23TRA549 Reducing Teacher Workload: Building a Culture of Retrieval

Date:     Tuesday 7th November 2023
Time:     7 pm - 8 pm
Venue:  Online via Zoom

As soon as students acquire new information, the process of forgetting begins and they begin to lose that knowledge. In its simplest form, retrieval practice is a tool to help reverse the process of forgetting for students and solidify the knowledge they have acquired.

In the past Lee has delivered many webinars and CPD sessions on practical ways to implement retrieval practice to post-primary  schools and teachers across the country. However, reflecting on those sessions Lee outlined a singular approach to retrieval practice that perhaps added to a teacher’s workload.

In this session Lee will outline his approach to developing a system of retrieval practice that in the long-term aims to reduce teacher  workload. The overarching goal of the session is to support teachers in developing a culture of retrieval inside and outside the  classroom that reverses the process of forgetting for students and maximizes the knowledge students acquire. Throughout the session Lee will discuss how he builds a culture of retrieval practice by providing opportunities to recall information at four different points in a lesson:

• Do Now Activities at the start of a lesson.
  
• Prerequisite knowledge checks
  
• During student independent practice
  
• Homework

The session will cover how retrieval practice can be implemented at each point in the lesson effectively and efficiently using a core knowledge bank of questions and answers. For example, Lee will outline how he uses approximately 80% of his homework opportunities with his students  to set a retrieval practice quiz using an online  quizzing platform that is self-correcting and provides students with opportunities to reflect on their answers and correct the answers before misconceptions are developed.

Bio of Presenter: Lee O Donnell

Lee O’Donnell is a teacher of Geography & History at Woodbrook College in Wicklow. He is the Author of ‘The Natural World’ LC Geography book with Edco. Geography/History Methodology Lecturer at University College Dublin. LC History content creator for Exam Revision. Host of the Leaving Certificate revision podcast ‘Skin in the Game’. Additionally, he holds an Assistant Principal II post in his school ‘Student Leadership Co-Ordinator’.