Habits Issue 6 - Special Edition (Thahmina Begum's blogs)

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TB's top 4

Lesson planning: not just for trainees

Based on Mccrea's 'Lean Lesson Planning', this article will make intellectual preparation easy and meaningful

The Tetris Effect: rewire your brain to see the good

Find out what NOT to do when trying to improve a rocky relationship with your spouse as well as how to leverage positivity to create a happy climate in your school

'Moves' versus standing still

Read about lessons learnt from a dodgy PE lesson, what it means to 'stand still' and the success our CST 'moves' can bring our students

100 things 1% better

Time is a teacher's best 'frenemy' but the aggregation of marginal gains means we can achieve our goals despite our never ending to-do list!

A specialedition habits.

AcompilationofThahminaBegum's teachingandlearningbulletinsforthe year2022-2023

Occam’srazorte

TodayIbeginwithashorttale(confession) frommynewlyqualifiedteacheryear(anda fewyearsthereafter):

IhavetaughtShakespeare’sMacbethfor10 yearsnow Forthefirstfewyearsofteaching Macbeth,atthestartoftheunit,Ihada‘goto’contextlessonthatIwouldrecycleevery yearHere’showitwent:

I would print 4 bits of information on the contextofMacbethonA3sheetsofpaperand stickthemonthewallsaroundtheclassroom; forexample,asheetonKingJamesI,asheet onthesupernaturalandwitchesandsoon

Onasoundcue,thestudentswouldhaveto move around the classroom in a clockwise direction and stop to make notes from the bitsofpapercontainingtheinformationabout theplay

OnaPowerPointslide,Iwouldhave4sound clipsthatIwouldplayevery3orsominutes

Soundcliponewasatwosecondclipthat said,‘STOPOHYEAHWAITAMINUTEMR POSTMAN,’ from Carpenters’ ‘Please Mr Postman’ At this sound clip, students wouldhavetostopwheretheywereandI could use that opportunity to ask a question or clarify something for the wholeclass

Soundcliptwowasaonesecondclipthat said, ‘CH-CH-CH-CHANGES’ from Bowie’s ‘Changes’ At this sound clip, students would‘change’fromthestationtheywere at

Soundclipthreewasathreesecondclip thatsaid,‘OHSITDOWN,OHSITDOWN, OHSITDOWN-’fromJames’‘SitDown’ At thissoundclip,youguessedit,students wouldhavetositdown

Soundclipfourwasahalfasecondclip that said, ‘QUESTION’ from Destiny’s Child’sIndependentWoman Atthissound clip–well,yougettheidea

Theactivitywouldtakeupmostofthelesson Theuseofthemusictickledme.Thestudents seemed to enjoy the moving around What wasmore,Iwouldgetgraded‘Outstanding’ wheneverIwasobservedforaformallesson observation!

WhenIreadthestudents’workhowever,I’d be left scratching my head The work was usually scrawled and barely legible When I latergotthemtoapplyitinanessay,they couldn’t.Ortheywouldbegintheessaywitha chunk of recalled isolated historical facts about Scotland and the King not liking witchesItwasprettyrubbish

Bythatpoint,I’dhavetomoveonintheunit of work And by the time a new unit of Macbeth came along the following year, I’d rememberhowmuchfunplayingBowiewas andforgetabouttherestofit

I wanted my students to apply contextual knowledge to their textual analyses by considering what would have informed the writer’s ideas when constructing the charactersandtheplotofMacbeth

Buttheyneverquitedid Thecomplexdesign ofmyactivitythatinvolvedmovement,cool songclipsandcopyingdownisolatedbitsof informationdidnotlenditselftomyintended learningoutcom

thelongwayarou

Thankfully,Ihave Occam

Occam’srazor,a the law of parsi simplicity.Thes outcomeisbest

Thesameapplies

Mccrea,LeanLessonPlanning

Mccrea,inhissuperbbook,‘LeanLesson Planning’, gets us to ask the following question:

Whatistheleastthatneedstohappenformy studentstomakeprogresstowardstheirnext learningmilestone?

Thiskindofquestioningrequiresustothink hardaboutwhatwehaveplannedforour lesson Thissoundsquiteobviousbutina world of centralised curriculum planning, sharedlessoncreationandscarcityoftime, wedon’tdoitnearlyenough

Exampleof Occam'srazor

‘Whenitcomestoplanningfor learning,lessisoftenmore.’

aching

IntellectualPreparation: makingcollaboration routine

That’swhyatCommunitySchoolsTrustwe haveembeddeddiscreetsessionsdedicated torefining,discussingandpreparingforour lessons We are calling them intellectual preparationsessionsandthefirstplanned sessionoftheyearwillbenextweek

Centralisedcurriculumsandsharedlessons areawonderfulthing:itmeansstandardsare pitchedandalignedItalsomeanswehave backthetimeitwouldhavetakenustoplan these things from scratch What a great opportunitywehavethentohavethoserich curriculumandsubjectdiscussions,thinkhard aboutthechoiceswemakeinourlessonsand developoursubjectknowledgeatthesame time

‘Thecoplanningoflessonsisthetaskthat hasoneofthehighestlikelihoodsofmaking amarkedpositivedifferenceonstudent learning’

JohnHattie

Mccreaputsitperfectly:‘sharingpractice makesyouarticulatewhatyouaredoingand why Itcreatesspaceforreflection,brings fresheyestooldproblems,andspreadsour understanding of what works (and what doesn’t)amongsttheprofession’

If only I had fresh eyes on my musical Macbethlessonearlieroninmycareer

Occam’srazor teaching

Taking the ‘shortest path’ does not mean taking shortcuts, taking ‘fun’ away or being lesscreative Itmeans,toquoteourDeputy CEO,ShofiquezZamanoninsetday,‘cutting

outthefluff’Itmeanstakingthemostdirect routetothelearning

WeshouldapplyOccam’srazorteachingto whatever learning activity we plan for; whether that’s questioning (if they don’t know, just tell them and check for understanding afterwards), presenting new materials (avoiding musical moving group work)orother‘discovery’activities

Busydoesn’tmeanlearning

Sometimesgroupworkcanbedonewellbutit requireslotsmoreplanningthanisprobably worthit.Usually,therearemuchquickerways toachievetheintendedlearningoutcome

If I take the example of my fun musical carousellesson,theactivitytookmeagesto plan,thestudentswereallbusyandappeared engaged,buttheworktheyproducedshowed verylittlelearning

They could all however sing ‘ch-ch-chchanges’inunisonprettywell.

Insummary

Ahead of intellectually preparing for your lessons this week, have a think about the following:

PlandeliberatelyforwhatLemovrefersto asthe‘shortestpath’tothelearning

Avoidtasksthatrequireattendingtolots ofthingsatonce

Knowandmakeexplicitlyclearwhatyou expecttoseeinyourstudents’workupon design(planning)andinstruction(planning andexecution)

Don’tbeliketheguyinthisvideo

BBaggingthebasics aggingthebasics

As teachers, we have developed mental modelstocopewiththemanychallenges wefaceinaclassroomThesementalmodels will consist of routine behaviours we repeatwithnearlyunconsciousregularity. Inotherwords,habits

Forexample,questioning

Challenge:howdoyouknowyourstudents havelearntthethingyouhavetaughtthem?

Routine behaviour: you question to checkforunderstanding

Habit:whenposingaquestiontotheclass, younamethestudentfirstandthenaskthe question:Emma,defineosmosis.

Researchhasshownthatteacherswhoare ‘experts’havedevelopedextensivemental modelsintheclassroomthatallowsthemto assess challenges quickly and respond efficientlyandsuccessfully.

Thethingisthough,overtime,thesehabits can become less effective In the above example, the questioning habit is less effectivebecausetheteacherhasnamedthe studenttheyarequestioningbeforeposing thequestion;making it less likely the restofthe

studentsintheclasswillthinkaboutthe question–theparticipationratioislow Abetterhabitwouldbeiftheteacherhad askedthequestionfirsttothewholeclass, waited to allow the whole class thinking time (high participation ratio) and then picked the student: Define osmosis [thinkingtime] Emma?

Overthelast3yearswehavezoomedinona smallnumberofinstructionalpracticesthat havemadethe‘how’oflearningroutine,like entry into the classroom, transitions betweentasksandcoldcalling

AtCommunitySchoolsTrust(CST),wewant todisruptourlesseffectiveteacherhabitsand forge‘good’habits Wewanttodevelopthe mosteffectivementalmodels.

Bydoingthis,weknowitwillfreeupour cognitiveloadsothatwecanfocusonreally important things like the quality of our explanationsorthe‘economyoflanguage’in our instructions That’s why this year, havingbaggedthesebasics,wearefocusing moreofourprofessionaldevelopmenton ‘intellectuallypreparing’(IP)forallofour lessonsandevenhavededicatedIPsessions bakedintoourdirectedtimetoenhanceour subjectknowledge.

If you are new to the trust, or a SchoolCentred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) trainee based at Forest Gate Community School, part of your induction has been working your way through the self study modules,whichfocusonthefundamentals, ontheCSTstaffinductionsite Thiswillbe supplemented by short, sharp deliberate practicesessionsoverthenextfewweeks

quickly We must always be conscious of theseifwearetocontinuetoimproveinour practice

CSTgoalsoftheweek

Practicestoperfectthisweek:

1.

2

Thebestpossiblestarttothelesson: thresholdandcountdown Highexpectationsfor‘habitsof attention’:SLANT

Mehak at Cumberland Community School showsus‘whatagoodonelookslike’inthe belowtrainingvideoscreatedbyourDeputy CEO,ShofiquezZaman:

CSTStaffinductionsite

Evenifyou’renotanewteacheratthetrust but want a refresher, feel free to have a browsetoo.

Whoever we are, what we mustn’t do, is forgetaboutthebasics we ’ ve bagged over the last few years Habits can turn ‘bad’

1Thebestpossiblestart tothelesson:threshold andcountdown

2Highexpectationsfor ‘habitsofattention’: SLANT

LLessonplanning:not essonplanning:not jjustfortrainees ustfortrainees

Ideliveredasessionon‘planning’to ourSCITTtraineestheotherdayand I realised I hadn’t thought hard aboutlessonplanninginyears

With shared resources and centralisedplanning,unlessyou’rea trainee,themechanicsofalesson designisnotsomethingwehavehad tothinkhardabout–itisusually doneforus

But planning that session for our trainees the other day made me realise it is a really useful (and essential) exercise we could do whenintellectuallypreparingforour lessons

Backwardsdesign

‘Ifyoudon’tknowwhereyou’regoing, you’llprobablyendupsomeplaceelse.’

LaurencePeter Metaanalysisevidencesuggeststhe bestwaystooptimiselearningisby backwardsdesign(Hattie) In‘Lean Lesson Planning’, Mccrea says we should always start with this questioninmind:

WhatdoIwantmystudentstohave learntbytheendofthislesson?

It sounds pretty obvious, but we probably don’t spend the time on thisactivitythatweoughtto

Ourhighfrequencyerrorsas teachers

Instead,whatwemayendupdoing isoneorbothofthefollowing:

Activity focused planning: we thinkofacoolactivitythatwe thinkis‘engaging’(clickherefor an embarrassing example of this)anditcanmeanourefforts can morph into an exercise of keepingstudentsbusy

Coverage-focusedplanning:I’ve feltthispressureandIknow colleagueshavesaidsimilar things–weneedtogetthrough content!Thebankholidaytook awayawholedoublelesson!We needtocovertheschemeof work!Ofcourse,thismeansour effortstocovercontentcan morphintoanexerciseofgetting throughthecurriculum

Successcriteriafor backwardsdesign

Whenplanningalesson,weshould attemptthefollowingsteps:

Step1:Decideon2–5learning milestones:tasksyourstudents can’tdoatthestartofthelesson butwithyoursupport,mayachieve bytheendofthelesson

Milestonescriteria:

Cumulative(sotheybuildoneach other)

Increasinginchallenge Clear(studentfriendly) Measurable(canyoueasilyseeif yourstudentshave‘gotit’?)

Step2:Writedownthequestions youwouldaskatkeypointstogauge ifyourstudentshavereachedthe learning milestones you have identified

Ourexplicitdirectinstruction(EDI) frameworklendsitselfwelltothis Beforewemoveontoanewphase, wecanplanoncheckingfor understanding(CFU)Ofcourse, withinthephases,wewillhave causetoCFUaswellThisiswhere careful intellectual preparation comesintoplay

Checkingforunderstanding

(CFU)

Justbecausewe’vetaughtit, doesn’tmeanthey’velearntit

We must constantly be gathering dataforthisthroughourCFU The more you can gauge this, and the faster you can, the better impact youhaveonlearning

Our high frequency errors as teachers Wedon’task(enough)questionsto check for understanding: Rosenshine recommended that teachersshouldaskalargenumber of questions and check the responsesofallstudents

The data we get is not reliable becauseofapoorsamplesize:for example, we ask 2 students and bouncetoathirdstudent Allseem to be listening so we decide the wholeclassnowunderstands

Thedatawegetisnotvalidbecause they’vechattedtoeachotherwhen completingthework:whoselearning areweassessingifthey’vechatted toeachotherandcomeupwitha response?

Poorly worded questions or tasks: Complete the statement: Macbeth is Paranoid?Asoldier?Dead?Who knows Weneedtothinkhardabout the wording of our questions in order to set our students up to succeed Thisishardtodoonthe spot WeshouldIPforasmanyof theseaswecan

Successcriteriaforchecking forunderstanding

Ratio:aguidingconceptfromDoug Lemov that describes how much thought is taking place in your classroom:

High participation ratio: all studentsareparticipatinginthe thinking

Highthinkratio:allstudentsare thinkinghard

AneffectivewaytoensureRatiois via whole class response questioning Inordertogaugeifour students have achieved their learningmilestonesinalesson(step 2),wecanplanforaWCRquestion before an explanation, as a prerequisite check, or after an explanation, to decide whether to moveoninthelearningorre-teach CSTgoalsoftheweek 2easyWCRstrategies:

1

Mini-whiteboards:inthisvideo, Scienceleadpractitioner,Adam Boxer breaks down the why, what and when to use mini whiteboards

2

HeadsDown:thispagefromour CSTinductionsitesummarisesa deliberate practice session on this easy whole class response method

ThereareseveralwaystoCFUbut theywillworkespeciallywellwhen paired with Cold Calling, so all students develop those all importantattentionalhabits,justin casetheyarecalledupon Lessonplanningthen–it’snotjust fortrainees Usebackwardsdesign to define your learning milestones andplaninthoseCFUquestions

Asalways,keepthesharescoming inWewillhaveadeliberatepractice session on backward design and whatbetterplacetoshowcaseCST WAGOLLsthaninthosesessions?

Readthetweethere:

MEETINGMAESTROS MEETINGMAESTROS

Mostpeoplehatemeetings They’retoolong Theyoftenfeelpointless Ifyoucountupthe salariesofthosesittinginameeting,theycan beexpensivetoo

At school, everything we do and invest in shouldboildowntoimprovingstandardsand outcomes of our students This of course includes meetings With so much at stake then, we probably should think hard about makingourmeetingsworthwhile AtCommunitySchoolsTrust(CST)wehave triedtodoafewthingsonastructurallevelto improveourmeetings:

We have streamlined our calendared meetingstoTuesdays

Wehavecentralisedourmeetingagendas tomakesureweareaddressingkeyitems inatimelymanner

Wehavemadesurestandingitemssuchas ‘training’existsothatwecontinueto‘get betterfaster’

Onanoperationallevelthough,therearestill smallbutsignificantthingswecando

Ihavetakenthefollowingfrom‘Howtofixmeetings’byGrahamAllcottandHayley Watts,apracticalreadonexactlythat:howtofixmeetings Butfirstlet’sconsider…

Thechair:whataretheirhighfrequencyerrors?

Here’swhatourleadersacrossthetrustrespondedwithwhenaskedthisquestion: I’msureyouwillrecognisemanyofthesefrommeetingsyouhaveattended(and perhapsevenwithinyourselfifyouhavechairedmeetings)

owweplan ourmeetingsandithelpedmetoframewhy meetingscangowrongsooften.

The 40:20:40 continuum describes how we should direct our energy and attention in relationtoeachmeeting:

40%onthepreparationforthemeeting

20%onthemeetingitself

40%ontheproductivefollow-through

It’swhathappensoutsideofthemeetingthat makesthedifference Ifthepreparationand organisation of a meeting is not thought throughwithdueattention,themeetingitself can end up being unproductive and leave attendees feeling annoyed, frustrated and evenangry.Therefore,asignificantportionof ourenergyshouldgointothepreparationofa meeting

Likewise, if the follow through after the meeting does not happen, the meeting is unsuccessful Ameetingisatoolthrough whichweachievecommongoals.Ifthe productivefollow-throughdoesn’thappen,the commongoalisnotachieved

Themeetingparticipant:whatare theirhighfrequencyerrors?

Here’swhatourleadersacrossthetrust respondedwithwhenaskedthisquestion: If a meeting is worthy of your attendance, make it worthy of your attendance Being passiveshouldn’tbeanoption.

YoumayhavenoticedtheSLANTcomment–it’saninterestingone ThebehavioursSLANT encapsulatesarereallyjustbasicmanners.We teach students to SLANT (sit up straight, listencarefully,ask/answerquestions,never interruptandtrackthespeaker)inorderto encouragewhatDougLemovcalls‘habitsof attention’ Wetellthemthesegoodhabitswill servethemwelllongaftertheyleaveschoolas they promote pro social behaviours Why would we not expect those behaviours of ourselvesthen?Showingacolleaguewhois speaking in a meeting those ‘ pro social’ behaviours is respectful and validating Checking our phones, staring out of the windoworsittingslumpedlookingboredis tellingourcolleague,Idon’tcareaboutwhat youaresayingrightnow.

AllcottandWattsargue,everyonehasapart toplayinameeting,includingparticipants Meeting participants must understand their roleinachievingthepurposeofthemeeting;it isnotjustdown

to the chair or meeting organiser By attendingameeting,youmakeitpartlyyour responsibilitytomakeitasuccess.

One common problem is, often, meeting participantsdon’tunderstandthepurposeof the meeting they are attending, or don’t appreciatetheimportanceoftheirattendance tothemeeting

Onewaytocombatthis,asexploredinthe book,istheuseofthepurposestatementand intendedoutcomes

Thepurposestatement

AllcottandWattsargueeverymeetingshouldhaveapurposestatement:asentenceortwothatclearlystatesexactlywhyyouaremeeting andwhatthemeetingistryingtoachieve

Thereshouldbeadifferentpurposestatementevenforrecurringmeetings.Thiswillhelpattendeesunderstandtherelevanceofthemeeting andtherelevanceoftheirattendancetothemeeting

Intendedoutcomes

Helpparticipantsunderstandthepurposeofeachitemintheagenda;itwillencourageattendeesto investinyourmeetingandclarifytheirpurposeinattendingthemeeting Someexamples:

You will of course recognise the contents of this post as a ‘play’ in our CST Leadership Playbook Whetheryou’realeaderornot,everysooften,checkthequalityofyourmeetings againstthisplay.Areyouoryourteamscommittingthe‘highfrequencyerrors’outlinedinthe play?Whichofthe‘measuresofsuccess’doyouregularlyachievewhenitcomestoyourrolein meetings?

Sincetheintroductionofthisplay,Ihaveseenmanyofourmeetingstransformforthebetter Attendeesgenerallytaketheirrolesseriously,consciouslyavoidtheHFEsandmakeaneffortto achievetheir‘measuresofsuccess’.

WhereI’veseenthebestmeetingsiswhenthechairhasclearlydeployedthe40:20:40continuum andtrulytreatedthemeetingasatooltogetthingsdoneColleaguesleavethosemeetingsfulfilled Whetherweloveorloathethem,meetingsareheretostay.Aswebeginanewhalfterm,temperature checkthequalityofyourmeetingswiththisplayWithafewtweaksandeffortintherightplaces,I reckonwecanmakeourmeetingsworthourwhile

Saygoodbyetorubbishmeetings Saygoodbyetorubbishmeetings

InHattieandTimperly’s(2007)meta-analysison ‘ThePowerofFeedback’,theysuggestthemain purpose of feedback is to reduce discrepancies between a student’s understanding of their learningandtheirperformance

The above teacher reports fail to answer the 3 questions from Hattie and Timperly’s report: Where am I going? How am I going? Where to next?

Atbest,theyarevagueandgeneric,andatworst, passive-aggressive(orjustaggressive)andmean! Thisstudyidentified4typesoffeedback:

1

Tasklevelfeedback

2.

Processlevelfeedback

3. 4

Self-regulationlevelfeedback

Selflevelfeedback

1.Tasklevelfeedback

Thisisfeedbackweprovideaboutaspecifictaskor questionInamathslesson,itmightbeusedtoinform a student if they were correct or incorrect on a calculation InanEnglishlesson,itmightbeusedto informastudenttoincludethewriter’sintentionin thatsectionofanessay

Ourlivemarkingcanoftenbe‘tasklevel’feedbackItis specifictoakeylearningobjectiveandcodedtargets withinalessonareoftentaskrelevant

Although task level feedback can be effective, our feedbackshouldnotbesospecificthatstudentscannot applyittoothertasksinthefuture

2.Processlevelfeedback

ThisisthekindoffeedbackweuseatCommunity SchoolsTrust(CST)inourlivecoachinganddeliberate practice sessions We focus on strategies and techniquesaboutaprocessduringatask:forexample, when giving instructions (task), we front load our instructionswith‘meansofparticipation(strategy).In ourdeliberatepracticesessions,wegoalsettoensure weperformbetterinfuturepractice

‘‘Hisworkisconsistentlyappalling’: Hisworkisconsistentlyappalling’: teacherfeedbackovertime teacherfeedbackovertime

‘Hisworkisconsistentlyappalling’–1970something:DavidLawes’Mathematicsreport

‘Sometimeslacksconfidence.CoulddowellatGCSE’–1990something:Charlotte Whelan’sMusicreport

‘ withastrongdeterminationtouseaslittleenergyaspossiblewhenclassdiscussionstakeplace’–2000something:mySciencereport(Rimaismyothername!)

Thequalityofteacherfeedbackhasbeen prettyrubbishformanyyears.Hereare someexamplesspanningafewdecades:

HattieandTimperly(2007),thePowerofFeedback

When it comes to process level feedback for our students, consider whether your feedback helps your students to understandaconcept,ideaordomain(asopposedtoaspecific questionortask)

3.Self-regulationlevelfeedback

In the 2020 evidence review on Metacognition and Self Regulation,theEEFdefines‘selfregulation’as‘theextentto whichlearnersareawareoftheirstrengthsandweaknesses,the strategiestheyusetolearn,canmotivatethemselvestoengage inlearning,andcandevelopstrategiesandtacticstoenhance learning’

Thompson(1998)suggeststhateffectivelearnersareableto createinternalfeedback,asopposedtojustrelyingonexternal teacher feedback. It means they can monitor their own performanceandadjustthestrategiestheyusetoimproveover time

Toensuresuccessfulself-regulationlevelfeedback,weneedto havestudentswhotakethetimetolistentofeedbackcarefully, willingtoengagewiththisfeedbackandthinkhardabouttheir ownperformanceovertime

Weuseseveralforumstoencouragethishealthycultureofselfregulation:

Inclasslivemarking

DynamicProgressReporting(DPR)collaborationsagainst specifickeyobjectives(processlevel)

Memoryandcoreknowledgelinkedhomeworkwhichis assessedasstartertasks inyearassessmentswithdedicated‘fixit’time

4.Selflevelfeedback

Thiskindoffeedbackencourageslabelslike‘youarelazy’and‘youareclever’Theycan bedeemed‘personal’anddonotmoveastudentforwardintheirlearning.

Thephotoexamplesaboveareexamplesofselflevelfeedback.Theyarealsoevidence thatrubbishfeedbackhasspannedoverdecades

Wearefinallymakingmovesforthebetter.

AtCST,wehavealsodonemuchworkonimprovingthequalityoffeedback

Welivemarkduringlessonstoensureourfeedbackistimelyandspecificandmoves studentsforwardintheirlearning

We‘fix-it’toensureourstudentsrespondmeaningfullytoourfeedback Avoid focusingongrades;insteadfocusonyourformativefeedback

WeuseDPRtoensureourfeedbackcontinuestobereal-timeWedon’thavetowrite genericandmeaninglessreportsTheformativenatureofDPRdoesthereportingfor allstakeholders–students,parentsandteachers

ThesethreeexamplesofourfeedbackatCSTcanhittasklevel,processlevelandself regulationlevelfeedbackwhendonewell

AsweapproachinterimassessmentsandYear11mockexamsthisterm,considerthe abovestrategiestoavoidtheerrorsofourpasteducators.Ensureyourfeedbackisnot ‘selflevel’Focusonmakingyourfeedback‘task’,‘process’and‘self-regulation’level

THETETRISEFFEECT: REWIREYOURBRAINTOSEETHEGOOD

Inhisbook,TheHappinessAdvantage:TheSeven PrinciplesofPositivePsychologythatFuelSuccessand PerformanceatWork,ShawnAchortellsusofastudy wherepeoplewhoplayedhoursofTetriseachday reportedseeingTetris-likepatternsoutsideintheworld, likecerealboxesonshelvesinthestoreHerefersto thisasa‘cognitiveafterimage’–abitlikethedotsin yourvisionwhenyoucloseyoureyesafterlookingat somethingbright–whenyoudosomethingregularly, youaremorelikelytoseethethingyoulookfor Hetellsthestoryofworkingwithtaxaccountantswho helpedpeopleimprovetheirtaxformsbyspottingerrors inthemTheywoulddothisbetween8-14hoursaday Itmadethemgreatattheirjobsbutwhenpromoted, theirproductivityandhappinesslevelsdroppedThey experiencedlessmeaningintheirworkandstruggledin theirpersonallivesWhenaskedhowtheyhadtriedto fixit,onetaxaccountantrecalledwantingtoimprove thingsathomeandsodidwhatheknewbest:he createdaspreadsheettolistallthemistakeshe believedhiswifehadbeenmakingoverthelast6 monthsinanattempttoopenupadialogueand improvethingsathome

Youcanguesshowthatworkedout

Thistaxaccountanthadtrainedhisbraintolookfor mistakesanderrorsinthetaxformshereceivedThis madehimverygoodatthatpartofhisjobButitmeant hecontinuedtodothisinotheraspectsofhislife–the cognitiveafterimagePeoplecangetstuckthatway–especiallythosewhoaretrainedtobecriticallike accountants,taxauditorsteachers

Theteachers’afterimage

Asteachersandleadersinschools,weareinthe businessofimprovement–andcentraltothisisbeing critical:

Intheclassroom,wearetrainedtotacklecommon misconceptionsheadon

Welivemarktospoterrorsinstudents’work

Whatwedon’twanttohappenistolosesightofwhywe dothethingswedoThetaxaccountantbecame‘stuck’ thatwayHewasunabletode-compartmentalisehis abilitiesandthisledtolowerproductivityand dissatisfactionatworkandclearlyaffectedhishome life

AccordingtoYalepsychologistAmyWrzeniewski,

acrucialaspectofworksatisfactioniswhetherweview ourworkasajob,acareeroracalling–thelatterbeing anendinitselfthatcontributestoagreatergoodAchor sayswhatevertheworkwedo,wecanalwaysconnect ittoourhighercalling

ThatisparticularlytrueofteachingIfwetakethe examplesfromabove,wetacklecommon misconceptions/livemarkforerrorsinstudents’work/ ‘spotthespinach’becauseweknowitwillleadtoeven betterstudentoutcomesandbetterstudentoutcomes meanbetterlifechancesforourstudents(DfE2021)

Therelentlessnatureofourjobsmeansitcanbecome easytolosesightofwhywedothethingswedo Darkerdays,coldandsometimeswetlineups combinedwithlingeringsorethroatsandateeteringpile ofunmarkedmockpaperscantakeitstoll Nowbeforeyoureachforaspreadsheettolisttheflaws ofalovedone,readonbecausethereisacounter

ThepositiveTetrisEffect

WearemorelikelytoseethethingswelookforJust likeits‘negative’form,wecanalsoflipitforapositive cognitiveafterimage

AtCommunitySchoolsTrust(CST),wedeliberately modelprosocialbehavioursandgratitudeforour studentsWeknowhowimportantitistoequipour studentswithstrategiesintegraltowellbeingandskills weknowwillequipthemforlifeatschool,atworkand beyond Hereare10thingswedoatCSTto‘reaffirm connectedness’andcreateapositiveTetriseffect:

1Westartthedayatthegate,greetingourstudents andsettingthetonefortheday.

2Duringlessonchangeovers,wefillourcorridorswith ourpresenceWeare‘biggerversionsofourselves’:we regulatestudentmovementwithgreetingsand exchangesabouttheirlessonsandhowmanyGolden Ticketstheyhavewon

3Wegreetourstudentsonthethresholdsofour classrooms.Wesetthetoneforlearningastheyenter Ourupbeatandcheerfulgreetingsshowthestudents thattheyenterourclassona‘cleanslate’nomatter howbadadaylastlessonmayhavebeen 4WeissuemeritsforpolitenessandGoldenTicketsfor effort Weshow ourgratitudefortheir

resilienceinlearning

5 WelivemarkandmovestudentsupontheirDPR toacknowledgeandcelebratetheirprogress.

6 Attheendofthelesson,wedismissourstudents from the threshold and students thank us for the lesson

7 Inassembliesandlineupswehaveritualslikethe ‘appreciation clap’ where students appreciate somethingtheyaregratefulorthankfulfor Itcouldbe apieceofhomeworkthatafriendhelpedthemonor theextrahelptheymayhavereceivedfromateacher thatday.

8 Weplay‘beattheteacher’toseeifthestudents canbethefirsttogreettheteacher

9 Our students issue thank you postcards to their teachers.

10 We issue positive slips to students to acknowledgetheirpoliteness.

DiffuseReciprocity

Atschool,everyinteractionwithourstudentsisan opportunitytoelicitagreeting,gratitudeorapolite exchange We hope that students will not only respondtobelongingsignalsbysignallingbacktothe sameperson,buttheywillsendadditionalsignalsto others–whatpoliticalscholarRobertKeohanecalls ‘diffusereciprocity’ (ReconnectbyLemovetal)

Imagine the power of 1000+ students smiling, greetingandthanking,asanorm

Weknowthatwhatwefocuson,grows.

This week then, let’s focus on those signals of gratitudeandbelonging Let’screateapositiveTetris effect,a‘cognitiveafterimage’,wherewerewireour brainstoseethethingswearelookingfor Dishout thosemeritsforpoliteness,interactwithstudentsin thecorridorsandenthusiasticallygreetthematthe thresholdofyourclassrooms.

PerhapsasLemovsays,‘thetruebeneficiaryisthe sender’ Butindoingso,knowthatyouarebuilding school communities who are learning focused, gratefulandhappy.

Thepeak-endrule: Thepeak-endrule:

OURMEMORIESARETIMEANDEMOTIONBOUND OURMEMORIESARETIMEANDEMOTIONBOUND

In2011,Ididmysecondschoolplacement aspartoftheoldGraduateTeacher ProgrammeatForestGateCommunity Schoolfor4weeksItwasaverydifferent placethencomparedtonowStudentsruled theclassroomsandthecorridorswere simplydangerousRoutineswerenonexistent,studentswouldeatinclassand watchfullmoviesduringdoublelessons WhenItriedtoopenalessonwithastarter activityoneday,thestudentsliterally laughedoutloudandaskedmewhichmovie IreallyhadplannedforthemTheendtothe 4weekplacementcouldn’thavecome sooner

Afterleavingthatterm,IwasaskedifI wouldworkatFGCSshouldaposition becomeavailableandIreplied,‘overmy deadbody!’

Ourmemoriesarebiased.Weremember thingsbasedonhowwefeltatthetimeand howtheexperienceendedItisprobably whywecanbeirrationalinourmemory recall

2yearslater,Irejoinedtheschool

Thepeak-endrule

Thisisotherwiseknownasthepeak-end rule.Itwaslargelyattributedtotheworkof psychologist,DanielKahnemanwhodefined thepeak-endruleas, “apsychologicalheuristicinwhich peoplejudgeanexperiencelargelybased onhowtheyfeltatitspeak(i.e.itsmost intensepoint)andatitsend,ratherthan basedonthetotalsumoraverageof everymomentoftheexperience.”

We’vehadafew‘peak-end’eventsoverthis lastweekhaven’twe?Formanylastweek,it wasthefootball.Lastnight,thesnow.This comingweek,ourschoolshavetheirendof termcharitiesactivities,variousshowcases andendoftermcelebrations.Theyareall positivethingstoendourterm,whichis goodifthepeak-endeffectisanythingtogo by.

The4elementsofapeak moment

Asweenterourfinalweekofthisterm,I’d liketoinfluencethepeak-endeffectwith whathasbecomeatraditionalend-of-term videocompilationofallthingsteachingand learningatCommunitySchoolsTrust.But beforeyouwatchit,Iaskyoutoreadtothe endfirst!

AccordingtoChipandDanHeath,in‘The Power of Moments: Why Certain ExperiencesHaveExtraordinaryImpact,’ thereare4elementsofapeakmomentand thebestpeakmomentwillcontainall4 elements:

1Elevation

‘Thesearehappymomentsthatgobeyond theusualcourseofeventsduetosensory pleasuresandsurprises’

Whenyouwatchthevideo,youwillsee momentsofjoyandpleasureaswepractise ourcraftwitheachother,enactitinthe classroomandcelebrateeachother’sefforts andsuccesses

2Pride

‘Thesearethemomentsthatcaptureusat ourbest,whetherit’samomentoftriumphor amomentofbravery’

Thecapturesofcolleaguesintheclassroom arebothmomentsoftriumphandbravery Itishardtochangethewaywe’vebeen doingsomethingforyearsChanginghabits takeseffortandtimeSowhenwedo,we shouldbeproud

3Insight

‘Theseareourfinestmoments;they transformourperceptionsofourselvesand theworldandprovideasoberingmoment ofclarity.’

Ihopeyouwillhavethismomentwhenyou watchthecompilationvideoOurcraftin theclassroomiswhatdefinesusWhenwe areatourbestasteachers,wearethebest teachersAndourstudentsdeservenothing lessthanthebest

4Connection

‘Thesearemomentsthataresocial ’

Forexample,ourdeliberatepractice sessionsOrourintellectualpreparation sessions.Orourdepartmentalsharesof greatpracticeTheseareallmomentsof socialconnectionAndthemorewefocuson thepositivethroughthesemeans,themore thegoodpracticewillgrow

Let'sinfluencethe peak-endeffect

Wehave4andahalfdaysleftofteaching Thepeak-endrulemeansweareprivyto thepotentialend-of-termpitfalls:frosty weatherconditionsdisruptedroutinesdue tocovergrumpycolleagues

Thisweekthen,letusadverselyinfluence thepeak-endrulewithwhatwedobest:we willcontinuetoperfectourpracticeand teach,righttotheveryendWhateverthe weatherandwhateverthescore

Watchthe videohere:

MILOOFCROTON INTHECLASSROOM MILOOFCROTON INTHECLASSROOM

MilowasafamousathleteinancientGreece He wasknownforhisstrengthandmultiplewinsin Olympicwrestling

He would train for the Olympics by carrying a newborn calf on his back every day until the arrivaloftheOlympicgames Bythatpoint,he wouldbecarryinga4yearoldoxonhisback As thecalfgrew,sotoodidhismusclesandstrength

Asweenteranewtermandanewyear,hereare3 quicklessonswecanlearnfromMilo’sstory:

But persevere we must Avoid becoming disillusionedwhenyoureffortswithaclassdonot appear to be working. This ‘valley of disappointment’isthedipbeforethewinifonly youwillpersevereinyourefforts.

Milo didn’t stop carrying the calf when people laughedathim,orwhenhegottired.Milotrained consistently Every day, he would hoist the calf ontohisshouldersandgoabouthisday.Hehad committedtothatgoalandhesawitthrough

Well,itkilledMilo Legendhasit,onedayhe wantedtoseeifhecouldsplitawoodenstump withhisbarehandsWhenhetried,hegotstuck andwasdevouredbyhungrywolves.

Thoseofuswhohavebeenteachingforyearsare understandablyconfidentinourcraft Butwe don’twanttoget‘stuck’likeMilo.

Milodidn’trunbeforehecouldwalk Hewould neverhavebeenabletocarryacowatthestartof histraining Hestartedsmallandgotthatright

Asyouprepareforthefirstlessonsbackthisweek, expect rusty routines and plan for them Front load each of your lessons and your subsequent instructionswithclearexpectationsformeansof participation.

In the classroom, behaviour is a basic but absolutelyfundamentalantecedenttolearning.If behaviourforlearningisnotoptimisedfromthe beginning, you can expect a sure decline in everythingelse Puteverythingintoperfectingthe seemingly‘small’stuffinthebeginning.Bagthe basics

Asteachers,achievingconsistencyinourpractice isprobablyoneofthehardestthingstodo The innumerablevariablesthatimpacttheconsistency of our practice means our efforts to achieve consistencyarechallenged.Consistently.

Forexample,ifsomestudentsinyourclassalways shout out when you cold call, despite your reminders and warnings, giving up aiming to achieveaconsistentformatforcoldcallingwill impactthemajorityofthestudentsinyourclass andultimately,learningovertime

JamesClearsays, 'Behumbleaboutwhatyouknow,but confidentaboutwhatyoucanlearn.' WhathappenedtoMilo’sox?Ihearyouask' WhenMilocouldnolongerlifthisox,hekilled it,roasteditandateitHemovedontonewer waystoimprovehimself

IwillnotextendthismetaphoranymorebutI hopeyouunderstandtheessenceofthispostA new term and new year means new opportunities to improve and have an even greaterimpactonourstudents Startsmall, persevereandalwaysbereadytolearn

1 Bag the basics

2 Persevere

3 overconfidence kills

'TILTING'VERSUS TEACHINGTOTHETOP

Theterm‘tilt’isapokertermforletting emotionsaffectourobjectivityWhena pokerplayer‘tilts’,itmeanstheyhave allowedtheiremotionstotakeoverand theysubsequentlymakebaddecisions inthegame

Thetermcamefromthetiltfeaturethat oldpinballmachinespossessedPlayers wouldshakethemachinetokeepthe ballrollingbutcouldonlydoitacertain amount Iftheybecamefrustratedand shookittoomuch,themachinewould gointo‘tilt’whichmeantitwouldshut down

In her book ‘Thinking in Bets’, Annie Dukeexploreswaystoremainobjective inthefaceofemotionsthatmightaffect smartdecisionmaking Sheencourages usto‘thinkinbets’:

Begin with a foundation of well informedbeliefs

Learnfrompastoutcomes

Findagroupofpeoplewhocanhelp stop you from slipping into ineffectivehabits

1Wellinformedbeliefs

Dukearguesourdecisionsaredrivenby beliefs Sometimes these beliefs are based on direct experiences, for example, deciding never to get takeawayfromthatrestaurantyouonce gotfoodpoisoningfrom,orbeliefscan be based on evidence, for example, checkingthefoodhygieneratingofa foodestablishmentDukesaysmakinga habitofinterrogatingyourbeliefs,to checkitiswellinformed,isessentialto effectivedecisionmaking

Eventhen,ourbeliefscanstick,despite beingdebunkedThisisbecauseourold beliefs can influence how we receive new information and we end up intensifyingoldbeliefs Inpsychology thisiscalled‘motivatedreasoning’Itis the reason why many edu-myths like ‘learningstyles’remainpervasivetothis day and every few years, a new educational fad comes along which becomesalltherage

Aninterestingdevelopmentoflateis the much talked about ChatGPT, a chatbot designed to provide informationinaconversationalmanner (orevenrapform ) Thereismuchtalk aboutitscapacityforgreatnessinour field

2OutcomesandObjectivity

Thisweek,manyofourschoolsreceive theirsecondsetofinterimdata.Year11 studentswillreceivetheirmockexam grades.Year11teacherswillreceivethe projectedoutcomesoftheirclasses. Emotionsmayrunhigh.

Howdoweavoid‘tilt’andremainwell informed?

Duketeachesustheendgoalisn’tmore importantthantheprocess.Weshould focusonthebestbetsfortheprocess.

AtCommunitySchoolsTrust(CST),our bestbetsareourevidenceinformed instructionalpractices:

a)Teachtothetop:explicitlyreference assessmentthresholdstandards

Prepareyourcurriculumandlessons withyourhighestabilitylearnersin mindandscaffoldappropriately.In doingthis,youwillcaptureallabilities andkeepyourexpectationshigh.

Butwemustn’tassumedoingthisis enough.Ourstudentswon’tknowwhat ‘thetop’isunlessweexplicitlypointthis outtothem.Deliberatelyreferencing assessmentthresholdstandardsmeans thatnotonlyarewemakingvisibleour expertknowledgeofwhatwillmakeour studentssuccessfulinoursubject,but itequipsthemwiththeknowledgeto regulatetheirownlearningwithoutus.

Inourlatest‘SpottheSpinach’training video,DeputyCEO,ShofiquezZaman, capturesoursuperbMathsteacherand AssociateRegionalDirectorHanaAslam demonstratingexactlythisat1:10: somethinglikegeometricsequencesisa bogstandardgrade7topicbutnowwe arepushingittoagrade9,wherewe areinvolvingthingslikealgebra…

WatchHanahere:

b)Doitinsmallsteps

In‘Theartofmodelling it’sallinthe handover’, Tom Sherrington refers to thisasan‘extendedhandover’:

‘thelearninghappensintheextended handoverwiththeteachercarefully managingthecognitiveloadandreducing scaffoldingslowly,stepbystep’

Hanademonstratesthisperfectlyat

1:22:Iwillshowyoustepbystepwhere thegradingsareandwhatkindofskills areembeddedtomakeitagrade9

Atthispoint,Hanamodelsthe‘Ido’ stageofthefirststepintheprocess, pausestocheckfortheunderstanding andexplicitlyreferencesthegradethat stepwouldachieve

At2:04,beforemovingontothenext step,Hanagetsherclasstosolvethe problemexploredinthefirststepShe

Hanademonstratesthisperfectlyat 1:22:Iwillshowyoustepbystepwhere thegradingsareandwhatkindofskills areembeddedtomakeitagrade9

Atthispoint,Hanamodelsthe‘Ido’ stageofthefirststepintheprocess, pausestocheckfortheunderstanding andexplicitlyreferencesthegradethat stepwouldachieve

At2:04,beforemovingontothenext step,Hanagetsherclasstosolvethe problemexploredinthefirststepShe usesthisopportunitynotonlytocheck forunderstandingbutgatherdatato informhernextstepsinthelessonIt’sa goodthingtoobecausesheisableto addressahighfrequencyerrorshe noticesfromcirculatingtheclass

c)Linktopreviouslearning

‘Thetransferofknowledgeorskillstoa novelproblemrequiresbothknowledgeof theproblem’scontextandadeep understandingoftheproblem’sunderlying structure’

‘TheScienceofLearning’,DeansforImpact AccordingtotheDeansforImpact report,onepracticalimplicationforthe classroom is that teaching should activateandlinktopriorlearning

Ahighfrequencyerrorthatwemakeas teachersisassumingstudentswillmake thoseconnections AtCST,wehave designedwell-sequencedcurriculums wherewehavecarefullyconsideredthe priorknowledgeneededtomasternew ideasWemustdeliberatelyreference theseinourteachingandmakethose connectionsvisibletoourstudents

At2:58Hanadoesexactlythis:there’s anothergrade8topicthatwehave covered…equationsofexponential functionsHanaproceedstoallow ‘thinkingtime’anduses‘turnandtalk’ togetherstudentstomakethoseall importantconnectionsintheirlearning, beforecoldcallingfortheanswer.

3Thegroupvalueofeffective habitcreation

Dukesayswhenyou‘thinkinbets’you will‘understandthevalueinhavinga groupoflike-mindedindividuals whosesupportanddissentcanhelp youvetyourdecisions’.

AtCST,wedrawoneachotherfor suchsupportinvariousways:

weintellectuallyprepareforour lessonstogetherindepartment meetings wemoderateourpapersto increaseaccuracyandobjectivity

welivecoacheachotherto‘get better,faster’ weconstantlysharegoodpractice

This week then, as we prepare to speak to Year 11 parents, provide mockexamresultsandplaneffective ‘fixit’lessons,thinkabouttheways we avoid the ‘tilt’ and remain well informed: teach to the top using assessmentthresholdstandards,link your teaching to previous learning anddothisinsmallsteps

IleaveyouwithaChatGPTsummary ofthispost,inrapstyleDropabeat:

PPOOR OOR PPROXIES ROXIES FFOR OR LLEARNING EARNING AAND ND WHATTO WHATTO RREPLACE EPLACE TTHEM HEM WITH WITH

AtCommunitySchoolsTrust,we’veworked really hard on establishing consistent routinesacrossourschools Itmeansour studentsareingoodhabitsofenteringand exiting our classrooms quickly, being engagedinlessonsandproducinglotsof work.

When visiting each other in lessons, generally, I know you will notice the followingthings:

Studentsarebusy:lotsofworkisdone (especiallywrittenwork)

Studentsareengaged,interested, motivated

Studentsaregettingattention: feedback,explanations

Classroomisordered,calm,under control

Curriculumhasbeen‘covered’(ie presentedtostudentsinsomeform) (Atleastsome)studentshavesupplied correctanswers

ForthoseofyouwhohavereadProfessor Coe’s‘WhatMakesGreatTeaching,youwill recognisetheabovelistaswhatheargued tobe‘poorproxiesforlearning’ Coeargues thattheseexamplesareeasilyobserved–in fact,manyofyoumaylookforthesethings whenyoudropintoacolleague’slesson–butaccordingtoCoe,theyarenotreally aboutlearning

3

4.

5.

6

Poorproxiesforlearning

Theyareallrelatedtolearningbutthey’re not learning. Sure, lots of writing might mean students are learning – but not if whattheyhavewrittenisnotreflectiveof theirability

InOfsted’slatestScienceresearchreview, thisverythingwasakeyfinding:

‘Insomeschools,therewasanoverrelianceonpupilscatchingupwhenthe contentwasrepeatedlaterinthe curriculum,ratherthanensuringitwas learnedfirsttime.Oftenthishappened whenteacherswereexpectedtoteachtoo muchcontentinashorttimeThiswas morecommoninsecondaryschools’

(Finding the optimum: the science subject report, Ofsted science research review, Feb 2023)

Ofstedtellsusourstudentsshouldknowmore andremembermore.Swelleretal.2011says ‘‘Ifnothinghasalteredinlong-termmemory, nothing has been learned’ and Daniel Willingham tells us we remember what we thinkabout.

That’sallwellandgoodbuttheproblem is, learningisinvisible.Itisnowonderwhywe gravitate towards those observable but poor proxiesforlearning.

Betterproxiesforlearning

Coeargues,tocombatthesepoorproxies,we needtomakeourstudentsthinkhard Tomake thismoretangible,weneedtoaskourselvesthe question: ‘where in this lesson will students havetothinkhard?’

There are numerous ways to make students thinkhardbuthereare3highleverageones (thatwethinkwedowell,butprobablydon’tdo consistentlywell):

1Checkforunderstanding

Decideonthe‘learningmilestones’inyour lesson

Planinacheckingforunderstanding(CFU) questiontoascertainiftheyhavereached thislearningmilestone

PlanhowyouwillCFU.Itcouldbeawhole classresponsesystemliketheuseofmini whiteboards,followedbyColdCall.

2ColdCallproperly

Increase Ratio by asking a well worded questionfirst,allowingthinkingtimebefore pickingastudent

Pickingastudentfirstandthenaskinga questionwillmaketherestofyourclass clockout Ratiowillplummet

Standardise the format so your students expecttheroutineofquestion–pause–pickastudent

3Pitchtothetop

Planyourlessonssothattheyareaimedat your highest ability learner and scaffold down

Teachthecontentinsmallsteps,pointout theassessmentthresholdstandardsasyou goandcheckforunderstandingaftereach step

Makeexplicitlinkstopriorlearningasyou explain

In fact, this was one of the ‘pedagogy and assessment’recommendationsfromthescience researchreviewfromOfstedthatappliestoall subjects:

‘Ensure that, during explanations, teachers regularlyconnectnewlearningtowhatpupils have already learned. This includes showing pupilshowknowledgefromdifferentareasof thecurriculumconnects.’

This week then, when you are intellectually preparingforyourlessons,planintheabove3 strategiestomakeyourstudentsthinkhard

Dothisexercisewithme:thinkbacktoyourlastlesson(orinyournextlesson), tickofftheitemsinthefollowinglistofdisruptions

By‘disruption’Imeananythingthatwillinterruptthelearningofastudent,inthat periodoftime

ROUTINES: ROUTINES:

lessons

InKraft&Monti-Nussbaum’s(2020)studyonclassroomdisruptions,they foundthatexternaldisruptionswerearegularfeatureoftheschooldayThe followingexcerptfromthisarticleexplainingthestudy,gotmethinking:

‘Teachers’estimatesoftimelost[were]atalmostsixandhalfminutesperhour Scalingtheseestimatesby55hoursperdayand180schooldaysperyear suggeststhatstudentslosebetween10to20daysofinstructionaltimeoverthe courseoftheyearThisisenoughtimetocategoriseeverystudentinthe districtastruantorevenchronicallyabsentallwhiletheyareinschool’(The HiddenCostofClassroomInterruptions)

Lastyear,ProfessorRobCoe’sSchoolEnvironment&Leadership:Evidence Reviewidentifiedsimilarfindings:‘Regularbutsmallinterruptionstolessons willhaveacumulativedisruptiveeffectonlearning’

DisruptionscancomeintheformofanynumberofthingsTheabove,ofcourse,is notanexhaustivelist

Beforeithappens…

Youwillbeawareoftheplethora ofroutinesavailableatour fingertipsthatensurenoseconds arewastedIamfocusingonthe followingtwointoday’spost:

Countdown:wecountdown from10whenstudentsenter theclassroom,toensurethey settlequicklyandbeginthe learning

Checkingforunderstanding: wecoldcallwhenwecheckfor understandingtomakesureall studentsarethinkinghard

Effectiveentryintotheclassroom andeffectivecoldcallingwillmean anynumberofofftaskbehaviours areavoided

They are key examples of behavioural and instructional practicesthatwehaveworked hardtomovefrommereactivities toroutines

Inordertoturnanactivityintoa routine,ourdirectionsmustbe simple,clear-cutandstepped (PepsMcrea)

Theyalsomustberepeatedand retaughtexplicitlyandregularly Particularlyafterbreakslikehalf termsandotherholidays–our studentsarelikelytoberustyin theirpracticeandasteachers,we aretoo!

Takestockthen:howroutineare thesepracticesforyou?Howoften doyourstudentscallout,talkback orareslowtostartatask?How simple,clear-cutandsteppedare yourroutines?

Whenithappens…

AtCommunitySchoolsTrust(CST),wehavemadeanumberofeffortstonot wasteanysecondsinlearningHowwelldoyouenforcetheminyourlessons?

…haveacueavailabletogetthembackontrackquickly. Somedisruption,eveninthebestofclassrooms,areinevitable.Sowe mustbepreparedtoreducethetimelostfromthesefewdistractions asmuchaswecan.

Inthisstudy,AltmannandTraftonfoundthatcue-availability reducedthe‘resumptionlag’(thetimetakentogetbackontrack) comparedtothoseinthestudywhodidnothavecues. Thebestroutineshaveanestablishedcue–somethingthattriggers anautomatedresponse.

Whenweseeagreentrafficlightwhendriving,wegointofirstgear, wecheckourmirrors,wemoveoffofbitingpointandaccelerate. Thereisanincredibleamountofthinkingthatliesbehindthese actions(asanylearnerdriverwillattestto)butanexperienced driverhasautomatedtheseactionshavingdonethemsomanytimes. Inyourclassroom,whatarethecuesthatwillgetyourstudentsback ontrackquickly?

1.Countdown:ifsomethingaffectsstudents’entryintothe classroom,(forexample,anargumentwithafriendatbreak,aclash withapreviousteacher,cominginslightlylaterthanothers),thecue togetbackontrackwouldbethecountdown.Suddenlythere’sno timetothinkaboutanyofthatstuffthatwilllikelyaffectthelearning inthatlesson;studentsgetintolearningmode:quicklywalkingin, bagscomingoff,equipmentout.

2.Checkingforunderstanding:whenastudenthearsateacherask aquestion,thecuecouldbethesilentthinkingtimeortheteacher ‘beingseenlooking’.Theyknowtheirteachercouldpickanyonein thatclass,includingthem,sotheymustthinkaboutwhattheanswer couldbe.

Whenroutinesaresuccessfullysetup,itfreesupthementalcapacity oftheteacherandthestudents.Bothpartiesgettofocusonthegood stuff–actuallearning!If,however,thereisalapseinestablishing routines(forexample,wedon’tbothertocountdownatthestartof thelessonorwepickastudentbeforeweaskaquestionandallow thinkingtime),ourpoorlyexecutedroutinescandotheopposite–increasecognitiveloadandtimelostinlessons(Leinhardtetal, 1987).

Reducetheresumptionlagafteranydisruptionwithcueavailability. Thebestroutineshavethem.

Afterithappens…

leanintoyourexistingsystems

Whenastudentdoessomethinggreat,wehave asystemtoissuemeritsandGoldenTicketsIt increasesthelikelihoodofthedesired behavioursandenhancesthelearningtime

Whenastudentdoessomethingthatdisrupts learning,wehaveasystemtopreventitfrom happeningagainUseitWeuseitbecausewe areallowingourstudentstheopportunityto succeedthenexttimeWitha‘reminder’and ‘warning’system,ourstudentshave2separate opportunitiestosucceed(learn)

1Countdown:10,comeinquicklyplease,bags off9,equipmentoutandlet’sseewhostarts thatfirsttaskontheboard8,welldonetothe backtable–Icanseepensinhandsalready7, Sally,that’syourreminder,youshouldn’tbe chatting,beginthattask,welldoneBobby8, ThankyouSally,thankyouAhmed7

2. Checking for understanding: Omer,you knowwedon’tcalloutinthisclass,that’sa reminder–Iknowyouwon’tdoitagain–all thinkingpleasewhatisthepurposeof

ReducethelikelihoodofrecurrenceEverytime aroutineisdisrupted,lessontimeislostUse oursystemstoestablishthoseroutinesand maximiselearningtimeRemember,weenforce rulesbecausewecareandwhenwedoso,we reducethecumulativeimpactofdisruptionsto learninginthatlessonandovertime

Effectiveroutinesactasadeterrentto disruptedlearningbeforeithappens

Thebestroutineshavecues,whichallows studentstogetbackontrackquicklywhen learningisdisrupted

Reducetherecurrenceofdisruptedroutines withtheconsistentenforcementofsystems

THE golemeffect

Originating in Jewish folklore, the word ‘Golem’translatesto‘stupid’or‘clumsy’

In a study by Babad, Inbar and Rosenthal (1982),teacherswereclassedashavinghighbiasorlow-biasbasedonhowtheyscored students As with the Pygmalion effect, teacher expectations produce the self fulfillingprophecyinstudentperformance, butunlikeinthePygmalioneffectwherethis resultedinhighperformancebasedonhigh expectations,intheGolemeffect,thismeant poorer performance based on low expectations:

“with low-expectancy students of high-bias teachersreceivingamorenegativetreatment and performing less well than any of their peers” (Babad,ElishaYetal,1982)

Interestingly, ‘the strongest and most consistent Golem effects were observed for behaviouralmanifestationsofdogmatism’–thisincludedbeinginflexible,unfairandless opentowardsthem

Significantly,thesestudentsperformedupto 23%worseintasks,comparedtotheirpeers whohadbeengivenhighexpectations

Itisunlikelythoseteachersinthestudywere intentionally dogmatic towards their students but their subsequent behaviours indicated biases they probably would not haveoriginallyadmittedto

Ourbiasescanstemfromacomplexnumber ofthings(herearesomeexamples)andwe shouldconsiderhowtomitigatetheminour ownpractices

TheimplicationsoftheGolemeffectarevast forourstudents–notonlyfortheirgrades, butwellbeyondtheirschoolyears

Consider the following scenarios of this fictionalstudent,‘Abdi’:

AbdiisinYear9 Heiswellknownforhis disruptivebehaviouraroundtheschool Abdi is often sent out of classes because he is disruptiveAbdilikestotakethelongrouteto lessons; he is boisterous during lesson changeoverandcanbecomeconfrontational whenchallengedbyteachers

Despite Abdi’s disregard for rules and challengingbehaviour,Abdistilldeservesour unwaveringhighexpectations Theriskwith studentslikeAbdiisformingbiasesweare not necessarily conscious of and this colouring our behaviour toward them This canmanifestinlanguagelike, Abdi, why am I seeing you in the corridor AGAIN?

…asopposedto,

GoodmorningAbdi,whichroomisyournext lessonin?Inthatcase,thisisthequickest routetoit–welldone/let’sgotogether/I’ll seeyouthere/(withasmile)don’tletmesee youagain!

Or

(Publically)You’retalkingagainAbdi,that’s yourreminder! asopposedto,

(Privately;squatandlowvoice)Ihavetogive youthatreminderbecauseyouweretalking, AbdibutI’mgoingtocomebacktoyouin2 minutesandmarkyourwork–Ithinkyou’ll dowellonthisone Thankyouforstarting straightaway

Onemore:

(Atthreshold)GoodmorningAbdi,Ihopewe won’thavearepeatoflastlesson,inyougo asopposedto,

(Atthreshold)GoodmorningAbdi!Looking forward to seeing brilliant work from you today(withasmile)

IpreviouslywroteabouttheTetriseffect–when people devote so much time and attention to an activity that it begins to pattern their thoughts and mental images WithastudentlikeAbdi,wemaywellhaveto devote a lot of time and attention to reinforcingourexpectations–andwemust notlowerthoseexpectations–butwealso mustnotlettheseencounters‘pattern’our thoughtsandmentalimagesForwhenwedo, westepintotheslipperyslopeoftheGolem effect

Thetransformationofteacherexpectations into student academic performance works through4factors,accordingtoRosenthaland Jacobson(PygmalionintheClassroom): Forthestudentstheyhavehighexpectations of

Climate:teacherscreateawarmerclimate forthosestudents

Input: teachers teach more material to thosestudents

Responseopportunity:teachersprovide more response opportunities to those studentsandhelpthemshapetheanswer Feedback:teacherspraisethosestudents andprovidethemwithmoredetailedand constructive feedback when they get theiranswerwrong

Ifyouknowastudentlike‘Abdi’,here’sa reminderofthestrategiesatyourdisposalto reversetheGolemeffect:

Continuedonpage20

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4.

COMBATTINGLOw

1Climate:teacherscreateawarmer climateforthosestudents

Threshold: greet them warmly as they enter your classroom Your words and behaviour towards them must make it obviousthattheyenteronacleanslate today;itisanewopportunitytodowellin yourlesson Whatmightthatlooklike?It couldbeasmile,aknowingnod,atrivial comment about the football – anything thattellsthestudenttherearenohard feelings,justincasetheythinkthereare (andoftentheydo!)

Leastinvasivestrategies:thereareawhole host of these in Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion(TLAC) Thesearestrategiesto replacethemoreinvasivestrategieslike,I toldyoutostoptalkingAbdi!Detentionfor you! Instead we should pre empt likely non compliance from a student and act accordingly:

HABITS // June 2023

an ‘ anonymous public correction’: I’mjustwaitingfor2peopletoget backintoSLANT thankyou’ aprivatecorrection:I’veaskedfor thistasktobeinsilencesoIhaveto giveyoua‘reminder’butIknowyou won’tdoitagain,thankyou

@CST London

close proximity and a subtle hand gesturetogetthemlisteningasyou instruct

Reset:ifyouhavehadtosendastudent out, speak to them before your next lessonwiththem Dependingontheir circumstance,thiscouldbealone,with your head of department, with their parent/careroracombinationofthese Importantly, this does not mean indulging in excuses for their poor behaviour You maintain your expectationsbutmakeitclearyoucare abouttheirlearningandwantthemto succeedinyourclassroomMakeitclear youenforcerulesbecauseyoucareand thenextlessonisacleanslateforthem

2Input:teachersteachmore materialtothosestudents

Makeabeelinetothem:strategicallytargetthemtoreceiveyourfeedbackearlyinthe independentpracticephaseofyourlesson

Securesuccessearly:returntothemsoontoprovidefeedbackand‘securesuccess’ early Yourpersonalfeedbackisapowerfulindicatortoshowthattheirteachercares abouttheirlearning

Update DPR: sometimes our negative encounters with these students affect our assessmentoftheirlearning DPRallowsustostayaccurateinthemoment Makea pointto–nottooobviously(butobviouslyenoughforthemandpeerstonotice)–update their DPR if you see they have shown progress in the lesson Don’t underestimatethepowerofseeingthemselvesmoveuponthatDPRdashboard!

3Responseopportunity:teachersprovide moreresponseopportunitiestothose studentsandhelpthemshapetheanswer.

Warmcall:whenyoulivemarktheirwork,letthemknowyouwillbecallingonthem tosharetheirresponse Yourfeedbackintheirbookmeanstheywillbeconfidentto shareandarelikelytoliveuptoyourexpectations

Coldcall:usephraseslike‘startusoffplease,Abdi’indicatingitdoesn’thavetobe perfectbuttheyareapartoftheclass’scollectiveefforttoshareresponses The mistakewecanmakeisavoiding‘trouble’studentsforfeartheywilloptoutand confrontationwillensue Whendoneright,coldcallingcreatesaclimateof‘loving accountability’(TLAC)

Scaffold:itsoundsobviousbutwhenweareconsumedbytheTetriseffect,wemay notrealisethesupportwearenotofferingtothatstudent Itcouldbepromptwords, sentencestemsorpartiallyworkedexamples–yourresponsetotheirneedswill‘help themshapetheanswer’.

4Feedback:teacherspraisethosestudentsandprovide themwithmoredetailedandconstructivefeedbackwhen theygettheiranswerwrong.

Praisetheaction,nottheperson:insincerepraiseoroverpraiseisobvioustostudents, including the one receiving it Instead, praise the action, not the person You’ve completedall20questionstoday,I’mproudofyouYou’rereadyforthatchallengetask now–I’mlookingforwardtomarkingit!

Intentionalmarking:whenwelivemark,itisintentional Welookforcommonerrors ormisconceptionsanditmeansourstudentscanrespondimmediatelytoourfeedback andmoveforwardintheirlearningLemovreferstothisas‘activeobservation’inTLAC 30 but specifically places importance on knowing what you ’ re looking for and ‘tracking’it–makingquicknotes–inordertoinformyourwholeclassteaching Feedbackto‘movethelearningforward’(EEF):commentslike‘nexttime,writemore’ or‘togetagrade7,youneedtocompletethework’arelonggone(Ihope) Wemust makesureourfeedbackismeaningful:actionbasedandstandardsalignedfeedback willensurestudentslikeAbdicanmoveforwardintheirlearning.Forexample:

inEnglish,wemightaskthestudenttore-draftafewlines:‘Rewritethissectionto includetriplestodescribethegraveyard’ inMaths,wemightprovideapartiallyworkedexampleandinstructthestudentto completeit:‘showyourworkingonthisgrade7example’ actionbasedfeedbackcanalsoworkwellwhenposedasaquestion:‘Whatwider beliefscouldyoulinkthiscommentto?’

wexpectations

REFLECTINGON THEgOLEMEFFECT

Thinkofastudentwhoyouhavehadtosanctiona numberoftimesthisterm Isthereaslightchance thatyoucancomeacrossas‘dogmatic’whenyou speaktothem,nomatterhowunintended?Consider thethingsyoufindyourselfsayingtothemCouldit bephraseddifferently?Areyourinteractionswith themrootedintheirlearning?

TheonlywaytocombattheGolemeffectistotap intothePygmalioneffect.Havehighexpectationsof allyourstudents,equallyand let your behaviours indicateassuch

To mitigate for unconscious behaviours that lowers our expectations,sticktothese4factorstotransformyourhigh expectationstostudentacademicperformance:

Climate:createawarmerclimateforallyourstudents

Input:teachmorematerialtoallyourstudents Response opportunity: provide more response opportunitiestoallyourstudentsandhelpthemshape theanswer

Feedback:praiseallyourstudentsandprovidethemwith moredetailedandconstructivefeedbackwhentheyget theiranswerwrong

Habits are notoriously hard to change This Ramadan,Ipledgedtogiveupcaffeine It’sthe perfecttimetokickstartahealthierhabit,Itold myselfandanyway,there’sbarelyanytimeto downahotcupoftea5minutesbefore5am

5daysin,despiteeveryopportunitytochange, caffeinestillcoursesthroughmyveins

It’snotjustmethough Whenpatients,whohad coronary-artery bypass grafting were told to improvetheirlifestylesorelsetheywilldie,when revisitedtwoyearslater,90%ofthemhadnot changedtheirlifestyleItturnsout,evenwhenour livesdependonit,wecan’tchangeourhabits (Deutschman)

Soifwecan’tdoitwhenourlivesdependonit, whatarethechancesofchangeintheclassroom?

Beforewedespair,thereappearstobesomehope

In1993,DrDeanOrnish,aprofessorofmedicine, ranatrialof333patientswithseverelyclogged arteriesTheyranaprogrammethathelpedthem quitsmokingandgoonanOrnishdiet(atypeof vegetarian diet); the programme consisted of workshops,meditation,yogaandexercise3years later,77%ofthepatientshadstucktotheirlifestyle changes

Sohowdidhedoit?

Useframesnotfacts

It’snousetosay,doitoryou’lldieFearcanwork intheshorttermbutoldhabitscreepinandwe revertbacktowhat’scomfortableveryquickly

DrOrnishreframedtheirreasonforchanging Fromfearofdying,tothejoyoflivingInsteadof ifyoudon’teatbetter,youwilldie,itwas,ifyou eatbetter,youwillenjoythepleasuresofeveryday living Theprospectofenjoyinglivingbecamea muchmorepowerfulmotivatorforhabitchange Hewasabletoreframetheirthinkingwithavision thatwas:

simpleandeasytoidentifywith

emotionallyresonant evocativeofpositiveexperiences

–itwasthisthatappearedtohaveworkedfor betterhabitchange

GeorgeLakoff,aprofessorofcognitivescience andlinguistics,definesframesasthe“mental structuresthatshapethewayweseetheworld”

Hesays,

“neurosciencetellsusthateachofthe conceptswehavethelong-termconcepts thatstructurehowwethinkisinstantiatedin thesynapsesofthebrain’’

Sowhenwearepresentedwithfacts,wewillmake senseofthemwithinthementalstructures,or frames,thatwehaveAsaresult,wecanendup takingafactandinterpretingitinawaythatfits our ‘mentalstructure’orrejectitaltogether

Forexample,tosomepeople,theacronym SLANT(whichatCST,standsfor‘situpstraight’, ‘listencarefully’,‘askandanswerquestions’,‘never interrupt’and‘trackthespeaker’)willconjureup imagesofroboticchildrenlisteningtoteachers whoarerestrictingtheirfreedomsToothers, SLANTisamethodweusecollectivelytopromote crucial‘habitsofattention’whichweknowthey willcarrywiththemintotheworldofworkAside frommaximisinglearningtimeintheirlessons, weknowthattheseskillslinktoimportant prosocialbehavioursthat,accordingtoDoug Lemov,actasleverstopromoteintellectualrisk takinginclassrooms

‘It’sengineeringclassroomssotheyareloving, supportiveandfullyintellectual.’

SchoolsWeek

Oneframesuggestsrestrictionoffreedomswhilst theothersuggeststhefreeingofintellectual curiosityintheclassroom

Thelatterframingissimpleandeasytoidentify with,emotionallyresonantandevocativeof positiveexperiences–andtherefore,worth investingtimeinexplainingtoourstudentsYes, it’safactthatSLANTensurestheypayattention touswhenweaddressthem,butitismuch

moremotivatingtounderstandthattheirteacher caresaboutthembuildingcrucialhabitsthatwill make them more confident, respectful and intellectual,intheirlessonsandbeyond

So next time we insist on SLANT in our classrooms,dropinthereasonsforwhyweuseit Dothisoften

Leverageyourcontextualcues

PerhapsanotherreasontheOrnishpatientsdid betterthanthepatientsofcoronaryarterybypass grafting was that they were involved in a programme–orasystem–thatsupportedtheir habit change We know that as behaviour is repeated in the same context, the control of behaviourgraduallyshiftsfrombeinginternally guided(beliefs,attitudesandintention)tobeing triggeredbysituationalorcontextualcues(Nilsen etal,2012)

Theirprogrammemeantthefollowinghappened:

Repeated‘why’:theprogrammeensuredthey hadrepeatedremindersandpositiveframing ofthereasonsfortheirchange

Practice: they repeated opportunities to practisetheirdietchange

Socialleverage:therewasagroupofthem, doingittogether Repeated‘why’:asteachers,wehaveregular opportunitiestounderstandthe‘why’behind our craft in our regular whole school and departmentCPDsessions

Luckily,atCST,wealsoworkwithinasystem which enables contextual cues to support us forgingbetterhabits:

Practice:we‘rehearse’inourteamsandwe practiseinourclassrooms

Socialleverage:ourdeliberatepracticesessions andourdepartmentalCPDsessionsallhappen withourteams;we’reallstrivingtobetterour practicetogetherandwehaveeachotherto lean on and account in our pursuit to ‘get better,faster’

Ourstudentsalsoworkwithinasystemthatwill supporthabitchange:

Repeated‘why’:everylessonisanopportunity toarticulatethe‘why’behindtheimportant habitformingroutineswedeploy Practice:andsowemustdeploythem Every lessonisanopportunitytoputourintentions intoaction;theyarethecontextualcuesthat willallowustointerruptpoorhabitsandforge betterhabitstosetourstudentsupforsuccess withinandbeyondourclassrooms Socialleverage:peerinfluenceispowerfuland theclassroomcultureswecreatewillleverage learningbeyondmostotherthingswetry So wemustdeliberatelyforgepositiveclassroom cultures–oneswheretherightbehavioursfor learningaredeemedasnormalamongpeers andthereforedesirable

Tosumup: 1 2 3

Habitsareveryhardtochange,evenwhenour lifeisontheline!

Factsthatareframedinasimple,positiveand emotionally resonant way can help change habits

Engineer environments to provide the contextualcuestosupportyourdesiredhabit change

AsIintellectuallyprepareformynextlessonthis evening,sippingonmycupoftea,Iwillfactorin the opportunities to reinforce crucial habit forming routines in the classroom, reminding myselftoarticulatethe‘why’andprovideclear instructionsforthe‘how’forperfectpractice

Ifwealldidthisthisweek,imaginethepowerof collectivelyframingourbehaviouralroutinesina simple,positiveandemotionallyresonantway?

Getbackontrack. Getbackontrack.

Formanyofus,routineshavegoneright downthedrainthisholiday

A combination of late nights (or all nightersforsomeobservingRamadan!) and late mornings, dodgy diets and slightlymoretimeonsocialmedia,means gettingbackontrackcomeMondaywill beFELT

Butdon’tfear Eventhemostsuccessful people slip up What makes them successfulistheirabilitytogetbackon track

Blearyeyedandsleepdeprived,before we know it, we will be back in the classroom again And those crucial routinesweworkedsohardtoestablish beforethebreakwillneedsomeserious oiling Because,restassured,ifyouare feelingabitrusty,yourstudentswillbe evenmoreso

Butanewtermmeansnewopportunities, tobeevenbetterthanthelastterm!

Whataspectofyourteachingcouldyou really master this term? Which behavioural or instructional routine do youwanttonailinthenext6weeks?

Whetheritisgettingbacktobasics,live markingorsomethingelse,hereare3 waystogetyoubackontrack:

1ImplementationIntention

An‘implementationintention’isallabout howyouintendtoimplementaparticular habitbyleveragingtimeandlocation

Forexample,ifmygoalistoachievea quickandsmoothentryintolessonwith

my year 10 class, my implementation intentionmightbe:Iwillcountdownfrom 10andnarratethepositivewhenmyYear 10sentertheclassonTuesday,period5 Here,Ihavepickedaconcretestrategyto achievemygoal(thecountdown)andI havepeggedittoa‘timeandlocation’

Whatisyourteachingandlearninggoal thisterm?Constructanimplementation intentiontomakeyourgoalareality

2Socialleverage

Afewyearsago,Iboastedtoanyonewho wouldlistenthatIcoulddeadliftmore than my body weight What I didn’t realiseatthetimeofshowingoff,was thatmyhubrishadenteredmeintoan invisiblesocialcontract:becausepeople wouldaskmeaboutit,IfeltlikeIhadto carryonthetraining,eventhoughIhated itwitheveryounceofmybeing

Implementation intentions are smart Makethemsmarterbylettingacolleague know about it – social contracts will compelyoutomeetyourgoals Likeme, you could show off your latest achievementintheclassroom;itwillhelp you to maintain that success Use departmentmeetings,deliberatepractice sessions or intellectual preparation sessions to share your implementation intentionswithpeers

3Committoasystem

Winnersandlosershavethesamegoals Similartotheabilitytogetbackontrack afterasetback,successhingesonyour

abilitytosticktoasystem

Ifwetaketheexamplewe’vebeenusing: weallwanttoachieveasmoothandcalm entryintolessons–that’sthegoal But howweachievethatneedstobemuch moreconcrete–itbecomesoursystemto achievethegoal

Forexample,Iwanttoachieveacalm entrywithmyyear10classby:

countingdownfrom10astheyenter narratingthepositiveastheysettle beingseenlookingasIcountdown Here’sasuperbblogbyAdamBoxer about making goals into concrete actionsteps

In fact, if we forgot about the goal altogetherandjuststucktothesystem, wewouldachievethegoalanyway

Tryittoday Turnyourgoalforthisterm into a system you can commit to by breakingdowntheconcreteactionssteps requiredtoachievethatgoal

Getbackontrack

Giveittillbreaktimeandtheholidaywill beadistantmemory andhopefully,so willthosepoorhabitswestartedtopick up! Return to your best routines this term:decideagoal,tellyourfriendsand systemise

HOWTOBUILDRESILIENCEIN YOURSTUDENTS

Our young people are more resilient than we give them creditfor

Despitethepopularbeliefthatnegativelifeexperiences predictnegativeoutcomes inherbook ‘Resiliency:What We Have Learned’, Bonnie Benard draws on decades of research to highlight the strong association between positivefactorsandpositiveoutcomes

recall from our most recent deliberate practice session Whenateachersharestheworkofastudent under the visualiser with the whole class, it is a moment we can use to not only explicitly highlight goodworkbuterrorstoo;I’veheardphraseslikeI’m so glad you made this mistake; it means we can all learn from it and thank you for allowing us to learn fromthiscommonerror–greatindicatorsforthatall important ‘culture of error’ where learning can take placethrough‘respect,trustandunderstanding’

students Language surrounding it is often negative from the student: ugh I have to do it AGAIN, as opposed to, Miss, I upgraded this part of my response–canyouhavealook?

2Highexpectationmessages

Where this practice is embedded and routine, we hear language from the teacher that is positive and warm: I can’t wait to mark your work, or, I have a feeling these responses are going to be even better today Inclassroomslikethese,wecommunicatethe expectation of challenge, our belief that they can meet that challenge and by proxy, their ‘innate resilience’inbeingabletodoso

Caringrelationships

Highexpectationmessages

Benardsaystheenvironmentplaysanimportantrolein buildingresilienceandcanbeutilisedasa‘positivefactor’ inbuildingresilience Shereferstothe‘protectivefactors’ ofanenvironmentthatsupportyoungpeople’sresponses toresilienceTheseare: 1 2 3

Opportunities for meaningful participation and contribution

IfirstcameacrossBenard’sworkin‘Reconnect’byLemov etalanditmademereflectonjusthowapplicablethese ‘protectivefactors’aretotheclassroom:

1Caringrelationships

‘ conveycompassion,understanding,respect andinterest,aregroundedinlistening,and establishsafetyandbasictrust’

Habitsofattention

Somuchofoursenseofselfisbuiltbasedonhowothers respond to us through a whole host of verbal and non verbalcues:glances,facialexpressions,bodylanguageand soon Thiseffectisevenmorepowerful,peertopeer,inthe classroom Lemovarguesthatwhileteacherrelationships areimportantininstillingconfidenceinastudent,more powerful is peer influence A child who makes a contributioninclassandismetwithsignsofvalidationand respectfromtheirpeers–forexample,obviouslylistening, eyecontact,bodylanguagetoshowinterest–ismuchmore likelytocontributeagain,feelconfidentandcontinueto learn,comparedtoachildwhoseefforttocontributeismet withbodylanguageorcommentsthatsuggesttheirpeers don’tcareaboutwhatthey’vesaid,orworse,derision That childislikelynottocontributeagain,theirconfidenceis knockedandtheirlearningimpacted

AtCommunitySchoolsTrust,wedon’tleavethistochance inourclassrooms ThisiswhyweuseSLANT,adaptedfrom Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion (TLAC), to deliberately teach habits of attention, in order to establish ‘caring relationships’bothpeertopeerandteachertostudent

Cultureoferror

Ifwecancreateanenvironmentwherestudentsare not afraid to take risks with their learning, we know we have achieved a level of the ‘safety and basic trust’thatBenardrefersto AnotherTLACtechnique thathelpsestablishthisis‘showcall’ whichyoumay[1]

‘Theycommunicatenotonlyfirmguidance, structure and challenge, but and most importantly,conveyabeliefintheyouth’s innateresilience’

AtCST,webelievestructureliberates Wehavealotof structures and our biggest challenge is to consistently followthosestructuressothatourstudentsgetafairdeal, which in turn will support the development of their resilience

Instructionalpractice

Forexample,wehaveourexplicitdirectinstruction(EDI) framework–anevidenceinformedpedagogicalstructure thatwebuildourlessonsaround Wehavesetituptoguide anddevelopourteachingpractice:weuseittodevelopour behaviouralroutines,likehowwegaugetheclass’attention, andinstructionalroutines,likehowweaskaquestion

Questioningroutines

Ifwetakethesimpleexampleofcoldcalling,whendone badly, the implications can negatively affect resilience: whenateacheronlypickstheloudeststudentorthemost eager student, they ignore the rest In doing this, they communicateexpectationsforonlysomestudents–the ones they always pick Students who are not picked, whethertheyarepleasedaboutitornot,willbeacutely awareoftheirteacher’stendencytodothisAndworsestill, they are likely to internalise a belief that they are not capable of or even worthy to answer questions in their classroom

Alternatively, we know that the consistent and correct application of cold calling will mean, a (well worded) questionwill‘challenge’ourstudents,thethinkingtimewill letallstudentsknowwebelievetheyareallcapableof answering the question, we expect them to answer the question,and‘mostimportantly,[itwill]conveyabeliefin theyouth’sinnateresilience’

Feedback

Finally,akeyfeatureofourstudents independentpractice intheclassroomisrespondingtoourlivemarking:‘fixit’

When this expectation has not been established and embeddedintoeverylesson,‘fixingit’feelslikeachoreto

3Opportunitiesfor meaningfulparticipationand contribution

Thisparticular‘protectivefactor’fromBenardisone ofmyfavouritethingstoseewhenIvisitlessons

Habitsofdiscussion

TLAC techniques like Turn and Talk and Habits of Discussion deliberately shape the norms of how we talkto each other Too often, students tend to talk ‘past’oneanotherormakeacommentthatdoesnot acknowledge or link to what their peer might have justsaid–oftentheyhaven’tlistenedtoeachother WhiletechniqueslikeTurnandTalkinjectenergyand pace into our lessons, Habits of Discussion connect ourstudentstoeachother;theybuild‘opportunities formeaningfulparticipationandcontribution’

Here’s an example of Ms Hussain from Forest Gate CommunitySchooldoingjustthat:

Finalthoughts

Our students are built of sturdy stuff We need to deliberately build environments to support their responses to resilience Thankfully, we have a suite ofstrategiestodothiswell Ourchallengeistouse these strategies consistently and well so that collectively, we create cohorts of resilient, happy andthrivingyoungpeople

SELFEFFICACY

IcansometimesactlikeIamafraidofpigeons

When one is nearby, I am hyper alert to its movements,Iwillflinchifithobblesnearme and on rare occasions, I have screamed and duckedtoavoidwhatappearstobeamilitary precisionbeak-diveatmyface

WhyamIlikethis?Friendshaveaskedmethis

many a time in the past, embarrassed at witnessingmylatestencounterwithmyflying fiends One explanation might be Bandura’s (1977) theory of self-efficacy: ‘judgements of how well one can execute courses of action requiredtodealwithprospectivesituations’

On a rational level, I understand that most pigeonsIencounterarenotgoingtoattackme/ peckoutmyeyeballs ButbecauseIbelieveIam likelytoexperienceanxietywhenIamneara pigeon, then I am likely to exhibit those behaviours every time a pigeon joins me on Platform10atStratfordstation(seeimage)

GCSEexamseasonhasofficiallybegun Overthe nextfewweeks,wewillbedealingwithawhole bunchofnervesfromourstudents(andtheir teachers!)

Every year, particularly leading up to exam season,Ihearphraseslike:

I’mgonnafailsowhat’sthepointintrying?

I’mrubbishatEnglishandyoucan’trevise foritanyway

Peoplewithlowself-efficacyaremorelikelyto avoid challenges When preparing for exams, studentsoftenavoidrevisingthedifficulttopics andfocusonrevisingthetopicstheyarealready goodat

They are also vulnerable to self-fulfilling propheciesoffailureandlearnedhelplessness (Margolis&McCabe,2006)

If we can make our students feel like their actionscaninfluencetheoutcomeofagiven situation,severalthingscanhappen:

Theywillfeelbetteraboutthemselves

Theywillfeelasenseofpowerandcontrol overwhathappensintheirworld

They won’t float hopelessly from one activitytotheother

In other words, they will act, feel and think differently

This also links to motivation: the drive to performrevolvesaroundwhattheybelieveto be true rather than what may objectively be trueInotherwords,‘thinkingmakesitso’ Sowemustfocusonaligningourthinkingto objectivetruthsratherthananticipated‘truths’ Bandura(1997)proposedfoursourcesofselfefficacy:

1Performanceaccomplishments

Ofthefoursourcesofselfefficacy,thisissaid tobethemostpowerfuldriver Selfefficacy throughmasterywillmeanstudentswillgaina sense of accomplishment and confidence, making them more likely to attempt similar tasksinthefuture

Intheclassroom,wemustallowourstudents toexperiencesuccess,earlyandoften–alever ofmotivationPepsMccreacitesinhisbook ‘MotivatedTeaching’.

PITCH

Todothiswell,pitchappropriately:atasktoo easy will not provide your students with a senseofaccomplishment.Atasktoodifficult willdeteryourstudentsfromevenattempting it.AsBanduraputsit,‘tosucceedateasytasks providesnonewinformationforalteringone’s sense of self-efficacy, whereas mastery of challengingtasksconveyssalientevidenceof enhancedcompetence.’

DEFINESUCCESS

Hesaiditistheinterplayofthesefactorsthat wedevelopsignificantbeliefordisbeliefinour abilities Asteachers,howfarcanweleverage thesefactorstoinfluenceourstudents’sense ofselfefficacy?

Let’s explore these within the context of the classroom:

Make‘accomplishment’morelikelybydefining whatsuccesslookslike:thiscanbeintheform of success criteria, their DPR key objective explained or an annotated model answer. Framesuccessinaconcreteway–don’tleave thisuptoyourstudents.

2Vicariousexperience

Selfefficacycanbeboostedthroughseeing otherssucceed.Banduradiscoveredwhenwe see others succeeding (or failing) in a task, basedonhowsimilarordifferenttheyareto us,wewillassessourlikelihoodtoachieveina similarway.Inotherwords,ifhecandoit,so canI.

SHOWCALL MakethisobviouswithShowCall.ShowCallisa technique from Lemov’s ‘Teach Like a Champion’thatinvolvestakingstudents’work anddisplayingittotheclass.Choosecarefully whose work you show – they should be someonetheirpeerscanseethemselvesin–if shecandoit,socanI.

BESPECIFIC

Avoidvaguefeedbacklike,‘ifyouworkhard, youwillsucceed’.Instead,makeyourfeedback concreteandchunked.Forexample,provide specificstepstosolveanequationor4key headingstodevelopanalysisofaquote.

DPR:CELEBRATESUCCESS

Highlightsuccessthroughmovingstudentsup on their DPR. Not only does it focus on progress(notperformance),itpitchesprogress against defined criteria that is set against individual ability. This emphasis on personal progress and achievement is more effective thanmutualcompetition.

‘thereisnothing eithergoodorbad, butthinkingmakes itso’

3Verbalpersuasion

“ … if people receive realistic encouragement,theywillbemorelikelyto exert greater effort and to become successfulthaniftheyaretroubledbyselfdoubts.”

Wood&Bandura,1989

Banduraclaimsthisfactorismoreeffectiveat ‘raising outcome expectations rather than enhancingselfefficacy’ Itislesseffectiveto saythingslike‘youcandoit!’’and‘breakaleg!’

Insteadofjustsayingtheycandoit,showthem howtodoit:

MODELLING

Usethevisualisertomodelthestepsneeded foraparticulartask Ensureyouhave100% attentionasyounarrateyourthinkingtoshow each step and link these to assessment thresholdstandards–itwillencouragethose allimportantmetacognitiveskills

4Physiologicalstates

Physiologicalstates,or‘emotionalarousal’can impair performance regardless of ability to perform well For example, a student who thrives in classroom discussions crumbles whenitcomestotheirspeakingandlistening exam Itisthefearoftheexperiencerather than the actual experience that impedes performance

Whileitmightseemlikeakindnesstoshieldour students from the things that give them anxiety, what we are inadvertently doing is feedingan‘anticipatedtruth’(examsarescary andIwillfail)ratherthananobjectivetruth(I havetheabilitytodowellinthisexam)

SHEDLOADSOFPRACTICE(SLOP)

Aneffectivewaytoincreaseselfefficacyis throughexposure Don’tavoidthethingyou fearDoit

That’soneofthereasonswhyatCST,year11s have ‘exam skills’ as an extra session after school: they get to practise past paper questionsinexamconditionseveryweekand getsousedtothoseconditionsthatwhenthe realthingdoescomearound,theyknowhowto navigateanyfeelingsassociatedwithexamsAs well as receiving timely feedback and opportunitiestore-drafttheirwork,students have been able to build up a repertoire of strategiestodrawuponinordertohelpthem tosucceed

Inourlessons,wehavetheallimportantSLOP phase–weplaninampletimeforourstudents to apply what we have taught them, in conditionsassimilaraswecanmakeittothe exam Allowing them independent practice (after initial clear instruction, modelling and scaffolding) will ‘strengthen and generalise expectationsofefficacy’(Rosenshine,2010)

REAPPRAISAL

In ‘The Expectation Effect’, author David Robsondemonstratesthatbeliefsaboutour health,abilities,andstressareaffectedbyour expectations In one study he highlights, students who were prompted to think that anxietyexperiencedduringanexamimproved performanceactuallydidbetterthanstudents whotookthetestwithouttheprompt,notonly intheexamthatfollowedbutinasubsequent examafewmonthslater

Thiskindofpromptwasa‘reappraisal’–away ofreinterpretingthesensationofanxietyto produce a better outcome How far can we apply‘reappraisal’tooureverydayencounters withourstudents?Manyofusarepreparingto give ‘pep talks’ with key pointers and motivational messages to our classes and cohortsjustbeforetheyentertheirexamfrom thisweek;considerhowyoucouldusethese opportunitiesto‘reappraise’thenervesmany ofourstudentswillbefeeling

SUMMARY

Mypigeonrelatedselfefficacywillneed work but I hope you will consider Bandura’s 4 sources of self efficacy to implement in your daily practice this week:

Performanceaccomplishments: definesuccessformastery

Vicarious experience: enhance this throughtechniqueslikeShowCall Verbal persuasion: provide realistic encouragementthroughmodelling Physiological states: provide lots of opportunities for SLOP and ‘reappraise’commonanxieties

‘‘Moves’versusstand Moves’versusstandi

Ihadtolearnhowtocanoeaspartofmy GCSEinPE Inthebeginning,itwasabunch ofusflailingaroundinthewaterwiththe canoeboatstippingoverorgoingroundin circles.

Irememberthisonetime,probablyfedup withalltheflailing,theteachermadeusall lineupinourcanoessothatweweresideby side,inthemiddleofthewater.Shethen madeusstandup,withourfeetplacedon eithersideofthecanoetomaintainbalance

You can imagine the whimpering and wobblingaswedidthis

But that wasn’t the end of it. She then instructed us to sing, in unison, ‘heads, shoulders,kneesandtoes’whilstdoingthe moves to the song We weren’t allowed to moveoninthelessonuntilwedidaroundof thiswithoutfalling.

We all managed to stand up and balance ourselves Fairly confident, we started to sing.

‘HEAAAADS’wesaid,asweraisedourhands to our heads Then came a scream and violentwobblefrommyleft Followedbya yelpandswearwordfrommyright Which madetheoneonmyleftgrabmyarmasshe fell.Asshedid,shekickedmyfootoffone sideofmycanoeandinafewseconds,we wereinaheavingpileinthemiddleofthe water

So we tried again. And again. Every time someonelostcontrol,therestofusdid If onepersondidn’tdothemovestothesong, welostourbalance Everytimeoneperson didnotdothesameastherestofus,they tookusdownwiththem.

Approaching the end of a term can sometimesfeellike‘standingstill’isallyou can do to ‘keep your balance’. Plan your lessonsandteachthem.Andrepeat.For4 andhalfmoredays

Butpoorbehaviourwillaffecthowwellyou candothis Ifwedon’ttakestockanddo morethan‘standstill’,thesocialcontagion thatisbehaviourwillgrow

Luckily, we have certain ‘ moves ’ that will helpustoshapethepositivebehaviourand attitudeswewanttoseeinourstudents

In my PE lesson, when a ‘ move ’ was not done,orhalfdone,itaffectedthebalanceof therestofus Inschool,thismanifestsin ways that when done collectively, significantly affects the behaviour and attitudesofourstudents.

Herearesomeexamplesofthedifferences between‘standingstill’andaCST‘move’:

Our‘moves’ ‘Standingstill’

1 Beingatthreshold onthedot Movingtothreshold aminuteortwolate

2 Deliberatelyupbeat greetingasthey enter Monotonegreeting/ barkinginstructions

3 Corridorpresence–letthemhearusand conversewithus Standinginthe corridorquietly

4 Negativeand positiveslipswith warmthandthewhy Notgivingslips.Or ‘negotiating’.

iingstill ngstill

In my PE lesson, we quickly learnt that standing still wasn’t going to keep us balanced Wehadtomoveinunison Inthe examples above, recognise that the examples of ‘standing still’ will ironically makeusfall:

gettingtothresholdaminuteortwolate will be the antecedent for corridor behaviour

monotone greetings will not incite warmthandenthusiasmforlearningas ourstudentsenterourclassrooms

standingpassivelyinthecorridors,not issuing slips when required or falling into the trap of ‘negotiating’ will underminethesystemswehaveinplace to ensure our students’ safety and positive attitudes towards rules and learning

Their opposite components however, requireminisculeadjustmentsinwhatwe arealreadydoing.Butthosemarginalgains will collectively transform not just our experienceofschool,butourstudents’too

Considerthis:thereareabout100ofuswith regular opportunities to interact with students and around 8 transition points throughout a typical school day (not including of course our in-class opportunities).Justimagineifeverysingle oneofusutilisedallofthesetouchpoints withourstudentstomakethose‘moves’–whatapositiveandthrivingatmospherewe couldcreateacrossourschool!

LikethesonginmyPElesson,wemightnot feellikedoingit,wemightevenfeelsillyat times,butinthatPElesson,itwasvitalto the success of the task Shaping the behavioursandattitudesofourstudentsis vitaltothesuccessofourtaskasteachers.

Let’sgiveourstudentsthebestdealwecan Don’twaittillthenewhalfterm

Don’tstandstill.Together,let’smakethose moves.

100THINGS 100THINGS 100THINGS

1%BETTER 1%BETTER 1%BETTER

Timeisateacher’sbestfrenemy. Weareconstantlystrappedforit. Werunoutofitinlessons.We teachourstudentstheskillof keepingtoitinexams.Wewishit awaywhenlongingforthe weekendorcountingdownto thenexthalftermWedon’thave itforevenbasicthingslikewhen weneedtopee!

Inanarticleabout‘WhyYou HavenoTime’,authorDerek Thompsonargues,‘tosolvethe problemsofoverworkandtime starvation,wehavetorecognize boththatindividualshavethe agencytomakesmallchangesto improvetheirlivesandthat, withoutbroaderchangestoour lawsandnormsandsocial expectations, no amount of overworkwilleverbeenough.’ Depressingeh?

AtCST,we’vetriedtomakesome ‘broaderchanges’–forexample, our4.5dayweek,3week Christmasbreak,takingaway formal lesson observations, performancemanagementand studentreportwriting–and whilstwehavefeltthebenefits ofthesechanges,whydoesn’tit feellikewehavemoretime?

PParkinson’sLaw arkinson’sLaw

Parkinson’sLawistheadagethat workwillexpandtofillthetime allottedforitscompletionThis playsouteveryyearwith‘gain’ timefromexamclasses–itcan seemliketheonlythingwegain ismorework!

Thompson,inthispodcast, arguesthatwhilstthereare legitimatewaystobecomemore efficientandgetmorethings donein‘less’time,onsomelevel, wemustacceptthatwewon’t everachievethisutopiaof ‘havinglotsoftime’.Oncewecan acceptthis,wecanfocusonthe thingsthatmatterthemost TThethingsthat hethingsthat matterthemost matterthemost

AtCST,wehaveidentifiedsome ofthethingsthatmatterthe mosttous:oneofthemisour explicit direct instruction playbook.Weknowthatifwe useittogetalittlebetter everyday,ourstudentswillget thebestdealinourschoolsand beyond But when we ’ re time-poor (whichweare,allofthetime),it sometimesfeelslikethere’salot togetbetterateveryday!

1100things1%better 00things1%better

InAtomicHabits,JamesClear usestheBritishcyclingteamto exemplifytheideaof100things, 1%betterAfterhiringtheirnew performance director, Dave Brailsfordin2003,theteam wentfromwinningjust1gold medalinthelast100yearsto winning70%ofthegoldmedals availableinthe2012Olympics. Brailsford’smethodwasasimple one;whathedescribedasthe aggregationofmarginalgains: 1%improvementineverything youdo

Hebrokedownthesportto everycomponenthecouldthink contributedtotheirperformance andlookedtoimproveeachthing by1%:fromobviousthingslike changingtyresandwearing lightercyclinggeartoless obviousthingslikelearningto washhandsbettertoreducethe riskofgettingillandbuying betterpillowstoimprovethe qualityofthesleepofeachrider. Inteaching,itcanfeellikeweare doing100thingsaminute.In fact,weprobablycomecloseto it.Let’staketheexampleof dismissingaclass.Iwillattempt todowhatBrailsforddidand breakdowneverycomponentof thetaskforittobedonewell:

Finishthelessonontime(that initselfcomprisesmanymore components)

Whichone(s)couldyoube1% betterat?

Maybe your 10 second countdowncouldbeslicker?

Perhapsyouneedtobeexplicit aboutapackuproutinewith yourclasstomakeitfaster?

Maybeyouforgettoremindyour classofcorridorexpectationsas youdismissthem?

Clearsays,‘improvingby1%isn’t particularly notable sometimes itisn’tevennoticeable butitcan befarmoremeaningful,especially inthelongrun.Thedifferencea tinyimprovementcanmakeover timeisastounding’

Asteachers,ourgoalremainsthe same:beingbetterinourpractice everydaysothatourstudentsget thebestdealintheireducation. ThankstoParkinson’sLaw,thetime wehavetoachieveourgoalisnot likelytochangeeither.

Ourbestbettoachieveourgoalis theaggregationofmarginalgains. Whatarethe1%improvementsin yourteachingpractice?

IdentifythemGettoworkonthem With‘gain’timearoundthecorner andthesummerholidays5weeks away,timeremainsourfrenemy Let’sgettoit

1% 1% 1%

IcouldgoonandIamsurethe abovelistcouldbebrokendown intoevensmallercomponents Considerhowwellyoudidany numberofthosethingsatthe startofthisacademicyearand compareyourselftonowAsk yourself,whichone(s)areyou betteratnowcomparedto earlieronthisyear?

ThegoaloftheBritishcycling teamdidn’tchangeNordidthe timetheyhadtoachievetheir goal