Day 4 SWIFT 2018 blog
posting – 12th July 2018
It’s day 4 and we’re more than
halfway through SWIFT 2018. How SWIFT flies by – it’s well named! Today involved
a post primary teacher demo from Patrick, some writing group time and a visit
to the fabulous Russell Library on the south campus at Maynooth University https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/library/collections/russell-library
As usual, we started the day with
the daily log. This had been completed, after much thought, by Michelle. She
explained first how she’d stressed over writing it – the blank page syndrome
from yesterday. She had put the white page aside until early morning, when the
deadline loomed, and somehow she got it written just on time. She reminded us of the fun, learning and food
from yesterday. A key resource she highlighted was the paragraph matrix from
our visiting Royal Literary Fund (FLF) fellow Katie Grant who had yesterday described the RLF
Bridge scheme running in collaboration with RLF and Scottish schools https://www.rlf.org.uk/education/bridge/
Thank you Michelle.
After our log, we had some time
for reflective journaling on our thoughts from the previous day’s learning.
Then Patrick started his post primary demo on use of book clubs and a flipped
classroom approach to a junior cycle novel. He has used and developed this idea
over time. The novel he demonstrated was
‘The Outsider’ by S.E. Hinton. Patrick advised that some novels were more
suitable for this approach than others, as it relies on students reading
chapters from the book as homework rather than reading texts in class. Class
time is used for small group and whole class discussion and note making.
Patrick spends a number of
lessons setting up the book club, explaining rationale, rules and expectations,
the importance of the independent learning approach, and how this will develop
numerous key skills at junior cycle. The book club then works across 12 lessons
where homework reading is given prior to class, and pupils discuss the readings
in structured groups based on question prompts. Each group member takes on one
of four roles: chairperson, secretary, spokesperson or investigator. I had
encountered and used the first three, but not the last. The investigator is
asked to be mindful of evidence being used from the text to back up claims, and
also, to question other groups on their assertions once the class discussion
begins. Each group negotiates roles and then works on a question for 15
minutes. The spokesperson then relates the findings of the group during the
whole class discussion which follows. Pupils are encouraged to take notes
during this process and to develop their own set of notes based on the text and
class discussion and findings.
The approach is collaborative,
active, peer-driven, and helps to develop critical thinking (pupils must
address ‘why?’ and justify their assertions). It can also be developed to
incorporate writing tasks for the junior cycle portfolio assessment. Thank you,
Patrick, for an interesting and insightful demo and for asking us to trial
working in small groups using the roles above and an excerpt from the text. It
was fun and informative.
After the morning break, it was
time for our SWIFT pop-up writing groups. Alison had re-drafted a set of
writing group guidelines based on a participant discussion on day 2 – these
would form the ground rules for each group. All participants were allocated to
a group of four or five to spend an hour reading aloud one piece of work and
giving and receiving feedback. The groups dispersed around the building to find
a quiet spot to read and listen.
Tomorrow, at least two from each group will read their work at authors’
chair. That’s another SWIFT highlight.
And finally, a special treat to
end the afternoon. This year, again, Alison had arranged a visit to the Russell
Library on the south campus which is housed in St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth.
By appointment for an hour, we had a presentation on key artefacts held in the
library collection and their significance. Thank you to the library staff, and
particularly, Barbara McCormack, who presented to us on the cuneiform tablets
and cones – the Russell Library holds the second largest collection in Ireland.
We also had fun writing our names in cuneiform – the oldest written language in
the world. What a beautiful place indeed.
Tomorrow is the last day. I don’t
believe it.
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