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Wellbeing

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These Google Forms turn video from passive to active learning

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For as long as I have been a teacher, I have been showing videos in class. While not a revolutionary idea, back when I first started I would show a video related to the lesson and hand out an accom...

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Dollar Street - photos as data to kill country stereotypes

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Imagine the world as a street. Everyone lives on Dollar Street. The poorest to the left and the richest on the right. Every else live somewhere in between. Where would you live? Visit Dollar Street and see homes from hundreds of homes from all over the World.

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Are you learning guitar and you feel yourself stuck in a rut? Did you practice to master your chords and scales, watched the best online guitar lessons, used guitar apps, but you feel that something misses? Well, one of the best investment that you can do in your guitar learning adventure is learning the fretboard

Guitar Fretboard Notes Tutorial

This page shows you how FaChords Fretboard Trainer works. If you want to learn the fretboard and understand guitar fretboard notes, jump to our guitar fretboard notes tutorial.

Often, we guitarists learn tons of chords and scales as fixed and immutable shapes, without the ability to adapt them to our needs. This exposes our sound to the risk of being a little boring and mechanic because basically, we play with static patterns. By learning the notes of the neck you'll be able to see the fretboard as a whole space full of different options and colors. Plus, with a bit of music theory knowledge, you'll be really able to express yourself on the instrument.

We already talked about all this stuff in our complete guitar fretboard notes tutorial. But for now, let's focus on helping you memorize all the fretboard notes.

Are you an adult student with family and kids? Don't you have time for a fixed schedule with a guitar teacher, but you feel the need for a structured, organized but fun practice?

Memorize Fretboard Notes with FaChords Fretboard Game

We could brag and say that using the FaChords guitar notes trainer is the best way to memorize the fretboard, but we prefer to let you check by yourself. In order to get the most out of this interactive guitar learning software, here's a quick intro:

Introducing the Fretboard Trainer

The Fretboard Trainer is a simple but really effective game that will challenge you in identify a given note on a random string.

For example, the tool will say " On which fret of the D string is located the note A?": your mission will be to select the correct fret (7th fret :-)

That's easy enough, isn't it? yes, but to make the things more interesting there is a countdown timer: you have 100 seconds to collect as many as possible right answers. If you are a registered user (free) your score will be recorded on the leaderboard.

How long does it take to memorize fretboard notes?

Every day I get a lot of emails from guitar players that use this game on a daily basis and it seems that the mean time required to memorize the whole fretboard is about 14 days, practicing 10/20 minutes a day (somebody uses this tool even at work, don't tell your boss!)

The guitar notes trainer can be used in two modes: the game mode and the easy mode.

Game mode: compete for the leaderboard

In the game mode, you'll be tested on the whole fretboard and your score will be tracked on the leaderboard. You have 100 seconds to guess as many as possible correct answers. You get +1 point if your answer is correct, you lose 1 point if your answer is wrong (to prevent random guesses). This modality is highly addictive and soon you'll find yourself focused on getting to the top of the leaderboard.

In the easy mode, there is no countdown, you can use the tool at your own pace. You can even select a specific fretboard area to practice, or choosing to practice only some strings. This mode is suitable for the beginner guitar player that needs to learn the fretboard in baby-steps.

You can also set the fretboard trainer to drill you only on natural notes, sharps notes or flat notes.

No idea of where the notes is located? Use the Show Answer button

In case you have no idea of what is the correct answer, you can use the show answer button to tell the tool to disclose the right fret. In this case, you will not lose any point, the tool will show you the correct fret and then will generate a new answer. This feature has been proven to be very effective for learning the notes that you never encountered before.

Alternate tunings and left-handed view

At the top of the tool interface, you find the common settings available for all the guitar learning software: you can select the instrument you prefer: alternate tuning, 7 strings, bass guitar, mandolin and many more. If you can't find a tuning you need please send a message here and we'll add it to the list. Finally, for our left-handed guitar friends, there is the possibility to switch to a lefty fretboard view.

Fretboard Trainer Leaderboard

Here you find the leaderboard with the top players for this guitar game. Don't be discouraged if your score is lower than the top positions. Remember that time after time your fretboard knowledge gets better, so practice with this guitar learning software as much as you can. You'll be amazed on how well you'll know your fretboard notes.

If you commit yourself to learn the fretboard notes, you can really skyrocket your guitar skills: improvisation, composition, harmony, you'll open up a new world. Of course, like everything in music, these are not strict rules: there are great guitarists that play only by ear, but if you're a normal person like me, you should really consider working on your guitar fretboard notes.

Download the neck maps pdf and have fun with this online fretboard game. Looking forward to seeing you at the top of the leaderboard :-)

Something more: Guitar Fretboard Theory Tutorials

If you are interested in learning the guitar fretboard notes and the theory behind the frets check the new lesson series Guitar Fretboard Theory that explains thoroughly how the guitar fretboard works. Stop being trapped in scale boxes and get able to find immediately the melodies that come from your heart.

Don't forget to visit the guitar learning software overview page, you'll find more free tools for learning chords, scales, fretboard, ear training and more.

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Are you learning guitar and you feel yourself stuck in a rut? Did you practice to master your chords and scales, watched the best online guitar lessons, used guitar apps, but you feel that something misses?

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IBL Resources

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Inquisitive - Enjoy Teaching History and Geography

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Enjoy teaching with everything you need for History and Geography (Years F - 6) plus Science and Technology is now being added.

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Arranged by age and curriculum area

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Helping you to support your child's learning Want to save articles, personalise content and read on-the-go? Download the free Learning Potential app. There's lots of content in Learning Potential Our eNewsletter links you to articles that are new, or featuring topics that are coming up in the school year, such as parent-teacher interviews, reports, or school holidays.

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Excellent description of the practical implications of Cognitive Load theory.

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Australian Council for Educational Research - ACER

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How do we apply our understanding of how people learn, think and solve problems to classroom instruction? This is the question that underpins cognitive load theory. John Sweller is an Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of New South Wales and has spent decades researching this theory. In this article, following on from our introduction to cognitive load theory, Sweller describes some classroom teaching strategies that flow from cognitive load theory.
Cognitive load theory is an instructional theory based on human cognitive architecture (that is, the cognitive functions that allow us to learn) which looks at the characteristics of working memory and long-term memory, and how teacher instruction can best account for these factors.

Emeritus Professor John Sweller says there are a large number of instructional procedures (i.e. 'effects') that teachers can employ to lessen extraneous cognitive load.

He explains that a person experiencing extraneous cognitive load is a person who has an unnecessary load on their working memory, meaning they're less likely to transfer all the information in their working memory to long-term memory.
Worked example effect, expertise reversal effect, and guidance fading effect
'The worked example effect occurs when students provided problems to solve learn less than students presented identical problems with worked examples solutions to study,' Sweller tells Teacher.

This is because if students are given guided instruction through worked examples, they're much less likely to experience an unnecessary overload on their working memory.

Then, as students become more knowledgeable in an area from studying worked examples, having a student complete problem-solving tasks will become more effective for learning. This transition is known as the 'expertise reversal effect'.

'Based on these two effects, students should initially be given lots of explicit guidance to reduce their working memory load, which assists in transferring knowledge to long-term memory,' Sweller explains.

In the classroom, there's also the danger of presenting students with unnecessary or redundant information.

'Once students are more knowledgeable, that [explicit] guidance is unnecessary and interferes with further development of expertise, and so should be faded out to be replaced by problem-solving.'

This method of transitioning from initially providing lots of guidance, to then moving towards problem-solving is known as the 'guidance fading effect'.
Redundancy effect
The redundancy effect, Sweller says, occurs when students are presented information that isn't necessary, which they must process in working memory. This will lead to an extraneous cognitive load.

'The ubiquitous use of PowerPoint has contributed to the problem of redundancy,' Sweller shares. 'Instead of just using PowerPoint to present diagrams or main points, some instructors present large amounts of identical information in both spoken and written form.

'The consequence is to overload working memory, since students need to simultaneously process and coordinate both written and spoken sources of information. Requiring students to unnecessarily coordinate these two sources of information results in the imposition of an extraneous cognitive load. More learning occurs if only the spoken or the written information is presented rather than both.'
Transient information effect
However, should a teacher choose to progress with only presenting spoken information, the 'transient information effect' might occur, as speech is transient. The same can be said about the use of animated visual information compared to static visuals.

'If your students need to remember what was said earlier to understand what you are saying now, working memory may be overloaded, especially if the information is complex.'

To combat this, Sweller explains that spoken (or any auditory) information, should be presented in small chunks, or instead presented in written form. As well as this, having written information available for students to easily return to might assist in reducing their cognitive load.

'While spoken information is transient, written information is permanent and being able to easily return to previous information before considering current information, reduces cognitive load,' he explains.
Split-attention effect
So, what about when you're presenting static visual information to students?

'If a diagram is presented with words that merely redescribe the diagram, the words are likely to be redundant and so should be eliminated in line with the redundancy effect to reduce cognitive load,' Sweller says.

However, he notes that a diagram does often need complementary text in order to make complete sense. So, in order to achieve the best presentation for both the text and diagram information to reduce the cognitive load as much as possible for students, the 'split-attention effect' should be taken into consideration.

This is when text that is critical for the diagram is physically integrated as much as possible within the diagram, as research has shown that this presentation facilitates learning more-so than split-source information (information coming from at least two clearly separated sources which, in this case, is visual and written).

For example, Sweller explains that the statement of 'Angle XYZ = Angle ABC' is pointless if it's not accompanied by a diagram. However, if the statement and the diagram appear separately, a student would be required to mentally integrate them, which requires use of working memory.

Alternatively, physical integration (i.e. placing the text at appropriate locations on the diagram) eliminates a student's split-attention between two sources of information, thereby reducing the cognitive load.
Modality effect
Sweller says another way to reduce cognitive load while presenting vital complementary information for a diagram is to present the text through audio, which is an example of the 'modality effect'.

'Dual-mode presentations under these circumstances allows the use of both visual and auditory working memory, thus expanding the working memory resources available and so facilitating learning.'

However, he notes that teachers should be conscious of not making the spoken information too long and/or complex in order to avoid the transient information effect.

'All of these effects, plus many others, have been tested on multiple occasions in classrooms around the world. In each case, the evidence that learning is facilitated by reducing cognitive load is overwhelming,' Sweller says.
How do we apply our understanding of how people learn, think and solve problems to classroom instruction? This is the question that underpins cognitive load theory. John Sweller is an Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of New South Wales and has spent decades researching this theory. In this article, following on from our introduction to cognitive load theory, Sweller describes some classroom teaching strategies that flow from cognitive load theory.
Cognitive load theory is an instructional theory based on human cognitive architecture (that is, the cognitive functions that allow us to learn) which looks at the characteristics of working memory and long-term memory, and how teacher instruction can best account for these factors.

Emeritus Professor John Sweller says there are a large number of instructional procedures (i.e. 'effects') that teachers can employ to lessen extraneous cognitive load.

He explains that a person experiencing extraneous cognitive load is a person who has an unnecessary load on their working memory, meaning they're less likely to transfer all the information in their working memory to long-term memory.
Worked example effect, expertise reversal effect, and guidance fading effect
'The worked example effect occurs when students provided problems to solve learn less than students presented identical problems with worked examples solutions to study,' Sweller tells Teacher.

This is because if students are given guided instruction through worked examples, they're much less likely to experience an unnecessary overload on their working memory.

Then, as students become more knowledgeable in an area from studying worked examples, having a student complete problem-solving tasks will become more effective for learning. This transition is known as the 'expertise reversal effect'.

'Based on these two effects, students should initially be given lots of explicit guidance to reduce their working memory load, which assists in transferring knowledge to long-term memory,' Sweller explains.

In the classroom, there's also the danger of presenting students with unnecessary or redundant information.

'Once students are more knowledgeable, that [explicit] guidance is unnecessary and interferes with further development of expertise, and so should be faded out to be replaced by problem-solving.'

This method of transitioning from initially providing lots of guidance, to then moving towards problem-solving is known as the 'guidance fading effect'.
Redundancy effect
The redundancy effect, Sweller says, occurs when students are presented information that isn't necessary, which they must process in working memory. This will lead to an extraneous cognitive load.

'The ubiquitous use of PowerPoint has contributed to the problem of redundancy,' Sweller shares. 'Instead of just using PowerPoint to present diagrams or main points, some instructors present large amounts of identical information in both spoken and written form.

'The consequence is to overload working memory, since students need to simultaneously process and coordinate both written and spoken sources of information. Requiring students to unnecessarily coordinate these two sources of information results in the imposition of an extraneous cognitive load. More learning occurs if only the spoken or the written information is presented rather than both.'
Transient information effect
However, should a teacher choose to progress with only presenting spoken information, the 'transient information effect' might occur, as speech is transient. The same can be said about the use of animated visual information compared to static visuals.

'If your students need to remember what was said earlier to understand what you are saying now, working memory may be overloaded, especially if the information is complex.'

To combat this, Sweller explains that spoken (or any auditory) information, should be presented in small chunks, or instead presented in written form. As well as this, having written information available for students to easily return to might assist in reducing their cognitive load.

'While spoken information is transient, written information is permanent and being able to easily return to previous information before considering current information, reduces cognitive load,' he explains.
Split-attention effect
So, what about when you're presenting static visual information to students?

'If a diagram is presented with words that merely redescribe the diagram, the words are likely to be redundant and so should be eliminated in line with the redundancy effect to reduce cognitive load,' Sweller says.

However, he notes that a diagram does often need complementary text in order to make complete sense. So, in order to achieve the best presentation for both the text and diagram information to reduce the cognitive load as much as possible for students, the 'split-attention effect' should be taken into consideration.

This is when text that is critical for the diagram is physically integrated as much as possible within the diagram, as research has shown that this presentation facilitates learning more-so than split-source information (information coming from at least two clearly separated sources which, in this case, is visual and written).

For example, Sweller explains that the statement of 'Angle XYZ = Angle ABC' is pointless if it's not accompanied by a diagram. However, if the statement and the diagram appear separately, a student would be required to mentally integrate them, which requires use of working memory.

Alternatively, physical integration (i.e. placing the text at appropriate locations on the diagram) eliminates a student's split-attention between two sources of information, thereby reducing the cognitive load.
Modality effect
Sweller says another way to reduce cognitive load while presenting vital complementary information for a diagram is to present the text through audio, which is an example of the 'modality effect'.

'Dual-mode presentations under these circumstances allows the use of both visual and auditory working memory, thus expanding the working memory resources available and so facilitating learning.'

However, he notes that teachers should be conscious of not making the spoken information too long and/or complex in order to avoid the transient information effect.

'All of these effects, plus many others, have been tested on multiple occasions in classrooms around the world. In each case, the evidence that learning is facilitated by reducing cognitive load is overwhelming,' Sweller says.

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Cognitive load theory: Teaching strategies

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How do we apply our understanding of how people learn, think and solve problems to classroom instruction? This is the question that underpins cognitive load theory. John Sweller is an Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of New South Wales and has spent decades researching this theory.

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Lesson Planning

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Those of us, who are new teachers, don't have the luxury of reams of previous lesson plans, worksheets and activities, which proved to be effective.

True, we can call on colleagues and friends to help us. Most of the time, however, we must start from scratch. With so much to do, it can sometimes be difficult to hit the mark.

Introducing GANAG

During my first placement, my mentor teacher introduced me to GANAG. This lesson schema is one I swear by, and I haven't looked back since.

Developed by Dr Jane Pollock, many schools are beginning to adopt the lesson practices she outlines. Other schools simply adapt certain concepts to fit their curriculum. Either way, it's becoming quite a big thing, and to jump on board the bandwagon now would be a stellar idea.

GANAG separates the lesson into easily negotiable segments. I've seen lesson plans that were ideas, projectile vomited onto a page. A friend of mine even drew an image of the class, and called it a lesson plan!

In short, there are so many ways to develop your lesson. However, there are only a few ways to construct the best lesson plan. GANAG is one of them.

A GANAG lesson plan is divided into two sections: what the teacher is doing, and what the students are doing. This way, the teacher has a clear idea of how the lesson is meant to look when put into practice.
Try a GANAG lesson plan when teaching in China.
G is for goal

The first objective is the goal(s). This is to be written on the board. This makes teachers accountable.

Additionally, students immediately know what they will be doing. They begin to see how everything they will do in the lesson is connected. As the goals are crossed off the board, students understand what they have learned.

A is for access to prior knowledge

The next step is access to prior knowledge. This may include analyzing what was undertaken in the previous lesson, or analyzing information students may have learned a year prior.

This could sometimes be a brief discussion between teacher and students. The teacher may ask questions, which students respond to. Students may also be required to look through their previous work to find the answer.

Students generally learn best when they have an opportunity to use prior learning, and this part of the lesson allows teachers to analyse how much students know.

N is for new information

Following on from this, is the new information. This stage is often very teacher-centered. This could be done through 'chalk and talk', a PowerPoint or through Prezi.

Alternatively, students could read aloud from a textbook or worksheet, with guided questions and contextualization from the teacher.

A is for application of new and prior information

The penultimate stage is application of new and prior information. More often than not, this is a student-oriented activity. This is where students use their prior knowledge to understand the new content.

Perhaps students work on their own, then consult later with a partner. Maybe students work in groups to answer a set of questions, before reporting back to the class.

G is for goal review

Lastly, is the goal review. This is where the teacher discovers if the lesson has been successful. During this stage, students reflect on their learning, writing down two or more things they learned.

Occasionally, students are quite dumbfounded when asked, 'What did you learn in class today?' By writing a reflection, however, students will have access to two snappy sentences that highlight what happened.

At the end of the GANAG lesson plan is a separate section for indicating the focus of the following class. In outlining this, a clear link from one lesson to the next becomes evident.

The teacher will often instruct students on what will be happening when they next meet during the goal review stage. Moreover, any homework is often assigned at this stage.

In summary, this step-by-step procedure helps teachers develop an accurate plan of their lessons. The ability to also document student actions assists teachers in understanding how students learn, which is paramount in teaching.

GANAG lesson template

Here's my template to help you create the best lesson plans for your class in China (or anywhere for that matter).

Lesson title: (Class, date)

Unit: (Subject title)

Standards: (What is the curriculum you are using)

Formative/Summative assessments in lesson: (Will there be assessment tasks completed in the lesson? Will assessment tasks be given as homework?)

Resources and materials: (Worksheets, presentations, etc)
If you use GANAG lesson plans in China, let us know how you go!

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How to write a killer lesson plan - GANAG

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Those of us, who are new teachers, don't have the luxury of reams of previous lesson plans, worksheets and activities, which proved to be effective. True, we can call on colleagues and friends to help us. Most of the time, however, we must start from scratch.

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Evidence - Insight - Action

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Australian Council for Educational Research - ACER

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Nearly 100 new practical teaching examples for the Australian Science Curriculum have been released. The suite of learning ideas relates to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures cross-curriculum priority and aims to improve learning outcomes for all students.

The resources have been released by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). 'Teachers have told us they can generally see a connection between this cross-curriculum priority and some of the learning areas, like Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Arts,' ACARA CEO, Robert Randall says.

'But they have asked for advice on how they can embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learnings in other subject areas, particularly STEM subjects.'

The 95 examples (also labelled as elaborations) span the Science learning areas for Foundation to Year 10 and were developed with the assistance of ACARA's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory group and Taskforce, as well as Science and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander curriculum specialists.

'These elaborations ... are scientifically rigorous, demonstrating how Indigenous history, culture, knowledge and understanding can be incorporated into teaching core scientific concepts,' Randall says.

Practical learning examples

The examples are for optional use by classroom teachers. Currently, background information is available for teachers of Years 7-10 Science which details the cultural and historical significance of each elaboration, and how it connects to the Science Curriculum. Similar background information will soon become available for F-6 educators.

The suggestions are highly practical. For example, for Year 3 students learning how a change of state between solid and liquid can be caused by adding or removing heat, ACARA suggests students look at the changes of state evident in materials used by Indigenous peoples, like beeswax or resins.

Students in Year 6 can investigate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' knowledge of the physical conditions needed for certain plants and animals to survive in order to learn how the growth and survival of living things are affected by the physical conditions of their environment.

And, educators can explain the methods used by Indigenous Australians to convert toxic plants into edible food products in order to teach Year 10 students about the different types of chemical reactions to produce a range of products.

It's hoped that the resources will provide a more culturally responsive learning experience for Indigenous students and, ultimately, lead to better educational outcomes.

Think about a future topic or unit of work you're teaching: How could you integrate the histories and cultures of Indigenous people into this learning area?

Educators can access the new ACARA materials by clicking the link.

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Connecting Science to Indigenous culture

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Dozens of new practical teaching examples for Science have been released by The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). The resources are aimed at helping teachers to incorporate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures in the curriculum.

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Feedback

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Journal of The Chartered College of Teaching

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Impact is the termly journal of the Chartered College. It connects research findings to classroom practice, with a focus on the interests and voices of teachers and educators. It supports the teaching community by promoting discussion around evidence within the classroom, and enabling teachers to share and reflect on their own use of research.