Hello and welcome. My name is Renee and together we'll be exploring the topic of
resources. By the end of this video, you'll have a clear understanding of how
resources support better learning. I'll be sharing some ideas you can easily
implement in your classroom to help make learning more personalised and memorable
for which you'll only need simple tools like coloured paper or pictures. And at
the end, watch out for my top tip.
If you reflect on a time when you learned the most, it was most likely a combination
of something you and your teacher were doing.
Our classrooms consist of a wide variety of individuals. If you think of any of
your classes, you will most probably have students who like to see, write down, move
and arrange things.
Others, who respond well to doing and engaging all their senses in their body.
Those who enjoy connecting through listening and sound, responding well to
rhyme, rhythm and repetition. And perhaps, those who enjoy solving puzzles, making
lists and ordering things. Some may enjoy collaborating in pairs and groups, while
others might appear to learn better alone. Our job as teachers is to cater for them
all, and this is where I find resources very helpful. Many of our learners will respond
well to and benefit from a wide variety of resources. Their learning will be helped
by the hands-on participation. They'll enjoy co-constructing meaning and the
element of play and self-discovery that resources can offer.
Firstly, resources help us to personalise what we're learning. To make those
important connections that aid memory and help our recall.
Resources, like pictures, rhymes, adding your own examples, completing a table,
mapping and games, will help learners make the content or skill you are teaching
their own. It'll help them to make the connections they need in order to learn
and remember new things.
For example, get your students to fold an A4 piece of paper into eight. Do a drawing
dictation to revise vocabulary so they draw a picture in each square. Get them to
cut out the squares. These cards can be used for a variety of activities, from
writing stories and speaking to guessing games. There's a lot of research in
support of using this kind of play, especially where the students are testing
each other and pretending to be teachers.
Secondly, resources help make things memorable because they allow us to arrange
new information into a meaningful way, to brand it in some way, and so resources that
have colour, sound, pattern, shape or require physical movement can help
learners create the connections they need for absorption and recall.
For example, give your students a collection of words on cards. Once
you’ve helped them with those they didn't know, ask them to arrange the words
in a meaningful pattern to map them. Then ask them to explain to their partner or
another group why they chose this arrangement. Saying it out loud will also
help them learn and remember. Finally, get them to reproduce this pattern in their
notebooks.
Clever, systematic and consistent use of the board or walls in our classroom will
also be helpful.
For example, give your learners strips of coloured papers and ask them to write a
seven-word summary of what they learned near the end of the lesson. Post these
around the room to provide a gallery experience.
Let them walk around in pairs, debating and selecting the ones that best reflect
the lesson.
Keep one strip summary from each lesson and place it on the board in class so that
together the learners build a summary wall of what they learned that month or
term.
It's very motivating to see it build up over time and a good memory aid. It also
makes a handy display for parents who can see what has been learned.
Ultimately, what is important is that you consider the needs and interests of all
your learners and make sure you're catering for their variety of learning
preferences when planning and teaching. Resources, then, rather than being extras,
allow us to ensure that real learning is taking place.
So, to end, here is my top tip. You don't need to generate all the resources
yourself. Let your students contribute and help make the resources for games, quizzes
and other activities. It is excellent in-class or at-home practice and a good
indication of whether they’ve learned something.