Archive

What can engineers teach us about assessment?

Sep 14, 2011 | Category: assessment

If, like me, you thought the answer to the above question was almost certainly nothing, take a look at this:[caption id="attachment_367" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Slide from Dylan Wiliam'...

#AfL #formative assessment #Dylan Wiliam #engineering

Should we stop doing good things?

Sep 12, 2011 | Category: training

Surely doing good things is something we should do more of? Especially at school. I have seldom met a teacher who is not interested in doing the best for their students and therefore pretty keen to do...

#AfL #Dylan Wiliam #brain gym #learning styles #Pareto #Weight Watchers

Knowledge or skills?

Sep 11, 2011 | Category: Featured

Skills, knowledge, who cares? I'm a huge fan of the implementation of Personal Learning and Thinking Skills as part of the English National Curriculum and feel confused and concerned about the curren...

#Cristina Milos #Gove #knowledge #skills

Back to school

Sep 09, 2011 | Category: leadership

What I really like about going back to school in September is that it's a new year with no mistakes. The students' books are graffiti free and and all the dates and titles have been neatly underlined....

#Ian Gilbert #meetings #Phil Beadle #Dweck #blogging #QR codes #ukedchat

Differentiation: to do or not to do?

Sep 07, 2011 | Category: assessment

Of all the impossible tasks expected of poor, over-worked teachers, differentiation is the most troublesome. Why? Because on the one hand, if you did it properly every lesson you'd be reduced to a dri...

#Phil Beadle #differentiation #Dweck #Francis Gilbert

More DIY learning

Sep 06, 2011 | Category: learning

Following Kenny Pieper's wonderful guest post yesterday, I was inspired to put his ideas into action today.The most difficult aspect was geting hold of some netbooks. The DT had some which they warned...

#child driven learning #class blog #Darren Mead #learning continuums. mindsets

Do It Yourself

Sep 05, 2011 | Category: learning

There is a certain amount of irony in the title of today's post in that I haven't written it myself. Instead it comes from the typing fingers of the marvellous Kenny Pieper. His excellent blog Just Tr...

#mindsets #Kenny Pieper #Sugata Mitra

Is the starter finished?

Sep 03, 2011 | Category: Featured

For as long as I've been teaching (12 years) the received wisdom on the 'right' way to teach is to deliver a three, then four (or even five) part lesson: starter, guided bit where teacher is allowed t...

#Geoff Petty #John Hattie #Phil Beadle #starters

What's the point of INSET days?

Aug 30, 2011 | Category: training

Recently, I overheard a colleague say that they had never attended an INSET (IN SErvice Training) day that wasn't a complete waste of time. I have to admit that I felt rather startled by this as, with...

#Dan Pink #Fed-ex days #INSET

Challenging Bloom's Taxonomy

Aug 24, 2011 | Category: myths

Have had a few thought provoking debates recently about the validity of Bloom's Taxonomy. Yes, that's right, a challenge to the orthodoxy! I've read through a selection of articles which all point to...

#bloom's taxonomy #SOLO taxonomy