When I began teaching, I used to use questioning for two main reasons. Firstly, as a way of eliciting ideas I desired pupils to construct. For example, if I was teaching pupils about experimental design, I might ask them why they thought we have only one independent variable in an experiment and lead pupils to … Continue reading Evolution of my Pedagogy III: Questioning
Teaching & Learning
Equations in Science
I've been refining the way I teach equations in science for a while now, and think I've found a way that is reaping good results. The key principles are as follows: No matter what the content or equation, I always get pupils to follow one method. It works for every equation in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Drill pupils … Continue reading Equations in Science
Evolution of my Pedagogy II (Teacher Talk)
In this series of blog posts, I reflect on how my teaching has evolved since my time as trainee. Last week I wrote about behaviour. This week... Teacher Talk Everyone seems to have an opinion on how much time a teacher should spend talking each lesson. I've heard of countless trainee teachers receiving feedback after lesson … Continue reading Evolution of my Pedagogy II (Teacher Talk)
The Limits of My World (Part II)
In Part I of this post, I discussed the importance of teachers (of all subjects) making language teaching explicit in their lessons. I argued that an improvement in language enables pupils to better access the curriculum and broaden their cultural capital. I shared three practical, easy-to-implement strategies to help teachers incorporate the teaching of language into their lesson: sharing … Continue reading The Limits of My World (Part II)
The Limits of My World
"The limits of my language mean the limits of my world." - Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 - 1951) To successfully enable pupils to access as much of the world as possible, teachers have a responsibility to broaden the cultural capital of their students. Most necessary for this is the development of language skills; language is the medium by which … Continue reading The Limits of My World
5 Steps for Effective Revision + Activity Ideas
Revision, revision and more revision.... with exams around the corner, teachers are busy planning and innovating revision activities. Meanwhile, pupils are busy revising (at least, in theory; some are definitely actually-understanding-for-the-first-time) before the daunting and the anticipating become the done and dusted. My understanding of learning and the examination process obtained through experience and research of … Continue reading 5 Steps for Effective Revision + Activity Ideas
Developing autonomy: taking a step back
"I aspire for my pupils to develop their independence." I've said this to myself constantly since I began teaching, but when I ruminate on the details, I realise that my understanding of independence has changed, and so have the behaviours and words I expect to observe in 'independent pupils'. To begin with, my vision of my pupils being independent … Continue reading Developing autonomy: taking a step back
Speaking Frames: How to elicit formal talk
"So basically, yeah, we said that you can use this so get rid of that, but its better innit to use this for the sand." Hmm. Not quite what I wanted my Year 7 to say when explaining how to separate a mixture of sand, salt and water. How many times have you asked pupils from your class … Continue reading Speaking Frames: How to elicit formal talk
Comprehension Strategies in the Classroom
Poor comprehension skills are undoubtedly a hindrance to learning. As teachers, we expect our pupils to read and make meaning from an unfamiliar text nearly every lesson. This might take the form of a text to teach new ideas and facts, a stimulus for discussion, to give instructions or even to read and interpret our marking. But to what extent … Continue reading Comprehension Strategies in the Classroom
Success Criteria
One of the most pupil-empowering pedagogy ideas I use, is to ask pupils to determine the success criteria for a task, then ask them to use it to do the task, and finally self/peer-assess using the criteria. It's a very clever tool to use because it has so many benefits: Helps pupils engage with an activity at … Continue reading Success Criteria
Bunsen Blue 