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Why we should strive for perfection

2014-03-26T13:08:45+00:00June 26th, 2012|learning, training|

This article was first published, in a slightly different form, on the Guardian Teacher Network TEACHERS ASSEMBLEhttp://venspired.com/?page_id=2127 Is there such a thing as the perfect lesson or the perfect teacher? Well, no, probably not. At least, not that I'm aware of. There is no magic bullet that can turn us into amazing teachers overnight; being outstanding is not, I think, a matter of charismatic delivery. It's about hard work and effort. It's about thorough planning based on sound assessment for learning. And it's about consistently being there and having high expectations of, and belief in, the kids in front [...]

Slow Learning – allowing students to achieve mastery

2012-06-24T22:08:05+01:00June 24th, 2012|learning|

Of all the sessions I attended at The Festival of Education on Saturday the one I was most looking forward to (and most disappointed by) was entitled Slow Education: making time for deeper learning. Disappointed because I had high hopes and because...well, the presenters didn't really say anything interesting or useful. They rehashed Maurice Holt's manifesto on The Nature and Purpose of Education (even to the point of using the same slow food metaphor) and didn't really add much else. Admittedly that may be because they didn't have much time and had to rush. Oh! the irony. What was I hoping for? Well, [...]

The best laid schemes of work & learning

2012-06-09T22:15:48+01:00June 9th, 2012|learning|

The best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft agley. Robert Burns Ah, the scheme of work. We've all got 'em. but what are they for? To spell out the structure of each lesson in advance? Or to act as a guide through the objectives to be covered during a term? Are they a crutch, a straitjacket, a sign post, or a waste of everyone's time? Consider this analogy. Does buying a cook book make you a good cook? Certainly having a recipe to follow increases the likelihood that the meals you serve aren't awful. But's what's more important? The [...]

Is SOLO a waste of time?

2012-06-04T00:09:07+01:00June 4th, 2012|learning, SOLO|

Stop blaming your lack of experimentation, risk and innovation on your lack of time. Hywel Roberts - Oops! Helping Children Learn Accidentally It was pointed out to me recently that I can afford to expend my energies on such fripperies as the SOLO taxonomy and group work because I teach a subject which is rich in curriculum time. If, the logic goes, you only have 1 or 2 hours per week you need to spend it delivering content. Anything else is a waste of time. Clearly there's some truth in this: English does get more time than, say, French or RE. [...]

Teaching creatively vs teaching creativity

2013-11-02T20:36:49+00:00May 20th, 2012|learning|

What is creativity? Can it be taught? Can it be aped or emulated? Or is copying something that someone else is doing, by its very nature, a lack of creativity? Oft quoted creativity guru Sir Ken Robinson calls creativity 'the process of having original ideas that have value'. Creativity "comes about through the interaction of different disciplinary ways of seeing things". Maybe. Creativity is also defined as the ability to think divergently, or to put ideas together in new and surprising ways. I'm sure, given sufficient time and inclination you could come up with hundreds of divergent ideas on what creativity [...]

Slow Writing: how slowing down can improve your writing

2014-06-28T14:50:08+01:00May 12th, 2012|English, learning, literacy|

NB - my latest thinking on Slow Writing can be found here. Exam season is nearly upon us and English departments across the land will be gearing up to the Herculean labour of training students to churn out essays which, they hope, will earn them the much coveted A*-C grade in English Language. The AQA paper gives candidates just a meagre hour to write a short descriptive, explanatory piece and then a longer piece which asks them to persuade and argue. This isn't much time and most students default position is to race into it, cram in as much verbiage as [...]

The evils of Powerpoint

2013-07-20T17:47:28+01:00May 7th, 2012|learning|

For some time now I've found myself becoming increasingly convinced of the evils of PowerPoint. What's that you say? It's just a tool? Isn't there some old cliché about bad workmen blaming their tools? Fair point, and perhaps you're right. There's no doubt that the advent of data projectors in classrooms has resulted in teachers being able to do things unimaginable in the days of the OHP. Maybe teachers moaning about Powerpoint presentations is like farmers moaning about combine harvesters? But I can't shake the nagging feeling that planning and delivering every lesson via Powerpoint (as many teachers do) is akin to [...]

Building resilience: Sir, I'm stuck

2012-05-05T23:15:17+01:00May 5th, 2012|learning|

Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. I have this quote from Samuel Becket's play Worstwood Ho! up in my classroom and regularly refer to it. It's there as much for me as my students and there's been plenty of times when (after another cunningly wrought lesson has nose dived into a flaming ball of shame) I've been grateful for the sentiment. Never mind, I tell myself, it'll be better next time. I hear about the need to make students independent learners all the time but I think that might be missing the point. It's not really about independence. Although there [...]

Deliberating about practice

2013-08-22T12:54:21+01:00April 22nd, 2012|learning|

Should learning be fun? A few years ago I remember saying that was all learning should be. If you weren't enjoying it, why on earth would you do it? But now I'm not so sure. One of the most frequently used (and abused) buzz words in education over recent years is 'engagement'. Now, I'm not suggesting that students shouldn't be engaged in their lessons but I would urge you to check the definition of the word. To engage means either "to occupy the attention or efforts of a person" or, "to attract and hold fast". For a dissenting view on engagement [...]

Are worksheets a waste of time?

2012-04-04T01:00:35+01:00April 4th, 2012|learning|

Why should I let the toad work Squat on my life? Can't I use my wit as a pitchfork And drive the brute off? Philip Larkin - Toads Many people (and many students) seem to expend considerable energy in attempting to use their wits to drive off the need to work. This provokes the ire of others (often teachers) who consider it character forming and good for them and I-had-to-do-it so-why-shouldn't-you? The ability to work hard and get on with difficult and onerous tasks is a terribly important life skill and I expend a fair bit of my energy in convincing [...]

High Performers

2012-03-04T13:50:15+00:00March 4th, 2012|leadership, learning|

The postman delivered High Performers - The Secrets of Successful Schools by Alistair Smith this week. For anyone who's not read it, the book contains bucket loads of wisdom and tons of practical advice on every single page. To tell the truth, I feel a little breathless about all the good stuff contained therein. Alistair took it upon himself to visit 20 high performing schools up and down the land and try to distill what it is that makes them successful. Predictably, he found that there is no 'one size fits all' silver bullet which can make schools outstanding but he has [...]

Feedback: it's better to receive than to give

2012-02-20T22:48:10+00:00February 20th, 2012|assessment, learning|

As every teacher ought to already know, feedback and formative assessment are the most powerful, most effective things you can be doing. This means we need to be taking every opportunity to let our students know, "where they are going, how they are going there and what they might go next." Obvious, isn't it? Well, maybe not. Here are a few interesting points I have gleaned about the effective use of feedback from Visible Learning for Teachers. Hattie says that feedback should be: 'just in time', 'just for me', 'just where I am in my learning process', and 'just what I [...]

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