Lazy Teaching

No, this isn't an admission that I've become complacent in the classroom!

I recently read The Lazy Teacher's Handbook: How your students learn more when you teach less (Independent Thinking Series) by Jim Smith. I enjoyed the book a lot. I found it refreshing in the way it encouraged teachers to take risks and try something new. But I love the way it wants us to shift the work rate within the lessons on to the children - over the course of the lesson the children should be working hardest.

The big challenge for teachers taking on board the Lazy Way is often dragging themselves away from the safety net that is the scheme of work.

Here are some great ideas from the book:

• Like airlines - record any set routines on video. Display messages that you need to give.
• Use audio and video for teaching.
• "Too many teachers are paraphrasing children's answers then adding in anecdotal by-line for good measure meaning the majority of the students disengage with a crucial part of the learning. Why the vast majority of teachers feel compelled to repeat and add something to every response they receive is beyond me. You have a whole class of students who should be asked to comment on what has been said."
• "Send one member of the group (to be known as the 'envoy') to visit another group. The envoy is there with two missions: 1 to listen to the group's ideas so he can report back to his own group and 2 to share his own group's ideas with his hosts. This is a very lazy way of making sure everyone remains engaged with the task and hears other viewpoints."

• Use this formula to outline how much time the group has using the following formula: People x Time - Number of hours worked. If you have a group of four students working for a sixty minute lesson, this equates to four hours of time. Ask the students what they would expect an individual to produce in four hours. Use the formula to set the expectation for the group.
• Allocate specific roles to members of the group, e.g. facilitator (keeps things moving and records what is happening), time keeper, resource manager, quality checker and team rep (represents the team at 'emergency meetings'.
• Never use silent work as a punishment as it is a valuable way of working, not a consequence of poor behaviour.
• Establish how long you are going to be silent for and make it clear to your class that you do want that amount of time spent in silence and will reset the clock of people talk.
• Model working in the silent time as well.
• Have a whiteboard where questions can be posted by the students. When someone posts a question only ever tell that person the answer and write the name of the person you have told under the question on the FAQs board. Anyone else in the class who wants to know the answer to that same question can talk to their classmate rather than you.
• The 'feel good Friday' phone call: choose three students whose parents/carers you are going to ring to say just how well their children are doing.
• The high jump: Introduce the high jump approach to maths - children start the challenge just before you think it is going to get too difficult for them. There is no point in students completing work that has proved nothing, other than the fact that it is too easy or too hard.
• Have a Connect 4 Championship!

Start With Why

The message in the video clearly applies to schools. Start with WHY.

NPQH Gateway Day

Today I took part in my Gateway Day.

It was hard work. All of this before I even get on to the course! I can't discuss the activities I took part in, as we had to sign confidentiality forms.

There's not a lot you can do to prepare, but it might be worth doing these things:

• Read through your application forms one last time.
• Meet with your sponsor to discuss what they said about you in their telephone conversation (just for support and inspiration).
• Look again at the definitions of the NPQH competencies.
• Think about your senior leadership role - forget about your work with children. On they day they are only interested in how you lead people.
• Ensure you are familiar with EYFS profiles, RaiseOnline, Ofsted reports.
• Take a look through your school's development plan.

If you haven't had your day yet - good luck. The assessors were friendly and put you at ease as much as possible. There'll be about 8 of you on the day but you are assessed individually. The assessors told us to 'enjoy it'. Do your best and good luck!

Outstanding Lessons 3: Learning Objectives

 I recently read The Managing Workload Pocketbook from the brilliant Teachers' Pocketbooks series. The book was written by Caroline Bentley-Davies.

In my third in a series of posts, I look at advice given about learning objectives.

It is often good practice to share lesson objectives with the class at the start of the lesson. In many classes these are recorded on the whiteboard and explained to the students. When used effectively they can:

• Signpost the learning, keying pupils in to the purpose of the lesson and making clear what the teacher will be focusing on.
• Ensure that the lesson actually helps the pupils' learning because the activities clearly focus on the objective.
• Make a distinction between the tasks and the learning.
• Allow a clear way to review learning during and at the end of the lesson.

However, if every lesson starts with an explanation of what pupils will be learning - and especially if students have to copy this down - lessons soon become tedious, routine and ineffective. Those who are slow writers or who find literacy challenging will struggle. Sometimes you will want to:

• Surprise the pupils
• Make them think!
• Disguise the 'unpopular topic'
• Develop pupil independence by getting them consider: what is it you already know about this topic? And what do you think you need to know about it?

Outstanding teachers ensure it is clear what pupils are learning but they know there are many ways to convey this.

Outstanding Lessons

I recently read The Managing Workload Pocketbook from the brilliant Teachers' Pocketbooks series. The book was written by Caroline Bentley-Davies.

Although, I think, possibly more suited towards secondary school teachers, there is lots of great advice for how to deliver outstanding lessons.

Over a series of posts I will share some of my learning from this book which is well worth a read.

Bentley-Davies writes that in recent years, lessons judged to be outstanding have focused less on the teacher's demonstration of their expert knowledge and more on the students and their learning and independence. 

This is certainly the approach that I'm taking towards the way I teach, and also the way I observe lessons. When it comes to lesson observations, the focus is on the pupils and their learning, not the teacher at the front of the room.

The crucial questions to consider are:

• What helps the pupils learn?
• How are they encouraged to be independent?
• How much progress have they made in the lesson?

In excellent lessons the four areas below are carefully balanced.

Teacher Subject Knowledge

• Teacher knows their subject area
• they create engaging and memorable strategies for passing this on.
• They are able to anticipate, respond to and correct misconceptions.

Pupil Engagement

• Safe environment in which to learn and share ideas.
• Good management of classroom behaviour.
• Pupils are actively involved in the lesson and learn from each other.

Effective Climate for Learning

• Positive atmosphere - plenty of praise.
• Pupils feel able to respond and take a chance.
• Teacher fosters pupils' self-confidence.

Pupils Develop Independence in Their Learning

• Pupils know what 'good' work looks like and how to achieve it.
• They are aware of what their next learning steps are and how to tackle them.
• They are able to work independently and discuss their ideas.

Managing Workload 4

I recently read The Managing Workload Pocketbook from the brilliant Teachers' Pocketbooks series. The book was written by Will Thomas. This is the fourth in a series a posts about my learning from the book. This time I consider his excellent advice for marking, feedback and working with parents.

Until reading this book it hadn't occurred to me that the way you handle your communication with parents, and the way that you mark and give feedback, can make a huge difference to managing a workload. Of course, I knew that they added to your workload; but the way they are managed can reduce the effect on a workload.

Marking and Feedback

Some evidence shows children pay little attention to written feedback where a grade is given. Effective feedback encourages children to reflect and is surprisingly smart in terms of teacher workload. Consider using the following techniques more of the time:

• Set clear criteria for work - students with focus make fewer mistakes - less to correct.
• Set some work as concept maps - you can get a good overview of understanding.
• Use dots to indicate an error, but write nothing else - encourage reflection.
• Use peer feedback which identifies a 4:1 ratio of strengths:development points.
• Mark one piece of work in three, and use peer feedback for the others.
• Students share their work before they submit it and correct their own mistakes.
• Speed-mark by marking a question at a time rather than a whole test paper at a time.

Working with difficult parents.

When complaints or concerns are dealt with sensitively from the start, satisfaction is maximised and time spent in resolution is minimised.

1. Listen and acknowledge - allow them to express themselves uninterrupted.
2. Ask them what they think they need in order to resolve the issue.
3. Agree to reasonable requests. Consider when and who with action them.
4. Add any further elements to the solution you feel are necessary.
5. Give a clear and realistic date when you will contact them and tell them about progress.
6. Ask them how they are feeling now and allow any further expression - take any further action needed to reassure them.
7. Thank them and remind them you have their child's best interests at heart.

This is all great advice! The book goes into much more detail to clarify the ideas further.

Managing Workload 2

I recently read The Managing Workload Pocketbook from the brilliant Teachers' Pocketbooks series. The book was written by Will Thomas.

The book is full of excellent ideas for how to manage your school workload more efficiently. This is something that I particularly struggle with and so I was keep to find out some ideas. In this second of my posts about this book I will consider the idea of prioritising tasks.


Parkinson's Law: "Work expands to fill the time you make available to it."

Thomas suggests for each task you consider the urgency and the importance. By organising your tasks into the categories in the diagram, you can quickly see which tasks need to be tackled first.

Thomas writes, "Get into the habit of considering the urgency and importance of each task. If it isn't a UI or a NUI, then lower it in your priorities, or strike it out altogether. Tackle first the thing on your task list you most want to avoid."

I think this is a really quick and simple way to examine tasks, and therefore prioritising them is much easier. It is important to review the tasks carefully as, of course, some tasks become more urgent and more important over time. This could be done as part of a weekly review.

I like the look of the Any To Do app for the iPhone which sets task lists out in this way. It will also sync with Evernote which would be very handy.

Some general rules suggested for Paperwork and e-work:

• Have a tidy desk.
• 'A place for everything and everything in its place'.
• Be ruthless with paper.
• Treat emails as you would paper.

Setting goals

I recently read James Caan's book, 'Get the Life you Really Want'. There were a few good pieces of advice in there about setting goals, targets and getting where you want to be in life.

"It is your mindset, not your ability, that shapes how high you will go."

Setting goals

"Asking questions and working out what needs changing is great. But then you have to move from thinking about things to actually doing them. To start moving forwards and get some traction, it is important to set targets. Otherwise you go through life like a pinball, being bounced around by other people telling you what to do."

"Try to get the balance right between positive ambitions and what is realistic. You want to feel forward movement, not frustration."

"Make sure there are short gaps between each of your milestones. Then you can see where you are going."

"You don't have to change your life all by yourself. In fact, involving other people and telling them your plans will be life-changing in itself."

Time Management

"Time management is about looking at your diary every morning. Ask yourself whether each task or activity is crucial and critical to what you are doing. Decide what is essential and what is simply 'nice to have'."

"Managing time is all about working out how you can be in control of your time, not the other way around. You are in charge."

"Don't forget to make sure you are building in time to enjoy yourself, time to relax with the kids. It is just as crucial to your well-being. Build it in to your diary and stick to it."

Applying for Headship

Today I attended a short course on Preparing for Headship. Here is what I learned:

Salary

• You can never get above the fourth point in the range advertised.
• Don't ask about the salary in the interview.

Letter

• Use the person specification as a starting point, but you'll need more practical examples.
• Never write more than three sides of A4, no bigger than font 12. Look at the guidance given.
• Talk about the school. Talk about the children. Talk about relationships with governors and parents.

Choosing which jobs to apply for

• Only go for the school you want - the one where you could make a difference.
• Visit the school.

Looking for jobs

• Visit the TES website

The interview

• Mostly it's about what you will bring to the school. Refer to data and Ofsted.
• Answer questions fully - ask for a repeat of the question if you aren't sure.
• There are likely to be seven or eight questions, plus a presentation.
• It might be worth asking a question at the end. But if you are happy - just get out!!

Portfolio

• It would be worth putting together a portfolio of your career - teaching and learning standards, work with parents, your teaching philosophy.

Building experience

• Spend time with the SIP
• Familiarise yourself with RaiseOnline, FFT and Ofsted reports.
• Work closely with governors.
• Understand the process of writing action plans.
• Understand the role of the SENCO.
• Build up cross-phase awareness
• Be familiar with Early Years practice.
• Be familiar with the school budget processes.

GROW model of coaching

Today I learned about the GROW model of coaching.

Coaching is a style of CPD which I'm not sure about. Perhaps I haven't been coached 'properly'. But the principles of GROW seem to make sense to me.

Goal
Set a goal. Write down what it will look like when you are successful.

Reality
Consider the current situation. Self-assess the way things are now.

Options
Draw out the range of options available in order to work towards that goal.

Way forward
End by considering the next steps. What actions should be taken next?

You can learn more here:
http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/coaching_grow.html
http://www.lmanc.com.sg/v2/CT_Coaching.html

Image: http://www.lmanc.com.sg/v2/CT_Coaching.html

Heads Together: Staffing Training 2

I attended a Heads Together training course on staffing. The second part was about applying for headship. Here is a summary of what I learned.

Don't apply for just anything - make sure it's a job in a school that you really want!
Write to the job specification.
Your application letter should be no more than three sides of A4.

The interview will last for two or three days.
Part 1:
Takes place in the school. It may involve giving an assembly, teaching a lesson, a staff lunch, group discussions, school council interview.
Part 2:
Usually takes place in a neutral venue. It may involve delivering a seen presentation possibly about what will the school be like in x amount of time, an unseen presentation, probably related to prioritising issues or Ofsted criteria, and an interview.

Wisdom

At church on Sunday the curate gave an excellent talk about Proverbs Chapter 3. This chapter is all about wisdom, like many of the chapters of the book.


The chapter has three themes which I have real resonance for all of us:


Wisdom is beneficial.
Wisdom allows you to think about decisions in the long term, not just the short term. Discipline is something that is painful in the short term but has a benefit in the long term.


Wisdom is valuable.
The long term effects of having wisdom are priceless. It allows you to weigh up decisions and make the right choice.


Wisdom is practical.
Having wisdom will allows you to make a difference.

Multitasking

People brag about being able to multitask.The latest newsletter from nanoTasker says:

"Multitasking is actually an illusion, as we do not actively think about 2 or more items simultaneously in our conscious mind. Multitasking is really about how rapidly we can switch tasks, recall the details of each and be effective. This puts a lot of strain on our minds and in the short term causes mental fatigue and leads to burnout. Every time you switch tasks you are losing your momentum and causing a 15-45 minute transition period to the new task."

This would explain a lot about why I find it hard to multitask. The newsletter contains some good advice which I am doing my best to follow:

• Try to carve out large periods of time to focus on a single larger task and avoid switching to another task until it’s done.
• Try to batch like-tasks together. For instance make all your calls at once, or work on writing tasks for a while.
• Instead of constantly handling new items as they come in write them down and handle them when the time is right. Very few actual emergencies really exist.
• Take notice of how often you are switching tasks, the cause for switching and be creative on how to combat switching them.

This next half-term is a frantically busy one. I have so many appointments, courses and meetings that I'm not getting the chance to concentrate on what I need to do. If I organise my time like the advice suggests I think I will be productive.

StaySocialSafe

Today we had a superb social media training session for our staff with Jonathan Bradley from StaySocialSafe.

Staysocialsafe is a social media service provided by Participate. It is here to help professionals use social networks and remain safe with their reputations untarnished. This service has been designed to give professionals the training and expertise they need to use social media at work without getting themselves or their employer into disrepute (often by accident).

The training and briefing service is designed to ensure that:

• Staff understand how they should use social media at work and at play
• Staff know how to manage security settings and behaviour to protect their private lives
• Organisations to do not lose key staff through a lack of understanding of safe behaviour in social media
• Organisations protect themselves from inappropriate social media broadcasting by staff.

The Staysocialsafe courses are designed to ensure that employees and employers are up to date with social media policy, security and safety requirements. Fundamentally it’s about making sure employees know how to behave and the risks they are potentially exposed to. 

The briefing was excellent and there was something for everyone to learn - from the Facebook addict to the people who barely use the internet!

Here are some of my learning and action points to take away from the session:

Using Social Media

• Employees can be held legally responsible for online content written about their employer
• Remember - it's SOCIAL media - like gossip!
• Search for yourself and clean up!
• Add a disclaimer - your tweets are your own.
• If you make a mistake - correct, acknowledge, apologise.
• Choose friends and followers carefully.
• Don't use social media when you are drunk!
• If you are in a position of responsibility you have given away some of your social media freedom. Employers have rights to act on what you do. They probably don't want to - so be social safe.
• Keep track of tags, retweets and mentions.

ICT Leadership

• We need a Social Media Policy (separate to the Acceptable Use Policy)
• A training course should be given to new members of staff
• The Social Media Policy should:

• Be about DOs as well as DON'Tss
• Explain the type of information employees can share and what should remain confidential.
• Cover personal use of social media during working hours.
• Give guidance on using social media as part of a professional role.

School Leadership

• Treat electronic misbehaviour in the same way as non-electronic behaviour - with pupils and with adults.

Families

One of my favourite tweets of 2011 was from @angelabishop: "Pixar, which #stevejobs helped build, has a staff policy.Leave on time every day cos you can't make family movies if you never see your own."

It really made me think, and I began to realise how relevant this statement is for teachers too. How can you teach children and help them to develop a love of life and learning if you get too busy to spend time with your own family. If ever there was a message to remind us about what really matters it is this:
"Leave school on time every day and switch off from work because you can't teach children about life if you don't make the most of yours."

Image: http://www.ohmyweird.com/2007/05/03/family-love-is-everything/

Leadership Lessons from Henry V Part Five: Motivation

Part Five: How Henry motivated his troops towards victory

I recently attended a superb training session on Inspirational Leadership from Ben at Contender Charlie. The messages on leadership were based on Shakespeare's Henry V.
You can find handouts from the course here.

In this final post of a short series, I''m going to share some of my learning from the course.

Henry's most famous monologue goes like this:

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility,
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger:
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favored rage,
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect,
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon, let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a gallèd rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swilled with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English,
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof,
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument.
Dishonor not your mothers. Now attest
That those whom you called fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture. Let us swear
That you are worth your breeding, which I doubt not,

How can we learn from Henry's motivational skills?

• He was one of them - we're in this together! You're problems are my problems.
• He believes in his troops - if you don't believe in someone you don't motivate positively, only negatively.
• He displays real passion.
• He creates a common identity behind which you can unite.
• He honours his troops - he calls them 'friends'.
• He reminds them of the big picture - why they're doing what they're doing.
• He's realistic and says it like it is.
• He uses vivid images, stories and metaphors. These can be worth far more than data.
• He chooses his moment to inspire.
• He also uses some negative motivation skills by saying if we don't do it well, this could be the scenario we face. The choice is yours.

Leadership Lessons from Henry V Part Four: Henry's Dark Night

Part Three: Henry's Dark Night - or the night before the battle.

I recently attended a superb training session on Inspirational Leadership from Ben at Contender Charlie. The messages on leadership were based on Shakespeare's Henry V.
You can find handouts from the course here.

Over a series of posts I'm going to share some of my learning from the course.

So, in the play...

Landing in France, Henry achieves some early successes before setbacks lead to his 8,000 exhausted men being surrounded by 40,000 mounted French troops. The French offer Henry the choice of surrendering (and paying a huge fine but he and his troops being spared) or fighting the following day on the field of Agincourt and being killed.

Like so many leaders before and since, Henry faces his own dark night of the soul. He confronts the possibility of failure and the crushing loneliness of his responsibility as he faces a decision that could lead to most of his men lying dead on the field of battle and his vision destroyed. It's a night of soul searching which is a metaphor for leadership in general.

http://www.mentoringforchange.co.uk/leadership/henryV.php

Henry's night goes through the following stages. I've tried to describe how the lessons can be applied to leadership.

Visible Leadership: A leader should always be visible - particularly when facing a real challenge.
Private Truth: If you reveal your inner truth publicly it can have a damaging effect. Put on a front.
Time Alone: Take time out to think when necessary. Spend some time with your family.
Listen To The Troops: Without taking it personally, learn the views of your team. Have the strength of character to accept criticism.
Unload Burden: Where do you go to unload the burden? NOT in the staffroom. You need the chance to vent off, but shout at the car, not at a person!
Acknowledge Shadows: Fully recognise the challenges that are faced. Keep it real.
Core Values: Come back to your core values - your vision. This is what matters in the end.
Inspire Troops: Inspire the team - go for it!

Quotables

I've really started to get into the habit of recording quotes that I like. The quotes I like tend to offer advice, inspiration, interest or humour. I record my quotes at my Quotables page.

Leadership Lessons from Henry V Part Three: Leadership Styles

I recently attended a superb training session on Inspirational Leadership from Ben at Contender Charlie. The messages on leadership were based on Shakespeare's Henry V.
You can find handouts from the course here.

Over a series of posts I'm going to share some of my learning from the course.

Part of the day was spent considering leadership styles. Whilst not directly related to Henry V, this was one of my favourite parts of the day. 

Parts of my research for this post is based largely on: 
http://docmo.hubpages.com/hub/Effective-Leadership-Skills-4-Situational-Leadership-Styles

Carl Gustav Jung, the Swiss Psychiatrist and the founder of analytical psychology,believed that deep underneath our unconscious mind, lie character traits that can be certain models or roles derived from fables and mythology. He called them archetypes. Of all the archetypes he proposed, four are well known:

• Great mother
• Warrior
• Good King
• Medicine Woman/Witch

Jung was heavily into Eastern and Western mythology and believed these archetypal characters represent humanity's collective unconscious. Knowing our archetypal influences really helps to understand our leadership styles and our personality in interacting with people and teams.

A leadership continuum

The Autocratic style is more the warrior archetype and the Democratic style is akin to the Earth Mother approach.

Truth is, neither style is a perfect one. To be a good leader is to be polyphonic. You need to way up your situation, weigh up your team and the task, assess the immediacy of what needs to be achieved and then pick your approach.

Another way successful leaders execute tasks is to incrementally move from one end to the other. Some may start as Democrats and then move to autocratic approach as the deadline approaches and task completion needs to be imminent. Some may adapt a more autocratic approach initially and then offer support and counsel after the task is completed.

This approach is called Situational Leadership.

The Situational Leader

The Situational Leader knows the mood and the efficacy of the team. They observe, reflect, analyse and act. They have a variety of tools at their disposal. some they may be naturally good at, others they have learnt as a necessity.

Situational demands should influence a situational style. Sometimes a mixture of styles may be needed for the task to be completed, or for different team members!

Most leaders find one or more roles more comfortable to wear and may feel uncomfortable with the others. Therein lies the development of a leader.

They can choose to assume the traits of one of the leadership styles. Be aware that each style has a shadow - an extreme of the trait where good intentions may lead to bad results by overdoing it.

Leadership Style	Positive Traits	Characteristics	Shadow (Negative) Traits	Poor Leadership
Warrior	telling, instructing, ordering, punishing, leading, visioning and ruthless in achieving the task, takes action, leads from the front, likes competition	Powerful, Decisive, Leading, Visioning, Determined, Successful, Inspiring, Rewarding, dynamic	Destroyer, collateral damage, others are expendable, win at all costs, selfish, Punisher	Tyrant
Great Mother	nurturing, guiding, mentoring, training, helping to grow, rewarding, emotionally intelligent, has rapport	Nurturing, supportive, encouraging, pastoral, protective, kind, shows empathy, listens	Overnurturing, supportive when challenge is needed, no discipline, no completion, poor growth due to low challenge, lazy team	Weak Mother
Medicine Woman	giving ideas, creating, visioning, inspiring, dazzling, mercurial, quick witted, lateral thinking, loves blue sky thinking, stretch/bend the rules	Mercurial, full of ideas, creative, visionary, lateral thinking, outside the box, innovation, thinks "what if?", innovative	Too many ideas, none completed, transient, incomplete, flitting, random, restless, distracted.	Mad Woman
Good King	delegating, sharing, participating, democratic decision making, involving, encouraging, strategic, considered	Democratic, Decisive, inclusive, benevolent, sharing, involving, encouraging, calm, balanced	Indecisive, slow, overindulgent, consults too many, insecure	Weak King

(Ideally I would use different colours to organise this table better, but I don't know how!!)
asdas

Classroom Management

Ten Tips for Classroom Management is an interesting read. You can download it for free here.


The ten tips are:

1. Build community
2. Design a safe, friendly, and well-managed classroom environment
3. Include students in creating rules, norms, routines and consequences
4. Create a variety of communication channels
5. Always be calm, fair and consistent
6. Know the students you teach
7. Address conflict quickly and wisely
8. Integrate positive classroom rituals
9. Keep it real
10. Partner with parents and guardians

The advice is practical and there are links to resources for further support. It would be particularly useful for NQTs and trainee teachers.