• be clear on the ATL approach for whole school and not just early years.

• explore the ATL skills further and understand how to link them with the learning

To effectively implement them in lessons

To support students in developing the skill/s

I have laminated pictures pinned to my lanyard of every ATL skill animal we’ve learned. Then if I see the children displaying that behaviour I congratulate them and pin the animal to their shirt. They then show it off to their friends/parents and speak about how they displayed that skill.

Have a Personal Skills Journal for the students. (could be on seesaw)

Each skill has its subset with a 1-5 scale. When that skill is the focus, students open their journal and share how they used it. Or during feedback sessions they choose what they feel they have achieved.

Observer: Francesca Condor, Fiona Bayliss

WWW:

EBI:

Observer:

WWW:

EBI:

Visible Learning Signature Practice #2: Teacher Clarity.

pp.23-31 in The Illustrated guide to Teaching and Learning

See slide 5 and 6 of PowerPoint for one suggested strategy for implementing explicit teaching, learning intentions and success criteria for the development and assessment of ATL skills

1.Where are we going?

2.Where are we now?

3.How do we move learning forward?

4.What did we learn today?

5.Who benefited and who did not benefit?

Observer: Claire

WWW: interesting to see ATL skills in small groups

EBI: children discussed ATL skills in more detail

Observer: Lorna

WWW: Interesting to see Robin use the ATL animal names within the class and the students responded well to them

EBI: The students referenced the animal names themselves

Observer: Candice Smithie

WWW: constant referral to the ATL animals, encouragement to be the best “tidy turtle” or “listening lion” for rewards or extra time with the equipment.

EBI: having small flashcards on lanyard or the ATL animals posted in the gym for children to see and be encouraged to use them regularly.

2.Where are we now?

Cross roads? No clear next steps!

3.How do we move learning forward?

Reset groups - move across subject groups as opposed to representatives from different subjects/areas in the school, it looks different in different sectors.

Making a deliberate effort to implement ATL skills into planning of units. Consider subject specific ATL skills.

Ensuring assessments are linked to ATL skills.

To move learning forward we need students to reflect and model understanding of ATL skills.

Students are able to identify the ATL skills they have used in a lesson.

We learned that all departments have differing challenges and areas of success.

Everyone benefitted from an open ended discussion.

Observer: Tegan

WWW: effective use of animals to demonstrate the skills

EBI: Children know the skills very well and were proud to showcase their understanding

Observer: Rebecca

WWW: Teacher used animals to refer to the ATL skills throughout the lesson. e.g. listening lion, tidy turtles, friendly frog etc. Teacher gave rewards to students based on these skills.

EBI: Students could reference the ATL skills they were using independently.

Along with the focused ATL, the teacher also used ATL skills that were needed so that the children are ready for their session. These ATL skills were 'Listening Lion' and 'Expressive Elephant'.

The Teacher clearly used the animal names for the ATL skills that we use in the Early Years and the children had clear understanding about what is expected and what the ATLs mean. The language was simplified as the children were receiving intervention for ELL.

Throughout the session, the Teacher made sure to remind the children about the focused ATL and check the children's understanding.

We are currently sharing experiences through class sessions and trying to find the best ways to implement learning skills during lessons.

Through collaboration, joint work, effective time management, and proper preparation.

How can we utilize learning skills to develop students' higher-order thinking skills?

We all benefited from this meeting and exchanged experiences to enhance the learning process.

Candice

1. Sharing feedback about the strengths and weaknesses about the strategies we have implemented.

2. Children need a deeper understanding of applying the ATL skills.

3. Explicitly teach the ATL skills.