Using timely practice
This topic is necessary for teachers. Read this after having studied the topic best practice for timely practice.
- 1 (1) Introduction: talking about questions
- 2 (2) Introduction: finding questions
- 3 (3) Introduction: the 3 tabs navigation and purpose
- 4 (4) Get started assess an assignment containing only pre assess questions
- 5 (5) Get started: when can the teacher use Plan Teaching within the app?
- 6 (6) Moving on: planning and preparation for subsequent lessons
- 7 Frequently asked Questions
- 8 Measuring learning progress within a trial
(1) Introduction: talking about questions
The app splits questions first into
topic themes: FDPR, algebra, geometryMeasure, integer, probabilityStatistics, wordProblems
then splits these into
topics e.g. decimalFraction, sequenceArithmetic, area, factor, discreteGraph and secretADDsign
then splits these into
layers e.g. decimalFraction(2), sequenceArithmetic(8), area(6), factor(1), discreteGraph(3) and secretADDsign(11)
and finally each layer is made up of a number of
questions, which are similar to each other but slightly different.
scaffolding: internal and traditional
Whenever possible we prefer to learners to build chunks in long-term memory which provide the learner with “internal scaffolding” to learn harder layers.
Sometimes we use traditional scaffolding: often a representative, sometimes a partially complete question. Once the learner has mastered the layer with the scaffold, then the learner needs to be taught to answer questions without the scaffold. Sometimes this process happens naturally without feedback, sometimes the best feedback is “what diagram can you draw to help you answer this question?”
(2) Introduction: finding questions
For each layer there are sets of questions
available from the customer knowledge base: https://timelypractice.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CKB/pages/150995025
available via the app: the app uses questions to create pre assess and retrieval practice assignments.
The table below shows the types of question a learner might practise from the layer givenXsign(9). All the questions in a layer are similar but different.
Generic name | Where to find | When to use (and why) | Format | Specific name |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pre-assess question | In the “Already Learned and Remembered?” section of the learner's timely practice assignment. | At least a few lessons before teaching the topic for the first time (to ensure teaching is “of goldilocks” difficulty). | One question, within a number of mixed topic and difficulty questions. | givenXsign(9) Q7 |
Teach-learn questions | Usually found in the top row of the appropriate <topicName> page of https://timelypractice.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CKB/pages/150995025 | At the point of teaching: in an/the learning episode within a lesson. The teacher uses the questions to teach a group of learners/the whole class a new skill - ideally using “think aloud”. | Usually 4 questions (1 per page) in a downloadable PDF document, which the teacher can project onto a whiteboard. | givenXsignTL9.pdf |
Practise-learn worksheet | Usually in the second row of the appropriate <topicName> page of https://timelypractice.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CKB/pages/150995025 | At the point of teaching. The learners practise “their skill”, which they learned earlier in the lesson and then self assess using the answers provided. | Usually a worksheet, with cut off (or occasionally fold over) answers. | givenXsign9.pdf |
Retrieval practice question | In the “retrieval practice” section of the learner's timely practice assignment. | The app spaces these to
| One question, within a number of mixed topic and difficulty questions. | givenXsign(9) Q8 |
(3) Introduction: the 3 tabs navigation and purpose
Once
the learners and the scheme of learning is added (5 to 20 minutes) and
enough pre assess is completed (1 to 4 sessions) and
the first timely practice lesson has been taught then
the planning and preparation follows a similar format for all subsequent lessons. Jump down to (6) to read more about the planning and preparation of most lessons
Navigation: Each class has 3 tabs
Learner’s Tab | Scheme of Learning Tab | Planning and Preparation Tab |
---|---|---|
Learner’s Tab
Information about the learners within the class. Minimal information: the names of each learner.
Scheme of Learning Tab
The Scheme of Learning for the class.
The SOL for the class will show which topics to add to SOL (within the app) for the first spiral through the curriculum, and when to add more topics during subsequent spirals.
Planning and Preparation Sessions Tab
The Planning and Preparation tab does the most work. It helps the teacher ensure they are teaching in a manner which most efficiently embeds learning in low attaining or underachieving learners (those who aren’t expected to gain a grade 5 or above at GCSE).
The staircase symbol of the tab represents each learner making a little progress every lesson.
The 3 parts moving forwards symbol, used to create a new planning and preparation session, represents how the teacher is assisted to raise attainment with these 3 activities
assess prior learning
plan and resource teaching
schedule retrieval practice
mp4 for (3) Get started: create class, add learners, add SOL, create and download the first pre assess assignment
FYI only one (unimaginatively named) learner is added to the example class, usually there will be more learners.
FYI the teacher is following the first spiral of the course.
(4) Get started assess an assignment containing only pre assess questions
mp4 for (4) assess a pre assess only assignment + what the app does with the assessment for learning data it collects
FYI topic themes e.g. algebra are broken down into topics e.g. sequenceArithmetic, which are broken down into layers, e.g. sequenceArithmetic (1). Each layer is made up of a number of questions.
The 3 pre assess assessment options
tick | bell | reset |
---|---|---|
tick is for a fully independent and accurate answer
bell, stands for best learned later. It is used for an almost (but not fully correct answer) or for a one part correct answer or for a question not answered (but the teacher assumes that the learner has had a chance to read and try to answer the question).
reset is for when the teacher assumes the learner hasn’t had a chance to answer the question e.g. the last few questions of the assignment are all left blank (the learner seems to have run out of time) or e.g. a blank answer line, when a short question is sandwiched between longer questions (the teacher thinks that the learner may not have seen the question). This assessment option can also be used if the teacher can’t quite read the learners answer e.g. a 3 has been changed to a 5 (the pre assess process is not a test, the purpose is to find out what the learner already knows, later the teacher can train the learner in good exam skills).
(5) Get started: when can the teacher use Plan Teaching within the app?
Key to colour coding used in Plan Teaching
unknown | in pre assess | in pre assess | doesn’t know | fragile | improving | mastered | covered |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Of course teacher’s don’t need to use timely practice to plan teaching, but if the teacher wants to use the power of the timely practice app to
ensure they only ever teach on firm learning foundations and
automatically schedule personalised retrieval practice on the learning of the lesson and
have the app adjust the schedule of retrieval practice when a learner has made an error and had feedback;
then the teacher must wait until the app has finished pre assessing the topic. (There is nothing stopping a teacher teaching a layer to a learner whose pre assess on the topic is incomplete, but the app won’t schedule retrieval practice and the teacher may not be teaching on firm learning foundations.)
first mp4 for (5) Get started: how pre assess works and deciding when a topic fully pre assessed
A learner’s column in the Plan Teaching topic dashboard
which has some mid grey and darker blue-grey squares - indicates that pre assess is not complete;
which only shows light grey squares - indicates that the app does not intend to pre assess the topic (judging all the layers either too easy or too hard);
which shows a mix of white and light grey squares - indicates the app thinks the learner could learn layers from the topic, but has not learned any yet;
the (often fuzzy) line between the shades of blue (perhaps mixed with light grey) in the lower part of the column and the white (usually mixed in with light grey) in the upper part of the column is the (often fuzzy) “goldilocks” point where teaching should begin.
second mp4 for (5) Get started: Plan Teaching + find the teach-learn and practise-learn resources
Here is the Learning Resources link.
Key to colour coding used in Plan Teaching
unknown | in pre assess | in pre assess | doesn’t know | teach next | fragile | improving | mastered | covered |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
(6) Moving on: planning and preparation for subsequent lessons
MP4 needs to be added her
Planning the order and manner of teaching the layers of a topic is more of an art than a science. As the teacher gets to know how the learners within the class learn, the teacher will become more skilled at this.
The preparation and planning time required is from 3-5 minutes (for 1 topic in a lesson) and 7-10 minutes (for 2 topics per lesson) plus 1 minute per learner.
The 3 pre assess and 5 retrieval practice assessment options
| tick | feedback on attempt | feedback on blank | bell | reset |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
pre assess
| independent and accurate answer | N/A | N/A | not fully accurate | the learner ran out of time or seems to have not seen the question. |
retrieval practice | question attempted, and feedback might work | question not answered, but feedback might work | feedback isn’t working |
Frequently asked Questions
Measuring learning progress within a trial
Extension for the teacher/manager who will supervise a comparative trial
Whether the school/department/teacher is using timely practice to find out
how effective their current SOL with one class and how effective a timely practice SOL is with another class
or to compare a year where some teaching is done using the current SOL and some using a timely practice SOL
they will need to decide what the lead time needs to be - when sufficient pre assess is likely to have been done - so they can measure embedded learning at the start of a trial. We are happy to give advice about this.