I HAVE PUT TOGETHER 12 OF THE BEST STARTER ACTIVITIES I USE IN MY PRACTICE AND HAVE OBSERVED OTHERS USING, WITH VERY GOOD RESULTS. . THEY ARE AIMED AT BEING ENGAGING AND EASY TO USE. ONCE YOUR LEARNERS GET USED TO HAVING STARTERS THEY WILL ASK FOR MORE. JUST REMEMBER, THEY ARE STARTERS AND NOT THE MAIN COURSE. BON APPTIT.

An interactive PowerPoint that takes learners on a colorful journey around the world. Great for getting learners engaged and actively participating. Brilliant for starting conversations on topics and indeed words.

The following model is based around platform games and has incorporated within it Blooms taxonomy to promote stretch and challenge and differentiation, Hattie’s and William and Blacks theories and studies on assessment for learning as well as some collaborative and independent learning strategies taken from The Teachers Tool Kit by Paul Ginnis and Teaching Today by Geoff Petty. They are signposted as to when, where and what strategies could be used at the various stages or levels. You and your students will be familiar with the ideas and structures that are drawn from gaming and are in the blue print of many young learners, and not so young learners, in the 21st century. The GOLOCO model allows the learners the affordance they need to understand their own learning and to take control of their own progress and development. Traditional pedagogy of teaching and learning mixed with the platform gaming format, sounds fun! Surely I could synthesis this into how we might approach a lesson? This model uses Gamification influences and structures in order to give students and teachers the affordance needed in today's teaching and learning arenas. a guide and you can use it as you wish. Any feedback would be great as this helps me to develop

this is an interactive tool to use with entry level learners. it encourages word recognition, gross and fine motor dexterity, listening skills, cause and effect and color recognition. it uses visuals and audio to reinforce meaning and understanding.

I love a good teaching model and am guilty of fully embracing most that come along: Learning styles, Multiple Intelligences, Accelerated learning, Quantum learning, right or left brain, Bloom’s taxonomy, N.L.P and the list carries on. I have always looked at myself as a bit of a magpie, so it hasn’t surprised me that I have used lots of snippets, tips and ideas from most of the mentioned theories and models and lots more from other sources, to create the GO LOCO model. Whilst teaching on a teacher training course, I am often challenged, or should I say, the theories and models are challenged, by the cohort of teachers I have in the lessons and lectures. Many believed we need to look afresh at how technology may have altered the way we think and potentially learn. I’ve noticed the pace at which learners interact and communicate is a lot faster than I remember (Though I am getting older).There has been some interesting recent studies that show changes in brain pattern behaviour that have occurred through use of computers or gaming devices. I’m not about to go into an academic essay on teaching and learning and the effects of technology in the 21st Century. That would take far too long! However I will throw my two pennies worth in and say it may well be changing the way we think and it is changing education and the way learners want to learn. Let’s try to give them a bit of what they want and a model to teach from that allows them to know the format and gives teachers a guide to ensuring all learners are engaged, challenged and learning. I want this to be a practical and easy to use guide to the model. I guess what I have done, like so many before, is link several ideas together to create a new model or approach for teachers to work from. I’ve given suggestions on activities to use and also highlight where and when to use stretch and challenge, assessment for learning and differentiation. So how can I create a new and engaging way to approach teaching and learning in the 21st century that allows the learners of today some affordance to the structure and process of their learning whilst also keeping the traditional pedagogy of teaching and learning fully embedded within the model? GO LOCO!!!

A teaching model that uses gaming format but keeps the traditions of traditional teaching and learning. The model is designed for the benefit of both learner and teacher. If you want your kids top eat vegetables, hide the vegetables in something more palatable. GO LOCO.