Keith Varty – Biology/Science Teacher
When you watch this video you will observe a Science lesson where S2 pupils were actively engaged in learning about cell biology, specifically microscopy and cell structures. This lesson began with sharing the learning intentions, both visually and verbally, in the form of questions to allow pupils to recognise what their specific targets for successful learning would be.
Afterwards, the lesson progresses to the identification and description of parts of animal and plant cells and shows how I used an innovative approach to Smartboard use and Show Me Boards. This approach captivated pupils and focused them on their learning, whilst ensuring that they were actively engaged in activities that would allow formative assessment of the knowledge and understanding, which they had developed during the course of the topic.
Pupils had an extremely positive response to these tasks and reveled in receiving immediate feedback on their performance thus further increasing their participation. Following this activity pupils were then given time to enhance their practical skills in the laboratory by creating freshly prepared slides of cheek epithelial cells or onion cells. This also provided pupils with an opportunity to further develop their core skills, whilst receiving support from their peers and myself as I circulated around each of the work stations.
Finally, to sustain the positive classroom ethos, which I had established throughout the year, I spent some time recognising the achievement of my pupils by celebrating this success through “Scientist of the Week” competition. This is a small but hugely beneficial strategy that has significant impact on the ethos of my classroom. As you can see pupils are not only enthused by this competition, they are also happy to celebrate the success of others, who have made progress in Science. This idea was suggested to me by a valued colleague, whilst engaging in professional discussion over promoting positive behaviour.
The strategies that I can be seen to utilise in this video stem from considerable time spent engaging in professional reading and professional discussion; focussing on the effective use of learning intentions and success criteria, Assessment for Learning and recognising achievements by celebrating success. The majority of these strategies are from very early in my career but I hadn’t recognised the positive impact that they were having. It was only after discussions with the PTC in my department (who was providing post-observation feedback) that I saw the benefits and as a result I aspire as much as possible to incorporate these strategies in my lessons.
