STUDY SENSEI. Teacher Implementation Kit Elevate Education

STUDY SENSEI Teacher Implementation Kit © 2015 Elevate Education Overview Elevate Education is an international provider of study skills workshops ...
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STUDY SENSEI Teacher Implementation Kit

© 2015 Elevate Education

Overview Elevate Education is an international provider of study skills workshops to senior school students, and works with over 1250 schools and 250,000 students every year across the UK, USA, Australia & South Africa. Founded in 2001, Elevate has spent more than 14 years benchmarking the habits of the country’s top students. This research has identified 17 areas where the habits and study processes of the top students differ from middle and lower performing students. Elevate workshops introduce students to these 17 skills and show them how to adopt them.

What makes us different Young presenters students can relate to Elevate uses young presenters that have recently faced and aced the final years of school themselves. By using presenters that students can relate to, schools have found the impact of the study skills message is increased. Young presenters are perceived as being credible as they have only just gone through the experience themselves. Practical study skills students can use Most study skills programmes fail because they are dense on theory but lack the kind of practical skills that students can use straight away. All of Elevate’s material focuses on practical study skills modelled from the top students.

Short, high impact sessions Research shows that as the length of a study skills program increases, student implementation tends to decrease. Students are left with an overwhelming list of ‘52 skills’ which is so long that students don’t know where to begin. These short, sharp sessions maximise student retention rates and isolate a handful of skills to implement immediately, encouraging student skill adoption. Follow-up resources Most study skills programs are ultimately flawed in that teachers are not provided with materials to follow-up and reinforce the skills covered in the program. Study skills, like any skill, are developed through repetition, practice and review. This teacher implementation kit is designed to be used in conjunction with the Time Management seminar to reinforce the skills covered in the sessions.

How to use this document This teacher implementation kit contains a range of modular follow-up activities for staff to run in class. The focus of this implementation kit is on getting students to use the skills while studying in a classroom subject. However, if this kit is being used in pastoral care time, the activities can still be run using work the students have done while in another class (e.g. English).

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Resource Outline This resource is built around the Study Sensei seminar, and is designed to reinforce the study skills covered in the seminar. Students are provided with a booklet which they will work through during these modules and can reference at home. To help with your planning, here is how you might want to structure the implementation of follow-up over a term:

Start of term Activity 1 – Note Making Planner

Week 1

Time required: Teacher kit: Student pack:

30 minutes page 3 page 2

Activity 2 – Formatting Notes

Week 2

Time required: Teacher kit: Student pack:

50 minutes page 6 page 5

Activity 4 – Mind-Mapping

Week 3

Time required: Teacher kit: Student pack:

Week 5

Time required: Teacher kit: Student pack:

Week 6

Time required: Teacher kit: Student pack:

40 minutes page 11 page 8

Activity 3 – Independent Learning File 30 minutes page 9 page 7

Activity 6 – Practice Test Tracker 30 minutes page 15 None required

End of term Activity 5 – System of Review

Throughout Term

Time required: Teacher kit: Student pack:

5 minutes page 14 None required

Activity 7 – Combination Activity

Time required: Teacher kit: Student pack:

20 minutes page 17 None required

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Activity 1 – Note Making Planner Initial class time required:

25-30 minutes

Follow-up time:

5 minutes each week

Suitable subjects:

Humanities subjects

Resources required:

Activity 1 from Student Template Pack (page 2)

When:

Start of term.

Introduction

Research Background

Creating the Planner

Top performing students use their syllabus (or course outline) to structure their revision across the year, and then as a checklist before exams. The majority of students will walk into an exam with gaps in their knowledge where they simply haven’t revised content. You can see in the example above, taken from a year 11 cohort, that many students (over 30%) either use their syllabus intermittently or not at all. This is a common finding in most senior year groups. Yet regular use of the syllabus provides students with a framework to focus their revision. It gives them confidence in knowing that having studied each learning outcome that appears in the syllabus, they will have covered every topic that could appear in an exam.

This activity encourages students to make notes from the syllabus by setting the notes they intend to write to a timeline, which contains short-term deadlines. The syllabus is used to populate the planner with note-making goals, which are then ticked off when a student has completed the work. Each week, staff can do spot checks to ensure students are proactively making their notes according to the deadlines they have established in the planner.

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Lesson 1: Creating the note-making planner Have students get out a copy of the Student Template Pack and turn to page 2. Have them read through the introduction to re-familiarise themselves with the concept of the note-making planner. Next, have students open their syllabus documents and turn to the learning outcomes being covered that term. Remind students about how the learning outcomes in the syllabus are used to form assessments and tests. Next, have the students isolate the learning outcome points and add them to the planner template found on page 4 of their template packs, in the column called ‘Syllabus Point’. Students can write syllabus points in their own words – the main focus is ensuring they have a link to the syllabus in the planner. Over the page, you can see an example of how students can transfer syllabus points to their planners.

Follow-Up

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Lesson 1 – Creating the Planner (continued) Once the students have written the learning outcome points into the ‘Syllabus Point’ section of the note making planner, the next step is to have students write in a deadline for completing their notes. This doesn’t need to be in the same week as the content being taught, but will ideally be at least three weeks before the first assessment for the content. In the first session, have the students fill the note making planner with syllabus points which are being taught in class that week. The students can then fill out the rest of the planner with points to be covered later in term in their own time.

Follow-up Lessons Each week following the initial activity, conduct spot-checks to ensure that students are sticking to their deadlines. This may involve having students bring their notes (along with their planner) to your desk, or can involve random spot - checks each week with a limited number of students. The goal is to create a level of accountability. Another way to reinforce the use of the note planner is to pair up students in class into a ‘buddy system’, whereby ”buddies” are responsible for checking a classmate’s notes each week at a set time to ensure they are on track. While less effective than direct teacher oversight, this still serves to add an additional layer of accountability.

Outcomes The aim of this exercise is to establish a routine of planned note-making whereby students make notes across the term. If students can do this they will be able to avoid the dreaded last minute cram in the final weeks before an exam. Further, students will find that they have free time in the final weeks before an exam which can be used to focus on practice exams.

Pitching Tip

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Activity 2 – Effective Note Formatting Initial class time required:

45-60 minutes (integrated into a standard teaching period)

Follow-up time:

5-10 minutes each week

Suitable subjects:

Humanities subjects

Resources required:

Activity 2 from Student Template Pack (Page 5)

When:

Across the term

Research Background

Introduction

Laying out the Page

The most common note-taking technique we see used by students is to write long, verbose notes. The problem many students then have is processing such a large amount of information when they read their notes. Additionally, when students attempt to write (or type) as much as they possibly can, notes are often formatted poorly and are then re-written when students go home. This double-handling of work prevents students from doing highervalue work, such as practice tests and doing supplementary reading. An example from a year 10 cohort is provided in the graph above, with over 70% of students either writing their notes ineffectively or not having a note-taking

plan at all. The research into top performing students shows they reduce the amount of words in their notes by up to 80% to just focus on the key words or ‘trigger words’. Students were shown how to use trigger words in the Study Sensei seminar and will be familiar with the concept. This exercise aims to get students writing their notes using trigger words in class, which prevents them from needing to re-write notes later in the term. It will also ensure that while studying their notes, extraneous information does not cloud their revision; only the critical information required for assessment will be memorised.

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Lesson 1 – Getting students to use trigger words Have students read through and complete Activity 2: 'Making Effective Notes' from the Student Template Pack on page 5, using a topic they have studied in class this week. Students will already have an idea as to how to write their notes using trigger words from the seminar, but will often find this difficult if they are used to writing full sentences. As such, when content is being taught in this class, make regular reference to how the students could reduce their words down to the bare minimum. Have students write a set of notes using the following process (an example is found on page 6):



The topic being covered in the lesson should form a main heading at the top of the page, to be written in big, bold letters. This should draw instant attention to the main topic at a glance.



Sub-topics should form sub-headings which are more specific, and cover a subset of specific points. These should be bold, but less obvious than the main headings.



Finally, specific content should be represented by bullet points which fall under the sub- headings. These points should not go past a line (get students to draw this line, or imagine it if they are typing) running down the middle of the page. This forces students to write notes which use only the most important trigger words, and words which are relevant to them, thereby increasing their understanding.

Pitching Tip

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Elevate Note-Making Teacher Guide

Make your Main Heading nice and bold – it should be the topic of the page and the first thing you see when you look at the page.

Make your sub-headings bold (or in their own colour) and put them at the top of a new topic related to the main heading.

Your bullet-points should be only a few words long and focus on key words – you don’t need to write full sentences!

To help you cut down the number of words you write or type, try drawing or imagining a line running down the middle of the page that you don’t write past.

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Follow-up Lessons After the students have been encouraged to use this note-taking system in class, it is important that the process is followed up. There are a number of options based on available class time and the nature of the students. Option 1 – Teacher spot-checks (done once a week throughout class time) In a number of schools, staff will require students to hand in their notes each fortnight for a spot check. This involves students bringing their notes to the teacher’s desk (for example, on a Friday morning as students are reading through a new text) and having them marked in accordance with the example provided on page 7. Students who are writing notes in too much detail will be encouraged to reduce the amount of words they write for the next spot-check. Some schools offer a class prize to students who have written notes with effective use of trigger words.

Option 2 – Buddy system (done for 5-10 minutes once a week) Where class time is limited, some schools will divide the class into pairs for buddy spot checks. This will ideally be a process administered by the teacher to avoid friends giving each other an easy assessment. Each Friday morning, staff will require students to branch into their pairs and inspect each other’s notes and encourage students to provide advice on how sentences might be further condensed. Staff will walk around the classroom to provide assistance where required.

Outcomes The desired outcome from this process is to get students writing notes using trigger words and effective spacing. If assistance is provided on a weekly basis, students will become more comfortable with the process to the point that it becomes habitual. Having become accustomed to using the trigger word system, you should notice students having more time at home to complete other work set by you, such as extra readings, practice tests and short assignments.

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Activity 3 – Independent Learning File Initial class time required:

20-30 minutes

Follow-up time:

5-10 minutes each week

Suitable subjects:

Humanities subjects

Resources required:

Manila folder or display folder Activity 3 –Student Template Pack

When:

Once a week.

Research Background

Introduction

Creating the File Our aim at Elevate isn’t to turn students into exam machines. One of the greatest skills students can learn at school is the ability to think independently and to become confident in their own learning style. Invariably the students who do the best at school are the ones who have gone beyond the syllabus/course outline and beyond the information provided in class in order to develop a more in-depth and rounded understanding of the subject. While it is crucial to learn all content found in the syllabus to create a foundation, the topperforming students tend to devote time each week to doing extra reading to enrich their understanding of a topic.

irrelevant. Put simply, where there is no accountability except to oneself it is very easy to disregard the work. This exercise seeks to normalize the process by having all students produce and maintain a file which contains information not covered in the course outline, but which is still relevant to the topic.

As you can see from the graph, it’s very common for students to place virtually no value on doing extra reading because it isn’t a compulsory subject In this case, over 60% of students either don’t place high value on extra reading, or actively believe it is

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Lesson 1 – Create the Independent Learning File In the first lesson, have students bring a display folder (or manila folder) to class. This will serve as a repository for any extra reading they come across which might help them in assessments. Have a discussion with the students about why using extra-reading in exams and tests will give them an advantage. The presenter will have covered this in the seminar. The main point to hammer home is that if all students learn from the same course outline, test answers tend to look fairly similar. This makes it hard to stand out, unless students can bring something else to the table, namely extra information that no other students thought to access.

Pitching Tip

Step 1: Brainstorm extra reading (5 – 10 minutes) First, have students read the introduction activity on page 7 of their template packs. Once they’ve done this, have a five-minute brainstorm with the class about what extra-reading might look like. The idea is that students find information which is relevant to, but not explicitly in the syllabus. Write up examples on the board as students produce them. For example, in an English subject, students might produce some of the following ideas:   

Resistant readings from other authors Extra quotes More detailed notes on a text’s context

If students mention content which is in the course outline, have a discussion about why this won’t necessarily give students an advantage in an assessment, as it is compulsory content. Step 2: Introduce students to the independent learning file Once students understand the type of extra-reading they are looking for, explain to them that for the remainder of the term, 20 minutes will be spent each week at home looking for 1 -2 items of extra reading which will be added to the file. This can include items such as: 

Pulling an article out of the paper which provides extra examples for a legal studies subject.



Photocopying a passage from a novel (as an inter-textual reference) and highlighting key points.



Photocopying a page from a supplementary Chemistry text book with a unique example on it.



Watching a documentary on a history subject, and writing half a page of notes.

Students will add this information to the file, and bring the file to class each week on a pre - determined day. For example, some English teachers will allocate Thursday as ‘independent learning file day’ and students will be required to bring it in for their period 4 English class.

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Follow-up Lessons Step 3: Have students present on their extra reading Each week, allocate 10 minutes in class to have a number of students present their extra reading from their file. Ask the students to explain what it is they have found, and how they could use it to enhance their response in a test. For example, a student might have found a new set of quotes for English and they might say that they intend to use these quotes in supporting a paragraph about gender, or symbolism. Make this a random process so students will always have their extra - reading ready to go. Step 4: Have spot-checks on students’ extra reading each week Before the weekly presentations, do a spot check to ensure all students are adding extra reading to their files. This ensures students don’t just keep one or two articles in their file all term for when they are asked to present.

Outcomes By making extra-reading a weekly focus and giving students a central location for the information, over a period of months doing extra-reading becomes a normal activity. This will then begin to bear fruits in the exam room, where students will have a significantly larger pool of examples to draw from.

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Activity 4 – Mind-Mapping Notes Initial class time required:

35-40 minutes

Follow-up time:

1 lesson each term (ideally the revision lesson)

Suitable subjects:

Humanities subjects

Resources required:

Activity 4 – Mind-Mapping from the Student Template Pack (page 8)

Introduction

Research Background When you ask a group of students who among them have heard of mind-mapping, every hand usually goes up. However when you ask them who actually uses this technique, in any given room it will be between 10-20%. However mind-mapping is one of the most effective conceptual learning tools for helping students to process information. Each year, the top performing students use conceptual learning tools such as mind-mapping more often than average-performing students, as mind-mapping allows students to link sub-topics more easily and, in test situations, form a clearer understanding of the overall topic. This aids in exam room responses and prevents students from developing ‘tunnel vision’ when they sit down to answer a test question.

Lesson 1 – Have students convert notes into a mind map

Converting Notes

In the Study Sensei seminar, students are shown how to create mind-maps from a page of trigger word notes (as seen on page 9 of this guide). Have students turn to page 8 of their template packs, and read through the instructions. An example is shown for them on page 9 of their packs. Once students have read page 8, have them create a mind map from the sample notes provided for them on page 10 of their template packs. There is a blank mind-map template for them to use on page 11. The main steps they will be using are covered below:

Step 1: Create main headings The centre of the mind-map comes directly from the main headings on the page of notes. Have students fill the large circle in the middle of the page using the main heading of the sample notes on page 10 of their packs. Step 2: Create first branches The sub-headings on the page of notes are then drawn onto the mind-map as branches. They are bold, like the sub-headings in the original notes, but are smaller than the main heading in the middle. Step 3: Create second branches Students will then identify bullet-points on their page of notes and branch these off the first- branches in the mind map. These should remain in trigger-word format (discussed in Activity 2) to enable students to fit as much into the mind-map as possible.

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Step 4: Add new pages of notes to the mind-map Students should not limit themselves to making a mind-map for just a single page of notes. One of the best aspects of mind-mapping is the ability to link multiple pages of notes together which would otherwise have remained separated (physically and conceptually) across the term. Asking students to link a page of notes from week 2 to one written in week 7 will, provided content is relevant, help to solidify their overall grasp of key concepts. This simply involves students taking a new main heading from another page of notes and repeating steps 1-3 adjacent to the original mind map.

Step 4: Link topics together Finally, students should be encouraged to look for links between items on the mind maps and link them together graphically – particularly for points which stem from different sub-headings (first branches on the mind map). This helps students realise cross-topic links which can allow them to create advanced test responses. Step 5: Use own notes Once students have completed the first mind map on page 11 with the notes from page 10, have them use a set of their own notes to create a mind map using the template found on page 12.

Follow-up Lessons This module is explanatory, but the process of mind-mapping should be part of all students’ study routines. A fantastic follow-up activity is to go through the mind-mapping process in revision lessons before major tests or exams. By encouraging students to draw mind maps in groups, and encouraging them to link notes written at different stages in the term, the technique gains a high level of relevance and allows students to see the benefits from a revision perspective.

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Example: Mind-Mapping Notes

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Activity 5 – Systematic Review Initial class time required:

10 minutes

Follow-up time:

2-3 minutes each lesson

Suitable subjects:

All

Resources required:

No additional resources

Introduction

Research Background

Process and follow-up

Typically, once a student has finished making their notes of an evening, they file the notes away, never to be seen until exams. However, research shows that long-term memories are formed through regular, low-intensity exposure to information. The top-performing students will revise their notes straight after they have written them, and then on a regular basis afterwards. In the Study Sensei seminar, students were shown how to structure this revision by reading over notes straight after they have written them, 24 hours later, and then at the end of each month. By reinforcing this process in the classroom, students should form a systematic review habit which will be used at home as well.

Each Lesson – Have students review notes End-of-lesson review At the end of the first lesson where this technique is introduced, ask students to stop writing about 2-3 minutes before the teaching period ends. Have the students silently read through the notes which they have written that day. This reinforces the concept of instant review. Pre-lesson review At the beginning of the next teaching period that week, have the students spend the first 2-3 minutes of class reading through the notes they reviewed at the end of the previous lesson. This will reinforce the concept of 24-hour delayed review. Monthly review At the end of each month, if there is time in class, ask students to spend 20 minutes of silent time reading through the notes they have written that month. They may not finish this task, but this process can easily be continued at home.

Pitching Tip

Outcomes By having students review their notes consistently in class, over time they will start to notice the ease with which they can recall information. This then reinforces the process and encourages to continue to use it at home.

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Activity 6 – Practice Test Tracker Initial class time required:

10 minutes

Follow-up time:

5 minutes after each in-class assessment

Suitable subjects:

All

Resources required:

A3 card

Research Background

Introduction

Among the most compelling findings in our research each year is the impact that practice exam papers have on students’ test scores. In short, there is a direct correlation with the number of practice tests students complete before an assessment and the marks they ultimately achieve. From a teacher’s perspective this is hardly surprising; practice tests increase a student’s exposure to difficult questions, which increases the likelihood of the student being able to successfully answer a similar question in an exam environment. However, most students never complete sufficient numbers of practice tests (we recommend three practice exams per subject, per exam), simply because they view them as too difficult, and because there is no immediate incentive for completing them. To rectify this, we want to use the principles of gamification to attach a non-study reward to the completion of practice papers, which involves creating an air of visible competition around completing practice papers with the class in a relaxed environment. However, staff can play a pivotal role in getting students to self-motivate by showing them the direct link between practice tests and test results, and also creating artificial competition around their completion. The following exercise is remarkably simple, and might seem a bit basic for year 12 students, but has been used with great success at many schools (including with year 12 groups).

Initial Lesson – Exam tracking board This module is designed to publicly display the link between students who complete more practice tests and the higher marks they achieve in their assessments. This requires the creation of a board that lists students in the class, with a row next to each name to display the number of practice tests they have completed during the term. Ideally this will be kept in a clearly visible place in the class. An example is provided left:

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Updating the board Whenever a student completes a practice test for your subject, have them bring it to you and show you their work. For each practice test a student completes, place a marker on the exam tracking board. An initial incentive might be to offer students a prize (e.g. a movie voucher) at the end of term for the student who has completed the most practice exam papers. The trick is to make each update of the board a conspicuous process, so students begin to see the completion of practice exam papers as a normal weekly activity.

Follow-Up

Post-test review After each major test, match up the rankings on the board with the test rankings in the class. In almost all cases, students who have completed more practice tests will rank higher in test scores than students who completed very few practice tests. It might be worth producing another document to show the students, which correlates test scores with practice papers visually. An example is seen below:

Outcomes The primary focus of this module is to show students the strong link between doing more practice tests and getting better marks. Students often don’t commit to practice tests because they don’t believe a strong link exists. This exercise uses real-life examples from their own class to prove to them that practice papers have a big pay-off in exam preparation. If this process is updated on a weekly basis, students will start to not only view practice papers as a normal, habitual study skill, but will also become increasingly convinced of their importance in driving up marks. This process will also prove useful in individual consultations with students who are seeking to improve. For example, if a student has achieved 63% in an essay and comes to you for advice, referring to the number of practice tests they have completed (relative to students who achieved higher marks) can be very convincing in encouraging them to do more practice tests before their next assessment. Once they begin to see the results in their grades, this creates a self-reinforcing cycle of improvement.

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Activity 7 – Combination Activity Initial class time required:

10 minutes to outline and explain the program to the class. Students then complete the activities in their own time.

Follow-up time:

2 minutes per week to remind students.

Suitable subjects:

All

Resources required:

A3 card

Research Background The following exercise gets students to use all of the skills described in this activity booklet. As per Activity 6, this activity draws upon the principles of Gamification in order to incentivise and motivate students to the skills.

Initial Lesson Prepare a wall chart like the one pictured below. At the top of the wall chart, list the topic area that students are studying at the moment. In the first column list the names of your students. In the second column insert the words “Activity 1: Notes”. In the third column insert the words “Activity 2: Mind-map”. In the fourth column insert the words “Activity 3: Extra-reading”. In the fifth column insert the words “Activity 4: Write a practice question”. In the sixth column insert the words “Activity 5: Do a practice exam”, and in the final column insert the words “Activity 6: Mark a practice question”.

Explain to students that the following chart lists the key activities that each student must perform for the topic. Tell students that each time they complete one of the tasks they will be provided with a star next to their name to show that the work has been completed. Set a prize or incentive such as a move ticket or i-Tunes voucher for the person who completes all activities first.

Outcomes By the end of the topic students have incorporated all of the skills outlined in this booklet. They will have completed a set of notes using the Elevate endorsed note-taking system; these notes will have been turned into a mind-map complete with all of the content connections and relationships; they will have completed an extra-reading; they will have considered how the information could be used in the context of an exam, they would have actually set a practice exam, and finally, they will have marked an exam, drawing upon the marking criteria, in order to consider how a marker looks an exam question, as well as to gain insight into how other students may answer an exam question.

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