. Encourage note taking in the margin of the page, and make sure you have an awesome activity to consolidate what they have learnt.
10 – This year I inherited something I have never had to deal with before. A class of 6 boys who hardly talk at all. It is very tricky to build positive teacher and student relationships with individuals who are reluctant to talk. I have found a way in, the particularly tricky 8.30am class now always starts with me making them a cup of tea. It’s been miraculous, all of a sudden they have started taking, sharing ideas and learning together rather than in silence. We are comfortable as a group and I thank tea for its magic powers. I think what I am saying here is if learning is happening the way you would like it to, then think about why that might be and try and fix it.
So there you are, some of they ways I encourage my class to learn. If you have any more to share I would really like to hear about it.