Behaviour Management: Practical Tips

The link below is to a scan of a page from the current edition of the Impact journal from the Chartered College of Teaching. Lots of good research in this journal but this is a page of immediately practical tips.

Behaviour Management : Practical Tips

Mini TeachMeet 14

Jack and Jill : how to read a literary text through a feminist lens (FG)

FG detailed the difficulties in initially teaching a literary criticism method when pupils have a disparate range of texts and so how teaching the techniques on a text that is well-known by all pupils is a good starting point e.g., nursery rhymes.

FG detailed how this might work in practice with a variety of feminist readings of Jack and Jill followed by a recreation of the 3 Little Pigs from a Marxist perspective.

Other examples of scaffolding that might be applied in other subjects might include:
using a simple design when trying new materials initially
producing a piece of art using a simpler medium first
thinking about staging, lighting etc of a simple scene in the styles of different directors
coding using a new technique but starting with a simple problem

Link to doc: Teaching Literary Criticism

SOLO Taxonomy (VLA)

VLA detailed the SOLO taxonomy (Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes) and how she uses this structured higher order thinking in her lessons and signposts to pupils the level of challenge.

She uses the symbols to portray each level of the taxonomy and this is included on worksheets etc as a way of differentiating. Students choose their initial level of understanding and aim to make progress from that starting point during the lesson.

The links below were provided as resources to help embed this in lessons.

https://www.tes.com/news/30-second-briefing-what-solo-taxonomy 
http://pamhook.com/solo-taxonomy/ 

Link to VLA Presentation: SOLO Taxonomy Presentation

Testing in the Classroom: The Importance of Feedback

A blog post from 'The Learning Scientists' this week.

"Some debate exists regarding the most effective way to present testing-related feedback to students. But while each method presents practical advantages and disadvantages, one thing remains clear: test feedback can be a powerful tool for facilitating learning and combatting the negative testing effect.  When we provide feedback to our students, we effectively prioritize both assessment and learning. "

View the whole blog post here: Learning Scientists Original Blog