Did you know that last year over 6 thousand people failed the Numeracy Skills Test on their first attempt! And since then they’ve made it harder, and capped the number of attempts. There is no question – the test is super hard, and the consequences of failing it are high. So what’s the secret to [...]
I am inspired everyday by the educators that follow me on twitter!! I am so grateful that I have such a great following and my timeline allows me to participate in CPD every time I look at it! I used the video below in a twilight training session recently to help inspire other teachers to join twitter [...]
The current buzz word at the moment is “mini plenary”, I am not going to take credit for these but below are my top 50 mini Maths plenary ideas that can be used throughout the lesson to assess learning,demonstrate progress and intervene where necessary. List three things you have learned today List three things your neighbour [...]
Are you aware of the procrastination cycle? If you do not know what the word means than look it up in a dictionary or read Shakespeares’ Hamlet. The cycle can be applied to any profession but found it applies nicely to the teaching profession. This is a great assessment of the stages of procrastination and [...]
How do I pass the Maths Numeracy Skills Test for QTS? The secret to passing the Maths numeracy skills test is that there is no secret. I have helped many struggling trainees in my time who were having problems passing the Maths numeracy skills test or were concerned about it, and this is the advice I have [...]
This blog entry tries to answer the question to why all educators should have a world map displayed in their class rooms. If you do not have one download a free world map image clipart picture below, laminate it, and display it at the front of your class. For Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural purposes [...]
One of the best hastags to follow as a teacher is the #edchat #ukedchat tags. Some amazing discussions and debates can be read and participated in every day. As a new teacher or trainee this is a hast tag or subject to follow. The #SLTChat and #MathChat conversation that happen every week are great CPD sessions [...]
What is Blooms Taxonomy and how can you use it in your lessons to develop high level thinking skills and questioning. It is a great idea to have this poster at the front of your room to remind you to use the right level of questioning to ensure effective Assessment For Learning. This is a [...]
Within formative assessment there are norm referenced assessment, criterion referenced assessment and “ipsative” assessment. Assessment defined as “Non reference” is where a learner is compared to another set of learners. An example of this “diagnostic” approach is CATS tests where learners are measured against an average for their age group. These tests are used to [...]
A great task to do in an anti-bullying lesson or in a form class session. This had a great impact with the class and really had the class engaged and generated some amazing honest discussions. Give each learner a piece of paper. Ask them to crumple it up and step on it, crease it, [...]
All staff have a full and active part to play in protecting pupils from harm. School child protection policies vary but predominantly the aims are summarised below; To support the child’s development in ways that will foster security, confidence and independence. To raise the awareness of both teaching and non-teaching staff of the need to [...]
The national numeracy project defines numeracy as “knowing about numbers and number operations” The policy states that numerate pupils should be confident in numeracy without immediately going to teachers or friends for help. In summary they should; Have a sense of the size of a number and how it fits into the number system Know [...]
Although nowadays schools have cover supervisors, it is sometimes necessary for teaching staff to deal with emergency cover. The following advice and strategies on how to manage a classroom when doing a cover lesson might be useful; Spend 5 mins at the beginning of the lesson to talk to the learners informally about their subject and their [...]
Teacher absence is sometimes unavoidable but it is paramount to phone in and set cover work for learners. Cover work should; Be set the night before absence or by phoning in the morning as soon as possible. The cover work should be set at the right target level. The work set should not be of [...]