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The Learning Loop

2011-07-12T22:58:25+01:00July 12th, 2011|learning|

For last few years we (the English faculty) have been teaching our GCSE course over 3 years. I made the decision this time last year to begin our three year programme of study with a scheme of learning which would encapsulate everything I believe education should be about. I had recently had some training on the impact of intrinsic motivation & growth mindsets and wanted to see if this was something we could foster in our learners. The other rationale (or perhaps, excuse is a better word) was to introduce the skills needed to successfully navigate the new GCSE course. We [...]

Zooming in and out

2013-07-19T12:08:59+01:00July 11th, 2011|English, learning, reading|

For some years now I have been using what I call The Grade Ladder with students to help them understand the skills required to perform at different grades. This isn't particularly original and has been around for quite while. I first encountered the terms 'evaluate', 'analyse', 'explore', 'explain' and 'identify' in GCSE English specifications but it's obvious at even a cursory glance that these skills are underpinned by Bloom's Taxonomy.   So, to IDENTIFY, students had to be able to give an opinion and support it with textual evidence; to EXPLAIN they had to show they understood the relationship between their [...]

Using Learning Continuums

2011-07-11T20:33:58+01:00July 11th, 2011|English, learning|

After reading How to Teach the Perfect Ofsted Lesson by Jackie Beere, I came up with the idea of the Learning Continuum. The idea is that the learning objective for a lesson should be viewed as a journey. Students can achieve outcomes that meet the objective at different levels. Aha, I hear you say, isn’t he just talking about differentiated outcomes? Well, yes, but the difference here is that the emphasis is placed on students continuing on through the learning journey over the course of the lesson. The diagram above is a useful way of explaining what I mean. [...]

So, what are learning spies?

2011-07-11T20:18:53+01:00July 11th, 2011|learning|

A few years ago an Ofsted inspector told me I talked too much and that as a result the lesson that had been observed was 'satisfactory'. I was gutted. I was also determined to do something about it. The task of getting out of the way so that my students are free to learn for themselves has been challenging but also without doubt the best thing that has ever happened to me. As an educator I mean - obviously the birth of my children etc. was way cooler! Following some training with Zoe Elder on Observing Learning, I began experimenting with the [...]

Getting to grips with PLTS

2011-07-11T19:53:59+01:00July 11th, 2011|learning|

This was first written in October 2009 So, the PLTS. What are they and why would you want to embed them into anything? I’m quite sure that I won’t be surprising many people by telling you that Personal Learning and Thinking Skills are now a part of the National Curriculum. That means they are statutory and that we have to teach ‘em. My school has taken the approach that the 6 skill areas were divided up and one given to each faculty to concentrate on. English got Creative Thinking. N'est pas. So far so good: we dutifully write our PLTS objectives [...]

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