DHSZ Open Class Ep.03-Geography

We are delighted to learn that our Geography Teacher Ms. Elise Piercy was awarded the honour award in the “2022 Wonder Cup International Schools Teaching Skills Competition”! And today we got the chance to take a close look at Ms. Piercy’s brilliant Geography class.

“You have just survived an Earthquake, and everything is destroyed. What will you bring?” 

This is the question raised to begin the class.

What is the Class About

Ms. Piercy was building upon students’ prior knowledge of earthquakes to encourage their critical thinking surrounding the topic of earthquake management and how can we reduce the impacts of an earthquake event. Throughout the lesson, students were given the opportunity to develop their literacy through reading, writing, listening and interaction with their peers. 

Teaching Style

To help students rank and make decisions, Ms. Piercy introduced them to the ‘Diamond 9 Decision Making’ method. This develops higher level thinking and reasoning skills as they analyze and evaluate the content. When students can justify their opinion, it demonstrates their understanding of their learning.

Education Philosophy

Ms. Piercy always teaches students in accordance with their aptitude and cares for every student in her class. “As a teacher, I aim to build a safe and secure environment in my classroom to encourage learning.  I have put a big effort into developing my relationships with students to provide them with opportunities to try without fear of failure.

“I tend to move around the classroom a lot to ensure students are on task. This notifies me when I can provide further opportunities for differentiation or if I need to change the pace of my teaching.”

In the long term, Ms. Piercy would like to cultivate more of their soft skills For example, she tries to facilitate student-centred activities that supports the development of their confidence and collaboration. Students will be encouraged to develop skills that ensure they achieve success in their exams, University and life beyond Dulwich.

What Can Students Learn from this Class?

In this class, students are encouraged to share their learning by working together. They can have a strong understanding of what earthquake management is, and by the end of the lesson, students have demonstrated their knowledge verbally and through writing.  

To ensure optimum success in their GCSE exams, there is a link made between class material and application to exam questions. Whilst walking around the class she tries to encourage higher-order thinking by asking questions or providing feedback on opportunities where students could develop.