For much of this year, I spent a significant amount of time wrestling with how to organise my online learning environment for students. In September, I had a class confirmed the day before I taught them. I was excited to be back in the classroom but it cut down my advance preparation time somewhat (and with a new specification, I’ve felt on the back foot the whole time).

Fairly soon into the year, we created a Facebook page (by student request) for me to share announcements, links and for them to engage in discussion and learning. It’s proven to be a quick and easy way for us to communicate with one another but I’m yet to truly harness the space for extending their learning.

I also created a Google site for sharing resources, links and for them to access online learning activities. This worked for a while but I soon realised the structure wasn’t working and students weren’t easily able to access and interact with content.

Enter NEW Google sites. As soon as Kieran Briggs showed me one he’d been working on, I was excited to get started. There will be some work to get it more organised and streamlined for the new academic year but it serves its purpose as a revision site for now.

The site can be viewed here:

https://sites.google.com/sheffcol.ac.uk/gcseenglish/home

So what does the site contain?

I must say a huge thank you here to Mr Harvey of YouTube fame and #TeamEnglish (especially where past papers and ideas for resources is concerned). If you see any content of yours (blog links and past papers) that’s not as referenced as you’d like then please let me know!

Home

This part of the site has 1 page summaries for each of the papers. These documents have gradually been improved through response to students’ work and consultation of Twitter colleagues too. As they’re created with Piktochart, I can keep them up-to-date and yet they’re also available as printable PDFs. This page also has a summary video for each paper from Mr Harvey that I located on YouTube. I have also now added a ‘TOP 5’ for revising Paper 1 and the equivalent for Paper 2 will be added soon.

Paper 1 – Fiction Reading

• Guides to answering each of the questions in written and video format.
• Some resources to remind them of top tips and aspects we’ve explored in class
• A folder filled with practice papers (created by me, colleagues at College, #TeamEnglish crew and some official Eduqas samples too)
• A folder filled with example responses (to match video guidance shared)
• Plus a whole host more revision activities and videos

Paper 1 – Creative Writing

• A guide to answering this question well with video advice from Mr Harvey again!
• Top tips for maximising marks for this section
• Approaches to planning and structuring their narrative
• LOTS of questions to practise with
• A folder filled with example responses from WJEC and my students
• Plus a whole host more revision links, activities and videos

Paper 2 – Non-Fiction Reading

Paper 2 – Persuasive Writing

Spelling Punctuation and Grammar

I first began working on the spelling, punctuation and grammar page so that when I’d marked students’ work or seen it in class, I was able to direct them to further learning activities to support their progress (ie. complete Apostrophes Activity 2). Many of these are TED-Ed lessons and other existing content online but I’m also gradually developing my own EdPuzzle lessons and Google Form activities, like this Affect vs Effect one: https://goo.gl/forms/AqYao1OICIR5CDE03

Teaching Resources

• A reflective journal
• A revision quiz (Kahot)
• A skills assessment
• A confidence assessment
• A feedback reflection sheet
• A vocabulary sheet
• A motivational revision card
• Terminology flashcards
• Analysis and comparison structures
• Paper 1 and 2 classroom posters
• Paper 1 and 2 Teach Me, Tell Me cards
• Paper 1 and 2 mark schemes
• Implicit meaning activity grid
• Lots of links and blogs for each exam- mainly via #TeamEnglish

If anyone would like to contribute any resources for the site then it could become a site for any student studying on WJEC Eduqas English Language. Anyway, I’d love to collaborate so do get in touch (comment below or @hannahtyreman on Twitter).