Many schools in Chile describe themselves as "international", but are they? Others say they offer "international programmes" or "international examinations" but do they? Do these terms mean something, or are they merely marketing mumbo-jumbo? Is an "international school" really an "international" school?
Effective teaching requires knowing your destination before starting your journey, and by extension knowing how to identify when you have arrived and how far along the route you are at any given time. In other words, effective teaching requires objectives; when expressed in an observable and measurable form, these are standards.
Standards-based education gives teachers and students clear goals, and if the standards are well-designed, a structured programme. However standards are not methodologies; when incorporating standards into their practice, teachers must also make their lessons engaging while aiming at student success. This one-hour overview considers standards, objectives and competencies and reviews some sample teaching and learning standards as examples of how to do so.
Teachers have multi-functional roles, arguably most important of which is that of ensuring the conditions for learning and this of course involves managing and directing student behaviour. As teachers, we should have long-term aims and yet many, or most, common strategies bring only short-term effects. Positive Discipline refers to collaborative, constructive approaches which have at their core inculcating the desire for doing the right thing.
Pairwork is one of the most effective teaching strategies and should be one of the primary approaches of all teachers, not just English Language and Lang&Lit. This Philosophy and Practice seminar for G7 - 12 levels (G5 - 6 teachers will also find it useful) reviews the hows and whys, teacher friendly approaches, effective and valid assessment and evaluation and how to avoid some of the more common reasons pairwork activities are not a huge success.
Groupwork is one of the most effective teaching strategies and should be one of the primary approaches of all teachers, not just English Language and Lang&Lit. However few teachers are confident assessing oral performance in a group situation which is not really so difficult. This methodology seminar for G7 - 12 levels (G5 - 6 teachers will also find it useful) reviews a teacher-friendly, effective and valid assessment approach.
Assessment as a part of Teaching and Learning should provide all partners in the interaction(s) with useful information on what is known, shown and can be done. At the same time, assessment should not end the process or negatively impact the learner.
Years upon years of reaearch and classroom practice have shown that students learn best when part of the learnng process. Such approaches have different flavours and thus different names but share the same philosophical underpinning. Learning must be active, especially in the Early and Primary Years.
Join us as we review this approach, and some of the common branches of the Active Learning family tree. This session will be particularly useful for new and prospective Cambridge Primary, High Scope, PYP and Reggio Emilia teachers.
