The kids broke up yesterday but some had to come in for catch up sessions in various subjects today. Interestingly only the ICT labs were used.
A number of ICT Students came in but their main teachers could not attend (training). I printed out their assessment sheets and negotiated a To Do list with them (making sure it had a date AND time on it). I thought that it would be good to have a hard copy on the desk as various teachers from various subjects were coming to supervise at different times.
Naturally these are catch up kids and there was some reluctance about them being at school when others are at home, without their To Do list they would slip away at the first lapse in concentration.
However my experience was generally positive. I was able to give substantial amounts of one to one time mainly to check that they knew the structure of the project, and what they had to do. Once they knew this and realised they had support all the problems that they have had over the year seemed to unravel. The room was full of independent learners working to their own deadlines.
On a technology note, why can’t kids write their to do lists on a blog so everyone can see it (and expect it to be there) even if it’s just inside the firewall. These kids were actually working on ePortfolios, so the blog could link directly to the ePortfolio or the draft work done that day.
Update:
On my way home I remembered a podcast that I heard from Terry Freeman that was on a similar theme. Well worth a listen (it’s quite short). The podcast features a (fictional?) 14 year old girl called Kirsty who talks us through her school day in 2010.
Future Gazing Part 1: The Podcast
