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Professional Skills

Improving Teaching Practices to Enhance Learning


Course
SEP Instructor
Free
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Course Description    

Sharjah schools had review inspections in Spring 2022. The SPEA Academy has identified the fundamentals of teaching and learning to be an area requiring additional training input. This is not related to the theory of teaching and learning, but more of the everyday practice that contribute to excellence in classrooms. In this instance, the course will be relating to the highest categories of performance: Outstanding and Very Good and directly rooted in the current UAE School Inspection Framework since the criteria described in that document must form the baseline schools use for assessing quality of teaching and learning.

Learning Outcomes

  • Demonstrate enhanced implementation of best practice in lesson planning – Standards 3.1.1 and 3.1.2
  • Demonstrate and adapt best practice on effective maximization of student learning for individuals and groups – Standard 3.1.4
  • Understand the underlying basics of teacher student interaction through the use of questioning and dialogue – Standard 3.1.3
  • Demonstrate strategies to facilitate critical thinking, problem-solving, innovation and independent learning skills, including the use of IT – Standards 3.1.5, 4.1.4, and 1.3.4.
  • Incorporate strategies for the development of student independence and intrinsic motivation within classrooms, encouraging personal and educational resilience – Standard 3.1.4
  • Demonstrate use of relevant, local examples to enhance learning by application – 1.3.3

Course Delivery

The course will be delivered in six webinars. Each webinar is approximately 60 minutes duration. Handouts will accompany each webinar with readings, links to additional information, videos and advice, where required.

Webinars will take place starting on 11th September, 2022 and take place each Sunday between 4 – 5pm for 6 weeks. There will be suggested follow up tasks for participants which will help in planning activities for the classroom. The outcomes are designed to change and improve individual practice rather than create assignments that do not result in effective change.

Facilitators

Judith is a highly experienced educator, consultant and advisor with extensive experience as a school leader in both government and private school settings over more than forty years. Having trained and taught in New Zealand, she moved to the United Kingdom where she held a variety of leadership roles.  She has extensive experience of education in three Middle Eastern countries: Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, where she has lived and worked for the last eleven years as a Head of School, then as a Specialist in the School Improvement Division in ADEC (ADEK) before taking up a role as Managing Consultant at an education consultancy in Al Ain. Judith is a consultant working under the auspices of the Svarna Training Institute in Dubai where she continues her work focusing on practical solutions to transforming the teaching and learning process and engaging young people more actively in it.

Award

Participation Certificates will be issued to participants who attend all webinars.

Session Outline

Session

Title

Components covered

1

11th Sept. 2022

2 - 3 PM

The Start of a Lesson: objectives and starter activities

·       Establishing norms for starting lessons strongly

·       Readiness as a component of planning lessons that fit

·       Establishing expectations through differentiated objectives

·       The fundamentals of writing differentiated objectives using a simple model

·       Where this fits into ‘Outstanding’ on the UAE Inspection Framework

2

11th Sept. 2022

4 - 5 PM

Teaching Strategies: Teacher- focused

·       Matching lesson objectives to appropriate lesson activities

·       Creating efficiency to enable immediate assessment of student learning

·       The myths about certain strategies and their desirability from an inspector’s viewpoint

·       Dale’s Pyramid and retention of learning

·       Questioning skills – smart ways to extract thoughts/learning

·       The role of the teacher assistant.

3

18th Sept. 2022

Teaching Strategies: Student focused

·       Looking at a practical example of cross-curricular study that can be used to satisfy many standards in a number of subjects: Siting a new supermarket for an expanding Sharjah.

·       Incorporating research, IT, critical thinking, evaluation, problem-solving, presentation skills, enterprise (‘selling’ a solution), and using the community as a resource.

·       Time management on multi-lesson projects

·       Formats for evaluation of cross-curricular studies. 

4

25th Sept. 2022

Creating Independent learners

·       Flipped learning models and advance preparation by students and teachers

·       Independent Learning Model – an example devised by the course designer that were used in private schools in Sharjah and the Northern Emirates and demonstrated immediate and positive effect

·       Creating choice in how students demonstrate mastery of objectives

·       The role of the teacher and teacher assistant in the independent learning classroom

 5

2nd Oct. 2022

Managing Groups and Resources Effectively

·       Not just any group – effective grouping to suit needs of the learning activity

·       Different types of groups that work

·       Ensuring effective group dynamics – the use of roles and responsibilities, inclusion and time management

·       Demonstration of two strategies: ‘Dominoes’ and ‘Game On’

·       The role of the teacher and teacher assistant

6

9th Oct. 2022

In-lesson Assessment – Purpose & Practice

·       Back to the objectives

·       Role of observation, questioning and dialogue

·       Drop and Check – staged in-lesson assessment

·       Using grading criteria and self-marking to effect improvement

·       Active assessment strategies: ‘Silent Debate’, ‘True or False,’ and ‘Do a Round.’

·       TeacherFastMark – the tool taking the UK by storm in providing individualized marking in a fraction of the time, ensuring teachers spend more time on planning better and more focussed teaching strategies.

 

Delivery Mode

Webinar, handouts. Potential for in-person delivery later, as required.

Registration Opening

As determined by SPEA

Course Dates

From Sunday, 4th September, 2022 until Sunday 9th October, 2022

Credit Hours

6 hours

Institution

Judith Finnemore, Freelance Education Advisor

Stream

Professional Development

Target Audience

Leaders, middle leaders, teachers, assistant teachers

Maximum Participants

Unlimited

Language

English

Price

 

Here is the course outline:

Session 1 & 2

Recorded Webinar Sessions 1 and 2

Session 3

Webinar Recording September 18,2022-4:00pm -5:00PM Sunday

Session 4

Webinar Recordings Sep 25, 2022 04:00 PM Dubai

Session 5

Webinar Recordings October 2,2022-4:00pm -5:00PM Sunday

Session 6

Webinar Recordings October 9,2022-4:00pm -5:00PM Sunday

Course Certificate

Learners who completed the content will get their certificate here.

Completion

The following certificates are awarded when the course is completed:

Certificate of Completion English
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