Want some quick, simple strategies to stretch and challenge students in your classes? Check out our new Challenge Strategies toolkit.
June
09
DOT Marking
posted by B Cotton
Last Wednesday the AFL Hub shared their research into DOT marking. Sophie and Chrissie have been using this extensively with their Year 9 groups. The idea is simple: instead of writing reams of red pen, mark students’ work for literacy and then give a ‘dot’ target. Students can cross-reference the dot in class, write down […]
March
25
My Latest Assemblies
posted by B Cotton
So here’s my favourite recent assemblies. Each have been converted to pdf but I’ve linked the videos within the blurb. If you’d like the original PowerPoints then DM me at @teachingplus. Hope they come in use. 1. The importance of letting go We need to let go of our past to fully live in the present. The […]
March
11
Improving writing in our classrooms
posted by B Cotton
Michelle and I led the twilight on Improving writing this afternoon. We began by asking the group what they felt were the greatest barriers to students engaging in extended writing within their own classrooms. Student apathy, often stemming from a lack of confidence around their writing, was felt to be the most significant barrier. The following strategies can be […]
March
06
Mindfulness
posted by B Cotton
We all want our students to be calm, focused, responsive and creative, which is essentially what mindfulness is all about. As a school community we’ve been engaging with meditation and mindfulness over the course of this year. Amitabha joined us last week to run a superb session for our staff. We also began our day […]
March
01
Flipped Learning & Google Classroom
posted by B Cotton
Yusuf led a thought-provoking briefing this week on his action research into flipped learning. Yusuf shared how he is establishing a flipped classroom to engage students before they set foot into his class. Google Classroom has proved a great tool in flipping the learning – especially with engaging his Sixth Form classes. Yusuf has used […]
February
06
#INOW2015
posted by B Cotton
A massive thanks to all our speakers and guests for making #INOW2015 a success this week. The presentations from the evening can be found below. Any further questions then leave a comment or direct message me at @teachingplus. Nina Jackson’s @musicmind Inspirational keynote Stephen O’Callaghan @MrOCallaghanEdu ‘If it’s not excellent it’s not finished’ seminar, blog […]
January
11
Whole school literacy resources
posted by B Cotton
Thought I’d upload our whole school literacy resources. Here’s our Punctuation Time Line, which includes all the classics: full stops, commas etc. Here’s our whole school Literacy Marking Codes poster and Literacy Bookmark for students and staff. Here’s a selection of classroom posters in a similar style: Command words, Homophones Poster, Reading Poster and Speaking Poster. Also here’s the literacy […]
January
08
Killer Questioning Techniques
posted by B Cotton
Why is questioning the most important weapon in a teacher’s arsenal? This was the introductory question posed to us by Richard Kennett (@kenradical) – who led a great twilight training session this week. Quoting both Voltaire and Wilshaw, Richard reminded us how important questioning is when it comes to assessing and promoting learning. The Golden […]
November
26
Effective, everyday differentiation
posted by B Cotton
There is a myth out there that effective differentiation is about delivering the same lesson in thirty different ways, with thirty different outcomes. This ‘unsustainable lesson’ often involves ‘worksheet overkill’. Not just a killer for faculty budgets, but this way of differentiating – with a different outcome based on prior ability and data – can […]
Teaching + 