Working with Gifted and Talented pupils

Teachers TV has a new programme that examines how one school in London supports its Gifted and Talented pupils across a range of subjects. Their strategies could be used and adapted in your own lessons. Watch the programme here.

Creativity and education

Ewan McIntosh is a Scottish educator who who produces a blog on Education, ICT and other related matters. He has recently written in response to a new book by Sir Ken Robinson on Creativity in Education which raises some challenging ideas about the role of the teacher and schools in promoting creativity. To read more go here.

From good to oustanding

Teachers TV have produced a series of programmes that are designed as case studies of how to improve the quality of teaching and learning. They cover a range of subject areas and Key stages. Check them out here.

Preparing for Inspection

Teachers TV has a new programme available online which addresses the topic of preparing for inspection. They describe it thus:
Former HMI Inspector Roy Blatchford speaks to three secondary headteachers who have recently been visited by Ofsted, and offers his tips on the inspection process.
You can watch the programme here.

From Good to Outstanding

Teachers TV has produced a programme with the above title. They describe it thus:
Sydney Russell School has rated secondary English teacher David Pollicutt's lessons as 'good'. His challenge is to gain an 'outstanding' rating in just three weeks, using the help of a range of experts.
School inspector Clare Gillies assesses one of David's Year 8 lessons on characterisation within Great Expectations, and highlights some clear areas for improvement.
David heads off to get some one-to-one CPD and to work on pedagogy advice with English advisor Sabrina Broadbent, and received more tips from voice and communications expert Ulrika Schulte-Baukloh.
David then has just three weeks back in the classroom to put their advice into action before the inspector returns to observe a second lesson and deliver her final verdict.
Will David succeed in raising his game sufficiently to go from 'good' to 'outstanding'?

Find it here

Better presentations

For anyone who has started to glaze over during a Powerpoint presentation, there is some extremely helpful advice here about how to make them more effective.
There are links to practical tips here.

Teacher Resource Exchange

This site may be old news to some but it's worth checking out as a place to share and borrow ideas and resources with teachers across the country.

Testing, testing

There's another article in the Guardian which questions the value of testing in motivating pupils or stimulating learning. Read it here.

Gifted and talented subject resources

There are some subject based resources for Gifted and Talented pupils here and here.

Thanks to Uta Thomas for the links.

New Blooms

I've posted earlier about Bloom's taxonomy. I've recently discovered this version below which offers a variety of ways of interpreting the different stages.



To see a more legible version click on the image. To read more about it and to discover a next stage in the taxonomy go here.

Practical approaches to gifted and talented education

Whether you are a co-ordinator, a teacher or a parent, Teacher Tools provides a range of resources and advice on all aspects of gifted and talented education.
Check it out here.

Thanks to Uta Thomas for the link.

Pupils respond to a teacher's marking

There is an interesting article here on how pupils respond to different approaches to marking.
One of the main conclusions is this:

I think that teachers sometimes forget that the first thing most pupils are looking for is reassurance that they are doing the right thing, and/or that we respect their efforts. Without that initial support, the formative comment can seem negative to the pupil. They can perceive being told what to do to reach the next level as criticism rather than support. ‘I thought I’d done really well and you’ve just written three things here which I need to do next time… I don’t understand.’

Outstanding

There is a great deal of discussion at present about what makes an outstanding school so it may help to know that there are examples out there.

Ofsted has rated Outwood Grange College in Wakefield as Outstanding in all areas.
Read more about them at their website here.

They are currently adopting a two year KS3 and a three year KS4. To read more about their curriculum structure go here.

They are also adopting vertical tutor groups. To find out more about that go here.

To get a flavour of what the school does download a copy of their school magazine here.

Diploma support

With new Diploma courses coming along it's good to know that there is some online support for staff (thinking of) teaching them.

Check out this site.

A touch of CLASS

Creative Learning And Specialist Subjects (CLASS) is an initiative from the Specialist Schools Trust that aims to support and celebrate creative approaches to teaching and learning. As they write at their website:
In the creative classroom, children find their own pathways through the world of learning. In these pages you will find examples of how our creative learning lead practitioners have made this happen in their own schools. You will also learn how you can develop similar work in your own schools and classrooms, as well as links to all kinds of useful web sites and organisations which can help to get you started.

Find out more here.

Develop your teaching practice using ICT

There are some online resources available on the Teachernet website to help teachers develop their use of ICT in their subject areas. Find out more here.

A call for sanity?

An insightful speaker raised a massive cheer from the audience at an education conference this week.
Professor Richard Pring urged everyone to stop talking about "delivery" in education and to return to talking about "teaching". His point was that education has been taken over by an "Orwellian language" which has started to control the way we think and act.
You can read more about this call for sanity in Mike Baker's report here.