If you’re just tuning in now, you will probably need context for this part. Find it here
Capturing the climate shift?
There is no doubt, both Ben and I find the quiet of Successive Relearning a little disconcerting. We are, by agreement, noisy teachers and yet we see the benefit of personal, focused, thinking-hard, self-paced, retrieval. How to capture this shift? Even then, this is only half of it. The second half, if not more, is a shift in learner confidence. It was so obvious Ben tagged it within his reward systems.
Having sensed student buy in, it is important to recognise and praise the good – the sorts of behaviour that need to be seen, leveling each warning or behaviour correction with a range of positive praise with students in the near vicinity of the unfocused participant often solves this very swiftly.
I have also found it useful to have RememberMore sit alongside already existent reward schemes. House points work well or a suitable alternative in line with your school’s reward system – these should be given not only for actual achievement, but for buy-in and performing the task.
When the climate is the culture?
What were the notable adaptations by students to starting lessons with routined CRM openings?
Voting with feet
Students who are often dawdling in the halls – I am now finding them consistently coming a bit earlier each time. Despite how it’s cool to advertise that you don’t like learning – my students clearly do. They like learning but don’t like school.
CRM is the delivery of learning and knowledge at its most effective and primal. Students now have a tangible, quantitative piece of data that shows they are improving. This is what draws them in earlier each time we start with CRM.
I wrote about students coming early to class too, to discuss Othello, in what became known as “the lesson before the lesson.” Here the learners were also showing off their new found knowledge.
Security if not consistency
Students do respect and appreciate routines? Or do they prefer that, to not knowing? Well, starting with a confidence boost, relearning, can only underwrite success later in the lesson.
Starting with an easy win. A tight deck, revisited repeatedly, offers a springboard to the lesson. “At least I know some.” Not testing, but retrieving removes a good degree of the threat. Do we need to know the student scores? Possibly, but not as much as they do. Self marking and self correcting ensures the students have at least seen the correct answer and reduces the demands placed on teachers.
Self directed learning
Another noticeable factor was being stopped in the halls, being asked how to access the knowledge organisers, how to get their hands on extra information – of course CRM is open and now the students have just got the app! Not only this, work that I never asked for is now being emailed.
Working with students who are on their second topic of CRM means they are expecting a BIG quiz. I look forward to hearing about how Ben’s students experience a signposted quiz next term – with Persian Kings doubling up with Roman Kings – a double deck of approximately 300 cards.
Climate
I know the classes I teach have bought in. Teachers that pass my open door can feel / see it and often pop their head in to ask if [the silence] everything is alright. “It is – we Relearning.” I affirmatively state and often give one of the students the opportunity to explain. What about you Ben?
I have not had the students working on the app in class yet. However, the student engagement when using CRM is palpable. It is measurable by the silence in the room and industry. I’ve devised a non-verbal signal – so that students present as ready / complete, while preserving the quiet.
So far – so good. Now for making the most of the corrective phase. This is Success–ive relearning.
Are you intrigued? Find out more about RememberMore and Successive Relearning here
Co-posted with Kristian Still – English Teacher and Co-Founder of RemembeMore
The Ursine Classicist 