I'm lucky to work in a school that invests in freeing up teacher time for the important things. We have centralised detentions, whole class feedback and we are building centralised schemes of work around our own textbooks for reading and Shed Loads Of Practice. Teacher time is too precious to be spent chasing detentions, writing... Continue Reading →
Below is the link to my article for Teachwire: What is challenge in science and how should we approach it in schools? https://www.teachwire.net/news/what-is-challenge-in-science-and-how-should-we-approach-it-in-schools
At my school we have a policy that states: Feedback must be given every 2 weeks for core subjects, every 3 week for others Feedback must include the format WWW (what went well) and EBI (even better if) Feedback must have a meaningful ACT task that moves the learner forwards Students must complete ACTs in... Continue Reading →
One of the biggest frustrations of switching on to cognitive science in teaching is the fact that despite the proliferation of technology in education, so little of it is designed to make use of cognitive science principles. Seneca is set to change that and it is so so welcome. Seneca bills itself as "a free... Continue Reading →
For a while I’ve felt like school science knowledge exists as an entity, as something more than the sum of its parts, something with characteristic structure and texture. When I was planning, deciding a route through a unit, looking at links across the curriculum….I felt like I was glimpsing a sort of web, or feeling... Continue Reading →
This is part 2 in the AFL in Science symposium. Read the rest of the series: Part 1: Introduction by Adam Boxer Part 3: Do they really get it, or are they just giving me the correct answer? by Niki Kaiser Part 4: Validity of formative assessment by Deep Ghataura Part 5: Measuring and improving... Continue Reading →
One problem that can arise from the C1-C5 system is “0-60”: A pupil gets a C1 for something but argues, gets a C2, argues again, gets a C3, gets angry, gets a C4, gets really mad, gets a C5. One the one hand, we don’t want pupils to argue with teachers and we want them... Continue Reading →
This is part one of what I think will be a four-part blog on visuals for explicit teaching using Smart Notebook and the Snip Tool. I’m planning further posts as follows: Part 2: Tools in Smart Notebook Part 3: Principles of Design Part 4: Worked examples Part 1: Snip Tool and Right Click... Continue Reading →
I love TLAC. I’ve written below about how I’ve used some of the techniques in a subject-specific way. Like most good things, I can’t really imagine why I didn’t do them before and I’m a bit worried that everyone was doing them except me. So if this post is just a massive statement of the... Continue Reading →
