Team Challenge – Task 1: on-going competition at the start of a lesson

2pts for each correctly answered general knowledge question• Blue Team:

• Red Team:

• Yellow Team:

• Green Team:

Using Competition to Improve Learning• Task 2: (5 pts) In your teams, decide what you

think the answer to the question below is and write it on your white board:

• Question: I asked 15 students if competition was used in their other lessons. How many of those 15 do you think answered ‘yes’ to this question?

Answer: 5

Why don’t more people use competition in the classroom?

• Task 3: (5 points) In your teams, write down one thing you think the staff felt made them reluctant to use competition more regularly:

‘Takes a lot of time to organise to make it work well’

‘Students don’t necessarily take it seriously’

‘students may end up working to win rather than putting effort in all

of the time’‘providing prizes can be expensive’

‘competition can become demotivating to those who don’t

win but put their effort it’

‘Competition can be difficult to incorporate into some subjects

(e.g. lit)’

With what frequency are people already using competition?

• ‘off the cuff’• ‘once a week’• ‘at the end of the lesson’• ‘as a starter’• ‘only for fun’

* Two exceptions: Maths and P.E

Competition: The Pitfalls:

According to research by John Shindler (‘Transformative Classroom management’ 2009), there are more

consequences than benefits to using competition in the classroom.

Shindler’s findings seems to match the staff members’ concerns about competition:

• ‘A shift from the process to the product’• ‘Weakens intrinsic motivation’• ‘Heightens anxiety or threat’

[in groups]• ‘Shifts emphasis from quality relationships to effective ones’• ‘Decreases ability to think reflectively or divergently’• ‘Accentuates effects of existing social hierarchy & ability

levels’• ‘Only the bond among the winning group is increased’

Challenging Shindler: My Project Aims

• To raise achievement in Lang/Lit classes.

• To improve ethos and motivation in Lang/lit classes.

• To make competition into an integral part of the course instead of it being relegated to the end of term or brief parts of the lesson.

Making competition integral: The Team Challenge Model• I’ve summarised the key aspects of the ‘Team Challenge’ model on the handout provided

(see handout 1), so please read it at your leisure. Some aspects are absolutely key to addressing some of those issues people felt competition raised:

1. Competition time is kept short and teams are mixed up and refreshed at the end of each half term; the teams must be changed REGULARLY.

2. Teams must be mixed ability and mixed gender.3. Score up-dates must be given REGULARLY & score boards are clearly visible in the

classroom.4. 1st place and 2nd place should be rewarded at the end of the competition block.5. The focus of each activity should be specific to exam/coursework skills – NEVER ‘just for

fun’ – think outside of the box to make what seems ‘mundane’ competitive.6. Team work during a task should be evaluated, meaning teams cannot just win on final

product; teams are evaluated and marked on team work & quality of discussion.7. It must be pointed out on the score update slide when a team member has not handed

in a piece of work which should have contributed to the team score (see handout 2).8. Ensure you set a mixture of individual, paired and whole team Team Challenge tasks so

that weaker students cannot hide behind the group.9. Ensure scoring is absolutely fair and not at all arbitrary: explain your scores.

Team Challenge: task 4 ( 2pts per correct answer)The class were asked to rank the top 4 benefits they felt Team Challenge gavethem. What do you think the top 4 were from the following list? Decide as a teamand write your answers on your white board:

• Learning terminology• Building confidence• Developing relationships with other students• Meeting deadlines• Encouraging to do extra work• Essay writing/ improving essay structure• Increasing motivation• Increasing effort• Generating ideas• Improving analysis• Improving presentation skills• Finding quotations to support ideas• Learning how to express ideas about a text

Answer: according to the students, the top 4 learning benefits of team Challenge are:

1) Learning terminology: 9

2) Building & developing relationships: 7

3) Increasing Motivation: 6

(4) Improving analytical skills: 5 Improving ability to meet deadlines: 5

Making the ‘Ordinary’ Competitive in a way that doesn’t detract from quality: analytical paragraphs & symbols (see handout 3)

• Team Challenge: task 5: as a group, write an analytical paragraph explaining what you believe the symbol of ‘ the jail under the house’ might represent in the extract from ‘All My Sons’. Time: 15 mins.

Background: The play is a tragedy. The play is set in 1940s post-warAmerica. Joe Keller is a successful business man whose business hasdone extremely well due to the war, during which he manufacturedaircraft engines. During the war, Keller and his partner, Steve, went tocourt for supplying cracked cylinder heads which resulted in pilotsbeing killed. Keller got away without a conviction, but Steve was sentto prison. It is revealed that Joe pretended to be sick on the day thecylinders were sent out of the factory and denied a phone call hemade to Steve giving him permission to ‘cover over the cracks’ andsend the cylinders out. Steve goes to jail. Joe goes free.

Making the mundane competitive in Literature:‘The John Clare Optional Essay Competition’: competition doesn’t

have to be anything creative or ‘fun’ –

This was a cross-class competition: 3 classes competed against one another to produce optional practice essays for Section B of their

summer exam for two prizes:

1. The class which, collectively, gave in the most would be treated to a cake lesson.

2. The individual in each class who gave in the most essays would get a prize.

The winning class gave in 29 practice essays before study leave started. The winning individual in the organge group gave in 8

practice essays.

Team Challenge Success StoriesStudent Type Before Team Challenge was Launched After Team Challenge had Run for 2

TermsThe ‘Cynical-Rebel’

o Morose & depressiveo Doodled & took no noteso Missed all deadlines

o Started sending me essaysoAsked how many points ahead the leaders were every lessono Asked about how he could improve his worko Went from a U to a C

The ‘Deadline Evader’

o Did work in class and enthusiastically answered questions, but didn’t hand in homework tasks

o Started to hand in pieces o Excelled at the terminology tests o Went from an E to a C

The ‘I Really Don’t Think I’m All That – so I’m Gonna Hide’

o Never volunteered answers in discussions & didn’t ask if unsure of anythingo Missed deadlines

o Started to ask people what the terms were so she could answer the ‘on the spot’ questionso Started giving in essays on time and achieved B grades for this

The Lads o Difficult to motivate fullyo Reluctant to be heard or to offer ideaso Reluctant to take notes

o Caught the competition bugoRevealed themselves to be great leaderso Improved focus & outputo Improved quality of their work: they actively sought advice on improving their work

The students’ responses to Team Challenge:

‘The Team Challenge

worked really well;

every piece of work

was worth while’

‘I liked working in mixed groups as this allowed us to bind as a class. It also helped us work together as a team which gave us confidence and reassurance’

‘I find the Team Challenge

useful as it means that I

will have to do my

homework so I don’t let

others down as in some

subjects I have a

tendency to forget it’

‘I enjoy the Team Challenge as it adds a competitive edge to doing well’

Activities Bank

• The following slides contain examples of other Team Challenge activities I used that might interest you. You will also find examples in your hand out of terminology test layouts I used.

‘Othello’ – Act 2 Scene 1: the arrival at Cyprus

• In terms of Shakespeare’s use of dramatic techniques, the change of setting from Venice to Cyprus is symbolic.

• In terms of Elizabethan stage craft, we have to remember that Shakespeare had no lighting, no sound and no scenery to produce the impression of a storm. He only had the power of language to create mood and atmosphere.

• Team Challenge• In your teams, you have 20 minutes to rehearse the

opening of Act 2 Scene 1 in order to ‘bring the scene to life’. 10 bonus points will go to the team who best captures the mood and atmosphere of the scene.

Act 3 Scenes 2 into 3 – ‘Reading Through’ Quiz (Team Challenge)

• As we read through Act 3 scenes 2 & 3, I will ask you questions. The first person to answer correctly will be thrown a Starburst sweet. Each Starburst is worth 2 pts for your team. The total Starburst count for each team will be added up at the end of the read through to give you a team score (so do not eat them until then!!)

Quiz Questions: p111

Q1. P 111 L 38-39: why is it ironic that Iago says he’ll ‘devise a mean to draw the Moor/ Out of the way, that your converse and business/ May be more free’?

Q2. P 111 L40-41: What technique is used by Shakespeare when Cassio says of Iago: ‘I never knew a Florentine more kind and honest’?

Q3. P 111 L45 – what does the adverb ‘stoutly’ indicate about Desdemona’s efforts on Cassio’s behalf when Emilia says that ‘she speaks for you stoutly’?

Quiz Questions: p113Q4. P113: Give 2 reasons why a director should NOT cut Act 3 Scene 2 from the action of the

play. Make reference to theme and plot.

Q5.P113 Identify a simile Emilia uses which shows the extent to which Iago has gone to present himself as loyal to Cassio.

Q6. p113 Identify a declarative which demonstrates Desdemona’s willingness to help Cassio get his job back and repair his relationship with Othello.

Quiz Questions: p115Q7. p115 what is the significance of the adjective ‘politic’ in the noun phrase ‘politic distance’ –

L13

Q8. p115 Between lines 14-19, what is Cassio anxious about ?

Q10. p115 Why does Shakespeare show the audience the conversation between Cassio and Desdemona at all?

Q9. p115 Identify one example of hyperbole Desdemona uses to reassure Cassio that she will do everything she can to help him.

Q11. p 115 Identify one way in which Iago casts doubt upon Cassio and Desdemona the minute he and Othello enter

Quiz Questions: p117

Q12. p117 Why does Desdemona use the noun ‘suitor’ to describe Cassio (line 42)?

Q13. p117 Identify a line in which Desdemona display sympathy for Cassio.

Q15. Identify an imperative Desdemona uses when talking to Othello about Cassio. Again, what does this show about her character?

Q14 p117. What effect do the three interrogative sentences between lines 50 and 60 have? How do they help to define Desdemona’s character?

Quiz Questions: p119 Q 16. p119. What does Desdemona remind Othello of in lines 70 – 74 to make him feel guilty

about his treatment of Cassio?

Q17. p119. Othello replies to Desdemona: ‘I will deny thee nothing’. What is this an example of and what does it reveal about Othello’s relationship with Desdemona?

Q20. p119. Identify a declarative othello uses to express the extent to which he loves Desdemona and what the fatal effects of losing her would be.

Q18. p119. Identify a simile (from L77 onwards) Desdemona uses in which she explains that getting Othello to talk Cassio is not a special favour but something for his own good: a

necessity.