Going Goal-Free During Formative Assessment

An approach from a teacher where they are removing the scaffolding from questions to enable pupils to engage with more retrieval.

"I’m making a simple modification to some of my formative assessment this semester. I’m incorporating the goal free effect. The concept behind this effect isn’t very tricky at all. Basically, instead of asking questions this way:

1. List and describe the function(s) of the following parts of the eye:

1. Iris
2. Cornea
3. Retina
4. Lens

I’ll simply ask this in this manner:

2. Tell me everything you can about vision.

"

For those students unable to make a start with this, then a 'cheat-sheet' is given:
My potential solution to this problem: After a few minutes, supply a ‘cheat sheet’ of sorts with terms they should have used. This will provide an opportunity for students to make sure they’re on the right track and allow those who are out of ideas a prompt to get them working again. I plan on encouraging those who are going strong to avoid looking at the cheat sheet…if they don’t need the crutch, they shouldn’t use the crutch. 

This approach takes more time, but may allow for higher quality retrieval and improved learning as a result.

Full blog post: https://theeffortfuleducator.com/2020/01/09/ggf/

January 2020 INSET - Higher Order Thinking in English and the Humanities

Higher Order thinking Skills in English and the Humanities (VW & VMW)
How else could you write the ending to your favourite novel? What is the connection between ‘As You Like it’ and coastal erosion? What is the solution to global warming? Would you want to live forever? During this session we will take you on a whirlwind tour of higher order thinking skills and how to use their to save planning time, aid learning and deepen understanding in English and the humanities. We will be looking at what higher order thinking skills are, why we should use them and giving examples of how you might use them in these subjects as well as making time for you to contribute your own examples!

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January 2020 INSET - 6 Bases of Power - Winning Hearts and Minds

Winning Hearts and Minds - The 6-bases of power (EAM)
Reflecting on how we generate influence with different stakeholders (e.g. pupils, colleagues, parents, etc).


We are all always trying to influence people through our interactions and relationships. The workshop will investigate the strategies and tactics that people often use to try and persuade others.

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January 2020 INSET - SOLO Taxonomy

SOLO Taxonomy (VLB)
What is SOLO taxonomy? SOLO stands for "structure of the observed learning outcome". It is an approach designed by educational psychologists John Biggs and Kevin Collis to scaffold higher-order thinking for pupils. It’s all about increasing the levels of complexity in tasks as pupils move through their learning. Think of it as a kind of do-it-yourself differentiation for students. In this session we will explore how to incorporate SOLO in to lessons.

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January 2020 INSET - Higher Order Thinking in STEM

Higher Order Thinking in STEM (JCD & JLi)

Some concrete examples of encouraging higher order thinking skills from mathematics and the sciences. Maybe you are a STEM teacher who wants to hear more from your colleagues or perhaps you want to hear about how STEM approaches this to inform your own teaching in another subject.

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January 2020 INSET - Game for Subject-Specific Vocabulary

A Game for Subject-Specific Vocabulary (ABr)
How to make use of a simple game in order to improve the use of subject-specific vocabulary. The game can be adapted to cover all levels of the thinking skills hierarchy but I will be specifically looking at the HOTS using this game.

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January 2020 INSET - Assessment for Learning

(Re)introducing Assessment for Learning (DO)
Certainly a ‘buzz-phrase’ in the early 2000s, Assessment for Learning is still a powerful approach to teaching and learning that underpins a lot of the good practice that is seen around the Schools. A quick (re)introduction followed by some takeaway ideas for how to incorporate this into your classroom teaching.

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