(SPEAKS INAUDIBLY)
Hi. My name's Peter Smythe.
I'm a maths and science teacher at Gungahlin College.
Last year I noticed that
one of my maths classes wasn't working the way I wanted it to be,
and I needed to take some action to address that.
And the obvious place of ideas seem to be the students
so I asked them for feedback
and they were quite happy to tell me the things I was bad at
and the things that I actually did
which helped them with their learning.
Peter, when we normally had class last semester,
he always talked for a very long time,
so by the time we actually finished talking
we had about, like, 20 minutes at most to finish off the work.
Well, the thing that they told me is,
"Stop standing next to a whiteboard and talking at us
"because it's of no value.
"And please continue hanging over my shoulder
"and helping me with a question
"or sitting down at a table with a small group of us
"and helping us with the questions that we're actually struggling with."
I know it seems kind of obvious
but until I had the students telling me that,
I was choosing not to see it, I guess.
One of the things I really value is student voice.
And I think we talk a lot about student voice,
but if you're not seen to act on what students say, it has no purpose.
So I think one of the real successes
in how I've changed my classroom around
is that it has been in response to what students have told me.
They've made suggestions and then been really surprised
because changes have actually taken place
in a big way, but directly related to the feedback that they've given.
So instead of standing next to a whiteboard and talking in class,
and taking half an hour to deliver
what in my mind was five minutes worth of content,
I use video.
The videos would look like, literally, a blank canvas
with maths seemingly magically appearing in my hand.
But I provide a commentary which I think really gives an added layer
to enable students to get a deeper understanding
of not just what is happening but why things are happening as well.
COMMENTARY: ..theory a number of times so I'll be quick.
This has a length of y.
..pi on 6 which is equal to negative on half.
Exactly the same thinking but we're using that form
rather than this one.
Those videos are hosted by YouTube,
but I have put links back into our virtual learning environment,
our class home page.
And that's really important for me because it allows me to see
when students access particular resources.
But by having the YouTube videos, it means that we actually have time
to work in class without having to do the work at home.
And Peter's managed to condense 30 minutes worth of work
into a 2-minute video.
And it actually makes a lot more sense.
And if you don't understand it, you can pause it and try and...
It's usually really clear.
Watching the videos in our own time allows us to pause, rewind,
build on the concept of understanding what needs to be done.
And class time is mainly focused on working on these problems,
using the theory we've learnt
and asking for help and building our skills too.
I've found using our virtual learning environment
and things like YouTube videos
was a really powerful way of shifting things
which would, perhaps, beforehand happen in class
into a virtual space in a virtual environment,
buying me real time with students.
Making these changes in my classroom, it's just been a revelation for me.
I actually feel like students are learning.
And some days I'd get that and some days I wouldn't.
But I walk into a classroom environment
like the one that you've seen today and there is no doubt in my mind
that high quality learning is taking place.
And there are discussions that are happening at a high level
and there's higher order thinking happening.
And, yeah, to see that happening in your class
and know that these students are being enriched,
but they're also learning skills
about self-management and self-assessment,
you know, that's been really enriching for me, yeah.