Blog Archives

TFSI 2016 - Making Progress in History Session Resources

7/22/2016

Just a short blog to thank all of you who attended my session at TFSI yesterday. As promised I am uploading the session resources here for you to download. Please do have a browse around the rest of the site whilst you are here. There are lots of links to blogs on progress, progression, second-order concepts and substantive knowledge in the blog bar on the right.

Alex

Blog posts which may be of particular interest:

Progress & progression - special issue of Teaching History
Making progress in understanding progression: a blog series
Dealing with GCSE grades replacing NC Levels: advice
An example of task-specific assessments and mark schemes
Planning for the new History GCSE: making it more complex to make it more coherent
Trainees and NQTs: The first rule of History Club...
On planning for substantive knowledge development: HERE and HERE
Top tips to make learning stick and more HERE
The importance of subject knowledge and being more than "two pages ahead"
Flight paths, GCSE grades and the problems of assessment post-levels
Some thoughts on planning a unit on the Normans
Some thoughts on planning a Reformation unit

apf_-_student_work_03.pdf
File Size:	637 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

apf_-_core_assessment_2.pdf
File Size:	494 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

tfsi16_-_wood_and_trees.pptx
File Size:	1613 kb
File Type:	pptx

Download File

apf_-_student_work_07.pdf
File Size:	559 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

apf_-_progression_pack.pdf
File Size:	353 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

0 Comments

Creating flight paths to replace levels Year 7-11 - the impact of the new GCSE grade descriptors

7/17/2016

8 Comments

So with very little fanfare, the grade descriptors for the new GCSE grades 9-1 were released on Friday. Those schools who have opted to use these as a progression model, assessment system and general replacement for both NC Levels and GCSE grades must be delighted that they can finally start implementing their systems.

In this blog I want to take a look at how these grade descriptors can be utilised from Years 7-11 to provide a clear and coherent flight path for pupils in history.

Using the grade descriptors to create a flight path

Many schools for instance have opted for the following basic flight path:

As such, the grade descriptors will help to define what this path might look like for pupils in lessons. They could be used as part of the reporting process, discussed with parents and form targets for written feedback….

8 Comments

On being two pages ahead...

7/17/2016

3 Comments

Principal Skinner: Some sick individual has stolen every "Teacher's Edition!"

Teacher #1: What do we do?

Mrs. Krabappel: Declare a snow day!

Miss Hoover: Does anyone know the multiplication table?

“Don’t worry too much about your subject knowledge,” I was advised by one senior member of staff during my training year “just make sure you are two pages ahead in the textbook.” Even at the time I remember thinking this was very odd advice (although a great relief when I looked at the catalogue of historical content I was meant to master by June). As it turned out, this was some of the worst advice I would ever be given as a trainee teacher. Every time I felt a bit overwhelmed by planning for a lesson, my subject knowledge development would be the first thing to go on the back burner. Why bother spending time learning the ins and outs of the French Revolution when I could spend my time better creating a novel card sort or envoy activity? Not enough time to do even the most rudimentary research? Set them off on a Google-based FOFO activity – problem solved!

Needless to say, many of these lessons ended up being incredibly dry, poorly conceived, and of little use to anyone. It took a long time and a lot of courage (largely as a result of being the only history teacher in a small school) to realise that the lessons where I had excellent subject knowledge were always the best ones. Even so, I had been set back a long way (as my ex-colleagues noticed when I tried to teach the French Revolution at the start of my THIRD year of teaching – I was even mistaken for an NQT because of this.)

3 Comments

Behaviour in ITT - A response to the "Bennett Report"

7/14/2016

1 Comment

I couldn't find one with the cart also before the horse

I have long been a fan of Tom Bennett’s no nonsense approach to behaviour management. I have recommended Bennett’s blog many times to trainees and NQTs nervous about expectations in the classroom (as you will see from these pages). As such, there are many things I like about the ITT behaviour report (one of the long-awaited responses to the Carter review) which was published on Wednesday:

I think it is good for trainees to learn about classroom routines at uni as well as at school (I can’t think of many providers who won’t cover this, although SD/SCITT courses may use their own particular school approaches which might be accused of lacking breadth).
I think it is a great idea for trainees to have considered how they might respond effectively to common misbehaviour or issues in the classroom (again this is covered through observations of experienced teachers, discussions of approaches to behaviour management, use of videos etc.)
I think it is good for trainees to be aware of the importance of relationships with students (again this is covered and dealt with in our course and certainly by the schools we partner with. Of course things break down more when schools have their own ideas about those relationships which jar with university input eg. When schools allow children to take a time-out by their own choice, or when pupils can ‘appeal’ a teacher’s sanction.
I think it is very important for trainees to get support with behaviour management. This does however need to come from the most credible sources – often this means in schools.
I love the idea that trainees should have to observe people with excellent behaviour management – behaviour experts. However I also feel that schools tend to define these as the people who don’t have behaviour problems. Far more useful might be to observe a teacher for whom behaviour is an effort, but who does not let their standards slip and deals with issues. The risk with the “behaviour expert” approach is that it becomes all about personalities and those behaviour demagogues which all schools have.
I think it can be a powerful tool when trainees video and watch their lessons critically.

So far, so vanilla. Yet I also feel there are a number of fundamental issues with the approaches suggested by Bennett and his team. The following points are very much a response to the report and to Tom's blog "Let's fix this together" published today.

1 Comment

TFSI 2016 - Making Progress in History Session Resources

Creating flight paths to replace levels Year 7-11 - the impact of the new GCSE grade descriptors

On being two pages ahead...

Behaviour in ITT - A response to the "Bennett Report"

Archives

Categories