A little light relief

Hi fellow Learning Support bloggers,

Here is a holiday/term time experiment. The idea is to find something that motivates you, ask yourself why and set a target along the same or similar lines. The target can be anything to do with work or leisure.

Here is what to do. Let me know what you think or how you get on.

Motivation tables

In the first table, for each word, simply write down anything which makes you feel this. Don’t set a target which makes you feel like this!

In the second table there are two blank columns – in the first blank column, for each word, write an activity that makes you feel this. In the second column write down why it makes you feel this.


Table 1 provide situation for Type of Feeling

– indifferent
- bored
– having lack of energy
- having lack of drive
– impassive
- docile
- uncommitted
- inert
- listless


Table 2

Provide an activity to go with the energy word and a reason why it makes you feel good

Activity + Reason

vigorous (example) Taking excercise Reason: Blood flows and brain works well

active (example) Photography Reason: I'm concentrating and making something

alive

animated

dynamic

forceful (example) Overcoming an obstacle Reason: I feel in control

high powered

lively

high spirited



Making Motivational Targets

Working from the second column in the second table (Reason), write short term SMART targets which make you feel the same as this reason in column 2. The targets could be for anything, including Leisure, Work or Study, as long as they make you feel that feeling e.g.
Blood flows and brain works well - I will continue to exercise with Soulla every Thursday and walk to work at least 2X a week
I’m concentrating and making something – I will make a grammar PowerPoint on adverbs and adjectives before next Tuesday
I feel in control – I will tidy my desk at Wembley so that there is nothing on it – all filed away or thrown away by 3.0 today

NB My examples were taken from a list of jobs to do at College. Why not make yours about the holidays?

SMART = Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound
Here are some ideas to help you choose an area for target setting:

Health and Fitness; Planning a Holiday; Having Time to Oneself; Work; House Keeping; Keeping the Place Tidy

HAVE A NICE HOLIDAY!

Ken

Blog on bloggers!

Hi blog members,
You can now be aware when a new post comes up on the Learning Support blog. You will get an email to let you know. If for any reason you would rather not make use of this facility just let me know.
Thanks to George Sharp for her help and patience in showing me the ropes of how to do this!

We can also set it up so that everyone gets an email whenever someone makes a comment. What do you think?

Ken

Jane Dupree's training day

It was good to get back into the classroom last week as a consumer and not a provider. Jane took us through the models of reading development and explained decoding skills. I also learnt a new readability formula. Created by Edward Fry. It was easier to apply than SMOG. She then went on to discuss comprehension and we looked at different levels of questionning using Bloom's Taxonomy.

Memory skills formed the next topic. We considered techniques for developing memory. The ones that I remember best are the 'Number Peg rhyming system' and 'Sequencing a story'. Perhaps I remember them best because we practised examples of these.

To conclude, we did some mind mapping. I have read about these and I have seen many examples and even played with the computer version. However, there was nothing like having it explained particularly since I had blurred the distinction between mind maps and spider diagrams. We were then given a piece of written information to represent as a mind map.

Overall, I found the day very worthwhile. It was interesting and practical and has armed me with strategies to use when developing students' reading and memory skills.

Functional Skills Round Up

I recently attended a course at the Centre for Staff Development in Brentfield Road. It is always stimulating to get out and meet teachers from schools and other Colleges. This was no exception.
I thoroughly enjoyed this glimpse into the very near future.
What is new about Functional Skills? How to are they different from Key Skills? What will be the impact for our students and us as teachers?
Their aim is to be more integrated, even than Key Skills. As you may guess from the name "Functional" the emphasis is on skills that all of us need or will need to be effective and make progress in work. In Key Skills everything had to be "fit for purpose" - this fitness is now tightened up to imply a little more. The buzz words now are no longer "underpinning Skills" - instead students are going to "build", "apply" and "master." Mastery means that the student can apply the skill in an appropriate setting without the need for futher instruction.
Each Functional Skill is to be a free standing qualification: English, Mathematics and ICT. There will be exams as well as Folders, and the exams will not rely on mulitiple choice.
As The Functional Skills take hold in the next couple of years, they will be found across the entire curriculum. For example a student doing GCSE English in 2011/12 will be expected to Functional Skills as part of their GCSE. How awarding bodies and Centres will deal with this issue remains to be seen.
To sum up, Functional Skills aim to create independent learners. An independent learner can be defined as someone who has the ability to:

• integrate prior and new knowledge
• acquire and use a range of learning skills
• make appropriate choices about learning strategies
• cope creatively with the unfamiliar and unexpected
• solve problems individually and in groups
• learn from their successes and failures
• accept that learning involves uncertainty and difficulty

By applying the above criteria to the lessons we plan and the support that we give, from now, we will be effectively predicting the onset of Functional Skills.

Maiden Voyage!

At last I am in, here's to plain sailing from now on......!

Here we go again!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7828121.stm

It never ceases to amaze me that every so often someone decides that dyslexia does not exist. In this case it is an MP whose constituency includes Strangeways Prison. He observes that 80% of the inmates are illiterate. I believe he thinks that this is a result of poor teaching and not a consequence of a learning difficulty such as dylexia.

I'd be interested in any comments on the matters from fellow practitioners.

Thanks to fellow bloggers

Hi all

Just starting here. Thanks to Ken and Nick for setting the blog rolling. Cheers Jo