Steal my 3 secrets which can make your NCEA lessons incredible! Part 2

Welcome back! Did you notice a giant change in your classroom by explaining the value of a task? Keep going!

If you’ve stumbled onto this blog, you can read part 1 here.

I am going to share my second secret in this blog which has made my lessons incredible.

It is all about finding connections.

Finding connections builds relevance and engagement in NCEA tutorials.

Just a reminder, research suggests that when a student learns something that is meaningful for them, then they are going to place more enthusiasm into the tasks.

Here is my second secret:

Ask NCEA students, “how is this skill relevant to your life?”

It is very easy to disconnect from a text you are reading or a situation you are exploring in the classroom, if you don’t see the point in doing it.

For example, some students will wonder when they will ever use reading comprehension outside of the classroom (which is answering questions to a text they’ve read). In truth, we aren’t completely certain you’ll use every skill you learn at school, but that doesn’t diminish the importance of learning them because each one has value. The cool thing about the comprehension skill in particular is that it is useful if you need to answer emails. This is because you need to read an email, understand what it said, and then reply to it in your own words. This is what you practice when you are doing a reading comprehension task.

The same skills are used.

So, my secret is asking the students “how you think you will use this skill in your everyday lives?”

A quick brainstorm on the board is a way you can achieve this.

It is important to inform them what the skill they are practising and then ask them how they will use it. You will need to prompt them sometimes and also remind them how it can limit their lives if they don’t practice this skill. But there’s value in breaking down what the skill is and then enquiring how it has use to their everyday lives.

For instance, with reading comprehension, a prompt could be:

If your best friend writes you a giant private message about a date they went on that was a complete disaster and they wanted your advice, if you didn’t know how to reply, then you may not be able to support your friend. But if you learned how to read a long story, and then learn how to respond to it, then you might be able to support your friend by providing them with sound advice or direction towards someone who could help. Imagine if you didn’t read it properly and replied with something that was not relevant. It might upset your friend. This is why we need to practice reading and responding to text. In a work setting, you would need to know how to read instructions and follow them, you may even need to show you understand what to do by letting your manager know what you will do. This is the same skill transferred into your normal life.

By having conversations about how they can transfer the skills over to their everyday lives, they will see the value and want to practice.

Best of luck with your lessons. See my next secret here and my first secret here.

Tovah

Tovah’s Tutoring

NCEA exam prep available now:

www.tovahstutoring.co.nz

Email:

info@tovahstutoring.co.nz