A roundup of our most popular blogs of February 2016
Why use of language is so important in the Ebacc debate
Imprecise language in this debate makes it too easy for ministers and civil servants to dismiss opposition to the Ebacc as the ‘bigotry of low expectations’. So, in the continued conversations, here are a few things to consider… Read more.
Student voice: Education is killing students’ curiosity
Teachers are now teaching the content of their courses under strict time constraints, which doesn’t allow time for the development of curiosity and other vital skills. Forcing knowledge upon children to regurgitate in examinations does not equate to effective learning or effective teaching, and ultimately demotivates pupils… Read more.
@TeacherToolkit – Flying Start
Not all pieces of paper will hit the target, allowing you to focus on the pieces that do. You can then use a visualiser to zoom in on spelling and keywords, rewarding students who have hit the target and have proven their literacy credentials… Read more.
Anxiety used to get the better of me
I once told a teacher I was sad and the reply I got was ‘Why are you sad? You have clean clothes, a house to live in and a free education.’ That was the first time I tried to reach out to someone, and the response I got made it the last for a very long time. If a young person tells you they are sad, please listen… Read more.
Confessions of a PE teacher: Breaking the mould
It also seems odd to me that despite all of us being aware that we are in the middle of an obesity crisis, there is little recognition of the huge part that PE as a wider subject has to play in raising students’ awareness of the importance of healthy living… Read more.
@TeacherToolkit – How we cut out the marking frenzy
Our marking code is still developing, but again, we aren’t going to beat teachers over the head with a stick about this. Yes, we want teachers to mark books, but more importantly we want students to act on the feedback that they receive… Read more.
7 strategies to help build resilience
Teaching which encourages children to thrive on the challenge to make progress, even when it’s hard and scary. Teachers who have high expectations of every pupil, challenging them to grow their brains by developing strategies to overcome mistakes and bounce back from failure by… Read more.
Student voice: we’re creating an entire generation of people who’ve been brought up not to ask questions
Students being given target grades of ‘fail’ is effectively telling them that their own schools don’t have any faith in them, and that no matter how hard they work they are still not expected to be successful. How can any student be expected to learn when they are put in that situation?… Read more.
@TeacherToolkit – Marking is broken
We all go to university, train to be a teacher, go through these laborious lesson plans… We’re told we have to plan to the lesson, stick to the plan. Then we teach it, and mark our books afterwards. But, by flipping the model, you can totally change your approach to marking… Read more.
Four strategies to raise attainment of disadvantaged students at KS4
We have a year 11 strategy meeting every week, in which we look at the attainment and progress of a selection of our most vulnerable students, with a random sample of middle and high attaining students discussed in addition to this… All SLT are present for these meetings, to comment on students in their areas of line management… Read more.
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