Fingers dancing on the keyboard

Goal setting, time management and learning strategies have been shown to lead to success for learners with diverse learning needs (Zimmerman, 2002).

My learners are using this approach as each one has set an achievement goal (achieved, merit or excellence) for our current standard and they have a series of activities to work through in order to build up their confidence and show evidence of their learning/understanding. We use the college's ViTaL tracking sheet where learners can see how well they are progressing on a daily basis.

Some learners are tracking extremely well and working ahead of our scheduled time-frame while others have not quite met the expectation to self-manage effectively. A recent instruction to my learners has been, "I need to see your fingers dancing on the keyboard" as a way to minimise distractions and get them back on task. One of my priority learners suggested I hold onto his cell phone till the end of the period as it was difficult to have dancing fingers on the keyboard as well as texting on his phone. He managed to put in a huge effort that day. Will keep you posted as to how our dancing fingers are helping raise achievement in maths.