The culture of observations at Michaela is truly phenomenal. It provides a structure conducive to genuine improvement and honest reflection. Observations at Michaela are frequent, low-stakes and random. Since starting in September (around 24 teaching weeks), I have been observed around 70 times by other Michaela teachers. That's right - 70! Observers are typically in … Continue reading Observations at Michaela
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Retrieval Cues: Do Your Questions Help or Hinder?
It’s so easy, when we really want our pupils to answer a question correctly, that we give them cues to help them reach the answer. Sometimes we see our pupils still struggling and we become tempted to offer them a just-a-few more cues to help them get there. Finally, they give the correct answer and … Continue reading Retrieval Cues: Do Your Questions Help or Hinder?
Explanation, Feedback & Practice
With limited curriculum time, it is essential to reflect on the competing time taken up by explanation, practice and feedback.
Evolution of Our Science Assessment Model: CogSci & Christodoulou
Assessment has seen a lot of evolution recently. New accountability measures across Key Stages recently has forced schools to re-consider their models. To adapt, a few teachers in my science department have been reading Daisy Christodoulou's lucid new book on assessment: Making Good Progress? We have also been reading various books, blogs & research papers to help us … Continue reading Evolution of Our Science Assessment Model: CogSci & Christodoulou
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)
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 