Over the next few weeks I’ll be hosting a series of five ‘back to school’ webinars on a range to topics aimed at early career teachers, those with a mentoring responsibility and anyone who simply feels they could do with a refresher of some teaching basics. And this year, of all years, who couldn’t do with a refresher? Each of the webinars is focussed around a particular area of teaching and would make ideal CPD.

Each webinar will be going out at 4pm and registration is FREE for those who need it to be, while those who feel able to pay will be able to make a contribution to cover running costs.

You can register below and watch the recording free for the following two weeks, but if you take part in the webinar live then you’ll be able to ask questions and chew over difficulties. And, if you want more, you can sign up for unlimited monthly access to all my previously recorded webinars or become a founding member of Learning Spy Academy.

Here’s the schedule:

Thursday 27th August – Routines

  1. Know the school rules and stick to them
  2. Never let pupils sit where they want
  3. Use agreed consequences fairly and consistently
  4. Never let pupils work off punishments
  5. Talk about progress, not behaviour

Tuesday 1st September – Relationships

  1. Learn their names
  2. Tell them they’re your favourite class
  3. Know the data
  4. Talk to them
  5. Read their work

Thursday 3rd September – Planning

  1. Plan sequences, not lessons
  2. What will they think about?
  3. Marking is planning
  4. What’s the story?
  5. The ‘1 in 4’ Rule

Wednesday 9th September – Effective instruction

  1. Make working hard seem normal
  2. Treat all children as it they can achieve the highest standards.
  3. Aim for fluency
  4. Activate ‘hard thinking’
  5. The more children know, the better they’ll be able to think.

Thursday 17th September – Marking

  1. Marking vs feedback
  2. Question, don’t describe
  3. Keep it brief
  4. Focus on specifics
  5. Whole class feedback

Best of luck for the year ahead!