UKED Magazine April 2016

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April 2016

Issue 28

Revision & Assessment Tools

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14 Five Revision Tips Matter of Time

Feedback & Marking in SEN

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Issue 28: April 2016

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From the Editor 4 Active Revision Strategies for the Classroom

John Mitchell explores interesting and fun strategies for getting your pupils looking back over their learning.

6 Discovering the TechFuture

Explore the possibilities of a career in tech for your pupils. The range of opportunities and careers open to your students may surprise you.

8 It’s Just a Matter of Time

Mark Anderson discusses ways to improve your use of time in your lessons to improve pace and get more done.

10 Spaced Revision

Kim Constable explains the ‘spaced revision’ strategy where revision is completed in stages to maximise retention.

13 ICTmagic EdTech Resources 14 Five Revision Tips

Nick Overton writes about his five top revision tips to help your pupils do their best when it matters most.

16 Tried and Tested Revision Strategies

Kate Jones shares her best revision techniques and a range of resources for you to use in class.

20 Feedback & Marking in SEN

Joe White explores how feedback and marking can be done students with SEN from his years of teaching in a special school.

22 Making SPaG a Little More Interesting

Martin Burrett returns to the topic of SPaG and offers a range of tools and resources which might make it more interesting to learn... and teach.

24 UKEd Leader Supplement 32 UKEd Resource Scientific Method iMat

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Education is turned on its head. Normally rational teachers exhibit rabid behaviour. The students are on edge and grumpy... more than usual. The school is on high alert and there will be tears. Yes, once again exam season is upon us.

The phenomenon isn’t new. Ancient Chinese stories from over two millennia ago include accounts of exams failures and stress. Yet in the intervening time the way we assess and test has changed little. Are there really no better ways to relate our learning to others than putting ink or graphite to paper?

For the time being then, we had better get revising! In this edition of UKEd Magazine we have gathered ideas and articles from across the education spectrum to get the best advice for your students to reflect and revise.

Martin Burrett @ICTmagic - Editor

Contributors

John Mitchell @Jivespin Mark Anderson @ICTevangelist Kim Constable @hecticteacher Nick Overton @nickotkdV Kate Jones @87history Keranjit Kaur @keran77 James Wren @jameswren1975 Joe White @jw_teach @Shhhteacher Gary Henderson @garyhenderson18 Mark Griffiths @GriffermansMark Paul Stockley @bradwaystockley Kathleen Sorrell @Kat_S76 Andy Lewis @iTeachRE Claire Loizos @primary_sci Like to write a short 200 word article?

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Active Revision Strategies for the Classroom

By John Mitchell

The very word ‘revision’ can strike fear into the hearts of students and teachers. Revision is associated with prolonged periods of stress in preparing students for examinations and assessments, extra sessions in an already overburdened workload and teachers being on their knees at the end of June exhausted after investing so much energy and time in their young charges before they enter the exam room. It does not have to be like this. Revision and reviewing knowledge can be an extremely engaging and enjoyable experience. The active revision strategies that follow in this article all aim to tackle the traditional image of revision being cooped up in a room reading and writing endless notes. All of the following ideas can be applied to any lesson and requires minimal preparation for the teacher.

Revision shopping

Crocodile creek Students can work in pairs or groups for this activity and they will need a grid like the one below to represent a crocodile-infested creek.

The aim of this activity is to move a counter across the river, row by row, by selecting one square from each of the rows.

Each chosen square must link with the previous one in order to make a successful passage across. The student with the most successful series of links wins.

The first stage of the activity is to ask students to fill in their blank creek with items of information from a topic that they need to revise. It would be a good idea to model this stage so the students know what they should be producing. So for example, a crocodile creek on The Cold War could look like this –

This activity can take up most, if not all, of a revision lesson and online materials which can be adapted for any lesson can be found on my blog bit.ly/uked16apr01. Revision shopping works in the following stages using a history topic as an example – 1. Prep-prepare a list of terms or factors associated with the topic to be revised, for example the rise of Hitler.

2. Add a price tag to each factor depending upon the importance to the topic or exam question that you are focusing on. For instance, on the topic of the rise of Hitler you could price the Treaty of Versailles at £2, the Great Depression at £3 and so on.

3. Give your students a budget, deliberately keeping it short so they cannot afford all the factors.

4. Ask the students which factors would they buy and they have to record their choices and the reasons for their decisions.

5. The evaluation and class discussion are crucial for this task. Key questions could be – ‘Were the prices fair?’, ‘Would you adjust the prices for any of the factors?’ and ‘Were there any factors that were missing?’

04 UKED Magazine

Successful routes across the creek could be Churchill – 1946 – Iron Curtain or Roosevelt – 1945 – Yalta.

Once the students play crocodile creek in their pairs or groups, challenge them with a target of how many links they need to make. This can them be shared in a plenary session with the students sharing the different links they have made.

Visual hexagons The main objective in using visual hexagons for revision is to encourage students to make links between different elements of a topic and to explain them.

Visual hexagons have a fixed pattern like the one below with images relating to a central question or topic to be revised in each hexagon.

The first stage of the activity is students must identify the images and how they relate to the central question. The

image can represent not only a specific person or event but also a larger point that may summarise an area or bigger aspect which link to the set question. Once students are clear about each image, students can then complete the main task which is to explain each link between the images where the sides of the hexagons touch.

These visual hexagon activities can provide students with a great revision visual learning aid which gives the hooks to prompt memory as well as attractive summary of a topic or question within a students’ notes.

The lift test The lift test allows students to consider carefully the core of a specific argument, its importance and the central pieces of evidence which support a specific point.

The lift test must be placed in a scenario such as the following you need to start this activity by giving each student, pair or group a particular argument, this could be in the form of – • You have written a book about To Kill a Mockingbird and it could be used to support the causes of Civil Rights Movement in 1960s America.

• You have produced a documentary called Henry VIII – hero or tyrant?

• You have written an article about the significance of bees.

• You have created a public art project about the three most influential modern artists.

The student has been granted five minutes of the publisher/TV producer/editor/gallery owner’s time to present your pitch [i.e. argument]. However, once you arrive for your appointment, the publisher/TV producer/editor/ gallery owner has double booked and and says ‘Sorry, something has come up give me an overview on the way to my car’. You now have one minute to pitch your argument as you join them in the lift down to the car park. Students make their presentations.

This form of presentation can work extremely well in a revision context as it makes the students think about giving an overview of a specific issue or argument which they may face in the exam you are training them for. The task is flexible enough to modify for any subject and for any arguments and issues and requires very little preparation on your part. Also the lift test allows student to practice important exam skills such as – • Communicating an important argument in a concise manner.

• Evaluation of the main points of an argument and their importance.

• Consider the significance of the evidence that supports the key points of an argument and to emphasise the ‘selling point’ of the argument.

• Application of knowledge and present it in a structured manner.

This article was influenced by the work of Isabella Wallace, Leah Kirkman, Mark Cowan and Neil Watkin.

John Mitchell – History Teacher and author of 100 Ideas for Secondary School Teachers: Revision published by Bloomsbury bit.ly/100ideasrevision.

Find him on Twitter at @Jivespin and read his blog at jivespin.wordpress.com.

Discovering the

TechFuture

by Martin Burrett

Developing and maintaining good, up-to-date, functional knowledge and skills of computing and technology is important for our students today, not just to ensure they have the best study skills to make them adaptable and creative in the classroom, but also to provide them with the skills to survive and thrive in the global job market and prepare them for their future careers, many of which may not even exist yet. This is where ideas and career pathfinder resources at techfuturecareers.com can help.

As classroom teachers we often assume that our pupils know their way around technology as ‘digital natives’. Compare the average pupil with the average teacher and the answer is clear... they do. Yet, are your pupils using technology as passive consumers of media, or are they using the tools and skills which will allow them to be creative and innovative users of technology? If it is the latter your pupils may have a bright future as a tech specialist.

This exciting, ever-changing, and specialist digital world of a career in technology is outside the experience of many teachers, and therefore it can be difficult for educators to advise and guide their pupils.

16+

Opportunities & info

bit.ly/techcareers16

Furthermore, even for the careers and opportunities already in existence, the scope and roles open to tech specialists is often under appreciated, with almost half of tech specialists working in areas outside of traditionally ‘techie’ areas, in sectors as diverse as the arts, finance, the sciences, catering and fashion.

The TechFuture website is a superb place for both educators and students to explore possible paths and roles which require technology skills and know-how. The site explores the possibilities for young people and is categorised into sections for 16+, 18+ and 21+ with relevant information, advice and ideas for each age group looking to go into a tech career.

18+

Opportunities & info

bit.ly/techcareers18

21+

Opportunities & info

bit.ly/techcareers21

is the amount each employee working in the tech industry contributes to the UK economy

of employers expect to increase or maintain the number of tech specialists they employ during 2015

of tech specialists are employed by companies in non-tech sectors

of companies anticipate hiring more junior-level tech specialists in 2015

Employment of tech specialists is growing over four times faster that other UK professions

The site is supported by a diverse set of companies and organisations who together have provided a set of resources, tools, media and information to guide pupils and their teachers through the basics and it is designed with those who have little idea about what is needed and how to gain a job in tech. The website will guide future employees towards their dream digital job with advice on the routes available, including information and advice about studying at higher education and/or workplace training opportunities and apprenticeships.

The ‘Is it for me’ interactive quiz is a superb introduction into tech careers and whether this might be the right path for a student and what role may suit them.

No matter where your students’ skills lie or what their passions in life are, there’s a place in tech for them. Help students’ discover their dream digital job role with the quiz link below.

Play the Quiz via bit.ly/techcareersquiz Whether your pupils simply show promise with digital technology, or are actively seeking careers in tech, TechFuture Careers is the perfect place to explore the multitude of exciting and rewarding possibilities open to them and to help you, as an educator, to be better informed about the tech future that awaits.

Visit:

techfuturecareers.com Connect: @Tech_Careers

facebook.com/TechFutureCareers

It’s Just a Matter of

Time

by Mark Anderson

As teachers our time is unfortunately finite, but there are ways that we can use time in the classroom to have a positive impact on learning, progress, attitudes and mindset. In this article I hope you will find something that will really resonate. It is important that you carefully discriminate and find the new tips that work for you. After all, we don’t have much time.

I’m known for my knowledge of all things technology and certainly there are lots of tools you can use linked to time in the classroom. For example, try going to Google and type ‘Timer X seconds’ or ‘Timer X minutes’ etc. Google will display a timer and it will be counting down straight away. If you have access to an iPad in the classroom, why not swipe up to bring up your control centre and jump into the Clock App where you have a stopwatch, countdown timer and even a lap counter.

Using and limiting time in the classroom can aid children massively when it comes to them completing work. Without timings and clear structure, children can sometimes take what seems like forever to complete even the most mundane tasks. Cutting and sticking being a classic example! Give them a short space of time and often you’ll find they will complete more than they would have in a longer period.

If you have ten minutes at the beginning of your lesson in which you want children to complete a certain task, such as curating some research, rather than giving them the full ten minutes, just give them two. As teacher, you know they actually have ten minutes. At the end of the two minutes, ask them if they would like some more time. They will always says ‘Yes’. Give them six more minutes and then allow an additional two minutes for 08 UKED Magazine

feedback. You will most likely find that they will have completed more work in the eight minutes than they would have if they had just had ten minutes left to their own devices.

Digital timers are often easier to find online and there are an abundance of free tools to choose from.

However, analogue and other timers can be equally effective. A friend of mine once purchased a huge 4 foot sand (egg) timer from a car boot sale and used that in their classroom to time activities and was used in numeracy in lots of different ways. For example, tests were five turns of the sands of time, while getting ready for the start of lesson was one turn of the sand of time.

The sands of time were even used as a writing prompt for science fiction creative writing. You might not be lucky enough to find one of these in a car boot sale, but you can always buy a more reasonably sized one to use with your class.

Healthy competition is something to be embraced in education. We all have things we can excel at so why not put some time to it and have some leaderboards in your classroom.

Just a few ideas: • • • • • •

Who can do their times tables the fastest?

Who can spend the longest on their homework?

Who can tidy up the quickest?

Who can get to assembly the quickest?

Who can volunteer to help out the most? or even... Who can come up with the most number of questions the quickest.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be about academic skills, but putting time into things can help to raise the bar in terms of standards in your classroom across the board without isolating individuals.

Audio timing can be used too. For example, we all know the Countdown theme tune and the 30 second version. If you search on Youtube you will find that people have made lots of different durations of that timer. Why not use one of these as your representation of time. The sense of urgency that this particular piece of music brings is huge. Liz Allton (@lizsaddler) has discussed how teachers can use their own theme tunes for the starts of lessons. As with all theme tunes these can be very short. Why not have your own theme tune playing as the class enters your room which signals to them how much time they have to be sat down and ready to learn?

Different children will need different amounts of time to work on different tasks. You can also make use of open ended time. If the culture for learning in your classroom allows for it, why not ask children to choose how long they should take for a particular task or set of tasks. You might be surprised at their response as they may be forced to be more realistic with time constraints when they are asked to take ownership of their own learning time frame.

I have worked in some schools where some children like to be spoon-fed and are therefore very demanding of your time. You can promote independent learning by giving children time chips or counters (like poker chips or the counters you get with Connect 4) where each chip is worth a certain amount of time and support from you as teacher. Using your professional judgment, you can distribute chips in such a way that different children with different needs get chips or counters linked to the level of support they might need. Have you stopped to consider who is taking up most of your time in the classroom and why? It could be on a lesson by lesson, project, or weekly basis you decide.

How you spend your time is down to you and the needs of the class. Maybe by spending that extra time thinking about how to be smart with it, you might just start to see a difference... in less time than you think.

Mark Anderson @ICTevangelist is a former assistant headteacher with more than 20 years in schools. A self-confessed teaching & learning geek, Mark now works with schools and speaks at conferences sharing his ideas and vision all over the world. Mark is also a best-selling author and award-winning blogger of ictevangelist.com.

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Spaced Revision A focused and personalised technique

by Kim Constable Revision season is almost upon us and despite telling The original idea had four stages: students that they should be revising throughout the year, 1.

Review the topic (30 min) this is when it really begins in earnest. We as teachers Transformation Activity (10 min) know that it is not enough to just tell students to revise 2. and expect them to just know how to do it, so with this 3.

Practice testing (10 min) in mind I was asked to put together a unit of work for 4.

Exam Questions (10 min) year 11 students on effective revision. This including how I really liked this idea but wanted to make it more slightly to create a revision timetable, the importance of taking breaks and looking after yourself as well as techniques to more structured for my students and my subject areas whilst still allowing for a more personalised approach. help them with the actual process of revising.

In doing this I came across a blog post called “Improving In my adaption there are 6 steps: revision with effective techniques” on studyhacks.co. Step 1: Identification of the Subject / topic to be revised.

In this post the author talked about an evidence based (5 min) strategy called “Spaced Learning”.

I think that this stage of the process is very important.

Spaced learning is essentially scaffolding the student’s From experience students will gravitate towards the revision for them whilst also allowing them the freedom topics that they feel most comfortable with because they to use the techniques that work for them. already know it and the revision makes them feel good.

10 UKED Magazine

Instead students should be focusing on the areas that they are perhapes struggling with. It has become practice in my school for students to be given a personalised learning checklist (PLC) at the start of each unit. These allow the students to track their progress and identify areas that they need to focus on and prioritise. This list doesn’t just include course content but also exam skills to help the students when they get to stage 6 in determining what style of question to answer.

Your Students' Next Adventure...

Step 2: Review information on this topic (30 min) In this stage the students should be reviewing the notes that they already have on this topic and adding to them. I suggest to my students that because we use blue or black ink in lessons they should use a different colour when adding notes during revision as this will show me what they are doing outside of lessons but also shows them the progress they are making.

I talk them through effective highlighting (not covering the whole paragraph/page etc), annotation and making notes, colour coding etc so they have a number of strategies to use in this stage.

Step 3: Transformation activity inc. quick quiz (25 min) The transformation activity is taking the students notes and creating something from them, to help them see how much they have actually taken in during Stage 2. These activities vary and I try to get the students to try different ones to see what works for them. The activities include mindmapping, spider webbing (similar to mindmapping but more structured to Assessment Objectives) creating flash cards, posters, essay planning, story writing, learning grids, foldables etc.

Another part of this section is creating a quick quiz of key concepts, ideas or facts. Essentially a short answer test that focuses on the knowledge aspect of the topic.

I suggest 10 question but they could do more if they wish.

Step 4: BREAK For at least 2 hours. I have to reiterate this to the students but that doesn’t mean 2 hours of doing nothing but 2 hours away from this topic/subject.

It is at this point that revision timetabling becomes important. I suggest to my students once we start revision lessons that they use the lessons for steps 1-3 and do 4 – 5 in their own time. This way if there are an areas that they are unsure of I and the rest of the class are available to help them, also it means that they are definitely taking a break between the steps.

Kim Constable is a teacher of 10 years experience based in Norfolk. She teaches multiple subjects currently including Sociology, Psychology and PSHE across Key Stages 3 to 5. She blogs as Hectic Teacher and can be found on Twitter at @hecticteacher or on her website: hecticteacher.com.

A range of workshops available paultonspark.co.uk

Step 5: Quick Quiz (10 min) In this step the student either completes a quiz/test of their own devising or they complete one created by a friend (but still on the same topic). If they score 70% or more they move on to step 5, if they are under 70% it suggests that they need to revise this topic further, attend support sessions or ask for help and should go back to step 2.

Step 6: Exam style questions. (30 min) Using past exam papers students choose a question or set of questions to answer. I get them to refer back to the RAG/PLC list to see which style of question they struggle with most and to try more of those style in this stage. I tell my students that they should be doing the questions under timed conditions and without any notes available as this will give them a better understanding of their exam technique as well as knowledge. They can then either self mark or peer mark these questions using the mark schemes but I do not look at them until one of those has been done.

I ask all my students to at least try this system to see how it works. If they then decide that it doesn’t work for them then we can discuss why they didn’t feel it helped them and look at other techniques and systems. So far the students seem to like this as it is scaffolded for them. ukedchat.com/magazine 11

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Revision Spiralling Out of Control?

5 Revision Tips

by Nick Overton

For me the best tip is to remain calm and to know that there are lots of people who have become huge successes but did not pass the first time around. History is scattered with people who did not succeed at their first attempt.

3. Look after yourself - Simply, if you are tired the information will not go in. Rest is vital to successful revision sessions. Linked to this is eating and drinking; eating and drinking regularly is vital to successful revision. If you do not look after your Below are some tips I believe will be helpful to all body your brain will not function properly. A healthy body makes a healthy mind. learners (From KS2 to KS5)

1. Start revising early - The earlier you try to get the revision starter the better chance you have of retaining the information. Revision does not always mean just reading over notes or doing past papers.

Think of the way you learn best and replicate that strategy. Revision can be writing about the subject, Revision could be blogging about it, explaining it, Teaching it or reciting it. It could be designing a posters or playing games linked to the subject (I did just say games!!). Revision can be done in many different ways but the earlier you start, the better

4. Personalise your revision - Find creative ways of making sure you are not just reading notes. Like I mentioned within my first point, make revision fun and memorable; Colour code them, draw poster, create cue card, type you notes into PowerPoint, excel sheets, etc. Remember the notes are for you so tailor to your preferred learning style.

5. Read the exam timetable properly - make sure you know exactly when the exams are. There is nothing worse then rushing to attend an exam or turning up late.

In the end as long as you have tried your absolute 2. Don’t spend ages making your notes look best you can look back on the exam with no regrets pretty - remember that you are the person who in the knowledge that there was nothing else that will need the most! My fiancÊe is currently doing a you could have done to performed any better. professional qualification linked to her job and her Remember you are unique, special and interesting module booklets are covered in scribbles and notes, people and exams are only a tiny part of your life. there are multi-coloured post -it notes all over the books. She understands what they all mean and that Nick Overton @nickotkdV is a primary teacher is the main thing. These notes are for you and if you from Leicester and UKEdChat Ambassador for the East Midland @UKEd_EMids. Read his blog learn from them then that is good enough. Revision at mrovertonprimary.wordpress.com or on the is about retaining and learning information, not UKEdChat site at ukedchat.com/east-midlands presenting it nicely.

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Tried and Tested

Revision Strategies by Kate Jones

Exam season is looming and we are all busy ensuring our students are prepared and confident to sit their exams to achieve their maximum potential. Students will have their highlighters, post it notes and revision lists at the ready (hopefully!). As a student and now as a teacher I fully understand the importance and impact that revision strategies can have. At A-level I exceeded the predicted grades given to me and this was through the support of my teachers, hard work, determination and finding the correct strategies that worked well for me. Revision does need to be personalised and the sooner students realise what works for them the better!

I am constantly trying new methods to help students with their exam preparation and here are some of the techniques I use with my classes.

Keep it relevant!

A very common revision mistake that students can make when revising is highlighting all or most of their notes.

Students sometimes use highlighters without thinking why they have selected that information to highlight.

Highlighting does show students have read their notes and that is clearly helpful. However, it defeats the idea of highlighting if all or most of the text is highlighted! A good way to tackle this is to encourage students to use colour codes when highlighting. For example, students could colour code information for specific types of questions, units or to prioritise information. Other suggestions include highlighting a sentence or word that sums up an important idea, useful quotations, statistic examples or links to other ideas. A subject specific example in History could be highlight information that puts the event into context, highlight key dates in a different colour, key vocabulary, historical viewpoints and arguments etc. When analysing historical sources students use different colours for content, reliability and purpose. I encourage students to annotate notes as well as highlighting, sometimes explaining in the margin why they have chosen to highlight that selected information. Students can then transfer the selected information onto paper or flash cards so all the relevant ideas/ information are now compiled together. Another use for highlighters is when peer or self-assessing exam answers. There can be specific colours for each assessment objective; this will address the strengths of their exam answer and areas for improvement.

A technique used with our students includes ‘BUG’ an exam question. BUG means to Box the instructions so students have illustrated they fully understand what they need to do; this could be explain, evaluate or describe.

Then they underline key ideas/ focus of the question, again ensuring full understanding of what content will be needed in their answers. Then finally students glance over the question once more to make sure they don’t rush to answer the question and possibly miss out any important information or read the question wrong, which can happen especially, under exam pressure.

Another idea I have used with my classes is the ‘Zone of relevance’. This is where students have an exam question and use their notes/ reading material to select the most relevant information for that specific question.

We know when students have spent a lot time revising information; there is the temptation to include all of their knowledge in their exam answer! This activity

can help students understand, as well as being able to recall information, it is an important skill to select the appropriate and relevant information that specifically addresses the exam criteria.

Flash Cards This is a common revision strategy and popular amongst students. As an NQT I created a very thorough set of revision cards for my GCSE Historians. Revision cards divide information into small, manageable chunks with focus on a key topic. These cards were great, very well received by students and helped them to do well.

I am glad I invested the time to create this resource because six years later they are still being used, although adapted slightly over the years to fit with specification changes. I would like to make a set of these cards for every unit/ exam paper that students sit but I have found that I have not had the time (the set I made did take a very long time to do!) and there are more changes to exam specifications too. Instead of making cards myself an alternative is to provide students with the blank flashcards to make themselves. This in itself can be a good revision activity. However, some students struggle to make suitable cards for themselves. To add some more support and structure I give students cards with a topic as a headline or a key date then they know exactly what to include on each card. Revision flash cards can be used with their parents or peers to help revise and test their subject knowledge. They are handy to carry around to use when sat on a bus, train or anywhere!

Break it down I mentioned that the revision flash cards help to break down information to make it more manageable for students. Other ideas to do this include revision stations. In your classroom the class can be divided up into different stations with each table having a different focus. The students can rotate around the different revision stations spending a certain amount of time revising, answering questions or reflecting on that key topic. Pupils can swap and share ideas from different stations or in groups be given a specific area to focus on then present to their peers. A fantastic resource that I have used from Twitter is the Revision Clock. This resource was made by Geography teacher, Becky Russell who teaches in Manchester and can be found on Twitter @teachgeogblog. The purpose of this activity is to give students a selected amount of time, usually five minutes, to focus on one aspect/topic/ key word then move onto another. Students enjoy this revision clock challenge and it is a good way to re cap on previous learning. Again, highlighters can be used or diagrams included depending on the topic but this activity can be used across the curriculum! There are plenty of examples that can be seen on Twitter using #RevisionClock.

Sharing is caring!

I often compile a bibliography for students with suggested reading material, resources and useful websites and links. There is so much revision information available on the internet, all of varying quality and for different exam boards. It can help if we guide students in the right direction suggesting what we think are best and most useful websites because there is so much out there it can be overwhelming! At my High School we have departmental Twitter accounts. This is another fantastic way of sharing resources and links to websites, podcasts and videos with students and parents. This can also work with other teachers and Schools across the country swapping and sharing exam revision material to go beyond our School network to support each other.

Use the internet to network with other teachers, ask if they teach to the same specifications or similar content.

The amount of resources we can share with each other will not only help with our work load but ultimately help our students too! If you have a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) then that has so much potential for students, as they can access revision resources at home or on their devices with internet access. PowerPoints, worksheets, booklets etc can be uploaded; this can also assist if there have been any issues with attendance for students too.

Make revision engaging!

I know making revision appeal to students as fun and engaging can be a challenge. However, I do try to promote a love of learning and make my lessons interesting for all my students. At GCSE and A-Level there is a lot of content and technique to get through and that is clearly the priority for both teachers and students. There is a debate that students don’t need to be engaged to learn but US Psychologist Professor Dunlovsky has stated that when revision is enjoyable “the student is more engaged and it is harder for the mind to wander.�

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Suggested ideas to do this include revision games that students can play on their own or with others, in the classroom or at home. When completing exam answers I have a ‘Go for Gold’ competition; which encourages students to use subject specific vocabulary in their answers and they can be rewarded if they do so correctly.

Challenge grids can be used as an effective revision game. Students select which questions they answer and the amount of points awarded for each question varies with the level of difficulty. I purchased sound effect buzzers that add an exciting and competitive element to a standard quiz. I have created quizzes to be used with white boards, classic board games with templates such as Snakes and Ladders and Television format quiz templates such as The Chase, Million Pound Drop etc. Perhaps you could ask students to be creative and create their own revision games they can use. One of my students created a revision game on his smart phone, with a well known app called ‘Charades Free’ bit.ly/uked16apr10. He showed me how he customised this game, by adding a new deck which meant he could input key words of his choice, that were connected to the unit. Then the player has to hold up the phone to their forehead and in a random order the key words will appear on screen. It is then up to the other players who can see the word on the phone screen to describe the key word, without using the actual word, for the person holding the phone to guess. When an answer is guessed correctly the phone is tilted forward to reveal the next key word. The class loved this game and it is good to practice understanding of key words or definitions required for some exam answers. There are so many interactive quizzes that can be used and Plickers.com is a great example. A smart phone and internet access is needed for the teacher to scan student’s answers then all the results are saved for the teacher to analyse and share with the students. If you haven’t used Plickers yet in the classroom then I recommend you check it out. It is a free and simple app to use. There are instructions on the Plickers website and tutorials on YouTube for further help.

Classroom Revision Displays Classrooms displays often look wonderful but they can be very time consuming to create and sometimes we need to evaluate their purpose. A colleague in my department has made fantastic use of display space for revision with his exam classes, that I have now modelled too after it has worked so successfully in his lessons. The displays include instructions, advice and tips how to answer different questions on the Religious Studies Short Course exam that students will sit in Year 11. Every lesson the display board can be referred to and I have seen students looking to the display board as they are writing or checking over their answers. This has really helped students gain an understanding of the requirements for each specific question. The students have taken photos of the display to help them when revising at home. This is an effective way to use classroom displays, as a way to aid teaching and learning. Clear and concise instructions that students will regularly use and refer to. Students have told me that in the build up to their exams they have transformed their bedrooms with revision displays including posters, mind maps, diagrams etc.

This helps them to create a learning environment at home and immerse themselves in their revision!

Good luck to all your students preparing for and sitting their exams! *Quote from Professor Dunlovsky taken from a BBC report ‘Revision techniques - the good, the OK and the useless’, by Deborah Cohen.

Kate Jones is a Teacher of History and Head of Religious Studies in North Wales. Kate regularly shares resources that can be found on Twitter at @87history and also manages the @UKED_Wales account.

18 UKED Magazine

In Brief

Bespoke Maths CPD

Towards the end of the summer term I created an on-line survey for teachers to complete about confidence in teaching mathematics and CPD needs. Anonymity went hand in hand with honesty.

A range of topics emerged from analysis; the usual fractions, decimals and percentages to developing mental maths skills.

Over the summer I thought about how best to address the variety of needs. Specific CPD was difficult to find from external agencies and expensive. So I made up a timetable where I would deliver monthly CPD sessions myself. I researched them, used ideas from courses and resources from the NCETM website that I adapted.

The topics that appeared most were covered in the autumn term. To begin with I wasn’t sure if anyone would sign up for a session on a Monday after school. Six teachers did, some of whom had negative experiences of learning maths as children. They participated in all of the activities and have continued to come each month.

Other maths subject leaders express surprise at this. “Why would anyone choose to attend when it’s not compulsory?” they asked me. Because they want to is my answer. They know I will support them and enthusiasm is contagious. @keran77 Primary Teacher and Maths Subject Leader - East Midlands

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Are We Listening to Society?

Life skills are hugely important and very much in demand. It is these skills which make all the difference, regardless of the route a student decides to take. The skills of collaboration, creativity, autonomy, decision making and flexibility are critical. I believe there are many students who ‘fail’ examinations and struggle with memorisation, but still hold massive creative potential, how do we ensure these students do well?

But the soft skills, the people and creative skills, these are invaluable and shouldn’t be ignored, because these skills are the ones being asked for.

Today’s children will have jobs in 20 years which we don’t even know the job titles for, so with this in mind, what kind of skills are they going to need? What gives students that added unique selling point to truly stand out?

Being able to communicate effectively and collaborate with practical, innovative and fresh ideas will never dry up, and the demand for these skills has never been higher. According to many leading CEOs, there seems to be a bit of a glut. Qualifications might get a student to an interview, but it’s the soft skills that will make all the difference for all the right reasons. @jameswren1975 Director, School of Creative Thinking - Graz, Austria

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Feedback & Marking in

SEN

by Joe White

Here are some of my thoughts on the role of feedback and marking used for SEN students. These are my own thought and observations based on my experiences with students diagnosed with ASD and severe communication difficulties. Assessment of students working within the P-Levels can be tricky and progress over a short period of time, such as a lesson almost imperceptible. Not all progress is linear this is why we must celebrate those magic moments when a student has a breakthrough and attempts or achieves something for the first time.

Feedback assists students to recognise and celebrate their own and their classmates learning it should infuse an element of fun and encourage pride in their work. It also serves to instil a culture of high expectations and promote next steps for learning. I think it is imperative that any

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May 2016 Assessment & Feedback Deadline: 8th April 2016 June 2016 Transition & Moving On Deadline: 22th April 2016 July 2016 Sport & PE (Olympics) Deadline: 20th May 2016 August 2016 Well Being (For teachers & pupils (PSHE)) Deadline: 17th June 2016 20 UKED Magazine

feedback or marks given are for the learner not just to prove to an observer that you are doing it. The methods we use may be very subtle, a touch on the shoulder, a quick smile, or thumbs up. I have taught some students that find positive attention overwhelming and a cause of anxiety, this is where constructive feedback and concrete next steps can be used rather than praise. Some children find eye contact difficult to manage but a Makaton sign delivered at chest height is acceptable. Receiving feedback is often a skill that needs to be taught. As much as all students enjoy positive interactions it is the feeling of completing a task and being in an environment where they are valued that will provide the greatest benefit to their education.

To make marking and feedback relevant and meaningful its needs to be done during or immediately following the task for two reasons: 1) Once the student has completed the task or activity they often consider it finished and attention shifts to the next activity, usually a motivator. You can build either visual or tangible self-assessment into the task or part of the worksheet.

2) Student’s recall of information is limited so they may not link the marking with the task completed. We use repetition of tasks over a number of weeks to ensure the skills are embedded (and it is about skills, independence, etc).

First and foremost the teacher (and observer) must acknowledge the importance of the Students level of understanding. Often the receptive language skills of many students may appear greater, for example they can read words and sentences but they can’t comprehend the meaning. Someone who does not know the student may assume written feedback would be effective and needed but this would not be the case.

Joe is Assistant Headteacher of a residential special school for autism and communication difficulties in Kent. He tweets at @jw_teach and blogs about SEN, technology and leadership teachsen.wordpress.com.

In Brief

Growth Mindset - Time

I am head of Growth Mindset at my school. I try my best to be innovative, inspiring and most importantly not create more work for my peers.

However, how can we promote Growth Mindset truly through the curriculum when 24/7 the kids are pushed. Growth Mindset is about learning about yourself, your attitude, your ability to see the goal.

But as teachers/ middle leaders/ head teachers and education leaders, we see the end of year 6.

The power of Growth Mindset is developing a learner for life. Motivating them to look into the future and aspire to dream. That dream does not perpetuate to ‘I want to be exceeding at school.’ Because in the work place, I’d prefer a grafter than a smart ass! @Shhhteacher Year 5 teacher - Hampshire

School Silos The organizational structure in most schools and colleges relies on clear categorization and demarcation of organizational boundaries. Staff belong to teaching departments such as humanities or technology, or belong to the Administration department. Leaders belong to different groups according to their seniority, identifying themselves as teachers, middle leaders or senior leaders. These categories and groupings shape the mental models which we use in our thinking and through this impact on the actions which we decide to take. Taking a Helicopter view whole educational establishments categorize themselves as Primary, Secondary, Further or Higher education. We all fall into and accept these categories.

Gillian Tett highlighted John Seely Brown’s observations that “it is at the edge [of categories] that most innovation occurs” and therefore it up to us to challenge and question the categorizations and boundaries that we encounter. To work across boundaries, to see linkages and opportunities. The categories which we see as fixed are not fixed and have only been applied to assist with making things easier to manage in terms of specialist skills and experience. By changing or working across these boundaries we can achieve new things and potentially more things. We can be innovative!

Gillian Tett (2015), The Silo Effect @garyhenderson18 Director of IT - Somerset

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Making the

English grammar, punctuation and spelling test

a little more interesting

first name

Martin

last name

Burrett

Two years ago I wrote a popular article called ‘Making the SPaG Test a Little More Fun’ bit.ly/uked16apr11 focusing on how MFL techniques can be used to make the dull and repetitive process of learning skills for the test a little easier.

In this follow up article I will introduce you to a range of digital tools to help teachers keep the learning fresh. It is not an exhaustive list, but it bypasses many of the custom made SPaG resources you may have encountered.

much easier when it is handwritten as many people find the shape of the word helpful to remembering its formation.

Plickers is a wonderful tool at any time, but its main advantage over the others is that you only require one device to use it. The pupils answer your multiple choice questions using black and white markers which they orientate to answer whether the answer is choice A, B, C or D. By using a device with Plickers and a camera, the teacher can sweep across the class of markers and gather the child’s answers quickly and instantly see the names of those who got the answers right and who needs further input.

I will begin with some popular quiz/feedback tools: getkahoot.com, plickers.com and goformative.com Each allows you to set question and get answers quickly from your class. Quiz makers, along with tools Use thinglink.com to annotate questions. I have like Google Forms, are a great way to reinvigorate found this to be particular useful in the ‘which learners with quick feedback and a competitive sentence is correctly punctuated’ questions. Add element to their learning. links and clues to an image of many sentence. Went Kahoot is an easy platform with which to build live your pupils hover over the incorrect answer they quizzes for your class to answer via any device with a can get guidance and an explanation about why web browser. It also has a large community building they are not right. You can achieve a similar effect and sharing educational quizzes and there is a good using PowerPoint and hyperlinked shapes. Once amount of SPaG and grammar question sets which the children have the idea they can make their own examples to share with their classmates. you can copy and adapt.

Formative has two useful additional features. Firstly, your pupils can either answer the questions live in class or in their own time making it a better option for homework and flipped learning. Furthermore, the ‘show your working’ option allows the pupils to answer by drawing. Perhaps not immediately obvious how this can be useful with SPaG, but spelling is often

22 UKED Magazine

Scratch.mit.edu is a popular coding platform, but it is also a versatile canvas on which to build interactive educational resources. There are no limits to the type of games and activities that you and your class can design for their peers to play, but your pupils can easily use the if touching blocks to create click and drag games which are perfect for ‘find the clause’,

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‘which word class’, or ‘which prefix/suffix’ question. Only if the correct answer is in the right place will the player move on.

As many foreign language teachers will tell you, flash cards are a great way to learn words and short phrases. Help your pupils expand their vocabulary or identify word classes.

Quizlet.com is a popular flash card site which the teacher can populate for the pupils to use. A nice feature is that the pupils can note whether they found the card easy or tricky and the site will adapt accordingly and increase to frequency of the tricky ones.

List making sites and apps are greatly under used in education. Wunderlist.com from Microsoft and keep.google.com are just two popular examples. Use these for giving out spellings efficiently. You can also share a list of words for pupils to sort into word classes, create lists of synonyms, or add letter strings on to root words.

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Motivational Minecraft Maths

Firstly, for pupils accustomed to failing at maths, engaging with maths content within Minecraft worlds allows them to fail in a familiar, secure environment, thus alleviating some of the anxiety which may normally be associated with mathematical learning. Obviously, this is important.

Studies also show the powerful ability of computer games to intrinsically motivate pupils thus increasing the motivation to learn. With this in mind the aim of my mini study would be to intrinsically motivate pupils to engage with mathematical content via Minecraft. Also, it has been suggested that in order to motivate and engage pupils to learn mathematics it is important to maintain continuity between school and other life contexts. In this case Minecraft will provide that continuity.

My study hypothesises that, as an intrinsic motivator, Minecraft will increase pupil motivation in mathematics by merging with an extrinsic motivator (the requirement to learn mathematics) thus shifting the motivation to engage from the former to the latter or potentially combining them somehow.

I will let you know how it goes! @GriffermansMark Head of Curriculum - Teesside

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1 mark

Mindmapping is a popular way to record thoughts and information sites like coggle.it allow users to collaborate on making revision materials to help everyone study together. This will provide your class with a permanent and ongoing record of what they have studied and revision notes.

Finally, I like using ‘silly’ games into my SPaG sessions. Why not generate random words using something like map.what3words.com and ask your children to creatively write a sentence with given parameters. Afterall, it seems that generate random is how the exam papers are designed in the first place!

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In Brief

Video is a wonderfully engaging medium for language learners to use and it can be harnessed in many different ways. For example. Find pop culture icons saying sentences on YouTube and crop the video clip using tools such as edpuzzle.com, which can also be used to ask questions. This is perfect for ‘find the clause’ questions. In a similar way, use tools such as blabberize.com to read sentences out.

Reinforce learning by asking your pupils to make instructional videos to help their classmates or next year’s SPaGgers with grammatical concepts. You can do this as simple ‘to camera’ videos, but you can use apps like Adobe Voice standout.adobe.com/voice to make something special.

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Spring 2016

Issue 2

Placing your

Pieces

25 The Irreplaceable Mrs Woods

Paul Stockley reflects on how much teaching has change across his 28 year careers and what his training mentor would have thought.

26 Self Management

Our UKEdChat feature article explores how self managing organisations can be setup and what this could mean for schools.

28 Myers Briggs at Work

Kathleen Sorrell discusses how the Myer Briggs test has given her insight into her personality and how she interacts with others.

31 The Excitement of New Things

Andy Lewis explores the opportunities which the new GCSE and A-Level syllabi can offer both teachers and students.

Contributors Paul Stockley @bradwaystockley Kathleen Sorrell @Kat_S76 Andy Lewis @iTeachRE

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The Irreplaceable Mrs Woods

by Paul Stockley

It is hard to believe now, but before the National Curriculum was introduced in 1988 there was enormous variation in what was taught in primary schools and, although many did an excellent job, others were quite chaotic places by modern standards. No school exemplifies this latter point better than my first placement school in which I worked when I was a student. At this school teachers were allowed to teach in any way that they wanted, irrespective of what was going elsewhere in the school in other year groups. There was a Year 3 teacher who, for example, decided that no instruction was necessary if children were to learn and that they could basically teach themselves if left with suitable materials. On visiting the classroom the children could at any one time be wearing fancy dress and engaging in role play, making models out of junk materials, playing the recorder or doing some writing on the floor with chalk. Maths might happen or it might not; weeks or months could go by without any physical education or music. It all depended on what the children wanted. I have no idea how those children progressed later in life and this style of learning may have been very beneficial for some. However, at the very least, it must have been confusing for most children in this school as they moved up the year groups, each year having to learn in a completely different way depending on the views of individual teachers. At worst children could have huge gaps in their basic knowledge as they moved up through the school. A similar approach has been controversially developed in a modern context, using technology, by a researcher called Sugata Mitra, author of ‘The Hole in the Wall: Self-organising Systems in Education’ (2006) A few months after this placement I was teaching a Year 6 class in a different school. It was my final placement before qualifying and it was in the days before SATs tests at Year 6 so I was basically left to get on with the job, aided by some planning to guide me and with the support of a wonderful teacher called Mrs Woods.

Mrs Woods was in her last year of teaching and was about to retire in 1989. I hadn’t even qualified as a teacher and the contrast was not flattering for me. Mrs Woods would make a lesson look easy while I excelled at confusing the children and breaking the chalk on the chalk board in mid-sentence.

The gulf between us was a source of amusement to us both (but probably more to her) as I stumbled through the weeks of my placement and sought guidance at every turn. When she was teaching, commands were obeyed by the children, the children seemed to know what they were doing and she always seemed to know what to do next. However, as soon as she left the room and I took over it was obvious that teaching wasn’t easy at all: to start with my supposedly clear instructions were misinterpreted, my planned activities didn’t always work very well and I frequently couldn’t find what I needed at the right time. Fortunately, I managed to build a good rapport with the class. It’s amazing how transformative music can be, and by bringing in my guitar and singing with the children, we got on well most of the time despite my blunders.

On arrival at the school I was loaned a black plastic whistle for use at playtime and when doing Physical Education, but Mrs Woods always had a shiny silver whistle round her neck; a sort of teachers’ insignia, and I vowed to get one myself when I got my first job. As it turned out I didn’t have to because as we said goodbye at the end of my placement, she pulled a brand new silver whistle out of her pocket and gave it to me as a present: kind and nurturing to the end. I still have that whistle!

Thus does a trainee teacher learn, earn and break the tools of the trade and, like all teachers, I had to learn mine quickly in order to survive and improve in the profession.

Notwithstanding my numerous lesson disasters, as far as I know, no children were harmed in the making of this teacher!

It is worth mentioning as an aside that at this school there was just one computer available for class use; I never got to use it because I hadn’t had the training.

Moving on to today, and from my current perspective as Headteacher, it is amazing at how different schools are compared to the late 1980s. Gone are the enormous differences between the types of curriculum children experience. Gone are the worst of the decaying, leaking and poorly designed post-war school buildings that were used to educate generations of children. And today the quality of teaching is more consistent and of a higher quality than it has ever been. Mrs Woods would be impressed; or would she? What would she make of schools today if she could be time travelled from 1989 into Bradway Primary School? I think that she would see much that she recognised because children still have similar characteristics, interests and needs whatever generation they are from. She would be shocked however at the workload for teachers, and the expectations placed on pupils through so many national tests. She might be glad that she had retired when she did. I think that she would be bewildered by all the electronic devices, the amount of time that children spend on them at home and at school, and astonished at the degree to which the teaching profession along with life in general, has become computerised.

Mrs Woods was a fantastic teacher in 1989 and, although she would have to learn an enormous amount to teach in the 21st century, she would be an excellent teacher in today’s schools too because she knew how to bring out the best in every child. She would very quickly get things organised in her high tech classroom of 2015 and would probably teach an excellent lesson on her first day without using any computers at all.

Could technology ever replace a great teacher like her? Of course it can enhance a lesson if used well, but I don’t think that it will be able to replicate an enthusiastic, knowledgeable and deeply empathic person like Mrs Woods, so much appreciated by the children in her class, any time soon.

Perhaps teachers are safe from being replaced by robots and computers; for now.

Paul Stockley is a Primary Headteacher at Bradway Primary School in Sheffield where he is also Chair if the Primary Leaders Partnership. Find Paul on Twitter at @bradwaystockley and read his blog at bradwaystockley.wordpress.com

Special Feature

Self Management

Schools are diverse places. Each has its traditions, rituals and culture which can be felt as soon as a visitor walks through the door. Yet the hierarchy within schools seems to be universal and unchanging for decades with its roots in the Victorian mindset of factories and production lines.

The titles may vary, but the hierarchy and structure remains the same - middle managers are strewn along at various rungs of the leadership ladder with the headteacher or principal directing teaching, learning and administration across the school. It is such a familiar idea that we rarely question whether there may be alternatives to managing educational organisations.

Management, once thought the be the bedrock of a successful businesses, is increasingly being seen as inefficient and even damaging to organisations.

Management tasks still need to be done, but managers are not necessarily the best people to do them. Management skills are still useful in an organisation, but these can be intrinsic rather than extrinsic and be utilised in your own management. The real power of this way of working is that no-one makes a leader, people just lead.

This idea was championed by Chris Rufer of a Californian company called Morning Star. As this highly promotional video (bit.ly/uked16apr12) shows, the workers at the company both have no boss but everyone is a manager.

The idea is that no one has power or coercion over anyone else and people must keep their commitments to others in the organisation. Yet flat management doesn’t mean that every member of the team are completely interchangeable and there is no room for specialism and a diverse skill set.

Workers negotiate and agree on their role and tasks with the other workers in the organisation. Instead it means that whatever task you are assigned you manage in your own way, seeking the resources and expertise that is needed to complete it. So far, so familiar for most tasks in schools.

Self

management

26 UKED Leader

is what you do outside of school in your home life. We prioritise, organise and seek assistance when we need it. Self management within the organisation follows the same principles. By eliminating the layers of management allows staff to use individual initiative to improve how they perform a task or in their classroom practice. Teachers are constantly making decisions and innovating in their classroom, but this is often missing in the admin and paperwork side of their role as a teacher.

Organisations with a traditional pyramid structure waste a lot of time taking ideas and decisions from the staff which then needs to be packaged, presented and relayed up the organisational levels. Schools adopting a flat structure would need much shorter lines of communication and time scales for decisions.

But would such a system in a school lead to silos of staff or a wild west of unaccountability? In fact, it could have the opposite effect and creative an open culture.

With everyone responsible to (and for) each other, it is in everyone’s interest to seek and offer help and advice in a culture of openness. There is no reason why continual improvement cannot be achieved among a group of equals, rather than through learning walks, book strunities and observations by line managers, where information and experience tends to go up the hierarchy rather than to the staff at the chalkface where sharing good practice is needed the most and can be most effectively used. Indeed, it is increasingly common for class teachers to do just this to improve what they do in the classroom.

Naturally, in such an organisation decisions would need to be made which would affect everyone across the school.

Depending on what this is, the staff can vote on a way forward or fluid committees investigate and make those decisions. Want to be on a particular committee? Offer to sit on it and your colleagues will make way for you. A similar arrangement can be made when an inspector calls or when dealing with an outside agency on a whole school level.

A flat organisation wouldn’t be for everyone. While I believe that most educators would jump at the chance to be the makers of their own destiny and to have a collective greater say in the shape the learning of their pupils, some teachers would not feel able to assert themselves or would want to be anything other than a great class teacher.

Others may crave the status and responsibility which a hierarchical structure would offer.

Another obstacle to this is the power seekers, who would not want to diminish their role in school, and enjoy their leadership role, and the power this ascerts over other people. Their motivations are questionable, as their own issues of power are clearly more important than the progression of pupils and the improvement of a school, yet a good leader/manager works in the opposite way to this, so go seeking those leaders who empower their staff, for the benefit of the whole school community.

Each organisation will have different rules, but in Reinventing Organizations (bit.ly/uked16apr13) Frederic Laloux offers some guidance. The idea of promotion in such a school would take on a different meaning. Individuals within the organisation ‘compete’ to be the most helpful, experienced and good at what they do among their colleagues which would be reflected when pay packages are decided. The same mechanism can be used for colleagues who are not fulfilling their commitments to the While it is unlikely for our thought experiment school organisation. put into practice any time soon, it would certainly be Because teachers are people, there are always going to an interesting solution to the lack of head teachers in be disagreements. Without the hierarchy this could be our education system. Elements of professional self problematic. However, if someone has a problem with determinism should be increasingly be put in the hands someone else, they should firstly talk to that person. If the of every member of the school community to address, in disagreement remains unresolved the colleagues can draft a small way, the widespread disaffection in the teaching in an agreed third person to arbitrate. profession. Shall we vote on it?

There is no reason why self management principles can’t be used within a hierarchical organisations. Schools have departments and teams which are usually headed by a team leader. In a self managed team the role of a team leader is either distributed or dissolved altogether.

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ukedchat.com/magazine 27

Myers Briggs

at Work

By Kathleen Sorrell

I firmly believe that the Myers Briggs test does have a real place in teams that we are part of in schools. It helps people gain insights about themselves and how they interact with others—and improve how they communicate, learn, and work. It provides a powerful framework for building better relationships, driving positive change, and achieving excellence. And that’s what we are about in schools, right?

the role entails and (phew) I have an action plan, a yearly planner and matching folders with labelled dividers. I am working super hard at putting things in place that need to be in place so that my yearly planner can kick in come September and I will be back to the cool cumber state I am most comfortable with.

As a typical ISTJ, I am very loyal, faithful, and dependable and I place great importance on honesty and integrity. When I work for you / with you, I am 100% about every aspect of my work. I take it seriously. I do also like to have a little giggle while soldiering on.

In order to reap these benefits, I would strongly recommend taking this test with the teams that you are part of. It really does flag up specifics about individuals. It really helps to know these Another typical trait of ISTJs is the love of systems, things if we are going to work effectively together. procedures and plans. I am happy to develop systems So, let’s have a look at how it works… There are sixteen and do sometimes struggle when everything is not done "by the book". I remember many years ago clashing personality types and my one is ISTJ. with a line manager over lack of systems. He stated he Portrait of an ISTJ - Introverted Sensing Thinking didn’t like them and I gasped!

Judging Due to this, I am extremely (Introverted Sensing with Extraverted Thinking) dependable on following The Duty Fulfiller through with things that I have promised. This does come at As an ISTJ, your primary mode of living is focused a cost – sometimes lack of internally, where you take things in via your five sleep. Because I have such a senses in a literal, concrete fashion. Your secondary strong sense of duty, I find it mode is external, where you deal with things difficult to say "no" when I pick rationally and logically. up more work. These are times when Being the duty-fulfiller is fantastic in so many ways! I I can’t see the wood for the chocolates! However, I do have such a strongly-felt internal sense of duty, which solider on and work for long periods of time and put leads me to be highly motivated to follow through on tremendous amounts of energy into my work and I love all tasks – even the boring ones! In fact, I think I am in being accountable for my actions. In fact, in order to love with my task list as I regularly check and update it. I spread my love for accountability I took it upon myself get great satisfaction from this. to put together plans for our SLT structure for the If you feature on the list – academic year. This was light relief to break up a difficult you WILL get seen to! day for me. I do appreciate that would not be the case I love to be organised for all. and methodical in my approach. I’ve recently In typical ISTJ fashion. I usually have a great sense of moved into a new role space and function. My office is always very neat and of responsibility. It is orderly. Under pressure, ISTJs may fall into "catastrophe a role that I know very mode". This does happen every now and then. At little about, but I am busy these points I see nothing, but all of the possibilities beavering away learning what of what could go wrong. I can have the potential to

28 UKED Leader

lose my ability to see things calmly The benefits of having a test are significant not just to and reasonably, and potentially yourself, but also to the team that you are working with. depress myself with visions of I had this experience many years ago and can honestly doom and disaster! say that the impact was fairly instant with the team as As with everything, there is all gained a greater understanding of each other. The a downside to being an ISTJ. impact has been long lasting as I often reflect on ‘my I have to be conscious of these ways’ to ensure that I am striking the right balance and and ensure that I do not allow it has raised my awareness of the importance of being them to dominate. I appreciate it if open and honest about who we are, how we think, others offer me feedback to avoid this happening. For work – it does make a difference. I can vouch that Myers example, ISTJ’s sometimes become a slave to their Briggs works at work! routine and "by the book" ways of doing things, to the point that any deviation is completely unacceptable. On one hand, this is ‘safe’, but on the other hand it can be plain annoying for others and closes up opportunities for new ways / ideas to be explored. It is something I am consciously trying not to fall into too much. Another typical weakness it being stubborn. Again, I have had to work at this. I have had to really focus on not always thinking the facts are the facts and embrace new and different ideas. I will not mention the love of excessive food or drink here, but can assure all that I have that in check too!

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Kathleen Sorrell @ Kat_S76 Deputy Headteacher responsible for curriculum at St Ignatius College in North London. She is passionate about leadership and development. Read her blog at katblogs76.wordpress.com.

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The Excitement of

New Things

By Andy Lewis

Despite the delays in getting accreditation (which This will involve the following: are really bad for teachers), I remain excited at the ● A well sequenced curriculum - prior knowledge prospect of the new GCSE and A-Level syllabuses is vital to master the new topics (and this may in Religious Studies. I hope colleagues in other involve revisiting KS3 in time). subjects are sharing in this. September 2016 will be a monumental opportunity to do things so much ● Developing worked examples - this is particularly better. This is both personally, and collectively as a important for new exam material. ● Regular, low-stakes testing - ensuring the profession.

Most of my GCSE and A-Level lessons have their memorisation of key ideas, words, quotes etc.

origins in 2011. This is when I joined my current ● Spaced, revisiting of information - as above. school; I changed syllabuses at GCSE (AQA to ● Knowledge organisers - producing an overview Edexcel) and began teaching A-Level for the for each unit of the key ideas, words, quotes etc. first time. Obviously over the last 5 years, I have reviewed and adapted, added and amended. In the ● Explicit teaching of the principles of effective incredibly busy lives of teachers, when something learning - ensuring students learn and revise in the is working ‘well enough’, it is easy to be keep it best possible way. going.

This will undoubtedly result in lots of hard work, However a whole new syllabus, with new content, and the introduction of multiple new syllabuses offers an unparalleled opportunity to make the (GCSE and A-Level), will mean an incredible most of my ten years teaching experience, and workload for the next two years. However it offers crucially (approximately) three years of interest in an opportunity for us to implement the very best the study cognitive psychology. Surely it is vital to of what we know, which will naturally improve our look what works best when it comes to learning? students learning, and all the successes that can go with that.

When planning for the new GCSE and A-Level, I am going to try to keep 6 key questions, and their This, for me, is the excitement of new things. The answers, in the forefront of my mind. These come oft cited, but unclearly attributed, “If you always from the excellent Dean’s for Impact: “The Science do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” can be a very true in schools. of Learning” (see here): Sometimes, you will have ‘always got’ a set of good 1. How do students understand new ideas? results, but that is not a reason to not try and aim 2. How do students learn and retain new for even better by doing something different. information?

3. How do students solve problems?

4. How does learning transfer to new situations?

5. What motivates students to learn?

6. What are some common misconceptions about how students think and learn?

Andy Lewis is a teacher in Catholic comprehensive school in East London. He has written a soon to be published textbook for the Edexcel Catholic Christianity GCSE bit.ly/uked16apr28 and is organising The London RE Hub Conference on 16/4/16. For more info see MrLewisRE.co.uk and TheLondonREHub.com. He tweets as @iteachRE

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