Twitter!

So... twitter is like everyone's reflective blogs... straight into your phone, your laptop, your tablet. GENIUS. And I am VERY late on the seen.

However, better late than never, this is what I found for assessment today:

Presentation Clicker

One of the best things to have as a teacher - you can move around and control the powerpoint at the same time!

Presentation Clicker

Amusing...

Making the Most of your NQT Year

Today's PDP session was run by 2 NQT's, who got us thinking about the things that would really improve our management skills as teachers. The session was run fantastically; here are some of the key pieces of advice that came out.


"The pre-RAG"




A cunning idea to cut down on marking time: get students to RAG their own work prior to handing it in.


GREEN: for something they are proud of

PINK: for something they want more help with.


This then means that you have something to praise, and something to work on immediately, and can give personalised feedback without it taking too long.

Additionally, using a routine colour scheme, for example purple for teacher feedback and green for pupils response will mean it is quick to check understanding in response to the questions that have been set.






Lesson Moulds & Templates
Have some pre-made powerpoint and lesson templates that encompass most of the different styles of lesson you will teach and share these with the pupils, for example:
"this is a jigsaw lesson" - and the pupils will know they will be slotting lots of mathematics together.

Other styles could be: exploratory, consolidation, practice etc.

Here's a video of the prompters we were using in the session:

Use the pause button to view prompters for longer.

Other Useful Pointers

• don't try and fix everything when marking
• plan term first, then the week
• if you can do it in the next 5 minutes, do it in the next 5 minutes
• make routines simple enough for students to explain to each other
• use the same system for every class
• "eat the frog"
• keep a walk with me remembering device
• reply to mass irrelevant emails with a "this isn't meant for me" style of email

"Feel Good Friday" Phone Call

Choose three students who have really impressed you that week and call home - be specific to start but then expand to more general behaviour.

"What's the least amount I have to do and the most amount they get to do?"

Today's CT meeting focussed on marking and assessment. We read an extract from "The Lazy Teacher's Handbook" by Jim Smith, which began by defining the difference between marking and assessment.

Assessment: is any form of feedback - verbal, written text from the teacher or any other student
Marking: feedback that includes justification of a grade of some description

In advance of the ideas below, it is advised to use these as part of a learning routine rather than a special one-off occasion.

"Assessment and marking must surely be a two-way activity"

• students respond to feedback
• communicate the focus of the marking and assessment to the students
• ask the students to identify something for you to focus on, such as where they have improved their spelling, presentations or explanation points
• students keep learning blogs: teacher can comment on it
• students write the comment they think you should write and justify why by writing comments in the margins of really good pieces of work that meet the success criteria
• ask students to mark the marking : students mark feedback in terms of how it helps them learn.

Other Assessment Ideas

• exhibitions to showcase work: "comments on this one please"
• 'guest marker': mayor, math professor etc.
• film group presentations with 2 groups at a time, post on VLE & in IT room get students to complete thought cards from presentations
• presenting to colleague's classes
• checking time in class: but the checker gets the penalty rather than the person who's work it is
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