BTHCC Teaching

and Learning

Newsletter Half Term Focus: Stretching the

‘More Able’

What does a ‘More Able’ student look

like? Nobody knows! No two children

are ever the same and just because a

strategy works for one ‘More Able’ child,

it does not mean it will help them all. Our

focus on T&L this half term as been our

‘More Able’ and Mrs Kneen created a

comprehensive list of all our children

who fall into this category along with a

wealth or resources for them which are

available to all staff on the YDrive.

The Big Question Session

’How can I enlighten my students to think hard

and master my subject?’

In our first session, we explored strategies to enhance our

approach to teaching our ‘More Able’ students including ‘Opt

In’ Do Now tasks to immediately engage our brightest students,

‘Volleyball’ questioning strategies to enhance student responses

and how using ‘Wait Time’ and ‘Everybody Writes’ ensures all

students are thinking hard about their subjects.

Please ask your department representatives for more

information.

Our Gems…

Throughout this half term,

each Gem focussed on

specific strategies to engage

and extend our students’

learning. After all, if we are

not stretching ourselves, how

can we expect our students

to do the same?

Our Snapshots…

Members of staff

have been

nominating each

other to feature

on our T&L

Snapshots board.

Thank you to all

staff who have

nominated and

participated in

the board and

shared some

amazing ideas!

“I tried the making connections activity with a SF student, they were asked to do some research, then I

gave them additional information that she had to link to one of the key areas

(and stick on her mind map). We then

discussed/translated it, highlighted key vocabulary

and started to link them together. They’re finishing the linking for homework.

Thanks for the tip!”

“I tried out the flip peer assessment on Thursday with my Year 9s. I tried a ’correct

the mistakes’ activity in Spanish, which is important, as this is a big part of their

GCSE exam. They completed it in groups on MWB and then swapped their answers with

the other group and corrected/added/ticked any answers. Then we did it as a

class on the main board and I had them explain to me why they were wrong which really

worked and they really enjoyed it as they noticed more and more errors that

needed to be corrected as we went on. It was a real

challenge for them!”

“I used a WAGOLL with

my Year 10 class to show them how to answer and

Peer Assess a 6 mark question. Their responses were amazing and the peer marking was much more

constructive.”

Lit Review – Teach like a

Champion

No Opt Out – Do not stand for ‘I don’t know’ or

‘I’m not sure,’ force them to say YET and

encourage them to get it wrong, then get it right.

‘Teach Like a Champion’ by

Doug Lemov comprises of 49

techniques to enhance T&L,

many of which already exist

within our day-to-day

teaching. We have digested

and selected the 22 most

essential elements of

effective Teaching and

Learning.

Stretch It – Ask for

student responses to

be phrased in another

way. Task them to

improve wording or

provide evidence,

combine skills or ask a

secondary question.

Format Matters –

Remind students of

expectations. Every

student is a student

of Literacy. Ensure

they are

comfortable with

units of

measurement or

subject terminology

before completing

any tasks.

Without Apology –

Never call something

boring or blame the

specification for the

content. It is our job to

make it accessible

and enjoyable.

Draw the Map – Plan

your lessons and

curriculums

backwards from your

end goal. Double plan

using objectives

(learning) and

outcomes (doing).

Ensure your seating

plans are as lucid as

possible to maximise

student outcomes.

Delivery – Use a staged approach to lessons

begin with ‘I’, you modelling, ‘we’, a

collaborative attempt with your scaffolding

and ‘you’, for their demonstration of learning.

Ensure you ‘hook’ your students in the first 5

minutes of your lesson to maximise their

enjoyment. Use a story, analogy, props, media

or challenges to capture their imagination.

Name the Steps– Show

students the steps to

their learning, make

them ‘stick’ using

memorable phrases

and show how the

‘steps’ can be built.

Remember your

differentiation, use

two stairways if

necessary.

Contextualising

learning demonstrates

the relevance of the

lesson.

Board = Paper – Note taking is one of the

hardest skills for students to master and is

usually left until Sixth Form. Using the B=P sign

demonstrates your expectations of their notes

to mirror yours on the board. Once you feel

they are comfortable, take the reins off and

see how they do.

Ratio – Think about the

ratio of participation

vs thinking. Are they

working and thinking

hard throughout?

Circulate– Break the

plane between you

and the students. Use

proximity and be

systematic in your

engagement with

pupils. Find your

position for power and

use it to help steer

their learning.

Volleyball – Teacher as the referee and

controls pace, direction and focus. Teacher

asks a question and nominates a student to

answer, once they have answered to the

teacher’s liking they are allowed to ‘pass’ so

that another student builds on their

response. There can be as many passes as

you like but must be a minimum of three

then it needs to be passed back to the

referee for a new question/ sentence starter.

Ensure you set objectives before beginning

to maximise the outcome.

End with Style– Make

your endings

memorable using At

Bats repeated attempts

to reaffirm leanirng,

Take a Stand allowing

students to physically

demonstrate their

learning or Exit Ticket

asking up to 3

questions.

Cold Call– Surprise

students by making your

selections random.

Make them reflective of

students’ abilities using

differentiated questions

or scaffolded sentence

starters. You can also

use the class and ask for

a class call for them to

repeat back to you as a

collective.

Call and Response–

Select subgroups and

ask them to respond

collectively.

Create a class chant

routine whereby they

learn key terminology/

unfamiliar language.

Use a physical queue or

a prop rather than your

voice.

Pepper – A fast paced quiz with a number

of variations, which measure students’

understanding and allows for whole class

participation. Have pre-set questions

ready, they can be ones that students

write themselves too.

Pick Sticks is when you give each student

a lollipop stick (coloured via ability) ask

them to write their name on it and mix

them up. Get them to pick again and

pose questions. Students then nominate a

person on their new stick to answer one of

the questions

Head to Head is nominating two students

to deliver the ‘most impressive answer.’

Earn Seats can be used in conjunction

with our VIPA rewards. At the end of the

lessons, using two chairs at the front of the

classroom, students have to compete to

be the last one or two seated.

Wait Time or Everybody Writes– Pose an exam

question and allow students at least 2 minutes to think

about their response or write initial thoughts down for

3 minutes before calling on them for responses.

Precise Praise– Be specific and use names

with clear criteria as to why they have

done well and refer to exam specification.

Positive Framing–

Ensure you live in the

now and not dwell on

past behaviour once it

is dealt with. Always

assume the best, never

the worst of our

students. Use

anonymity to save

students being

publically corrected.

Build momentum by

narrating positive

behaviour and

learning of specific

students. Challenge

your students and

watch them rise to it.

Talk expectations and

aspirations using

statements rather than

questions.

Sweat the Details– Aspire

for perfection and

nothing else. If there is

an error, graffiti, or

disobedience repeat

the activity or work

again without discussion

and reinforce your

standards.

The Joy Factor– Utilise fun and games to

carefully cultivate enthusiasm and

competition. Create a sense of ‘us’ and a

community within your classroom. Drama,

Song and Dance should also be used to

make learning memorable. Humour is also

a key element of learning as laughter

reinforces memories. Suspense and surprise

should be used in a theatrical sense, use

teacher acting or use of sealed

envelopes/ boxes to create suspense in

your lessons.

Normalise Errors– Do not

dismiss questions

because you have

already covered the

content and do not

excuse their mistakes.

Make them a learning

point in your lesson

rather than a negative

aspect.

Running Your Classroom– Achieve discipline by taking time to rehearse

routines. Manage your classroom by making personal connections with

pupils; get to know them as people rather than just learners. Use control

rather than being ‘in charge’ as compliance does not always mean they

are learning.

‘Explode expectations’ and break the

glass ceilings our students create

for themselves!

Looking ahead… Next half term we will be focussing on the effectiveness of

homework, marking and feedback as these are key areas

for development based on our most recent Pupil Voice.

Below is the Education Endowment Fund research relating

to our chosen foci for this half term. It is clear to see that

when done well, marking, feedback and homework can be

instrumental in enhancing progress.

If you know of a member of staff who has a particular

strategy or approach to any of the above then please

recommend them to Miss Sigsworth!

‘A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the

imagination and instil a love of learning.’

- Brad Henry