Course Overview

Facilitator: Emily Bosco (BA, Grad DipEd [Secondary], Master of English Studies)

Date: TBC

Venue: TBC - this course can be run onsite for the English faculty at your school.

Time: 9:30am-3:30pm

Career Stage Level: Proficient Teacher

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers Descriptors: 1.1.2, 2.1.2, and 3.3.2

Priority Area: Delivery and assessment of NSW Curriculum

NESA Elective PD Hours: 5

Packages:

• Individual teacher: $400

• Faculty 3-5: $1150 (additional teachers $200/teacher)

Course Description

In this course, teachers will be introduced to a variety of practical high impact teaching strategies, protocols, and making thinking visible routines they can use in the English classroom to engage students and extend their learning. It has been designed for teachers of Years 7-10 English who are interested in learning strategies for developing their students’ ability to: think independently, read critically, craft academic arguments, collaborate with others, offer feedback, and reflect on their own learning.

Who should take this course?

• Stage 4 and Stage 5 English teachers (Years 7-10) who are interested in learning a variety of new hands-on tools that they can implement immediately in the classroom

• Early career teachers who are looking to expand their instructional toolkit

Learning goals

Throughout this course, participants will:

• Learn about high impact teaching strategies for fostering independent thinkers, including activities that offer students opportunities for questioning and collaborative learning.

• Learn about explicit teaching strategies for promoting critical reading and writing, including using worked examples and activities that provide students with opportunities for questioning and for multiple exposures to new knowledge and ideas.

• Learn about high impact teaching strategies for structuring effective student group collaboration and promoting accountable talk in the classroom.

• Learn about high impact teaching strategies for providing effective feedback and encouraging metacognition.

Evidence Base

This course is underpinned by the principles of evidence-informed practice (John Hattie, Jonathan Sharples), which seeks to mobilise research knowledge more effectively in professional practice. There are a number of influential publications in this field, which explore the interface between education research and classroom practice, including The Power of Protocols (Joseph P. McDonald, Nancy Mohr, Alan Dichter, Elizabeth C. McDonald), Making Thinking Visible (Karin Morrison, Mark Church, and Ron Ritchhart), High Impact Teaching Strategies: Excellence in Teaching and Learning (Department of Education and Training, Victoria). These have proven instrumental in shaping the content, design, and structure of this course.

Sessions

Session 1: Fostering INDEPENDENT THINKERS

In this session, participants will:

• Be introduced to a number of instructional strategies and protocols for developing their students’ ability to generate their own ideas about texts, and organise and prioritise these ideas.

• Apply these protocols using the focus texts provided.

Session 2: READING CRITICALLY

In this session, participants will:

• Learn specific protocols for promoting student engagement with texts and developing greater depth of understanding.

• Apply these protocols using the focus texts provided.

Session 3: CRAFTING ACADEMIC ARGUMENTS

In this session, participants will:

• Focus on several instructional strategies that can be used to help students to use evidence to formulate and justify their own arguments.

• Apply these protocols using the focus texts provided.

Session 4: COLLABORATING WITH OTHERS

In this session, participants will:

• Learn protocols for structuring effective student group collaboration and promoting accountable talk in the classroom.

• Plan their own collaborative activity using the examples provided.

Session 5: OFFERING FEEDBACK AND REFLECTING ON LEARNING

In this session , participants will:

• Learn protocols that can be used to develop students’ competency in providing others with constructive feedback and engaging in meaningful reflection on feedback received.

• Learn protocols for encouraging students to think about what they know, how far their thinking on a particular text or topic has developed, the skills they have learnt, what they still need to know or master, and how they might approach bridging any knowledge or skill gaps.

Materials

All participants will receive a course book containing all course materials on the day.

Registration

You can register by selecting your package below.