Today was my long awaited SOLO Stations lesson, although, unfortunately, the planned observation had to be cancelled. The group have completed 2 sessions on their controlled assessment; I have not looked at the work. The lesson was designed to encourage the students to reflect on the work completed so far and to know what they could do in the remaining sessions to amend and redraft. However, in compliance with the controlled assessment guidelines, they were not offered any feedback on their work, or any indications of what needed to be included.
We focused, instead, on the skills needed to achieve the higher grades:
Lesson Objectives
Although there were 9 mini tasks, they did not take long to come up with (especially after looking through some teaching books and blogs for inspiration). I set up the back of the room with a sign for each of the 3 SOLO levels we were working through, and the tasks and resources were pinned underneath.
SOLO Stations Resources
I had a selection of relevant books at the front of the room and 5 laptops at the back of the room.
Starting Point
The starter was to review their checklist, write their name on a pink post-it and stick it to the display. Most of the group placed themselves between Multistructural and Relational, although one or two felt they were closer to Extended Abstract. It was somewhat chaotic due to the position of the board.
Our starting position
I explained the SOLO protocol, the lesson ‘mission’ and briefly went through the resources.
Chaos
Total chaos ensued for a few minutes as they rushed to get their first activity – I felt a little panicked that this was all going to go horribly wrong.
Calm
As I moved round the class, it was clear that the students had chosen a range of starting points and a variety of tasks. The cynic in me had expected the computer tasks to be the most popular, but in reality only two students chose this option, with 2-3 others moving onto these later in the lesson. Some chose to work in pairs, while others worked independently, but all worked at their own pace and chose when they felt it was appropriate to move on. I could speak to individuals about their work, and provide help as needed, but actually I was barely needed!
The end of the lesson came very quickly, and I suspect that if we had had a two hour lesson they would have continued working like this, as several seemed surprised that the hour had gone.
There was a real buzz in the lesson and the conversations the students were having showed their grasp of SOLO: “It’s all about making links.” I was really surprised at how self motivated and focused the group was, despite the opportunity for wandering around the room.
Progress
The final task was to put their name on the display again, this time on a yellow post-it, and to identify 3 things they could do to improve their assessment. Most of the group felt they had moved closer to the Extended Abstract level.
Class progress
Overall, this was a real eye-opener – multiple tasks, flexible working groups, ICT and differentiation (by task selection, support and time allowed) – and yet the lesson felt calm and purposeful, and I didn’t feel I was juggling chainsaws. This was a risk well worth taking, and I will try it again with our next unit and with a wider range of groups.
Data Fiend 