Accelerated Learning in Action

Fitting Learning to the “shape” of the Brain

Teaching and Learning

“MAP OF THE DAY”

We will consider 7 things we know about effective learning and discuss the implications for our classrooms.

Explore the Accelerated Learning cycle as a scaffolding for planning stimulating and engaging lessons

Experience working in the Multiple Intelligence Classroom

Have a go at planning an Accelerated Learning Lesson

Have an opportunity to ask questions and to discuss the practical implications of this model

Look at how ICT can be used to underpin the A.l. cycle

By the end of this session

• We will be able to state 7 things we know about the brain and learning

• We will be able to use the A.L. Cycle as a planning tool

• We will have picked up many practical strategies we can use with our students

“Combining the Art of Teaching with the Science

of Learning”

What we know about Effective Learning

• 1 People do not learn effectively when placed under negative stress - low stress, high challenge is the ideal state for learning.

• 2 The maximum time for which children can concentrate is approximately two minutes in excess of their chronological age in minutes. Even adults cannot concentrate for longer than 20-25 minutes.

AND

• 3 People learn more at the beginning and end of a learning experience than they do in the middle. This is sometimes referred to as the BEM principle.

• 4 People learn in different ways: some prefer to see information(visual learners), some will learn more effectively if they hear information(auditory learners), while others will learn best by doing - touching, feeling, making(kinaesthetic learners).

ALSO

• 5 Learning is greatly enhanced when the whole brain is engaged.

• 6 People remember dramatic, emotional, unexpected experiences. People remember context much better than they remember content.

• 7 Recall is dramatically improved when information is regularly reviewed. Without review, information is forgotten almost immediately.

THE ACCELERATED LEARNING CYCLETHE ACCELERATED LEARNING CYCLE

CONNECT THE LEARNING

THE BIG PICTURE

DESCRIBE THE OUTCOMES

INPUT/INTRODUCTION

ACTIVITY

DEMONSTRATE

REVIEW FOR RECALL &

RETENTION

CREATE THE SUPPORTIVE LEARNING

ENVIRONMENT

Creating the learning environment• Create the learning

environment by:• Smiling

• Using “we” language

• Affirmation posters on the wall

• Making your room a No Put Down Zone

• Having a colourful and stimulating display on the walls

• Arranging the furniture to facilitate the learning

• Playing music to set a particular mood

Connect the Learning

• Connect the Learning by:

• getting students to write down the 3 most important things they learned from the previous lesson - then pair share it with a friend and try to make it up to 5

• Getting students to solve anagrams of keywords from previous lesson “You only understand

information relative to what you already understand”

Big Picture First

• Unsure how to show the Big Picture:

• Use Big Pictures - post images relating to the whole topic around the room

• Use module maps

• Make a keyword display and get students to add to a keyword glossary each lesson

“Can’t do a jigsaw without looking at the picture on the box”

Describe the Learning Outcomes

• Share the learning outcomes

• Let students know what “they will be able to do by the end of the lesson that they could not do before

• Write learning outcomes clearly in a prominent place in the classroom so students can see them

• Refer to learning outcomes throughout the lesson

“Do your pupils have a clue as to why they are learning what they are learning - have you told them”

Introduce Information

• Introduce new information through V A K

• See it

• Hear it

• Touch it

• and if possible

• Taste it

• Smell it

“Stimulate the Brain through as many of the senses as possible”

Activity

• Allow students to process new information through the Multiple intelligences

• Interpersonal

• Intrapersonal

• Visual

• Kinesthetic(physical)

• Mathematical/logical

• Linguistic

• Musical

“Its not how smart you are - its how you are smart”

Demonstrate new understanding

• Students show they understand by:

• Each one teach one

• Presentations

• Hot seating

• Tape it

• Video voice over

• Role play

• Who wants to be a millionaire

• Interactive display

• Mini whiteboards

“If you understand it you can explain it”

Review

• Review not just what you learned but how you learnt it:

• Use the “question wall”

• The block it review - 3 things I leaned, 2 questions I still want to ask, one thing I already knew

• Teach memory techniques - get students to put on their memory SPECS, See it, Personalise it, Exaggerate it, Connect it, Share it

• Preview next lesson

“Learning without reviewing is like trying to fill the bath without putting the plug in”

What we do effects the lives of the students we teach...

“Maybe not today, Maybe not tomorrow, but the next day and for the rest of their lives”