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Improve Teacher Assessed Grades eBook

Investigate

• Find out current grades. If grades are lower than hoped for, be encouraged that students are expected to improve significantly between January and May.

• Ask teachers the areas where you need to improve.

• Understand exactly what grades you need to reach your next desired stage of education.

• Inquire as to how each teacher plans to assess this academic year.
  
  It might be helpful to ask parents to help when communicating with teachers.

Once you know this information, you will be in the best position to prepare for whatever is planned.  Concentrate your time and effort on the subjects most in need of improvement.

Be prepared for methods of assessment to alter. The current situation is ever-changing and teachers must adapt their plans accordingly. The government has agreed to provide further training, so the current plans are subject to more change.

Get Organised

• Where possible, dedicate a space to work in each day.

• Ensure that you have all the equipment you will need BEFORE your lesson begins, including a pen and paper to make notes.

• Even if a lesson is being recorded, note making is essential for retaining the information you are being taught.

• Try an ensure that your device is at eye level to maintain good posture. If it is possible to use a monitor on a stand, or a separate keyboard, please do so. You are sitting in front of a monitor for longer than normal so you want to guard against poor posture.

• Minimise distractions. No phones. No games. And, if it is possible for siblings to be in another room, kick them out of yours!

  
  
  
  
  

Work Smart

Consider how teachers could determine grades and prepare accordingly.

Teachers will likely determine grades based on the following criteria, so try to follow the advice for each.

• Demonstrate understanding in lessons

Teachers will use contributions to class discussions as evidence of engagement. Make it easy for them to remember that you engaged with their lesson by speaking up and answering questions whenever possible. Furthermore, by answering questions, you also give the teacher the feedback they need to improve their lessons.

To best demonstrate engagement, you also need to do the following:

Show Up

Teachers prefer their students to have their cameras on as it reassures them that people are engaging with their lesson. Being able to see a student’s attentive face is an interaction in and of itself. So even if many of your peers have their cameras off, make sure that yours is on.

Remove Distractions

Remove all distractions (such as your phone or any apps/tabs unrelated to your lesson) as this will help you be more present during your lesson. Trust us, your teacher will notice which students are distracted by their surroundings.

Pre-Learn

If you know a particular topic is going to be taught, try to ‘pre-learn’ beforehand.  Watch a video or read up on the subject beforehand. It will help you better understand and engage during the lesson and maybe even provide some interesting insight.

• Complete homework to the best of your ability

Teachers will use every piece of work you hand it as physical evidence of progress, so make sure that you are giving each piece of homework your best effort.

While this may sound a little daunting, this is a lot less stressful than the alternative of high-pressure exams with only one shot to do well.  

To ensure your homework demonstrates your ability, you need to do the following:

be prompt

Complete your homework as soon after it is set as possible, so that the lesson will still be clear in your memory. Then it is essential that you hand it in on time. You do not want your teacher to remember you as the student they always needed to chase.

Utilise Learning Tools

Online learning tools are designed to help all learners achieve higher grades. Become familiar with these learning tools and utilise them when completing your homework.

For example, the Read & Write Chrome extension makes Google Classroom, Google docs & Google Chrome more accessible to students with special education needs.

Learn to touch type

Learning to touch-type has also been shown to improve the quality of homework. Not only is touch-typing far quicker than handwriting, but it is also far easier to reorganise and improve your work. Furthermore, it is more legible for the teacher, which in turn makes it easier to award marks.    

Most students have more time on their hands when schools are closed, providing the opportunity to learn to touch type.

Click on these buttons to learn more

Take Proofreading Seriously

Understandably, before teacher assessed grades were introduced, students could simply get their homework over and done with without thought of proofreading. However, now that each mark counts towards final grades, proofreading is critical. It is the final opportunity to boost your grade.

When you type your homework, try using the Text to Speech or Read Aloud functions to hear what you have written out loud. This will help you identify mistakes you may have otherwise missed.

This is explained in this playlist that shows how to use this functionality on any device.

Where work is handwritten, try reading it out loud and, if possible, ask a parent or older sibling to read it aloud. Otherwise, when we proofread, we can miss mistakes.

• End of topic tests & school exams

Even though formal exams are cancelled, students still need to understand, learn, and memorise the topics covered.

Cancelling all tests would be detrimental to learning, as students would be unequipped for exams later in their academic life.

When tests are known about in advance, time can be taken to revise. 

Prepare for unexpected tests/quizzes. There is no downside to doing so as the steps suggested will aid your understanding, participation in class and preparation for any exams the school will set internally.

To best prepare for tests & exams do the following:

Review Lessons

Review notes as soon as possible after every lesson, summarising them quickly in bullet point form.

Tell someone what you have learned.  Verbalising what you have learned will embed the information more firmly in your brain and help you recall it in the future. Next time a parent asks what you learned in your lesson, tell them!  Explain what was taught, even if they are not interested.  Then ask them questions to check their understanding!

Don’t understand?

If anything is unclear after a lesson, email questions to the teacher as soon as possible. Being proactive demonstrates the effort you are making, plus it helps teachers improve lessons. Asking teachers to record lessons is helpful as you can watch them again if anything is unclear.

There are plenty of online resources and videos to aid understanding.

This eBook lists many fabulous online learning tools.

Learning by watching videos can be far more effective than taking notes in class.

BE WARNED!!
This video warns of some common mistakes students make when learning from online resources.



active Revision Techniques

While formal exams are cancelled, schools can still set internal exams. Learning to revise and how to sit exams are important life skills.

This book suggests a number of active revision techniques that are highly effective.

How to Revise so you Remember - Tips for Effective Revision

You might be pleasantly surprised how much better you do in exams if you follow the advice given.

One to one Consultancy

Revision is one area where I would advise on a one to one consultancy appointment with me.

Consultations are most effective when a student has something they need to learn, then we can figure out together what works best.

The earlier students learn how to revise effectively, the better. 

Ideally, get me involved helping with revision as soon as students start sitting subject exams. 

Better grades are achieved the earlier students adopt new ways of learning.

Go the extra mile

Communicate to teachers that you are determined to work hard and improve your current grades by whatever means they recommend.

Proactively hand in additional work to teachers where possible. This will help demonstrate improvements made, providing teachers with more evidence.

Complete past exam paper questions to demonstrate your understanding of areas where improvement is required. Use Mark Schemes and model answers to mark past papers as this helps students learn how to get more marks.

Ask teachers to check your marking is on track. Be sensitive as teachers are stretched very thin, currently. Hopefully, they will be able to give some direction. Once again, this will provide evidence to support teacher assessed grades.

Prepare for a lovely summer

Even in instances where schools set internal exams for students, these are far less stressful than sitting formal external examinations.

Working consistently throughout the year is a far more successful strategy for students with learning differences.

If you want to succeed, there is no longer the option to chill throughout the school year and cram before the exams.  While working consistently is not everyones preferred way of working, it does make the summer term more fun.  In the summer we should be able to travel and enjoy the sunshine.  

One upside of lockdown is that you will likely have fewer distractions!

How parents can support remote learning

Click on the button below to learn how parents can help set students up for remote learning success.