One of the things our department have been looking at recently is feedback from teachers to pupils. Book scrutiny suggested that whilst the staff were working very conscientiously in leaving feedback, there was little evidence that the pupils were responding to it.

So now we are trying out a new approach. Once per fortnight we will spend part of a lesson giving the pupils time to respond to our comments. Where possible we will try to create a dialogue or leave some action for the pupils to do once their books are returned. Here are some of the things we are suggesting they can do.

Are there any marking symbols in the margin guiding your corrections? Correct your SPaG mistakes.

Answer any questions your teacher/peer has asked you, giving detailed reasons.

Have you got any  spelling mistakes?

Create yourself a personal spelling list and learn them

Write a question to your teacher.

Improve work by re-writing words, sentences &  paragraphs focusing on

your targets.

Highlight where you think you have met the SUCCESS CRITERIA or

where you have met your PERSONAL  TARGETS...

Ask your partner to quality check your Respond and Review work

Well, it may be only be May but the end of the school year is already hoving into view and that means exams.

One of the goals I have set myself is to work with my exams groups on regular exam practice. In the past this meant writing timed essay every week or so. What I want to do now is introduce the pupils to regular timed practice on the reading comprehension questions (section A Unit one AQA).

 I have explained that they need to write for about one and a half minutes per mark. So an 8  mark question is given 12 mins max of writing.

This intense, brief writing activity can act as a starter to a lesson or as a final activity. It's  also proving a popular Home Fun (no home WORK in English ;)) because they are FORBIDDEN to spend more than 12 minutes on it. This goes down well.

I had already embarked on this when I came across this blog post

Effective Exam Revision

I showed the video of the footballers practising as a starter asking the class to see if they could work out  a link to English.  One pupil got 'practice'. I then made the point that even multi-million pound players have to drill but it is because they do that they can play so creatively in their game. The pupils really did seem to grasp the point and understand why we are drilling these short answers, aimed at having them achieve the top band marks every time.

My book of teaching quotes is now avaialble on Kindle:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CB4J3A6

Teaching Writing to Disengaged Boys

There is just so much good stuff on the internet for teachers at the moment.

I find that Twitter is turning out to be an excellent way to key an eye on what's happening. It seems to be even more convenient  that Google Reader...which is probably just as well since Google have announced they are pulling that service.

If you're thinking about how to improve the way you teach writing to  disaffected boys (or any boys, for that matter)then I recommend John Tomsett's latest.

Overcoming Errors

The 'marginal gains' attitude is entirely in keeping with the spirit of Kaizen.
Read Zoe Elders thoughts on how we can help achieve success through re-framing our questions.
 
Here's an excerpt


So…
“Who’s got it?”
“Is everybody clear with this?”
“Who thinks they have the right answer to this?”
“Is everybody clear on what they have to do?”
“What made it work?”

BECOMES
“Who hasn’t quite grasped this yet?”
“Who is nearly stuck?”
“Who thinks they’re in danger of coming to a complete halt any minute now?”
“Who is not clear on the first thing that they need to do now?”
“What prevented this from working?”


Error Seeking: This Marginal Learning Gain is probably one of the purest as it really is tiny…but with big effect. Frequently, quality learning and thinking opportunities are missed when students’ misconceptions are overlooked or not recognised. Continue reading →

A Universal Panacea? Homage to Twitter

I was an early adopter of Twitter and well remember people scoffing about the whole idea of tweeting, 'I'm on the train.'

In fact, it is a superb resource. Read The Learning Spy on this here:

A Universal Panacea? – my homage to Twitter

Challenge Teaching Kaizen Tip #2

 
 Give students a list of five random words,
e.g. Box; Cow; Sunshine; Beyond; Fence
And ask them to:
-          Show how any or all of the words connect to one another.
-           Explain how they may influence one another.
-           Suggest how they might link to the learning.
-           Create a story encompassing all the words.
-           Mind-map the connotations of each word and then analyse the links between them.

Challenge teaching Kaizen Tip #1

You know who the most able pupils in your class are, don't you?

OK. Next time you are preparing your lesson plan THREE questions you will ask them.