So true

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Effective teaching: 10 tips on what works and what doesn’t

A very interesting article written in The Guardian at the end of last month. I feel that I do use some of these, but have fallen into other traps. Have a look at the full article [click here]

The main points are listed here:
1. Know your subject
2. Praise can do more harm than good
3. Instruction matters
4. Teacher beliefs count
5. Think about teacher-student relationships
6. Manage behaviour
7. There’s no evidence that setting works
8. Don’t worry about learning styles
9. Learning should be hard at first
10. Build relationships with colleagues and parents

Arrived in the post, so some time this weekend will be dedicated to relaxing. @wavelengthsurfmag

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This is what we spent our evening doing.

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A view from a professional

Evaluating a School’s Education Technology

Terry Freedman wrote an article on his site about the 11 criteria for evaluating a school’s education technology [link here]. These are fairly useful to think about our own provision for teaching and learning. Change is good if it improves teaching and learning, but often it is difficult to find the early adopters, who will lead the rest. As Terry writes, "There’s nothing to lose, and much to gain, from carrying out a fresh evaluation at least once a year"

Here is his check list....

• Is education technology being used a lot by pupils in a wide range of lessons?
• Is the technology exciting, innovative, attractive?
• Is it being used well, i.e. in the service of learning, as opposed to being used as a means of keeping pupils occupied?
• Is it making a difference to pupils’ attainment?
• What does the technology look like?
• How many subject leaders are using technology?
• How many members of the senior leadership team are using technology?
• What’s going on beyond the school gates, but within the school community?
• What’s the Computing scheme of work like?
• Where the subject is optional, how many students choose it?
• Finally, what does it actually feel like?

When I have a moment I might try to answer a few of these questions.

Town crier in Wells this morning. Great market in City Centre today.

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