Banish homework horrors: how to make homework meaningful and deepen learning
Plenty has been written about the horrors of homework. A negative impact on leisure time is high on the list of concerns, as is an uneven playing field, where some students benefit from more parental help or access to learning resources than others. Many students also find the marking process problematic as they are often left with little or no feedback on their work, or get a mark they don’t fully understand. But homework can no longer be seen a much maligned ‘add on’ to the school day. More complex curricula combined with new pedagogy like the flipped classroom, where rote material can be ingested at home, means that the work students do away from the classroom is crucial to their success. Homework also provides opportunities for reinforcement of work learned during school time and for children to develop their research skills. Students need to seek information for themselves and so are helped along the path to becoming independent learners, and the responsibility of meeting deadlines instills the discipline needed not just in the classroom, but all the way through life. Sam Blyth is director of schools at Canvas New technologies like Virtual Learning Environments have enabled a smooth transition between in-school and out-of-school work, and made homework more interactive, collaborative and fun. But technology alone won’t mitigate the stress and pressure that homework can bring. Online tools and access to technology must be coupled with a commitment from teachers to make homework as interesting and engaging as the work students complete in the classroom. By prioritising homework, students will feel more motivated working from home without a teacher’s supervision, and teachers will benefit from more engaged students who drive their own learning journey. As a result of countless conversations with teachers and parents, I’ve found that there are some basic things for schools to do to make homework more appealing and meaningful. These are: 1. Put kids in control of their learning Empowering students to learn independently, in a way that suits them, is motivational and inspiring. It’s crucial to give children the autonomy to influence their own path to knowledge, creating as much flexibility as possible within the constraints of curricula. Giving control to students isn’t the same as abdicating control of the classroom – but offering choices can motivate students to succeed. Give them a page of maths problems, but let them choose any ten to complete. If they usually do written book reports, allow students to write a traditional report, film a book review, or create a comic-book-style summary of the major events or themes. It can’t be done for every assignment, but why not try it occasionally? 2. Promote the use of digital tools and resources Banish the ‘dog ate my homework’ excuse forever by moving assignment delivery online. For students, Virtual Learning Environments facilitate access to engaging and compelling content. Using cloud-based solutions also means that students can access work from multiple devices, such as phones, tablets and laptops. For teachers the ability to track progress, or measure peer performance, in a centralised manner, allows them to spot trends or issues quickly and adapt teaching to fit students’ needs. Tracking progress is just as important for students as it is for teachers, seeing how they’re building knowledge shows children that the work they’re doing is paying off. Similarly, knowing what’s coming up builds interest and anticipation. Using self marking quizzes is another simple way to bring a fun ‘gamification’ element to the tuition. Going beyond the traditional curricula, and giving students the possibility to engage with each other in ways that are not associated with homework, often has a positive impact on students’ learning motivation. 3. Enable fast feedback and encourage sharing and teamwork By acknowledging and feeding back as quickly as possible, you’re telling the students you’ve seen their effort, which means their stress wasn’t all for nothing. Online forums enable two-way conversations with students and are a great way to give concrete feedback in an easy and accessible way. With Canvas, you can also give feedback via audio or video, which is a great way to personalise communication with students. Peer feedback is equally important. Teachers must enable a collaborative approach to learning by encouraging the sharing of work, feedback and ideas. When children feel that that what they are learning and producing will be shared and likely appreciated by others, they work hard to impress. Lastly, and too often ignored, is the process of self-evaluation. Encouraging children to ask ‘what did I learn here?’ and ‘how has this improved my knowledge?’ is key to ensuring they feel that the activities they have undertaken are worthwhile and part of a wider learning process. So three simple steps, but important ones. Following these methods will help to tackle the negative view of studying at home – promoting homework as both instructional and engaging; a crucial part of a student’s learning, leading to better outcomes for students and schools. https://www.canvasvle.co.uk/ Written by Sam Blyth the director of schools at Canvas.
Mind Full or Mindful? Exam prep for kids, parents & teachers
In Hitchhiker’s Guide, we’re told that, as a child, Zaphod had been diagnosed with ‘ADHDDAAADHD (ntm) ABT’ which stood for ‘Always Dreaming His Dopey Days Away, Also Attention Deficit Hyperflactulance Disorder (not to mention) A Bit Thick’. The majority of children aren’t ‘thick’, but in the modern world, they’re incredibly distracted. As we enter the silly season, when kids get stressed about exams, teachers get stressed about kids not living up to expectations and parents getting stressed about trying not to nag too much about revision, it’s important to stay calm and positive. I’ve been studying the science of happiness for 11 years and here a few lessons, for all the family (and for teachers), to help us calm the hell down and sail through the silly season: Lesson #1: The 8:1 Ratio The modern take is that you should be helping your child nurture a growth mindset, that is, an attitude that equates success with hard work. Nagging, punishment and pointing out what’s wrong means kids will learn to stick to what they know to be safe which, over time, leads to a fixed mindset (example, ‘I’m rubbish at maths. I’ll never be able to learn it’). If you mix in a healthy dose of positive reinforcement you will be rewarded with discretionary effort. One of the most effective things a teacher, parent and/or grandparent can do is to use a positivity/negativity ratio of about 8:1. It may seem a lot and it can be difficult to get it right, but catch your child doing things well. Notice the little things and tell them. Oh, and mean it! Lesson #2: Celebrate better How we behave in a moment of triumph and joy makes a huge difference in either building or undermining relationships. Broadly speaking, parents need to be ‘active constructive’, that means celebrating success with genuine enthusiasm. I’m not suggesting an over the top punching of the air celebration for every smidgeon of good news, but a raising of your levels of enthusiasm means you won’t miss out on so many glorious relationship building opportunities. The ‘active constructive’ reaction is completely brilliant on all sorts of levels. The message is they’re proud and you’re proud. Your active constructive response means they know you’re proud. Best of all, you’ve engineered it so you know they know you’re proud. (Read it again, maybe a couple of times, until it sinks in!) The result is that everyone feels great and your child will want to repeat that behaviour. Lesson #3: Praise for effort rather than talent The advice from positive psychology is that if your child accomplishes something, don’t say, ‘Well done, you are such a little genius!’ But rather, ‘Awesome, you put the effort in and got the reward.’ Here’s a concrete example. If your daughter does well in a mock maths exam don’t high-five, ‘Holy cow, total genius girl. You were born to do algebra.’ You’d be better off saying, ‘Amazing result. That’s what practice and hard work gets ya!’ and ruffle her hair in a chummy fashion. Lesson #4: Never pay your children for exam results A very common parenting trap! It’s so tempting, but let’s examine the sub-text of your well-meaning ‘payment by results’ system. What you are effectively saying is, ‘I understand that studying is a horrible thing to do. And I appreciate that you will only do it for money,’ and bang goes their love of learning. You are teaching them (albeit innocently and subconsciously) that learning is a chore. You’d be better off suggesting that you’ll do a family day out as a reward for all their hard work. Lesson #5: ‘I wish you well’ Everyone gets a little stressed and it’s easy to snap. Have a go at the 5-3-2 technique. You must first consider five people that you’re grateful to have in your life. Then, for the first three minutes you meet them, meet them like a long lost friend and don’t judge anyone or try to improve them. And for the first two seconds when you see another person, send them a silent ‘I wish you well’. It’s rather beautiful way of applying mindfulness to relationships. Lesson #6: The 7-second hug This goes hand-in-hand with the above. I started delving into the research behind this and then thought, sod it, nobody cares what the stats say. Here’s the headline news – the average hug lasts just over 2 seconds. If you hang on for a full 7 seconds then oodles of nice warm chemicals flow around both bodies and the love is transferred. One word of advice, don’t count out loud while you’re doing the 7-second hug as it tends to spoil the effect. Lesson #7: Chatter away! If you visit proper academic papers and government reports, you’ll find that far too many families are hindering their children’s development. A study by Hart and Risley suggested that by age 4, children raised in poor families will have heard 32 million fewer words than children raised in professional families. To add to the woe, it’s not just quantity, it’s also the emotional tone. So please speak a lot and, where possible, couch your language in the 8:1 ratio of positive to negative. Say instead of ‘how was school?’ why not upgrade to ‘what was the highlight of your day?’ or ‘what was the funniest or most amazing thing you’ve done today?’ Say it like you mean it and, of course, properly listen to the answer. You will be rewarded with an increased likelihood of a positive conversation. Lesson #8: Celebrate strengths Parents have a lot to answer for. Too much love and encouragement gives children an inflated idea of what they can do. Witness the early rounds of the prime-time talent shows where the kid has been bigged up so much that they believe the parental hype. We, the viewer, reach for our ear plugs as the performer refuses to accept the truth of their wailing banshee voice. And yet too little love and encouragement means we’re crippled emotionally. You can have the best voice on the planet but no confidence to
More young people experience mental health problems than asthma
Jonny Benjamin, the man who created the phenomenal #FindMike campaign, launches a new mental health workshop ThinkWell focused on educating the next generation in wellbeing and mental health. Jonny’s search for ‘Mike’, the man who stopped him taking his own life on the same date in 2008 (14th January), reached millions of people around the globe and created one of the biggest mental health campaigns in history. Not only starting a debate around mental health and suicide but also working on breaking down the stigma surrounding it. His aim is to empower and encourage young people to discuss and look after their mental wellbeing and simultaneously challenge the stereotypes and stigma associated with it. “Mental health is one of the last taboos in our society. I know first hand the prejudices and stereotypes that surround it. I’m determined to change this for younger people and get people talking about mental health. It’s something we all need to engage in” says Jonny, who’s experienced mental health problems since he was ten years old. “I never had any mental health education at school. I didn’t even know what mental health was whilst growing up. If I had had a workshop such as ThinkWell come to my school I think I would have sought help sooner and felt able to talk about what was happening. Instead I suffered in silence, leading to an eventual breakdown after becoming psychotic and ultimately taking me to the point of wanting to end my life. I hope to try and stop other young people from going through what I did by ensuring every pupil has mental health education, just as they do physical education. I believe that it should be a compulsory part of the curriculum.” Mental health workshops are safe & supportive The workshop ThinkWell will be launched nationwide and delivers a dynamic 100-minute session delivered direct to young people by both a highly trained workshop leader and a qualified therapist. It has been designed to provide a safe and supportive environment to talk about mental health, demystify many of the stigmas – and silence – around this issue and, very importantly, provide information and signposting for young people. The dynamic workshop uses exclusive film footage, from Jonny’s recent Channel 4 documentary The Stranger on the Bridge, as well as discussion and kinaesthetic activities to empower young people to talk about mental health and reach out for help if they need it. “Just as our bodies can get ill or break, so can our minds. And just as we can get treatment to be become physically healthy again or learn to live well with physical difficulties so can we do the same with our mental health. So why do we teach children how to look after themselves physically and when to ask for help if feeling unwell, but don’t do the same when it comes to their mental health and wellbeing? Engaging children and young people in the debate ThinkWell is a necessary project that should be available to all children and young people. As Jonny Benjamin shows, it is possible to return from significant mental health difficulties and live well. By sharing his story and engaging children and young people in the important debate around their and others’ mental health, Jonny and the Pixel Learning team are doing so much to empower and educate our upcoming generation and make the stigma and taboo of mental ill health a thing of the past.” Says Professor Tanya Byron, Clinical Psychologist specialising in working with children and adolescents. Delivered in tailored packages for KS3, KS4 and KS5 the workshop creates a safe environment for young people to engage in the topic and breaks down the taboos surrounding it. “We want ThinkWell to act as an early intervention- empowering young people to talk about mental health before they reach a point of a crisis. Encouraging young people to talk about their feelings is crucial in breaking down the stigma around mental health for the next generation” says Hannah Knight, Education Director at Pixel Learning, the organisation launching ThinkWell. ThinkWell Workshop: www.pixellearning.org ThinkWell is for all young people aged 13+ across the UK. We have different versions of ThinkWell to suit the age, ability and setting of young people. There are KS3, KS4 and KS5 versions for young people in school. We have a ThinkWell version for young people in youth groups, colleges, PRUs and other out-of-school settings. ThinkWell is also differentiated for the abilities of young people with stretch and challenge extension activities and simplified versions of tasks. We cater for young people with SEN and ESOL requirements. ThinkWell is designed to be inclusive and is suitable for all young people aged 13+. We send a trained Workshop Leader and a qualified therapist to work with young people. The Workshop Leader runs ThinkWell which involves exclusive film footage, discussion and kinaesthetic activities to reflect the different stages of Jonny’s journey. In an adjacent room, the qualified therapist runs ThinkWell Space for young people who are affected by the content of the ThinkWell workshop and may want to talk about their thoughts and feelings in a safe space. The ThinkWell therapist offers emotional support, mental health first aid and signposting to young people who visit the ThinkWell Space. We provide a full report of safeguarding concerns and action plans to the designated contact at the end of ThinkWell. The aim of ThinkWell is to provide a safe and supportive environment to talk about mental health, demystify many of the stigmas – and silence – around this issue and, very importantly, provide information and signposting for young people. ThinkWell has 4 key messages: Everyone has mental health and mental health issues are common Talking about mental health issues is essential Reaching out for help is a positive step and lots of different types of help is available Recovery is possible and achievable ThinkWell is run by Pixel Learning. Pixel Learning is a unique collaboration between film and education. Our aim is to use film to inspire empathy in young people empowering them to