Implementing AL Strategy(The Muddiest Point)

Muddiest Point Strategy: The Muddiest Point strategy is one of the simplest formative assessment techniques.It is efficient and provides a high information return for a very low investment of time and energy.The technique consists of asking students to jot down a quick response to the question.What was the Muddiest Point.This technique provides information on what students find most confusing about a particular lesson or topic.The feedback can be used to discover which points are the most difficult for students to learn or least clear.Teaching decisions about which topics to emphasize and how technique ,learners must quickly identify what they do not understand and articulate those muddy points.

Classroom Activity:

I used Muddiest Point strategy into the classroom . This strategy is one of the best and easiest to know how much a concept is clear to the students and which one is the unclear point to them .

Topic: I choosed  topic for instruction "Aim and Expectation " from the Life Skills programme .

Planning for choosing a topic: First of all i made in my mind which topic to be taught to the students because we have new batch students for the session and i completed first topic Identity and Background.Then i started working on making session plan and previous day of the lecture delivery.

Session Plan:

Subject: Life Skills                                                                                               Duration: 45min.
Lesson: Aim and Expectation

1.             Greeting(Hello,every body ,Good Morning)
2.             Activity (Chintu-Bintu )

3.             Objectives:
             a.To refresh the students.
             b.To let them know about Aim and Expectation.
             c. To over come the difficulties before goal.
            d. To make them confident how questions asked.
            f. To make them aware of the clarity of topic.

4.             Classroom Activities: Teacher will ask simple questions to the students.
              1.What have you understood by doing the activity ?
              2. What was the aim and expectations from the activity ?
              3. What is your aim and expectation of this course ?

5.         Topic:Aim and Expectation:The teacher will write on the board about the topic .The topic will be discussed  with giving definition of aim and expectation.
Definition: Aim is a set of goal and desired results.
Types of aim : Real and Unreal

Story telling : Construction of a school.

6.         Group discussion: Group discussion will be conducted in pairs.One partner will tell his answers to the another one about the questions aroused in the story.

       a.Who was the happiest man while working and why ?
       b. What was the aim of all the workers ?
      c. Which character do you like the most and why ?

7.         Muddiest Point Strategy : There may be some questions or queries in the students'mind and topic unclear to them. The teacher will give chits to the students and ask them to write the topic or the questions they have not understood or unclear to them.

8.          Recapitulation : The teacher will collect the chits and go through one by one and discuss the topic again and might be come tomorrow with new strategy to make students clear the topic or the Muddiest Point.

9.           Home Assignment :Portfolio

10.        Conclude : Thank and hope to see you again.

Students response:

          The session started with greetings full of jest and zeal.All the students participated in the fun activity "Chintu and Bintu " in which a theme was how to overcome difficulties in the way of our goal.In the activity one partner was Chintu and another one was Bintu.One had to clap for long as he could and another had to stop,. After the completion of the activity the story telling about a school construction. When the topic on Aim and Expectation was completed i asked question about real and unreal aim and students were a little worried to answers . I gave them chits and asked them to write their unclear things or questions.Maximum had problem finding a difference about real and unreal aim and few of them about the personal aim and business aim.

I came back home and see videos on aim and expectations and the next day i cleared the points giving examples but first i asked the question ,What is your aim of life."?
Some body said they want to become a perfect mechanic the related trade and some body replied something wrong as unreal ; they want to be a doctor and scientists.I told them you can not become the second on because you have passed 10+2 exam.in stream Arts and only Science stream students could appear in PMT to become a doctor.It is unreal aim and you could be a mechanic because you are doing in the same field.
The students were very happy and i was also satisfied when i asked the unclear questions and they respond very well.The students were more confident because they wrote something and without being humiliated before peers as they thought before.

Change One:
         This session was different in the following ways:
         1. The students wrote on chits their queries.
         2. Generally i asked questions at the end of the concept but not given much focus to each ones queries and clear the topic.
        3. Students were more confident as they wrote without being feared humiliated in the group.
       4.  I was filled with joy that the strategy worked effectively.

Key Learning:It gives a kind of confidence to students to tell the queries in indirect way and without being feared of humiliation .It also consumes a little time and the concept is clear effectively.This strategy is the simplest technique one can use.It is also remarkably efficient, since it provides a high information return for a very low investment of time and energy.The strategy can be used in any setting .Students responses usually consist of a few words or phrases that can be read by the teacher in minutes.