Tuesday 3 Feb

Tried doing expert groups with my Childcare class today, as I thought it would encourage communication and force them to have discussions. However, it was an EPIC fail. Students ended up going into their shells and ended up working independently rather than sharing and discussing ideas. When it came to teaching they just showed them their notes and the rest copied.

However on a positive I included a third phase to this activity where they have to pair up and one is the recorder and the other holds osprey with words that could fill the gaps. Between the two they must decide which best suits. It was through this activity that I could see what information they had taken on board during the 1st and 2nd parts which were encouraging.

On reflection I would certainly do this activity again as it allows the students to take accountability for their learning, creates an environment in which they can be confident to share their ideas and direct the learning in a direction in which they understand. Also the repetition of seeing the information through a couple a different parts will hopefully allow that information to be retained more.