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| My students discuss tactics in my open classroom |
One of my lessons this week focused on introducing the concept of trench warfare to year 8. The head of faculty came out to watch my lesson and see how he could apply it to his own geography and history lessons.
I wanted the students to develop an understanding based around the following lesson outcomes:
+ Be able to show the layout of the battlefield. (Lv4)
+ Explain why it was difficult to attack the enemy trenches. (Lv5)
+ Begin to justify whether you agree with the view that 'The British Tactics were the main reason why the attacks failed' (Lv6/7)
This lesson was an open classroom in another sense as I used the school grounds to help develop the students understanding. As we were outside the students used their iPads to record what they had learnt and uploaded this to Edmodo.
We began by looking at the layout of the battlefield. To do this I took the students onto a path that runs between our two sports fields. The landscape of our school proved useful as I was able to show where the German trenches would be (on a higher ridge above the field), where the British trenches would be, where no mans' land was and how the British would go about attacking the German trenches. The students used Educreations to quickly show their understanding. Two examples are below:
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| One students work |
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| Another students work |
Whilst we were discussing this the students made notes and completed an Edmodo assignment explaining why it was difficult to attack the German trenches. One example is below:
One major factor that made it difficult to attack Germany's trenches was the fact that they were on higher ground, and had a better angle to shoot at the British. They would have an advantage throughout, unless the British were to successfully attack and take their trenches.
Another reason why it was difficult to attack the enemy trenches because both sides stayed underground out of the reach of bullets and shells. This meant that if one side was to go overground to attack, they would be sitting ducks for the enemy to shoot them.
It was also difficult to attack the enemy's trenches was because the Germans had massive coils of barbed wire that obstructed the British's path. The British soldiers would've had to sneak through small gaps whilst machine guns aimed directly at them. This made the number of soldiers who actually made it to the other side so few, and unable to make an effective attack.
As a plenary / review activity the students then justified whether they agreed with the statement 'The British Tactics were the main reason why the attacks failed'. This was then completed for homework and will form the start of the next lesson.
Reflections on the lesson
+ Taking the students out of the classroom worked really well. They were able to engage with the topic and using the school field in this way made it easier for them to imagine the layout of the battle and how difficult it was to launch a successful attack.
+ Using the iPads in this way meant that the quality of the discussions and learning could be recorded in a way that will aid the learning in future lessons. The iPads maximised the productivity of the students as they moved around the field.
Reflections on the open classroom 'observation'
Below is a photo of the teacher who came to visit my lesson using what he had seen and applying it to his own teaching. This shows the value of taking time to go and see what other teachers are doing in their lessons. This obviously justifies the open classroom initiative and highlights the impact it can have.
Added to that, seeing a colleague incorporate what they have seen in my lesson into their own has given me a real boost. So often in teaching we focus on what needs improving that it is easy to lose sight of what we are doing well. The open classroom initiative has forced us as a faculty to focus on what we are doing that works well; for this reason alone I would strongly recommend it.
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| The impact of the open classroom |