Teaching and learning magazine christmas 2015

Welcome to Philips High School’s Teaching and Learning Magazine December 2015 -

Sharing ideas with teachers!

Contents Page 1

2

1) Should I be marking every piece of work?

Page 3

2) Marking – Getting it Right Or Getting it Done?

Page 4

3)

How do we design great explanations?

Page 6

4)

Mini Whiteboards – the essential classroom tool

Page 10

5)

Please do not judge a teacher by what time they check in or check out Page 12

6)

8 End of Term Well-Being Tips

Page 14

7)

When you try too hard, it doesn’t work

Page 16

8)

What I want from a school leader

Page 23

Should I be marking every piece of work?

Mary Myatt's Blog

The mammoth mountains of marking are still piling up. Why on earth is this the case? I first wrote about this two years ago. There is one rule for marking and feedback: if it's not making a difference to learning, don't do it.

The School Inspection Handbook (page 11) makes it clear that it is not necessary for every piece of work to be marked: 'Ofsted does not expect to see a particular frequency or quantity of work in pupils’ books or folders. Ofsted recognises that the amount of work in books and folders will depend on the subject being studied and the age and ability of the pupils.'

We need to be thinking about fewer things in greater depth: high quality feedback which crucially is acted on by the student or pupil. Too often what we see is feedback without any response. So, how can it be moving learning forward? The kid has ignored it, not because they can't be bothered, but because they haven’t been expected to. Now feedback is going to look different in different subjects. It won’t look the same in English as in maths or science or drama. The important thing is that high quality work is affirmed and the reasons given. And that misconceptions are picked up and used as the focus for discussions either in the book or in the classroom. Mistakes and misconceptions are a good thing because they make us go back to first principles and talk through what a good or correct response is.

If I am looking at students’ books and see that every piece of work has been marked, has high quality feedback, but no action by the child, I check with the teacher how much sleep they are getting. This is not feasible. Mostly though this isn’t the case. Lots of books have lots of ticks, the odd comment and no expectation that any thing should be done as a result of that comment.

So, to sketch out what kind of marking makes a difference to learning and is also reasonable, practical and leaves enough time for the teacher to go have a life outside of school. For starters, it is better to think of it as feedback. In other words, a conversation with the child about what they have done well and what they need to do to improve. Much of this can and should take place in the classroom. At some point during the lesson, the teacher might ask the class or a group of children what they are learning as opposed to what they are doing. For example, in a numeracy lesson in a primary school, how are the children working out which is the greater number when comparing decimal point values? If they can’t say why, they probably don’t know and are just guessing. So, back to basics and revisiting the difference between tenths and hundredths after a decimal point. The feedback here can be captured through post its in the children’s books.

3

In a literacy lesson children might be working on some imaginative, creative writing. They will probably be doing some drafts. Marking for these need to have a precise focus. If it is SPAG, then this needs to be explicit. As the teacher checks the books, they make a note of the common SPAG mistakes and give a symbol for these. Then, as a class or a group, these are revisited and the child is expected to check its own spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Sometimes independently, sometimes with others. Crucially using dictionaries or spell checkers. Doing it for themselves, rather than just having it corrected by the teacher.

When it comes to giving feedback on a piece of creative writing, reasons should always be given for the comment. ‘Nice work’ isn’t good enough. Save your ink. ‘A high quality piece of work because…’ is much more productive. This is what some schools are referring to as www (what went well). Areas for improvement are often described as ebi (even better if). To support learning, these are much more effective if they are expressed as questions: ‘Could you give an example?’ ‘What else does this make you think of?’ ‘How does this compare with..?’ The teacher should not be providing the child with the answer, but expecting them to think and to refine their work as a result. This doesn’t happen by magic. Schools who have got the hang of this know that they have to dedicate time during lessons for children to act on the feedback. And there’s no getting away from it, this means we have to be prepared to cut content. In favour of learning. So no contest.

So, let's provide plenty of feedback during the lesson and reserve marking outside the lesson for more substantial pieces of work. Fewer pieces, done in more depth.

So who are the mountains of marking for? If they're not for children, dump them.

http://marymyatt.com/blog/2015-10-16/should-i-be-marking-every-piece-of-work

Marking – Getting it Right Or Getting it Done? http://ukedchat.com/2014/11/23/marking-getting-it-right-or-getting-it-done-by-_theteachr/? utm_source=ReviveOldPost&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ReviveOldPost

@Chilledu GuestBlog

4

Before beginning I have to point out that the two approaches in the title are not mutually exclusive! You can get marking done and get it done right. But a recent shift in focus to student progress over time, has translated unfortunately, by some leadership teams in schools, to more getting marking with specific criteria, to produce a water tight OFSTED trail all underpinned by a school calendar stacked to the gills with monitoring of marking activities.

As a teacher, typically you have to comment on the reasons why the work done was good, how to improve it and next things to do. Nothing wrong with that right? Well, there is when it leads to a square peg/round hole scenario. You know the thing – you’re trying hard to think of a ‘what went well’ comment with an associated ‘even better if’ statement that will put enough red ink on the page to appease the DH, Assessment and Monitoring on his or her work sampling.

But, as we know, good feedback on a student’s work can lead to improved learning and if done well, has a real impact. Feedback studies seem to show very high effects on learning with gains of up to 8 months, if done properly. Unfortunately if done badly, it can have negative effects.

So how can you mark effectively in the time you have? The first thing is to keep in mind who the marking is for. Unfortunately some schools get this very wrong. The answer of course is obvious – it’s for the student. But too often a climate is created where the teacher ends up doing it for the SLT (who are doing it for OFSTED) or for the parents, or for anyone else who might look at the books. Marking is undoubtedly, unequivocally for the student. If you do right by the student, everything else falls into place.

Here are some ideas. These might or might not help, and of course might conflict with the school policy of death by marking, but a couple of these you can sneak in under the radar, with little effort and a reasonable amount of impact. So here goes: Strategy number 1. After a lesson, flick through the students books, for five minutes and pick two or three pieces of work to go through with the class together that highlights specific aspects that you think are important. Then get the students to re-do the work based on the feedback generated by the class. 

Time: very low



Impact: medium to high

Strategy number 2. Responding to your feedback. Give the students time in the lesson to respond to your written formative comments. Insist that they do it there and then. This means that your lesson becomes more of a tutorial than a lesson, but that is a good thing. A very good thing. With the very best will in the world all of the class of students is not going to respond with anything useful to your comments at home or during lunchtime.

5



Out of lesson marking time: high.



Potential impact: high

Strategy number 3. Peer assessment. A retiring teacher I knew said in his retirement speech that the greatest thing ever invented in teaching was peer assessment. He obviously got the wrong end of the stick and thought it was all about getting kids to do the teacher’s job. But well constructed peer assessment activities can be very powerful. And the feedback in instant.

And the icing on the cake is, you just need to run your eye over quickly to check it. 

Out of lesson marking time: low (planning needed though)



Potential impact: medium

Strategy number 4. For some activities you do won’t need more than a quick check.

(Notes/self marked quiz/diagram/etc.) Don’t feel bad about a tick and flick approach here. As long as its not the whole book, this approach is fine. Contriving comments for response is not going to be helpful and sometimes can actually be unhelpful. 

Out of lesson marking time: low



Potential impact: low (unless you look at it from the point of view of time that can be spent on other useful things like planning)

Strategy number 5. Technology can be very useful here. It allows you to manage how and when you collect the work, and with a bit of creativity, it allows you to mark quickly and effectively. Some activities can benefit massively from instant feedback and adjustment of the lesson based on results of say, a survey or voting software. I’ll be writing more about this so keep an eye out. 

Out of lesson marking time: low to medium



Potential impact: medium to high

If you have a mix of marking strategies that are appropriate to the work done and have an appropriate level of impact, then you can’t go wrong. It takes a brave school who will have a belief that marking is for the benefit of the kids over and above anyone else, and forget inspectors. But you know what, if they got it right, the inspectors would be impressed.

How do we design great explanations?

This post was written by David Fawcett @davidfawcett27.

One of the most fundamental components of being a teacher is transferring knowledge to students. In almost every lesson we teach we are trying to explain ideas and new information to the individuals we work with in an effort to help them understand and learn. The topics we teach vary in complexity and can provide mixed results. At the heart of this is the quality of explanation that we provide. Although not scientifically accurate, it probably goes without saying that the better our explanations, the more likely students are to ‘get it’.

Now the art of an explanation is actually a tricky thing. I’m guessing we’ve all had moments when it hasn’t gone to plan. The times when we know what we want to say but midexplanation…….realise that nobody else does. The times when you begin explaining that tricky concept and struggle to find the clarity of words to do so. The times when you think you’ve nailed it only for a class full of hands and confused faces to slowly appear. Getting 6

explanations right take practise and experience. It takes thought and prior planning to ensure we effectively get difficult information across to students. Although how we deliver these explanations are dependent on our subject, teaching style, students we work with and so on, there are some practical tips on making them more effective.

Know your topic There is a well-known quote attributed to Albert Einstein stating that “if you can’t explain it simply you don’t understand it well enough”.

How accurate this quote is I’m not sure. However, it does point to some sensible advice that excellent content knowledge is essential when explaining a topic. Being able to take a complex concept and communicate it with clarity requires in-depth understanding. What are the key things that you must include? What can you omit the first time you explain something (which you will obviously explain at a later date)? Do you clearly understand how the various parts of the topic link together? What parts of the topic must you highlight and pay particular attention to? Can you deal with difficult questions if students pose them? Having a solid grasp on topics is extremely important. Brush up, read up, make notes and make sure you know what to say.

Look at the explanation through students eyes.

John Hattie talks about great teachers being able to see learning through the eyes of a student.

Having the same approach with explanations is equally important. When thinking about what you will say, think about how students may interpret it. What parts might students not understand? What language might you need to carefully select to ensure that this particular class understands it? What examples may provide most clarity? Would you understand it if you were in the lesson? What vocabulary, academic language and specific terminology could you challenge students with? What you don’t want to do is pitch an explanation so high that students become confused and form misconceptions. Equally, you don’t want to make an explanation so watered down that they don’t learn anything worthwhile. Practise what you are going to say. Does it sound right? Does it make sense? Would you class understand it?

Planning can go a long way in ensuring that what you say is effective.

Old knowledge helps learn new knowledge Cognitive psychologists and scientists including the likes of Daniel T. Willingham and Robert Bjork have highlighted that learning new concepts is more effective if built upon prior knowledge. It’s therefore essential to draw upon previous learning as much as possible to help build understanding. Referring to an already taught topic like diet in your explanation may make understanding a new topic like somatotypes much easier. If you’ve taught Shakespeare previously then drawing upon this may help students make more sense of Victorian novels. Knowing the particle theory of matter (solids, liquids and gasses) helps understand why materials would be good conductors/insulators of thermal energy. Having this in mind when planning explanations can be extremely helpful. Take time to look back at what has already been taught. Don’t assume that they still remember that information off by heart, but be confident that referring to it may help contextualise new learning and help clarify concepts and topics you are about to teach.

Working memory There are various claims of working memory capacity detailed in research literature. The most famous is from the work of George Millar who found that the capacity of the short term memory was around 7 +/- 2 pieces of information. Irrespective of the actual number that an individual can store, the constant message coming through is that short term memory capacity is limited. We therefore need to be very mindful of how long or detailed our explanations are.

Indeed, there may be times when a complex concept requires an in depth explanation, but 7

how much of that information will actually be retained? Will that two minute explanation actually be remembered by students? Will they be able to digest all of the information? Could that explanation be broken down into smaller chunks with gaps between them? Could you cleverly repeat key points within that explanation to reinforce and expose students to the core content repeatedly? Could the explanation be stripped back to the basics and built up over time rather than all in one hit?

Thinking about, and being aware of, the level of information you will share beforehand can reduce confusion and help make what you are going to say more meaningful.

Driving questions (or giving the bigger picture) At times, students fail to understand how a topic that you are explaining fits into a wider context. Some students find it difficult to see the connections between other topics already covered. Some may miss how today’s topic relates to prior learning or specific examples.

Trying to provide this clarity when explaining could therefore support your explanation.

Using a driving question is one idea. If you’ve never heard of them, a driving question is a problem posed to the class, based on your current topic that starts the process of linking the lesson together. For example, in a Science and Technology in sport lesson, you could begin the lesson with the question “How has science and technology influenced sports performance? Has it gone too far (or will it)?” Having this projected on screen as students arrive and getting them to think about it helps set the scene. You can then begin to plan your subsequent explanations to tie into the question. How can you use it to explain that the development of full body swimsuits may create an unfair advantage? How can you use it to explain the complex argument why or why not, athletes with prosthetic limbs should/shouldn’t compete with able bodied athletes? How can you use the question to explain how facilities, materials and equipment have all impacted on sports performance? A driving question is good as it helps students build up an idea/image of the topic in question. It calls upon schema which your explanations can link to. Referring back to it repeatedly helps build up understanding and makes acquisition of knowledge via your explanations easier.

Using stories and concrete examples “Research from the last 30 years shows that stories are indeed special. Stories are easy to comprehend and easy to remember, and that’s true not just because people pay close attention to stories; there is something inherent in the story format that makes them easy to understand and remember. Teachers can consider using the basic elements of story structure to organize lessons and introduce complicated material, even if they don’t plan to tell a story in class.”

“Psychologist have referred to stories as being “psychologically privileged”. Our mind seems to treat them differently and we see to understand and remember. Teachers can consider using the basic elements of story structure to organize lessons and introduce complicated material, even if they don’t plan to tell a story in class.” Daniel T. Willingham.

Using stories in explanations is one of the most effective way of sharing information. Some of the best explanations that I can remember have been shared via a story or an anecdote.

Stories are great because they allow the person explaining to grab interest and use an example to provide clarity. As a teacher, using stories can be excellent and explaining difficult concepts. Using the story of how Michael Jordan rose through the ranks of Basketball is great at explaining the concept of sponsorship. It makes it easy for the listener to see how ‘a’ relates to ‘b’. With this obvious positive effect, do we regularly use stories to explain difficult concepts?

The use of stories in your explanations can come in two forms. Firstly you could use a story to contextualise what it is that you are explaining. You could tell a story during your explanation to help students understand a concept. Selecting a relevant story to get your message across can be powerful. For instance, using British Cycling’s ‘Secret Squirrel Club’ is a brilliant way to help explain the concept of scientific and technological developments in 8

sport. Telling the story of how this element of cycling came about and the research and development they undertook can provide real life examples to support your facts. Stories become memorable, provide clarity and definitely enhance your explanations.

If you can’t find a suitable story, a second way is to use the format and structure of a story in your explanation. Great stories contain specific elements. Daniel T. Willingham highlights that these elements include causality, conflict, complication and character. With this in mind, can you plan your explanation which shows how one event leads to another, or how an obstacle is being overcome, or even how barriers were put in place? The structure of stories can help you evolve your explanation and make it easier to understand and remember.

Worked examples Linked to Sweller’s Cognitive Load Theory (1988), using worked examples with an explanation improves learning. It does this as it reduces the cognitive load during knowledge acquisition. It provides clarity and scaffolds what it is that you are trying to explain.

Worked examples can come in a number of ways ranging from a maths problem annotated by the teacher, or a live essay answer written via a visualiser in front of the class. The process simply allows the teacher to support the verbal explanation with a visual demonstration.

A great way for using worked examples is the ‘I do – We do – You do’ teaching strategy. As a teacher, when explaining a new theory, process, concept or topic, the teacher works through an example and models it to the class. As they work through the answer, they explain their thought process and explain any concepts that are needed. The teacher can repeat this to show the class exactly what is required.

The teacher then moves to the ‘We do’ section and collaboratively answers another worked example with the class. The teacher still explains the process but begins to transfer ownership to the students. It becomes an excellent opportunity to check understanding (and assess the quality of your explanation).

Finally, the student now take on the ‘I do’ section and complete a question themselves. The process of teacher led explanation/modelling and collaborative explanation/modelling, helps students understand the topic being worked through better. http://teachingandlearning.org.uk/2015/12/13/how-do-we-design-great-explanations/

Mini whiteboards- the essential classroom tool I have not always seen eye to eye with mini whiteboards. I hated handing them out, storing them, pens running out, pens going missing, not having enough, doodles, scribbles, drawings of inappropriate things, drawings of me, inappropriate drawings of me. In the past I would trot them out every so often before inevitably dismissing them as just too much of a hassle.

Yet now I use mini whiteboards in every lesson and I can’t imagine teaching without them.

Perhaps these are not the most fashionable tools in the education world, but here are the reasons why I find them indispensable.

Whiteboards are a way of getting immediate feedback about student understanding, with an effective sequence always starting with a well-designed task or question. Rather than just waiting as students write, this time can be used to seek the most useful responses. Do most students get it or not? Where are the great examples that can be used as models? Where are the examples of common errors that students can learn from? Which students are making the same errors?

Depending in what our checking tells us, there are many options: 9



Stop the task and reteach something immediately.



Give a simple piece of corrective advice to address a common problem e.g. ‘remember to mention the writer’.



Choose a range of responses (usually three) for students to compare.



Pick one example that is ‘nearly there’ and ask the class to improve it.



Sequence the responses shared so that they become increasingly more sophisticated.



Find answers with a common thread and ask students to connect them (really useful for language analysis).



Find three errors and ask students to connect them.



Teach the students who don’t understand in a small group. See in-class interventions.

If the first board I checked was this one, I would be thinking about spelling, particularly character names. Is this student the only one getting these wrong? I know that in this lesson I shared a model paragraph on the board and the phrase ‘ultimately lead to’ has been lifted from that and used incorrectly, so I need to know if others have made the same error. I could choose this board to look at the spelling of ‘ultimately’. We could use it as a fairly decent first attempt at an opening paragraph and ask students to rework it to make it better. I could seek out another contrasting set of adjectives used to describe Sheila and ask students to compare.

Or I might not use this board at all-there are plenty of others to choose from! The main thing is, I don’t want to leave it to a randomly selected student response and hope it tells me something. By getting every student to write a response to a clear and unambiguous question (not ‘hands up if you don’t understand’), I can be reasonably sure of the class picture and do something about it.

There are other benefits of using whiteboards too. One of the issues that we have, as I am sure many schools do, is the use of unnecessary fillers in spoken responses. Part of the reason for this is, I feel, is students’ lack of confidence in what they are saying. Or that they don’t know what they are going to say before they start saying it. The few seconds it takes to write a couple of ideas down on a whiteboard can help to eliminate both of these. Add in grammar issues, not answering in sentences and the ubiquitous ‘innit’, and we have a number of elements that a quickly prepared written response can help to eliminate.

I want my students to develop excellent habits of editing, proofreading and redrafting.

Whiteboards help me to create a culture where this is expected. It starts with making sure the first thing they write is high quality, and there’s an increased accountability when students write on whiteboards. When they know it will be held up and discussed, there is an incentive for it to be their best work. It’s easy to edit work quickly on a whiteboard and far less messy.

With a constant focus on the quality of these short responses, students start to self edit, even as they are reading out their answers. They can spot the errors in other students’ answers and then fix their own. It’s easy for the teacher to correct the spelling of the word ‘beginning’ on a board and then instruct others in the class to fix it if they made that mistake. It’s great for 10

adding commas or colons in the right place. Even as students write in their exercise books, they can make notes on whiteboards.

Every lesson at our school starts with a Do Now which is completed on the whiteboards. It means that lessons start in a calm and prompt manner and it is efficient when we don’t have to wait for books to be handed out. The ability to immediately write something down on whiteboards can also help to eliminate the ridiculous amount of time it takes for some students to write the title and date.

Some argue that teachers might only do work on whiteboards in order to avoid marking books. Well, of course! And there’s nothing wrong with that. The fact is, I’m not going to mark everything students write in their book and I can’t mark it if it is only in their head. If it is written on a whiteboard, I am giving immediate feedback and in a fraction of the time it takes to mark books- in many ways it is more beneficial than marking books.

But what about the problems that I listed before? Surely these won’t go away. Much of what we try and do at Dixons Kings is to make it easy for teachers to teach and students to learn, so behaviour systems and classroom routines are crucial to ensure students don’t often exhibit those off-task behaviours. As for the equipment issues, every classroom has a set of whiteboards on desks and students must carry a pen with them as part of their essential equipment. Without these systems, I wouldn’t use whiteboards, especially as I don’t have my own classroom.

We designed a mini whiteboard routine which is used by all teachers in the school. When we want students to hold up their boards, we say, “3-2-1… show me.” They hold boards up with two hands then we say “track student x” and that student reads their answer out. We come back to these routines in our practice sessions to ensure they are consistent. There are some who might argue that these routines reduce creativity or lead to ‘robotic’ teaching. Yet they have allowed me to be the most creative I have ever been as a teacher and I would welcome anyone to come and visit to see just how much this routine and some of the others free teachers up to actually teach. Without these whole school approaches, you can still design a whiteboard routine that works for you. Consider in advance how equipment is stored and handed out and expectations during the sequence.

11

So, have a rummage in your stock cupboard, find the discarded whiteboards (I guarantee there will be some) and start using them.

http://thegoldfishbowl.edublogs.org/2015/11/29/mini-whiteboards/

Please do not judge a teacher by what time they check in or check out.

This is an issue I have been meaning to write about for a while now. There seems to be a perception that teachers who stay back after school or arrive early are considered to be great teachers.

Then there are the teachers that 'go home' as soon as the bell rings, who are seen as undedicated and not committed to their jobs.

I think no one should be measured by the time they arrive at work or leave work.

These are the remarks for the following scenarios based on my experience: I arrive at work early.

- Oh you are here early, why are you here early?

I leave late.

- What are you doing here late, haven't you got a life? or are you behind in your work!

I leave after the bell.

- You don't have much work to mark or plan?

I arrive just before school commences.

- I get that look.

I arrive to work early and leave late.

Wow! you are dedicated! good job! or You are making me feel bad.

Whatever works for you, you should not be judged, dictated to or measured by what time you check in or check out.

I knew a teacher that worked through her breaks so she could get everything done. She left straight after school to continue her role as a mother.

Conversely, other teachers take work home after school or wake up early and get school work done at home before school.

Then there are those teachers who devote one day of their weekends to catch up on work.

We lead different lives outside of school.

We do not know what happens behind the scenes of each person’s life.

We are teachers.

We all are trying to balance our lives for the good of our health and sanity.

We love our jobs!

12

http://staffrm.io/@msalexis/40uVd8S4ak? _s=tw&utm_content=buffer65479&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&ut m_campaign=buffer

8 End of Term Well-Being Tips What will you do to ensure we all have a smooth end to the school term?

Imagine …

Imagine you are on a flight to Spain from London Heathrow and you are due to land after 2.5 hours of flying. The chances are, that in the last 30 minutes you will likely be desperate to get off the plane?

Now, consider another journey but further afield. For example, from London Heathrow to Bangkok in Thailand; the flight would typically last between 10 to 12 hours in length.

Because of either of this expected flight path, a traveller will adjust one’s mindset to adapt to (any) length in journey. Again, due to an assumed pattern of behaviour, a traveller is likely to still be settling into the flight after the first hour and perhaps still, well into the halfway point of a long-haul flight.

How do these behaviour patterns compare regardless of the length in flight? And at what point is a passenger desperate to get off the plane, or start to feel physically uncomfortable?

In our minds, despite being prepared for a longer journey, one may become restless within the last hour and increasingly become desperate to get off the plane. This behaviour/mindset may also apply in a shorter haul flight.

When comparing these anxieties versus the length of travel, what are the differences?

Mindset or distance, or both? And how does this link in with the teacher in the classroom and end of term you may ask?

End of Term Forecasting:

Well, in both of these examples, I equate the behaviours as end of term flight forecasting.

Whether the term-time is six weeks or eight weeks in length, it doesn’t matter. As teachers we adjust our energy and effort levels according to how long we have yet to go before the end of term. By default, teachers give their absolute maximum to their work and to the students in their care. Despite an incredible workload, teachers have to get through a vast amount of work in such a short space of time. Typically, teachers become exhausted long before the end of term starts.

Energy levels will be sapping and tempers will escalate, even in the smallest and most simple conversations. For example, the smallest reminder or request to complete a task may be taken all out of proportion compared to a period of time when staff energies are at there best. Why is this?

It is therefore important that we are aware of our energy levels and relationships with students and staff as we approach another end of term. With this in mind, I write this with a couple of 13

weeks left to go before the end of term to propose several well-being strategies for all teachers and school leaders to try before we earn out well-deserved rest.

This will hopefully avoid any unnecessary arguments and help promote staff well-being.

8 Well-Being Tips: I’d like to offer some strategies to help; teachers cope with the end of term blues and, to keep emotions and fatigue in check.

1. Think twice and three times again about sending ‘that email’. Particularly an email

that may appear negative for whatever reason. Does the email need to be sent at all, particularly if you are tired or frustrated? I would question the purpose of any email.

My advice here is what can be written which cannot be said in person? If it’s an emergency, does something need to be said collectively or individually? How will the person receiving this information feel? Is it something that can wait until the start of a new term?

2. Focus on the positives. It is so easy at the end of term when you and everyone else is

feeling tired, that we all forget the core purpose of what we are doing. Teaching and learning should trump everything that we do. This means going into lessons and focusing on positive aspects of teaching and students’ learning where possible. Go looking for positives stories. It will make you feel better and more importantly, make the students/staff feel valued.

3. Say good morning. Say goodbye. Say thank you. And say it to everybody. Say it

regularly.

4. Buy someone or a team you line manage (or not) a box of chocolates. There are

some great suggestions from the Teacher5ADay projects shared online. We know well-being is important nationally and no doubt it will be vital in your school too. Do something today to make someone feel good; give credit where it is due (or least expected).

5. Look after yourself. Take time out of your normal routine to do something different. I

rarely stop to have lunch because I am on duty every day to support students around the school site. This is so that our teachers can have a well deserved lunch. I don’t mean to be a martyr here, but if you find yourself always sitting in the same place in your office or in a particular place in the staffroom or school site, try something different. Sit with somebody else or find a change of scenery. You’ll feel better for it and so will that member of staff. If you are on lunch duty, try to rotate the things that you would typically do to help sustain your own well-being.

6. As energy levels start to disappear, it is important to ensure that you maintain a good

nights sleep in your own work-life balance. It sounds very minor, but a good nights sleep and a bottle of water work wonders for any busy teacher in the classroom.

7. If you can look after yourself, try looking out for someone else who is in need of a bit

of help. They may have bags under the eyes; they may have lost a bit of colour in their face: they may even have lost their renowned smile? Look out for the warning signs and do something about it to make them know you are thinking about them.

8. End of term arrangements can make all the difference for your staff. Ensure any

event is well-planned; offer cover if needed to help staff meet deadlines. Be flexible with working arrangements and if staff need encouraged, welcome them to be part of any staff social. Ensure provision is inclusive and that every member of staff is aware of rewards, recognition and well-being.

Why not give this some consideration? Pace yourself for the weeks and days ahead …

14

Look after yourself!

http://teachertoolkit.me/2015/12/08/endofterm/

When You Try Too Hard, It Doesn’t Work!

How can you do what you ought, if you don’t know what you’ve got?

“You’d be surprised how many people violate this simple principle every day of their lives and try to fit square pegs into round holes, ignoring the clear reality that Things Are As They Are.” ― Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh Context:

Yes, another post on marking. The title of this post is taken from one of my all-time favourite reads. If you have never read The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet, I’d highly recommend it.

My blog post on Reflections of Whole-School Marking proved to be an incredibly popular read. I would like to provide here a little context to everything that has been said about marking over the past week. I do feel that there may have been some who totally missed the point.

Leadership is about what you are, is not just about what you do. (@JillBerry102) Since I last checked my job description, my role in school it is to be accountable and responsible for whole school teaching and learning. But it is not why I do what I do. I am not bound by text written on a piece of paper. Leadership is about getting the best out of others.

This is what I (try to) do. The difference between what, why and how I do it, is having 15

compassion for those that I work with; students and teachers. It doesn’t mean any school leader should do something just because they have to. It should be because it is the right thing to do. It should also be the best, possible way to do it.

Who Versus What?

Who are you? is one of life’s simplest questions to ask. It can also be one of the most

difficult, and the answer can also change throughout one’s life.

People can be forgiven to think that ‘Teacher Toolkit’ is a self-promotion bandwagon; an egomaniac looking for a quick-buck or a whistle-stop tour on a journey to the top. These people do not know the real me. They will no doubt jump onto this last sentence and share this amongst their peers; perhaps accuse me of being an egomaniac-denialist?

That’s fine. We all judge a book by its cover and we are all human. To know the difference between knowledge and wisdom is to be compassionate; particularly with the staff I am working with. This is really who I am and only those that have worked with me will know this. It is important that we all know who we are as teachers and why we do what we do.

“How can you get very far, if you don’t know who you are?

How can you do what you ought, if you don’t know what you’ve got?

And if you don’t know which to do, of all the things in front of you, Then what you’ll have when you are through, is just a mess without a clue.

Of all the best that can come true; if you know What and Which and Who.” ― Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh Anyway, this is not about me, it’s about why teachers should be looking in each students’ exercise books.

Book Sampling:

There will be some readers who will have looked at the templates below, and felt somewhat disappointed that student books were being monitored in such a way. I do know, there are hundreds of you who do appreciate the good practice being shared. One query I have, is that I’m not quite clear how others – particularly those who have never led a team of teachers – would do this. I am confident that we are doing it as best we can. The process is open, transparent and takes into account context of student/teacher and written versus practical subjects. The template may not say this, but in reality, the process of doing this is school 16

takes this all into account. Maybe work-sampling denialists missed this in my original blog?

Let me write it again; The process is open, transparent and takes into account context of student/teacher and written versus practical subjects. One methodology cannot be applied in all subjects. For example, the yellow box. Nor should we expect, drama and PE for example, to produce written work just for the ease of school monitoring or for OfSTED. Beyond the template shared here, the process must include conversations with students, teachers, work sampling in and out of lessons and detailed (interview) conversations. I work very hard to ensure those taking part in this process, particularly heads of department, are monitoring work with context. Every book has a story.

The template below has evolved in my own practice over the past five years. It has been used by hundreds and hundreds of teachers; adapted from feedback from teachers, observers, students, headteachers and governors. It has been road-tested. It has changed significantly from when I first used it in a landscape of judging teachers in lessons; particularly in one-off lesson performance to the landscape in which we are now working; teachers are no longer graded in individual lessons. n.b. I do know that 50% of schools across the country are still grading teachers. We do not. This was the first thing I removed when I first started at my current place of work.

2012

2014 17

2013

2015 Terminology or Process?

The hairs of people’s neck prick up when the term ‘work scrutiny’ or ‘book scrutiny’ is used!

Others may call this ‘work sampling’ or ‘book looks’ to take the fear out of the process. Me? Student books are a source of evidence, as is anything we do in school. For the sake of any argument, I call work sampling/scrutiny a ‘book observation.’ This means it provides context; books can be looked at in or out of lessons.

This may cause a storm for a minority of readers who believe what schools and school leaders do, is work to drive out teachers from their jobs and instil a fear and mistrust in their own professionalism. Is the template above, a fear of terminology or process? Thankfully, this is a small minority of people who view the role of teachers, leaders and accountability as a stick to beat with people with. Despite the fear of the template or the process, I do know this is not me.

18

Experience or Naivety?

In my experience, teachers who have proven to be well-below par are few and far between.

Teachers do a great job. They work hard, mark books and always do what is best for the students in their care. As school leaders, we must protect their well-being, workload and keep them well-away from myths, fads and work that is about ticking things off for OfSTED. When I was a middle leader, there were many things I didn’t understand. I had never led a school. I had never really worked outside the confines of my own department. Social media was new and sharing best practice online was unheard of!

For anyone who was against my original blog post, from what I can gather, do not lead schools or teams of teachers. I would argue that they have never led a process of monitoring the quality of marking across large section of students. How would any of these people have any clue about monitoring, evaluating and reviewing the quality of marking across any school, never mind my own?

And let us not forget, that this is just one school; everybody does it differently and there is a need for every school to have their own methodology for doing things. We are all at different stages of our journey and we all have different needs. We must respect this in each other to be doing what is best for our students.

During the past two weeks, approximately 25 staff have visited lessons, spoke with teachers; taken out a sample of key stage students books from across the school. We have looked at the marking altogether in one room, away from the classroom and away from the teacher. We have also spoken with the student in class. Furthermore, we have even taken the students out of class and spoken to them in one-to-one interviews about their exercise books and the quality of verbal and written feedback they receive in the lessons. From my point of view, this is a robust process and has triangulated information for a variety of sources. It is valid.

But the real test will be the reliability of information the process produces and what happens with the qualitative data. Any action plan put in place must communicate with our teachers what we need to do.

I would like to remind my readers something I have advocate d for some time; sourcing information from a variety of places in order to assess the quality of teaching taking place.

He is the graphic once again; Read the blog

19

Reflection and Development:

I’ve spent the last few days reflecting on the positive and negative experiences that my colleagues and I have discussed throughout this process. As ever, nothing is perfect and with any type of work we do in schools everything is developmental. With this in mind I seriously thought about modifying our document once more to replace what I think will suffice our own needs for next several years to help our marking move forward.

Teachers are to be trusted when marking; some will need training, particularly in their formative years. Teachers can also become easily distracted when marking; ticking and flicking every single page and providing meaningless feedback that gives no student the opportunity to improve. We do know that verbal and written feedback, if provided in a sophisticated and meaningful way, can make the biggest difference. And that if the students are given the time to act upon feedback, including the teacher checking up on that feedback has been actioned, has the most significant impact on student progress.

Therefore, with the past month being involved in the process again in great detail, I am looking to draft another proposal to modify the work that we have done this time. This is something I would like to put in place in the spring 2016. The new and improved template will ask just one question; is there evidence that the child has acted on feedback (verbal/written)? And before people start shouting at their devices and computer screens, this will be a serious attempt to ensure (a template) one size does not fit all. That context is needed for everything; that teacher and student conversations are required to enable the full picture to be gathered when looking at a student’s book. That curriculum time should be proportionate to the marking that is evident e.g. one lesson a week or five lessons a week?

And finally, what subject are we observing, practical subjects such as drama or PE, or a subject such as English and history that requires extended pieces of writing? How we assess marking in these subjects will be very different and require a level of expertise on the part of the observer.

The initial re-draft looks like this below and will go out for consultation next term. I’m confident this is a significant development which will focus on what matters for all stakeholders involved. Marking will still be monitored, it’s just how we go about this that is being modified.

On

a final note regarding marking student books. As long as there is teaching, the need for marking will never disappear. Teachers will always be required to mark books and marking will always be the bane of any teacher’s life. We have a responsibility to mark a student’s book and provide them with feedback. Whether we are marking the right piece of work and offering a student with the correct piece of feedback, is the question that is yet to be answered by all of us.

20

I hope that the development offered here, will be to provide not just a answer, but provoke thought and help develop all of us to become more reliable in our methods of monitoring, evaluating and reviewing marking and feedback across an entire school.

You can’t save time, you can only spend it; but you can spend it wisely or foolishly. (Bejamin Hoff)

http://teachertoolkit.me/2015/11/29/markingdevelopments/? utm_content=bufferf25a2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_camp aign=buffer

90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual.

Keep that in mind while planning. #edhca

21

What I want from a school leader

The wise man who is not heeded is counted a fool, and the fool who proclaims the general folly first and loudest passes for a prophet and Führer, and sometimes it is luckily the other way round as well, or else mankind would long since have perished of stupidity.

Carl Jung In response to various posts on book monitoring earlier in the week, Lee Donaghy asked what the role of school leaders ought to be.

Now, some would have it that because I don’t lead a school any opinion I might offer is invalid.

This is an interesting perspective. In response, I’d like to submit that there might be plenty of people who do lead in schools who don’t seem to understand the purpose of what they’re doing either. Just doing a thing does not automatically confer expertise. In fact, there’s good reason to be sceptical of so-called ‘expert’ judgement.

I’m more than willing to admit that my inexperience means my understanding of the pressures involved in running a school is limited, but I most certainly know what it’s like to work in a school which is led badly. My simplistic view of school leadership is that it should seek to strip out every extraneous demand on teachers in order for them to be the very best they can be.

As that’s a lot easier said than done, here is my very personal wishlist of qualities possessed by the sort of school leader for whom I’d most like to work*: Humility – The capacity to admit to mistakes and face up to the knowledge that you don’t always know best is, I think, the master skill; from this humble beginning everything else 22

flows. Being humble is not being apologetic or meek, being humble is acknowledging that there are deep wells of knowledge and experience in a school; recognising that everyone is – or should be – an expert in their own subject, classes and areas of responsibility. Humility doesn’t mean assuming others know best or are always right, it means assuming that others may know best or might be right. It’s about asking questions and really listening to the replies. It’s about being open to your own biases and seeking to explore them rather than trying to confirm them. It’s about facing up to the uncomfortable truth that no matter how much you know and how expert you become, there will always be things you don’t know and others you are more expert. We put leaders under enormous pressure to be decisive and punish them when they dither. Most people would rather a leading makes the wrong decision rather instead of being a ditherer.

The overwhelming challenge of leadership is knowing you might be wrong but having to make a tough call anyway. I imagine good leaders lose sleep over their decisions. Sometimes you have to exude confidence even when you don’t feel it. Rightly or wrongly, we all have core values – principles on which we refuse to compromise – these are the stars by which we navigate.

In the end, the principle of humility might come down to recognising that you are there to serve. Being in charge is a lot of fun, but bossing people around and sitting in the big chair are burdens you shoulder in order to make it easier for others to excel.

How do you know if you’re humble? You probably seek to give credit instead of taking it.

Love – This sounds a bit wishy-washy, but no one who’s read John Tomsett’s beautiful book can fail to appreciate the importance of love. In it John says that one of the prerequisites for headship is that you have to love teachers. And you have to create the conditions in which teachers can thrive. This means making the terrifying decision to trust. John writes, “…trust is reciprocal; if you trust your teachers, they will grow to trust you. When you have to make difficult decisions, they will trust you.”

It probably helps to love teaching too. The very best school leaders teach. Being seen to enjoy the thing you’re employed to lead others in doing is pretty important. It’s much easier to empathise with teachers when you’re there in the trenches with them. A good leader won’t inflict pain – a good leader should share pain. As the poet John Florio put it, “Who has not served cannot command.”

Teachers tend not to be attracted to the profession by the offer of rich rewards or in the belief they will bathe in the public’s esteem; most teachers see purpose in their work. As such they are led by trifles. Little things matter. A kind word here, an acknowledgement there goes a very long way. Sincere recognition and encourage are the outwards signs of loving teachers. Thomas Carlyle said, “Tell a person they are brave and you help them become so.”

It’s probably true to add, show a teacher you trust them and they will work hard to repay that trust.

How do you know if you love teachers? You probably worry about their welfare and think of ways to make their lives easier.

Determination – A determined leader will make sure that things get done. It’s all very well trusting teachers, but creating the conditions for growth also means holding them to account.

If you’re sufficiently humble you’ll know hard this is to do well and you will have developed intelligent accountability systems. A determination not to avoid difficult conversations and a willingness to be disliked is crucial, as long as this is done with love and humility. Popularity is not leadership.

Perhaps the area in which school leaders can make the most difference to the quality of teaching and learning in a school is by ensuring students’ behaviour is managed humanely whilst still expecting the highest of standards. A good leader will be utterly determined to make their school one in which students enjoy learning, in which there is a culture where hard work and academic success is valued and where students are supported to struggle, no 23

matter their ability. This means that there must be intolerance of low-level disruption, rudeness, laziness and complacency. As I argued here, “We should always remember that while social disadvantage is no excuse for bad behaviour, ‘no excuses’ is no excuse for inflexible tyranny.”

How do you know if you’re determined? You probably don’t allow your decisions to be eroded by the forces of inertia and unwillingness.

Vision – Vision has become a widely misunderstood cliché, but in essence, you have to have some idea of where you want to go if you hope to ever get there. A good leader inspires those around them to be their best. They set the pace and lead the charge. Sitting in an office churning out policy documents is not vision. Vision is catching glimpses of the best possible future and working out how to get there.

Visionaries though can be ruinous. Without humility, love and determination, vision is likely to cause harm. But without vision, you can have all the humility, love and determination in the world but you still might not get anywhere. Vision must be tempered by a thorough appreciation of the human cost. The future we imagine might be searingly bright, but, as Jo Facer points out here, we must always consider the cost. An overlooked aspect of leadership is recognising that perfection is impossible, knowing when to cut your losses and settling for the best worst option.

How do you know if you have vision? You probably read a lot, think a lot and talk a lot to others in education.

Focus – It’s not enough to see the big picture, a good leader should also see how the pieces fit together. This is what I’m worst at. I’m always imagining shining cathedrals but I often lack the patience to worry about the snagging and the fiddly bits. When it comes to the details I have a tendency to bodge. A good leader doesn’t lose sight of the day-to-day and the mundane. That doesn’t mean they should do everything – in fact, they definitely shouldn’t even attempt to do everything – but it does mean they should know who’s doing what and be able to provide support where necessary. A good leader can spot where things are going wrong, can intervene to put their finger in the damn at just the right moment.

Having focus means you know the small things matter. A smile, a frown, a pat on the back can make or break another’s day. Focussing on the details may not be glamorous but it’s sometimes the difference between success and failure. A good leader should know, that if something can be misunderstood, it will be. Ideally, mistakes should be anticipated and countered before they occur, but it’s likely impossible to foresee all the ways human fallibility can manifest itself. I regularly have the experience of being told by teachers that they ‘wouldn’t be allowed’ to approach their jobs in new ways because doing so would contravene a policy. When I then speak to school leaders they’re often shocked that their advice or suggestions have been misinterpreted as law. This shouldn’t surprise us and it’s always worth erring on the side of charity when considering the actions of others.

How do you know if you have vision? You’ve probably seen a few projects through to the point where you’re on going involvement is no longer needed.

So that’s it. My ideal school leader. This might seem like a lot to ask but then nobody rises to low expectations, do they? How do you know if you’re a good leader? If you’ve just read that list and patted yourself on the back, you’re probably not a very good leader. *In case you’re wondering, I don’t think I fulfil many of these characteristics myself. Which probably explains why I work for myself.

24

25