# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
For participants Run 2 IPE workshop 2024 Presentation slides.pptx

# data[].attributes.body
Building Trust

Trust is built when students feel teachers care for them

When teachers make sure the activity suits each student's ZPD, they will feel the teachers care about whether they can learn

Empowering Learners

Teachers empower students to take ownership of learning. This means students should have the autonomy to modify the task to suit their own ZPD

Considering Learners’ Profiles/ Deciding on Instructional Strategies

Teachers understand that every student is different. Students can learn when we plan activities to suit their readiness and motivation level.

Arousing Interest

Students are motivated when they are suitably challenged

Exercising Flexibility

Students may not learn well in the practice tasks. As such, teacher can give the students autonomy to change the task to suits them.

Setting Meaningful Assignments

Together with using active learning strategies, assignments will suit the students' ZPD and help them store knowledge in their long-term memory.

# data[].attributes.body
Setting Expectations and Routines

Setting clear expectation

Determining Lesson Objectives

Helps the students by providing focus

# data[].attributes.body
Selecting and Sequencing Content/ Sequencing Learning

Bite-sized instruction helps us to break down practice tasks into smaller, manageable ones.

It also breaks down the learning goals into smaller steps so it can motivate the students.

# data[].attributes.headline
From The Singapore Teaching Practice (STP)

# data[].attributes.subject
From The Singapore Teaching Practice (STP)

# data[].attributes.body
Encouraging Learner Engagement

Students with learning difficulties often have low self-efficacy. Constant encouragement and positive classroom vibes can increase their encouragement.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) refers to the gap between what a learner can do independently and what they can achieve with guidance. Learning occurs most effectively in this zone, as the learner receives support from more knowledgeable individuals, such as teachers or peers, to help them reach the next level of understanding.

# data[].attributes.headline
The importance of clear learning targets

# data[].attributes.subject
The importance of clear learning targets

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When students clearly understand classroom expectations, they're better able to assess and improve their performance.

Photo by Allison Shelley for American Education: Images of Teachers and Students in Action

The third-grade classroom is busy. Students are in the middle of making slime, and you can sense the level of engagement across the class. The teacher is working very hard to make sure that students are clear on the goals of learning: to understand the relationships between solids, liquids, and gases. The students can see success criteria posted on the wall and examples of successful work spread across the room. Visiting teachers are engaging in random checks of understanding to ensure that students are clear on expectations.

As part of the school's improvement process, teachers and principals are visiting classrooms and interviewing students on their understanding of the expectations of learning, the students' self assessment on their progress, and what next steps they need to take to meet established goals. The team was in the third-grade classroom and filmed student interviews; they discussed the key findings with the teacher after class.

Here are samples of two interviews of students in the same classroom.

Teacher: What are you learning?

Student: We're learning about slime.

Teacher: How do you know if you are successful?

Student: We don't want the slime to stick to us.

Teacher: What are you learning?

Student: We're learning about solids, liquids, and gases.

Teacher: How do you know if you are successful?

Student: We can define and relate each phase. Right now we're learning about solids, liquids, and gases by creating slime.

The teacher is doing great things. The question is whether all students are following the teacher's lead. Building student clarity is a constant pursuit: We never arrive, but it's worth our focus.

Clarity Research Snapshot

When students are clear on expectations of learning, they tend to double their rate of learning. Moreover, when students are clear on expectations, they have a better chance of assessing their current performance and using feedback accurately. As John Hattie explains in Visible Learning, self assessment, feedback, and student clarity yield substantial growth in student learning. Yet the implementation of this idea is extremely difficult.

Let's take a look at some challenges and solutions to implementation.

Challenge 1. Novices don't really understand rubrics: Experts love rubrics because the bullet points clearly delineate the core expectations that they want students to learn. Novices don't fully appreciate the bullet points because they simply don't have a concrete example of what's written. As such, they scan the tool for items that are familiar to them: activities (such as getting into groups), tasks (such as completing six problems correctly), and contexts (such as exploring bridges). Because of this scanning for the familiar, students begin thinking about group work, assignment completion, and bridges and are therefore less likely to be any clearer on the standards they're learning about.

To focus students on the actual learning, teachers are encouraged to start with examples of great work that meets the expectations of the teacher. The more students see examples of great work in multiple contexts, the better able students are to use rubrics to evaluate their own work as well as to give, receive, and use feedback. This also makes it easier for them to focus on the core content that the teacher is after.

Challenge 2. Telling people the expectations clearly doesn't mean the expectations are clear to them: As a school leader, I have found that simply sending a clear message to people doesn't ensure that they are clear on my message. Almost every message I send must be followed up with clarifying emails, meetings with parents and/or faculty, and a series of communication check-ins. As such, developing clarity isn't one way. Clarity is interactive and built through multiple engagements.

Providing students with work samples that illustrate success

Asking students to identify the parts of the work sample that make it successful (i.e., criteria for success)

Writing out the criteria for success with students

Co-construction is an interactive process that enables students to build clarity of expectations. Co-construction is the active involvement of building success criteria with students rather than presenting success criteria to students. Here is one example of co-construction:

Use the fishbowl protocol to share their feedback, and process the accuracy of the feedback to the expectations of the lesson or unit

Begin units with discussions on what mastery looks like, and have students evaluate the differences between various levels of mastery

Challenge 3. The classroom is mostly hidden from teachers, and students give each other inaccurate feedback: As Graham Nuthall tells us in The Hidden Lives of Learners, the majority of the classroom experience is hidden from the teacher's observation. In the hidden classroom, kids typically give and receive most of the feedback to and from their peers, and most of that feedback is incorrect. To address this, we should consider having students do the following:

Students' achievement and attitude improve when they have the tools to own their own learning. As educators, it's up to us to provide those tools.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Making Learning Targets Clear to Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When students clearly understand classroom expectations, they're better able to assess and improve their performance.

# data[].attributes.headline
Preventing cognitive overload by using Bite-sized instructions

# data[].attributes.subject
Preventing cognitive overload by using Bite-sized instructions

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What is cognitive load theory and how can it help teachers in the classroom and with their pedagogy? Steve Garnett, author of a new teacher's handbook on cognitive load theory, offers some practical pointers

One of the biggest challenges facing education researchers has been how to translate their research findings into a form that allows busy classroom teachers to apply them into their day-to-day teaching.

Well, this is what I have tried to do in my new book, Cognitive Load Theory: A handbook for teachers. Below I run through some key takeaways for the primary school teacher looking to embed some of the principles of cognitive load theory (CLT).

First put forward by educational psychologist John Sweller, CLT is based on the premise that our "working memory" can only deal with a limited amount of information at any one time and that overworking this can cause "cognitive overload". To frame the principles below, it is useful to see CLT through three different "lenses" - the pupil, the task, and the resources used.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Cognitive load theory in the primary classroom - Headteacher Update

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What is cognitive load theory and how can it help teachers in the classroom and with their pedagogy? Steve Garnett, author of a new teacher's handbook on cognitive load theory, offers some practical pointers

# data[].attributes.headline
Why praise and encouragement is so important

# data[].attributes.subject
Why praise and encouragement is so important

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Children with Autism should be given small rewards every time they give appropriate responses. These 'reinforcers' or rewards have to be interesting enough to a child to serve as motivation and should be based on a child's personal interests and preferences. These rewards may help in the development of their social, language, and behavioral skills. Here are some ways to effectively motivate your child:

Use of Positive Reinforcement

Praising a child for every right action made or giving him another try when he gave a wrong answer are positive reinforcements that will encourage more participation from the child and open a communication line between you.

Encourage Activities Such as 'Social Stories' and 'Scripting'

These will help in the behavioral development of verbal and non-verbal children, which is very important as early detection can decrease future social isolation and improve communication skills.

Allow Them to Choose Their Own Activity

Make them choose the activity they want to do and join them at it until they initialize eye contact with you.

Use Play Therapy

Children with autism can be motivated by using teaching skills that promote play and self-expression.

It provides them with a sense of accomplishment.

Reward Children with Favorite Toys or Food

Give them something to strive for by giving them something they truly like every time they accomplish something.

Use Music Therapy

Simple and repetitive phrases can help in developing the language skills of children with autism. It also helps them change monotone speech patterns by matching their voice to music rhythms. It can also promote social interaction by motivating them to join group activities.

Integrate Activities that Affect the Level of Sensory Stimulation

This will help them adjust to different sensory stimulation, which can normally overwhelm them.

Constantly Introduce New Fun Activities

Studies showed that autistic children learn faster, stay focused, and are generally more behaved when fun tasks are regularly changed.
Copyright © by Special Learning Inc. All right reserved.
No part of this article may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, contact Special Learning Inc., at: contact@special-learning.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Motivating Special Needs Children - Special Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Children with Autism should be given small rewards every time they give appropriate responses. These 'reinforcers' or rewards have to be interesting enough to a child to serve as motivation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Active learning methods ask students to engage in their learning by thinking, discussing, investigating, and creating. In class, students practice skills, solve problems, struggle with complex questions, make decisions, propose solutions, and explain ideas in their own words through writing and discussion. Timely feedback, from either the instructor or fellow students, is critical to this learning process. Education research shows that incorporating active learning strategies into university courses significantly enhances student learning experiences (Freeman et al., 2014; Theobald et al., 2020).

Benefits of active learning

Opportunities to process course material through thinking, writing, talking, and problem solving give students multiple avenues for learning.

Applying new knowledge helps students encode information, concepts, and skills in their memories by connecting it with prior information, organizing knowledge, and strengthening neural pathways

Receiving frequent and immediate feedback helps students correct misconceptions and develop a deeper understanding of course material

Working on activities helps create personal connections with the material, which increases students' motivation to learn

Regular interaction with the instructor and peers around shared activities and goals helps create a sense of community in the classroom

Instructors may gain more insight into student thinking by observing and talking with students as they work

Knowing how students understand the material helps instructors target their teaching in future lessons

Considerations

Design activities around your learning outcomes, especially with topics students typically find confusing

Be clear about how activities relate to learning outcomes since students do not always make that connection on their own

Be aware that you will need to cut content from your lectures to make room for discussion and activities; review your lectures and remove the least important parts; also consider asking students to read before the class meets and take a low-stakes online quiz or complete an online discussion board post so that they come to class ready to learn more advanced topics

Plan to pause your lecture 2 or more times for activities; these can be as simple as asking students to discuss their thoughts on a question with someone sitting next to them

Use active learning consistently so students know what to expect in class

Build-in accountability for individual and group work (offering participation points is one way to show your students that you value the activities and their participation); for example, ask students to answer polling questions, upload a photo of their worksheet to Canvas, or turn in an index card with a response to a short writing prompt at the end of class

When students are working on an activity in class, it is helpful for you and/or your TAs to move around the classroom to answer questions and interact with students to learn more about how they are thinking; these interactions can inform ways to follow up after an activity with clarification or to highlight student ideas

Be sure to offer timely feedback to students after an activity; in large classes, one option is for you to explain both the correct and incorrect answers (some students will have guessed)
Also, consider the value of peer feedback, such as in the form of a think-pair-share discussion with someone sitting near them

Talking to students about active learning

Many students are beginning to expect their classes should include some interaction and opportunities to practice, discuss, or apply what they are learning. The best way to ensure that you and your students have a positive experience with active learning is to be transparent about how you will use it and why.

On the first day of class:

let students know that your course uses active learning and that they will be expected to participate (add this to your course description and syllabus too)

explain why you are using active learning and how it will help them succeed in your class (connect it to skills they will need beyond Cornell)

point them to the latest research on learning demonstrating that students learn more and earn higher grades with active learning (e.g., Deslauriers et al., 2019)

use a quick icebreaker or two to help students become comfortable working with one another

introduce an active learning activity to set the expectation for an interactive class

Getting started

Our Active learning techniques page offers a range of ideas that instructors can adopt whether they are just starting out with active learning or are looking for new strategies. Instructors across Cornell (from the humanities to STEM) are using these techniques, which can be adapted to almost any course.

Since 2014, Cornell has encouraged the adoption of high-impact practices across the university through its Active Learning Initiative (ALI). Funding from the Initiative has helped faculty redesign their courses and implement active learning teaching strategies. ALI has a broad network of faculty who have implemented active learning in different ways and who meet to share their ideas and experiences.

The best way to learn about active learning is to see it in action. If you have a colleague who uses active learning, ask to observe their class, or contact CTI for information on courses where active learning is being used.

Resources

Deslauriers, L., McCarty, L. S., Miller, K., Callaghan, K., & Kestin, G. (2019). Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning in response to being actively engaged in the classroom. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(39), 19251-19257.

Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(23), 8410-8415.

Theobald, E. J., Hill, M. J., Tran, E., Agrawal, S., Arroyo, E. N., Behling, S., Chambwe, N., Cintrón, D. L., Cooper, J. D., Dunster, G., Grummer, J. A., Hennessey, K., Hsiao, J., Iranon, N., Jones, L., Jordt, H., Keller, M., Lacey, M. E., Littlefield, C. E., ... Freeman, S. (2020). Active learning narrows achievement gaps for underrepresented students in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(12), 6476-6483.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Active Learning | Center for Teaching Innovation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Active learning methods ask students to engage in their learning by thinking, discussing, investigating, and creating. In class, students practice skills, solve problems, struggle with complex questions, make decisions, propose solutions, and explain ideas in their own words through writing and disc…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Lesson observations are often daunting for us, even if we have many years of experience. If we only have lesson observations once a year, we naturally want to showcase as much as we can, just so that we are fair to our "Years of experiences".

If we have tried inquiry-based approaches before, we want to showcase how we use inquiry-based approaches in the lesson. We might also want to include some differentiated instructions, formative assessment and EdTech.

One potential problem is that the more approaches we plan in a lesson, the less we may focus on the students' learning. If you have ever observed another teacher's lesson before, most probably, you will not be counting the number of approaches the teacher uses in one lesson, but rather, if the students are meeting the learning outcome and enjoying the lesson. Right?

I only realised that when I became a senior teacher, where I had more opportunities to observe lessons. So, over the years, I narrow down the focus of each lesson observation to a few important elements. I will then explicitly tell the teachers what we aim for in the lesson.

1. A - Active Learning

2. B - Bite-sized instruction

3. C - Clear learning outcome

4. D - Different ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development)

Similarly for me, if I am being observed, I will focus on these few important elements. Over time, I have narrowed down the elements to four must-haves. The four must-haves are:

If you have a geography test tomorrow, what would you do today to prepare for the test? Although we all have different methods of studying, I am sure almost no one will just read the textbook once or twice and go for the test.

The most common studying method is to recite to yourself or write what you know on rough paper. If you have the money, you might have bought some assessment books and do the questions.

If you want to make studying more enjoyable, you might meet friends outside to practise together and help each other. You and your friends may not be able to answer certain questions. Hence, you work together to figure out the answer.

Imagine all these studying strategies are brought into the classroom instead of being done after school. These are active learning strategies - thinking, discussing, investigating, and creating (Center for Teaching Innovation, 2024).

In the PE classroom, instead of telling them the learning cues of a badminton serve, you can ask them to see a demonstration and then try to imitate the same action to produce the same outcome. You can also ask them to work in pairs, which makes the learning environment safer.

When the students manage to do the serve, you can ask them to write down on a piece of paper the possible cues that they have experienced. To develop metacognition, you can ask them to do a mini-debate on the cues, which are collated on the piece of paper.

For example, some may suggest the non-master foot in front, some may write master foot in front, and others may suggest feet shoulder-width apart. By having a mini-debate, the students are thinking deeper about the purpose of the leg position and might figure out what works best for them.

When students practice basketball shooting, those who do not have thinking habits will not think much about the best way to shoot. They may not think too much if they find it difficult to shoot into the ring.

However, students with thinking habits would wonder why the shooting was unsuccessful. They may think of ways to increase their success rate or look at others who are successful in the shooting.

If you do not like people to give you so many instructions at once, so do the students. Because we all have limited working memory capacity, we get frustrated if our working memory is overloaded with instructions or information.

No matter how much you want to explain to the students, we must be mindful not to cause cognitive overload (Khan, 2022). However, bite-sized instructions or information are not easy to deliver. Especially if you have many things to explain before the students know how to do the practice tasks.

Instead of completing all instructions. Say one part first and ask them to start the practice. Continue the other parts of the instructions after each few minutes of practice.

For example, if the learning task is a 3v2 possession game. You want the defenders to be passive defenders so that there are higher success rates of possession. Explaining how to play the 3v2 possession game and still having to explain the rationale of passive defenders might overload the students' working memory.

What you can do is break the instructions into a few parts. The first part asks the students to play a 3v2 game, and 3 passes to win a point. Then, anticipate that the games would often break down because the students were not used to running to space or dribbling well to maintain possession.

You go to one group and tell the second part of the instruction, which is passive defending. Then, after the group is able to show you what passive defending looks like, you gather the class to look at how they do it.

The demonstration helps to give the students a visual scaffold (Main, 2023) of passive defending because not everyone can understand passive defending if you verbally tell them.

If there is time, you might want to stop the game and ask them to discuss some ways that make them successful in keeping possession of the ball. This keeps every instruction short, which is manageable for the students to follow only one at a time.

If you strongly feel that their passing and dribbling of the ball need to be improved, do not add to the instruction. Ask yourself, "What is the learning outcome of the lesson?" If the learning outcome is to keep possession of the ball by moving to free space to receive a pass, then keep to the learning outcome.

It can be frustrating for students if, after ten minutes of the lesson, they still do not know what they are practising for. Even if you have clearly indicated the learning goal to the students at the start of the lesson, they may still forget what the learning goal is, especially if they are too immersed in the game.

As mentioned earlier, students have limited working memory. Any information that is given to them could be forgotten after 20-30 seconds if it is not acted on. Students with attention challenges may not even catch the part about the learning goal.

For example, if the learning goal is to dribble into a scoring zone to take a shot, and some students do not hear the learning goal, how will they play in the 3v3 basketball game?

If they are good at basketball, they will play how they usually play and might never dribble into a scoring zone to take a shot. If the students are not good at basketball, they will not even try to dribble in. They will quickly pass the ball to a teammate.

Those students who heard the learning goal would quickly get confused and follow the rest - Just play normally and try to win the point.

What you can do is to constantly assess if the students are working towards the learning goal. Do not judge too quickly about their motivation level. If they are not working towards the learning goal, there is a high chance they are not clear on what to do in the game.

If you assess that the students are not working towards the learning goal, stop the game and ask the students to discuss how they can modify the rules so that everyone can meet the learning goal.

Focusing on one goal helps the students to stay focused and not get overwhelmed by the game's complexity.

If dribbling into the scoring zone to take a shot is the goal, then just focus on that. Allow the students to modify the game so everyone can achieve the goal. You can talk about other aspects of the game but keep returning to the learning goal and not confuse the students.

If the game has to be slowed down in order for them to meet the learning goal, let it be, even if it does not look like a game anymore. Believe that the students need a slower game to achieve the learning goal. And keep believing that they will become faster with enough practice.

Some students might seem unmotivated in the game, but if you believe that every child can learn and want to learn, you will want to delve deeper into understanding the reason behind the low motivation.

Research has shown that students' motivation to learn is affected by whether they are learning in their ZPD (Department of Education, n.d.). They may even perceive that they are not able to achieve the learning goal and, hence, become unmotivated before they even start the practice tasks. It is also possible that the challenge of the task is too easy for them and that they find it boring.

As mentioned in the segment on "Clear learning goal", some students might need to slow down to achieve the goal. Some students might need the game to slow down even more, while others might need to game to be faster.

As such, it is important for you always to assess if the students are learning in their ZPD. While it is not easy to look at all forty students practising at one time. You can teach the student how to modify the practice tasks to suit their abilities. Then explain the rationale to them so they understand the intention of modifying the tasks.

Although I have narrowed down the elements to four must-haves, I have learned to focus on only one aspect at a time during mentoring. Because if we believe teaching is a skill, we should practice one part of the skill first before moving on to the next part.

Using the analogy of learning to drive a manual car, we first learn to find the clutch biting point before developing the competency to change the gear. Finding the clutch-biting point requires hours of practice. And it is the same as learning when to change the gear.

Therefore, we cannot look at professional development as understanding a pedagogical model or framework and expect ourselves to apply it tomorrow.

It took me many months of practice before I developed the habit of ensuring my lesson focused on the learning goal. It took me another few more months to a year to develop the habits of empowering students to modify the learning tasks to suit their abilities.

It is also helpful if you tell the observer what you are practising. For example, you can tell the observer that you are practising how to help students understand the learning goal throughout the lesson. And explain why a clear learning goal is important.

As an observer, it is definitely helpful if the teacher tells you what he or she wants to focus on. Looking out for one aspect is way easier than trying to look out for "Good teaching", which can be very complex.

All the best if you are having a lesson observation!

Department of Education. (n.d.). Planning lessons at the point of need for high-ability students. Education. https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/high-ability-toolkit/Pages/planning-lessons-at-the-point-of-need-for-high-ability-students.aspx

Khan, A. (2022, November 3). What is cognitive overload? eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/what-is-cognitive-overload

Main, P. (2023, January 25). Scaffolding in Education: A Teacher's guide. Structural Learning. https://www.structural-learning.com/post/scaffolding-in-education-a-teachers-guide

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
My ABCD rules for all my lesson observations

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Lesson observations are often daunting for us, even if we have many years of experience. If we only have lesson observations once a year, we naturally want to showcase as much as we can, just so that...

# data[].attributes.body
Deciding on Instructional Strategies

Active learning helps students with poor working memory.

Instead of passive learning, the teacher can give the learning goal, and students figure out the answer by discussing, investigating, and creating learning cues.

Providing Clear Explanation

The explanation is most clear if it comes from the students.

In active learning, the teacher or peers assess students' understanding and build on their prior knowledge.

Facilitating Collaborative Learning/Using Questions to deepen understanding

Active learning is an inquiry approach where students work together to help each other achieve the learning outcome through discussion, practice and creation.

Checking for Understanding and Providing Feedback/ Supporting Self-directed Learning

As the students work by themselves to meet the learning goal, they constantly check for their own and their peers' understanding and give each other feedback.

# data[].attributes.headline
IPE Module I - What IPE is and the Ecological Framework

# data[].attributes.subject
IPE Module I - What IPE is and the Ecological Framework

# data[].attributes.body
Password: IPE2024

# data[].attributes.headline
IPE Module II - Functional Exclusion (FE) and Adapted Inclusion Spectrum

# data[].attributes.subject
IPE Module II - Functional Exclusion (FE) and Adapted Inclusion Spectrum

# data[].attributes.body
Password: IPE2024

# data[].attributes.headline
Choose a strategy that cater to the marginalized group.

# data[].attributes.subject
Choose a strategy that cater to the marginalized group.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Shelley Moore: Transforming Inclusive Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Meltdowns are involuntary behavioural responses experienced by the child when he or she feels anxious or overwhelmed in a stressful situation. During a meltdown, a child is often unconscious of what he or she is doing.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Further ideas for modifcation _ adaptation 