I have recently become interested in the concept of Growth Mindset which has been most notably explored in depth by Carol Dweck, and which has become part of the everyday pedagogical approach in many British primary schools. One aspect of the Growth Mindset ideology is questioning the use of praise in the classroom: how we …
Author: summersja
Observing and Giving Feedback
The following are ideas that should supplement those already uploaded within the Teach Meet Resources. In my career to date I have had the opportunity to mentor, coach and support a number of teachers at different stages in their development. These are some of the key things I have learnt along the way as an …
Making Prep Meaningful
Pupils and staff spend a lot of time over prep whether it be planning it, doing it or marking it. Following my previous post I am convinced that many of us could do more to ensure that this time is well spent, beneficial to learning and that it gives teachers the feedback they need about …
Prep at Oakham School: Some of what the pupils think…
At my daughter’s primary school recently they carried out a survey into homework and perceptions of it by staff, teachers and students. The results were revealing and policies and practice have been adapted as a result. Inspired by this I ran a very informal (and admittedly unscientific) investigation of my own with upper school classes …
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What if we never set prep?
Faced recently with an intimidating pile of marking, I began asking myself why set prep/homework and questioning its benefits to learning. The cynic inside me thinks we do it to keep pupils busy during prep time, although the teacher inside me knows that there is much more to it than that. For a start, prep …
Autumn T and L Conference, Leicester
Curious to see what Teaching and Learning events were like locally, three of us on the T and L team attended the annual Autumn conference at Leicester City College last week. The programme was unexpectedly rich, offering a selection of seminars and workshops on a wide range of current educational topics. Sam, Christie and I …
Two new teaching ideas that worked this week…
Inspired by the Autumn Teaching and Learning conference that the Lead Practitioners attended at Leicester City College last week, I attempted to introduce some creativity into my lessons this week. Using Haribo Starmix (or, as the 6th form later suggested, Rowntrees Randoms) I turned a predictable grammar lesson on the future tense into a fun, …
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