Teach Secondary Issue 14.7

you test and retest yourself at certain intervals, to ensure that knowledge sticks in your long-termmemory. Gizmo (gizmo.ai) is one such service that I’m increasingly hearing about in conversation with young people. Users receive access to decks of flashcards that are ready to go, and there’s the option to make decks of your own, too – by, for example, importing and combining slides to generate a whole new set. On its own, though, the process is quite rough and ready. A one-off flashcard check might well produce an instant feeling of success, but that doesn’t mean it will translate into better exam performance in the long term. Interval spacing is really important here, so help your students plan out how frequently they intend to test themselves over a week. And then get them to stick to that schedule. 3.Organisation and Efficiency When I was in sixth form, and not entirely enamoured with T.S. Eliot, there was a student across the landing (yes, boarding school) who was in a similar position. We’d set ourselves a timer for half an hour, learn some quotes in our separate rooms, and when those 30 minutes were up, rattle through them together. Let’s keep this kind of human connection going! These days, however, there are also online platforms that can do that kind of work for you. The idea is that it will be like having someone sat beside you consistently prompting you to keep at it, reminding you to learn the key components, and giving you a big, virtual thumbs-up when you get the work done. Study Buddy (thestudybuddy.com ) is one such platform among many. If students purchase the GCSE bundle, for example, they’ll not only get subject summaries for up to 10 subjects with accompanying real-world flashcards, but they’ll also get access to an online tracker. Not everyone will stump up the required £100, and it’s not going to work without some elbow grease – but Study Buddy does combine some tried and tested methods while helpfully cutting out a lot of organisational hassle. When it comes to improving efficiency, and warding off the many distractions presented by phones and tablets, there are apps for that too. Of course there are. I rather like Flora, which blocks distracting apps while keeping you squarely focused on the task at hand with the aid of ‘virtual plants’. If you neglect what you should be doing, and go down the rabbit-hole of blacklisted apps (TikTok, Instagram, etc.) then your virtual plants die. Ultimately though, just keeping a timer on your phone can work wonders. Teach your students about the Pomodoro Method, model it, use it in class and do it together. You’ll have soonmanaged to turn them into both lifelong learners and productivity gurus in a very short space of time. So maybe you don’t actually need an app for that, after all... 4.Communities of support Finally, cultivate communities of support. These could include the existing online classrooms you use with Google Classroom and other remote learning tools, but it’s likely that students will naturally deviate away from institutional setups. You can still encourage their preferred ways of supporting each other – but just be curious about who is helping whom, and how. If someone is socially isolated, have a chat with them about the ways in which they can connect to others online in safe spaces, using platforms like Study Together (studytogether. com). In some ways, I was lucky to attend boarding school. I was among my own peers at all times and we helped each other along. Phones and social media platforms now enable this to happen virtually, so it’s wise to take an interest in how your students might be engaging with other learners, be it in their own school or with others across the world. As we all knowwith the things that hide behind the screens they hold in their hands (and invariably take to bed at night), there can be as many benefits to what they offer as there are risks. Communication and conversation is key, so get involved. Model how your students canmake the best use of the learning technologies and revision tools available to them, and pay attention to how they get on. The metaverse, subsequent generations of AI and other technologies we can scarcely imagine yet will be with us soon enough. It’s probably best to keep a keen eye on such developments and embrace themwhere appropriate, alongside our younger generations who will often already be a number of steps ahead of us... ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rebecca Leek has been a primary and secondary teacher, SENCo. headteacher and MAT CEO; she is currently the Executive Director of the Suffolk Primary Headteacher’s Association “Itwouldbe foolish to pretend this virtual world doesn’t exist” 29 teachwire.net/secondary R E V I S I O N TEACH SECONDARY SPECIAL REVISION