SOLO III

Some of my professional readings around SOLO and how to use it successfully and authentically in the classroom.

SOLO 

http://www.innovatemyschool.com/industry-expert-articles/item/492-going-solo-an-introduction-to-the-taxonomy-everyone%E2%80%99s-talking-about.html

One-sentence or single-word answers are common responses from pupils, and we usually accept them if they are correct. After grasping the principles of SOLO, however, pupils begin to think more carefully about the quality of their answers. They realise that one-word responses are unistructural and therefore less valuable than answers that draw links between several facts or observations.

This part resonated with me and what I believe good teaching practice looks like.  I also like the fact that SOLO is mostly child centred, they know what they have to do to shift their learning.  Sure some kids will need a gentle hand to guide them to move into deeper thinking.  But with constant modelling by other children and specific praise and feedback from me this should help to create a safe learning environment.

One of the reasons that I use SOLO is that it is an accessible way to get pupils to see and understand their own thinking. SOLO provides teachers and pupils with a clear path to higher order thinking.

I am definitely book marking this site!

SOLO Part II

I have already dabbled in the dark arts with ‘SOLO Taxonomy’ and have found it very fruitful in my teaching.  It's one of those *eureka* moments when you find something that clicks with yourself and for your students.  

Using SOLO rubrics is similar to criteria that Lane Clark uses and aligns with H.O.T from Blooms.  But there is no need to go through ThinkIT great process (Venn Diagrams, Cross Class Charts etc) you can create your own SOLO rubric or co-construct with children, something I'd like to do for our narrative SOLO rubric.

The learning conversations I hear from the children are powerful.  They are talking about their learning, they are giving feedback and feed forwarding to their peers.

I have created a SOLO blog post on our class blog to help open up the home-school link.

Best thing since sliced bread!

Where do I start?  Let's start with the frustrations of children publishing

• Time consuming when typing into a "word document"
• Forget to save and loose their work
• Lent computer out to another classroom, therefore the publisher cannot finish their work
• I type their stories up because I am faster and accurate (no ownership)

Now enter the saviour!...

Google docs

The only frustration I have... I don't have enough computers!!

• Ownership for the child's writing (seeing the whole process)
• Develop typing skills
• Develop and fine tune editing/proof reading skills
• Instantly share with others
• Use any device!
• Complete at home if needed

My next steps are to get parents to share their email addresses so children can share their work with their parents.  I can see the comments being a powerful tool for a lot of kids. This will be my next teaching point, sharing and collaborating!