Teaching and Learning Newsletter
Issue 1 Spring 2019
top ten tips from the learning support department Following their invaluable INSET session at the start of term, Dr Greenway and Mrs Hollick have suggested ten ways to support pupils on the autistic spectrum. 1. Get to know the person within. 2. Play to the child’s strengths or special interests. 3. Be aware of personal triggers. 4. Reduce sensory load as far as possible. 5. Give clear explicit expectations of what you want to happen, not what you don’t. 6. Ensure consistent routines and plan for change. 7. Support possible language issues – don’t assume understanding. 8. Underpin oral information with visual and kinaesthetic supports. 9. Pause before responding – look beneath the initial impression. 10. Allow time for processing – longer than you think!
Useful web link: www.autism.org.uk/professionals/teachers.aspx Page 1
‘doing or learning’ – a false dichotomy? At Bablake this year, we are lucky to have five aspiring teachers completing their PGCE with the University of Buckingham. Not only do they bring youth and enthusiasm to the Bablake classroom, they also complete a three-week placement at another school, giving us an insight into teaching outside Bablake. In a recent conversation, Miss Billingham mentioned to me that she had been required to submit her lesson plans for approval prior to teaching. She was then advised to insert a new column – what would the pupils be ‘doing’ as well as ‘learning’? ‘Oh no’, I thought! Last time I observed my own NQT, I advised her to focus less on what pupils were doing and more on what they were learning. Was I right to do this? Should I be planning a wider range of activities in my own lessons as well? Is ‘doing’ the most effective way for pupils to learn? In October 2018, Mark Enser, author of ‘Make Every Lesson Count’, reflected on this dilemma in his article ‘Why you should ask yourself: what has been learned?’ In it he referred to a 2012 paper by Barak Rosenshine that sought to combine the most recent research into cognitive science with research into the practice of very effective teachers. His conclusions were clear, ‘The most effective teachers spoke more than the less effective ones’. This did not mean, however, that the most effective teachers stood at the front of the class and lectured their pupils. No, teacher speak was far more varied. The most effective teachers: • Used scaffolding to break pupils’ learning into memorable chunks, • Started each lesson with a form of quizzing or retrieval practice, • Used questioning to link new learning with prior learning, • Used questioning to check for understanding throughout the lesson, • Tackled misconceptions when they arose, re-teaching concepts if necessary, • Used modelling to make expectations clear. Only once pupils’ knowledge was secure would they be asked to conduct independent practice, enquiry and review of their work. Enser concludes, ‘The biggest message from Rosenshine’s paper is that we need to move away from a culture of doing to one of learning’. Underpinning his argument is the principle that each teacher is the expert in his or her classroom. The teacher should lead learning in the way that is most appropriate for that topic, with that class, at that time. Teachers are not entertainers. If what teachers say in class is founded on their knowledge of their subject and how pupils learn it, then learning rather than doing will be at the heart of every lesson.
– Mrs Helen Skilton
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teaching revision When I started teaching, I naively assumed that my job was to simply teach Physics and that revision was entirely the responsibility of my students; I soon came to the shocking realisation that some, perhaps even most, had little idea how to do so effectively. The resource below is something I have compiled to encourage students to reflect upon their performance in assessments and to provide a toolkit of ideas to assist them. They can tally how many marks were dropped in each of the four quadrants and plan their revision accordingly. Whilst not a silver bullet, I hope that this process allows pupils to become more self-aware and to improve their revision strategies. The top left quadrant focuses on memorisation techniques, which I aim to reinforce with regular low-stakes testing in lessons. In Physics, as I imagine is the case in most disciplines, understanding, explanation and evaluation are impossible without a body of basic knowledge on which to draw. Next, the bottom left quadrant addresses areas where students have the requisite knowledge but need to practise applying it. Finally, the right-hand side encourages students to reflect on their weaknesses in the context of an examination, both in terms of their repeated mistakes and their decoding the assessment itself.
– Mr Michael Spencer
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“The important thing is not to stop questioning.”
– albert einstein
the minerva society Einstein would be very impressed with the students who have attended the Minerva Society this academic year. The spirit of “question everything” has been a prominent feature of each meeting. The aim of the society is to encourage the students to critically evaluate complex arguments, clearly articulate their opinions and justify themselves robustly in the face of challenges. We do this by discussing topical and controversial questions that inspire debate. So far, we have discussed the extent to which free speech should be limited, the ethics of genetic engineering and whether or not we should eat meat. These topics enable pupils to engage with a variety of viewpoints and think laterally about current issues. Prior to each session, students complete preparatory reading to inform their contributions. They are able to bring their own subject knowledge to the discussion, as well as being informed by students coming from other disciplines. The avenues of debate that spring from such a variety of knowledge sources is both exciting and thought-provoking, and has led to some wonderfully in-depth discussions. We look forward to a number of rigorous and exciting debates to come!
– Miss Kate Blackie mr tyas reflects on the impact of the new gcse on A level maths students Two representatives from OfQual met with me today to discuss the impact the new Maths GCSE has had on our current Lower Sixth A-level pupils. The major changes to GCSE maths are two-fold; a significant emphasis on problem solving and much harder maths! We really like the emphasis on problem solving at Bablake. Industry has been telling us for years that highly educated young employees, including graduates, really struggle when faced with a problem they are unfamiliar with. The new GCSE tries hard to develop pupils’ problem-solving skills and in my opinion has been largely successful. In the past, pupils all too often missed out challenging questions, but the new GCSE has encouraged them to ‘have a go’; if they do not, they will lose a lot of marks. This willingness to ‘have a go’ is central to solving any problem. Teachers can give students strategies to tackle problems, but if they are not willing to even start it is difficult to move forward. We hope that this problem-solving approach will improve the confidence of A-level students when tackling harder questions. A criticism that I have of the new GCSE, however, is the reduced emphasis on algebra, which of course is central to the study of pure mathematics. I am also concerned that some questions are so hard that some pupils may be put off further study of the subject. With these caveats, the Bablake Maths Department has largely welcomed the reformed GCSE and we hope that it will inspire pupils to continue their mathematical studies in the sixth form.
– Mr Kris Tyas Page 4