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What makes an outstanding lesson article

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What makes an outstanding lesson article

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https://www.headteacher-update.com/best-practice-article/what-makes-an-ofstedoutstanding-lesson/66775

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Drawing on his experience of Ofsted and the views of the chief inspector, consultant headteacher Matt Bromley discusses the secrets to teaching outstanding lessons.

In my day job, I travel the country talking to school teachers and leaders and the question I am asked more than any other is this: "What is an outstanding lesson?" My answer, rather disappointingly for my inquisitors, is that there is no "silver bullet".

Let me explain...

I have taught and observed a lot of lessons over the years and I think I'm pretty good at recognising an outstanding one when I see it. I can wax lyrical for hours about all the outstanding teaching I have seen and about the "spark" that makes some lessons better than others.

Having read the guidance Ofsted provides for its inspectors, I am also confident I know how Ofsted differentiates between an outstanding lesson and, say, a good one.

And yet when I am asked that question - what is outstanding? - I struggle to furnish my inquisitors with an answer of sufficient clarity. Why? Because - to quote Ofsted (in its English subject report published last May) "there are many routes to excellence".

To prescribe a formula for outstanding lessons is to ignore the fact that what makes one lesson outstanding might not necessarily do the same for another, and what works for one teacher with one class might not work for another teacher and another class.

Speaking at the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) last May, the chief inspector of schools Sir Michael Wilshaw was asked the same question. In reply, he said that there is not just one but a multitude of definitions and, as such, we - and he explicitly included Ofsted in this - "should be wary of trying to prescribe a particular style of teaching".

The Ofsted framework echoes this view. It cautions that "inspectors must not expect teaching staff to teach in any specific way or follow a prescribed methodology".At the London Festival of Education in October 2012, Sir Michael was challenged by a member of the audience to explain what Ofsted is looking for when it inspects schools. He was asked to confirm or deny that, essentially, inspectors are (only) looking for (the answers to) three questions:

* Are all pupils being challenged?
* Are all pupils making progress?
* Are all pupils at least engaged and at best inspired?

Sir Michael was unequivocal in his reply: Yes! He went on to say that inspectors should "simply judge teaching on whether children are engaged, focused, learning, and making progress ... and in the best lessons (are) being inspired".

He was also clear about what he doesn't want to see: "We don't want to see lessons that are too crowded, too frenetic, with too many activities designed to impress." In an interview with The Telegraph in November, Sir Michael expanded on this. He said that too many teachers were attempting to break lessons into bite-sized chunks instead of allowing pupils time to complete extended tasks. So we know what an outstanding lesson is not; it is not formulaic, it is not frenetic, it is not bite-sized learning with a side order of teacher-talk. But what is it?

Progress

As I have already pointed out, in his speech at the London Festival of Education, Sir Michael defined "outstanding" as being when "children enjoyed their lessons, were engaged, were focused, learnt a great deal and made real progress".

An outstanding lesson, he argued, was "about what works" and he made a plea to his inspectors to apply "pragmatism not ideology in the way (they) judge the quality of teaching".

I would like to linger awhile on that word "progress" because I know it causes many teachers sleepless nights. I also think there's a misunderstanding about what "progress" actually means in practice. I have heard some schools dictate that every lesson should be stopped every 10 minutes in order to "check progress".

This, for me, is a classic example of "weighing the pig". In other words, stopping pupils' learning in order to check whether or not those pupils are learning starves them of the opportunity to learn.

And what is progress anyway? To the best of my knowledge, Ofsted only mentions the notion of progress within a single lesson once in its hundreds, nay thousands of pages of advice and guidance.

It refers to pupils making "progress over time" a lot, but this is something that is judged, not solely through lesson observations, but through an analysis of progress data and by talking to pupils and staff.

"Progress" is something that can be demonstrated over time because, given days and weeks, teachers and pupils will have engaged in some form of formative assessment and will know whether or not the pupil has moved closer towards achieving his or her target.

It is not always possible to demonstrate real progress within an hour and even more of a challenge when there are 30 or so pupils to assess. Also, progress can sometimes be the culmination of a number of interconnecting factors. Some lessons might involve pupils reading in silence for an hour or writing an essay in exam conditions. Progress cannot confidently be measured during such a lesson.

It is only when the teacher has had sight of the pupil's work that they will know if the pupil has made real progress or not.

I know some teachers will shudder at the antiquated idea of silent reading or writing: but remember what Sir Michael said: we need to move away from "bite-sized" learning and provide pupils with the opportunity to engage in extended reading and writing activities.

Being able to read or write for an hour is an important skill for pupils to learn and will also allow for deeper learning. Ofsted also warns its inspectors that "not all aspects of learning will be seen in a single observation", so, if a lesson spent reading in silence fits within the context of outstanding learning over time, then it is itself outstanding.

Key indicators

"Progress" is something that takes place and is measured over time; "learning" is what needs to take place every lesson - and by "learning" I mean that every pupil knows something at the end of the lesson they didn't at the start, or that pupils have been accorded the opportunity to apply and therefore secure their prior learning.

If we can't confidently say that all our pupils have done this then surely our lesson has failed?

So the word "progress" is, I believe, misleading. Instead, the key indicators of an outstanding lesson should be these:

* All pupils are challenged.
* All pupils learn something.
* All pupils are at least engaged and at best inspired.

And how do outstanding teachers do this every lesson? According to Sir Michael, the secret lies in a teacher's planning, self-reflection, perceptiveness and resilience.Let's take a look at each ingredient...

Planning

For outstanding teachers, less is definitely more when it comes to planning because detailed planning encourages us to stick rigidly to the plan. Lengthy planning also tends to be done a week or more in advance, perhaps at the weekend, and this is problematic because lesson plans should plan for progress: in other words, the lesson should be planned in order to allow the gaps in pupils' learning to be filled and those gaps might only become apparent at the end of the previous lesson or once the teacher has marked the work that pupils have completed during the previous lesson.

Assessment, it follows, is itself a form of planning because only by marking pupils' work will a teacher know what each pupil has and has not grasped and, therefore, what they need to learn next.

Ofsted differentiates between the existence of a lesson plan and evidence that a lesson is planned. This might sound like semantics but there is a difference: a lesson plan is a piece of paper which might bear no relation to what actually happens in the classroom, but evidence that a lesson is planned comes from observing it, from being able to see that the teacher knows the pupils well and is providing them an opportunity to fill the gaps in their learning.

Self-reflection

Sir Michael says that "reflective teachers adapt their lesson plans when things (don't) go well" and at the end of a lesson or day "go back to the lesson plan and change it". Because outstanding teachers are reflective people, they know they don't have all the answers and are prepared to learn from their mistakes as well as from their colleagues. In practice, this might mean talking about their teaching and inviting other teachers into their classrooms in order to observe and give feedback on their teaching.

Perceptiveness

Outstanding teachers are very perceptive people who understand the dynamics of the classroom. They quickly notice when the pace of the lesson falters and when students become disengaged and attentions start to wander. Crucially, these teachers are quick to notice when a pupil finds the work too challenging or not challenging enough and needs help.

Resilience

Outstanding teachers, Sir Michael says: "Never let failure get the better of them; they learn from it and (come) back stronger, tougher and better teachers." Teachers also need to model good learning for their pupils. We are, as professionals, always learning and should receive feedback warmly and with enthusiasm, for it will help us to be better teachers and will help our pupils to make better progress, which is surely why we do what we do.

Conclusion

So, as you have seen, there is no silver bullet; there is no simple formula: to quote Sir Michael paraphrasing Tony Blair: "What works is what's best." But if I were to define - in just three short words - the "spark" that makes some teachers outstanding, it would be as follows: know your pupils.

Further information

This is an edited extract from the introduction to A Teacher's Guide to Outstanding Lessons, a longer version of which is available free via www.solutionsforschool.co.uk along with a related blog entitled The Ingredients of an Outstanding Lesson.

* Matt Bromley is an education writer, lecturer, and consultant headteacher. He is the author of several books for teachers including The Art of Teaching, The IQ Myth, Leadership for Learning, and Ofsted: Thriving Not Surviving. Find out more about his work at www.bromleyeducation.co.uk and follow him on Twitter @mj_bromley.

* For more primary education best practice and advisory articles from Headteacher Update, click here.

This material is protected by MA Education Limited copyright.
See Terms and Conditions.

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What makes an Ofsted 'outstanding' lesson?

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Drawing on his experience of Ofsted and the views of the chief inspector, consultant headteacher Matt Bromley discusses the secrets to teaching outstanding lessons. In my day job, I travel the country talking to school teachers and leaders and the question I am asked more than any other is this: "What is an outstanding lesson?"

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https://impact.chartered.college/article/sealy-formative-assessment-learners-teachers/

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'Imagine what a difference it would make if children knew what they were good at and what they had to do to improve.' With these stirring words, our trainer extolled the benefits of feedback. Teachers should make sure students were absolutely clear about where their work needed further crafting and provide them with time to do this. It was, and still is, a compelling vision. So what went wrong?

What went wrong was that feedback was interpreted as meaning marking. And not just any old marking - dialogic marking. Fast forward 10 years and schools were marking within an inch of their lives. The toll on teachers was terrible; there just weren't enough hours in the day to get the marking done. Yet this toil had dubious actual impact on learning (Elliott et al., 2016).

So it was a surprise when I discovered that Dylan Wiliam, prime advocate of 'feedback', has little to say about marking per se, let alone labour-intensive dialogic marking. He describes feedback as anything that lets the student or the teacher know how well the learning is going. It might be something as fleeting as student facial expressions (2016). The term feedback, Wiliam explains, is borrowed from the engineering expression 'feedback loop' (2011). For example, a thermostat regulates temperature by measuring the current temperature, comparing this with the desired temperature and then doing something (activating a heating or cooling mechanism) to bring the current state in line with the desired state. The important part in all this is the response to the alert of a discrepancy. Without a mechanism to close the gap between the current and the desired state, feedback about the discrepancy is useless. In an educational context, the same applies. Feedback needs to be not only accurate in its diagnosis of what is wrong, but also helpful in enabling the learner to put it right.

Closing the feedback loop

Wiliam's work on feedback has been interpreted as involving written comments intended to give the learner information on how to improve their work. Yet often the gap between where the learner is now and where the teacher wants the learner to be is too big to be bridged by a single comment. Wiliam uses the example of a student commenting on his science assignment. The teacher had written: 'You need to be more systematic in planning your scientific inquiries.' The student retorted: 'If I knew how to be more systematic, I would have been more systematic the first time' (Wiliam, 2011). The written comment, intended to close that feedback loop, is nothing more than a diagnosis of the problem. It's like a red light on the central heating; it tells us something is wrong, it might even identify what the fault is, but it does not miraculously give us the knowledge of how to fix the problem. For that we need more teaching. The next step for this science student was another lesson, focused on what he couldn't yet do. Feedback needs to effect change and cannot be reduced to a simple formula.

Another problem is that sometimes marking is so easy to action that the learner doesn't have to think at all. As long as they mindlessly follow the teacher's instruction, then the work will 'improve'. Never mind that the student hasn't learnt anything new so the 'fault' is likely to recur. It's not just about closing the feedback loop, it is about closing it so that it stays closed. If we identify every missing full stop, every place value error for students, then we shouldn't be surprised if they carry on omitting full stops and putting digits in the wrong columns.

Marking policy and effective feedback

Feedback is a powerful way of improving learning, but it has to be used thoughtfully. Our previous marking policy conflated feedback with marking and outlined a one-size-fits-all procedure intended to fit every subject. It assumed that a 10-minute 'pupil response' session at the start of every lesson was always the best way to ensure lasting improvements. Feedback was reduced to a simplistic formula. Sometimes marking was so specific it spoon-fed students, removing any actual learning. For example, our marking code identified all missing full stops with a triangle. Students did not have to reread their work to find where the missing full stops should go. They merely found a triangle and inserted a full stop. This was lots of work for the teacher and hardly any for the student, whereas Wiliam states that 'feedback should be more work for the recipient than the donor' (2011).
Extract from St Matthias School Feedback and Marking Policy: Start out with the assumption that all children can work independently given prior input and only increase the amount of intervention if the pupil really can't get on without it. Give children take-up time; let them struggle for a bit, but above all, make sure they are the ones doing the hard work, not you.
Our new policy, based on Wiliam's work, puts learners to work. Instead of marking, the teacher plans the next lesson around feedback they have gleaned from reading the students' work. Strengths and weaknesses are highlighted with the whole class, with new teaching addressing any gaps that need more explanation. Students then have a substantial amount of time - often most of the lesson - to go back and hone their work in the light of this input. This requires effort on their part. They have to locate their own errors and think of their own improvements. Now, 'the next step is the next lesson'. We therefore cover less, but students learn more. And teachers have their lives back.

References

Elliott V, Baird J, Hopfenbeck, T N, Ingram J, Thompson I, Usher N, Zantout, M, Richardson J and Coleman R (2016) A Marked Improvement? A Review of the Evidence on Written Marking. Oxford: Education Endowment Foundation.

Wiliam D (2011) Embedded Formative Assessment. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Wiliam D (2016) Formative assessment. In: Leadership for Teacher Learning: Creating a Culture Where All Teachers Improve so that Students Succeed. West Palm Beach, FL: Learning Science International.

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How can formative assessment work for both learners and teachers? | impact.chartered.college

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'Imagine what a difference it would make if children knew what they were good at and what they had to do to improve.' With these stirring words, our trainer extolled the benefits of feedback. Teachers should make sure students were absolutely clear about where their work needed further crafting and

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Teacher Feedback to Improve Pupil Learning

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Teacher Feedback to Improve Pupil Learning

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https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/guidance-reports/feedback

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all school leaders understand the importance of providing meaningful feedback. done well

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and thereby closing the gap between where a pupil is and where the teacher wants them to be.  however

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not all feedback has positive effects. done badly

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feedback can even harm progress. nor is feedback ‘free’. large amounts of time are spent providing pupils with feedback

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perhaps not always productively.  historically

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much consideration has been given to the methods by which feedback is delivered. specifically

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or should it be verbal? this guidance report aims to move beyond this and focus on what really matters: the principles of good feedback rather than the written or verbal methods of feedback delivery.  the guidance report is based on the best available international evidence

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in addition to a review of current practice

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and refined through consultation with teachers and other experts.

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Teacher Feedback to Improve Pupil Learning

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Six recommendations for using teacher feedback to improve pupil learning

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https://www.tes.com/news/4-outdated-teaching-trends-we-need-ditch-education-research-teachers-schools

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4 outdated teaching trends we need to ditch

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Some of the classroom teaching practices that teachers learned during their training years ago have since been debunked by education research, writes Bhamika Bhudia

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https://schoolsweek.co.uk/avoid-complex-language-and-stereotypes-to-make-exams-accessible-says-draft-guidance/

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Avoid ‘complex language’ to make exams accessible - Ofqual

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Regulator launches consultation on draft accessibility guidance for exam boards

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Avoid ‘complex language’ and stereotypes to make exams accessible, says draft guidance

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https://cirl.etoncollege.com/tom-sherringtons-division-of-rosenshines-principles-of-instruction-into-strands/

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Jonathan Beale, Researcher-in-Residence, CIRL

Our blog last week offered a brief introduction to Barak Rosenshine's influential 'Principles of Instruction' and Tom Sherrington's division of Rosenshine's principles into four 'strands', in his book, Rosenshine's Principles in Action. Sherrington uses the strands to explain Rosenshine's principles, by connecting the principles with those to which they bear the closest relations, illustrating how the principles complement and support one another, and offering practical advice for their implementation, in addition to that offered by Rosenshine. This week's blog post explores Sherrington's strands and Rosenshine's principles in more detail.

Let's first recap Rosenshine's ten principles. Below is the name Sherrington gives to each principle, followed by the way Rosenshine expresses each principle in 'Principles of Instruction' (all page references are to that article):
1. Daily review
'Begin each lesson with a short review of previous learning: Daily review can strengthen previous learning and can lead to fluent recall' (p. 13).
2. Present new material using small steps
'Present new material in small steps with student practice after each step: Only present small amounts of new material at any time, and then assist students as they practice this material' (p. 13).
3. Ask questions
'Ask a large number of questions and check the responses of all students: Questions help students practice new information and connect new material to their prior learning' (p. 14).
4. Provide models
'Providing students with models and worked examples can help them learn to solve problems faster' (p. 15).
5. Guide student practice
'Successful teachers spend more time guiding students' practice of new material' (p. 16).
6. Check for student understanding
'Checking for student understanding at each point can help students learn the material with fewer errors' (p. 16).
7. Obtain a high success rate
'It is important for students to achieve a high success rate during classroom instruction' (p. 17).
8. Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks
'The teacher provides students with temporary supports and scaffolds to assist them when they learn difficult tasks' (p. 18).
9. Independent practice
'Require and monitor independent practice: Students need extensive, successful, independent practice in order for skills and knowledge to become automatic' (p. 18).
10. Weekly and monthly review
'Engage students in weekly and monthly review: Students need to be involved in extensive practice in order to develop well-connected and automatic knowledge' (p. 19).

Each of Sherrington's strands contains two or three of Rosenshine's principles. Sherrington argues that these four strands run throughout all of Rosenshine's principles:

Strand 1: Sequencing concepts and modelling (principles 1 and 10)

Strand 2: Questioning (principles 3 and 6)

Strand 3: Reviewing material (principles 2, 4 and 8)

Strand 4: Stages of practice (principles 5, 7 and 9)

Sherrington provides a succinct overview of the strands in a blog post in which he argues that Rosenshine's 'Principles of Instruction' is 'THE must-read for all teachers'. The following discussion draws upon that blog post. The illustrations below are taken from the useful poster above, by Oliver Caglioli.

Strand 1: Reviewing material

Reviewing material: Sherrington's first strand, involving Rosenshine's first and tenth principles
This strand involves the first and tenth of Rosenshine's principles: 'Daily review' and 'Weekly and monthly review'. With both of these principles, Rosenshine draws upon research concerning working and long-term memory.

Rosenshine writes that review 'can help us strengthen the connections among the material we have learned' (p. 13). An idea Rosenshine emphasises throughout his principles is that recalling prior learning should ideally be automatic. 'Automaticity' is the stage where learning and practice has been undertaken such that recall is effortless, thereby freeing working memory capacity (p. 13). Working memory is the area of memory where we process information. It has very limited capacity and can only handle a few pieces of information at once (p. 13).

Automaticity requires 'overlearning': learning beyond the point of 'initial mastery', such that recall is automatic and skills are fluent (p. 13). 'When material is overlearned', Rosenshine writes, 'it can be recalled automatically and doesn't take up any space in working memory' (p. 18).

The free space in working memory helps us to perform other tasks, such as learning something new. Our working memory is limited; if we use much of it for recalling what we have learned, we have less available to engage in other mental activities important to learning. 'The available space can be used', Rosenshine writes, 'for reflecting on new information and for problem solving' (p. 19).

Daily review supports the process of building up the amount of effective practice required to reach the level of mastery where recall is automatic. Rosenshine writes that thousands of hours of effective practice are required to reach this level (p. 13).

Sherrington writes that the first principle is important for recalling learning from the previous lesson. Activating relevant prior learning in the working memory is particularly important when teachers wish to introduce new learning. Sherrington suggests that daily review is also important for developing students' fluency and confidence in a subject.

Rosenshine's tenth principle concerns the retrieval of learning in the long-term. It involves the development of long-term memory to support learning. The effort involved in recalling recently learned material helps to embed it in long-term memory. The more often we do this, the greater ease we have when we try to connect any new material we learn with our existing knowledge.

Strand 2: Questioning

Questioning: Sherrington's second strand, involving Rosenshine's third and sixth principles
Sherrington connects the third and sixth of Rosenshine's principles, 'Ask questions' and 'Check for student understanding'. Rosenshine's research showed that 'more effective teachers' - i.e., teachers whose classrooms made the highest gains in standardised achievement tests (p. 12) - 'spent more than half of the class time lecturing, demonstrating and asking questions' (p. 14). They demonstrated by, for example, modelling successful answers or ways to complete tasks, by demonstrating how they should be done, and asking students questions. 'Modelling' is an instructional strategy where a teacher demonstrates a new concept or approach to learning and students learn through observation. Asking students the right kinds of questions has the benefit of giving teachers an idea of how successfully material has been learned, hence the link Sherrington draws between the first and sixth principles.

Sherrington writes that the purpose of checking understanding is to ensure that any misconceptions concerning the material learned have been addressed. Sherrington summarises this strand with the recommendation that teachers ask more questions to more students in more depth.

A question lacking depth would be a broad, closed question, such as, 'Is that clear?' or 'Does everyone understand?'. While such questions can be addressed to all students, they don't help a teacher to figure out what, exactly, might not have been understood, nor by whom.

Among the kinds of questions Rosenshine argues teachers should ask students are 'process questions': questions about the process of learning - e.g., how a student worked something out (contrast, for example, with factual questions).Asking questions is also important for teachers to receive feedback about how well material has been taught. Rosenshine writes that more effective teachers asked 'students to explain the process they used to answer the question, to explain how the answer was found' (p. 14).

Strand 3: Sequencing concepts and modelling

Sequencing concepts and modelling: Sherrington's third strand, involving Rosenshine's second, fourth and eighth principles
Rosenshine's second principle emphasises the importance of learning material in small steps, given the limited capacity of our working memory. This draws upon psychological research concerning 'cognitive load', a good definition of which is the following, by Frederick Reif:

'The cognitive load involved in a task is the cognitive effort (or amount of information processing) required by a person to perform this task. If the cognitive load needed for learning becomes excessive, little or no learning can occur'.[1]

To avoid cognitive overload, Rosenshine argues that teachers should present information in small steps and only proceed to the next step once the previous steps have been mastered.

Mastery requires a great deal of practice; so, there needs to be sufficient practice at each step. Where possible, complex concepts, theories, procedures, methods and pieces of knowledge need to be broken down into simpler ones, each of which can be practised as a student develops their understanding of the more complex area to be learned. Rosenshine calls this 'mastery learning': 'a form of instruction where lessons are organized into short units and all students are required to master one set of lessons before they proceed to the next set' (p. 17). He reports that more effective teachers 'presented only small amounts of material at a time' (p. 16) and taught in small steps with sufficient practice given to each step before proceeding (p. 17).

Modelling helps with learning by, for example, helping students see how to solve problems or structure essays. Modelling complements the second principle because it can help to clarify the specific steps involved in learning. Modelling can be carried out by, for instance, the use of 'worked examples': a form of modelling where a teacher provides 'a step-by-step demonstration of how to perform a task or how to solve a problem' (p. 15). Rosenshine argues that the most effective teaching involves many worked examples.

'Scaffolds' are temporary instructional supports used to assist learners, which should be gradually withdrawn as students gain competency (p. 18). Modelling can function as a form of scaffolding, as can teaching methods such as the teacher thinking aloud. 'Thinking aloud' is a form of scaffolding where a teacher shows the thought processes they go through as they undertake a task which students need to learn how to perform themselves (p. 18).

The idea behind scaffolding is that 'cognitive supports' are provided and are gradually withdrawn as a student gains competency. In this way, scaffolding can help to develop a student's expertise and mastery in a subject. Rosenshine writes that thinking aloud is an example of 'effective cognitive support' (p. 15).

Sherrington writes that the three stages outlined in the three principles summarised in this strand provide 'a superb guide' on 'how to sequence knowledge'. The process of sequencing can aid the process of gradually removing the scaffolds, hence the connection between the second and eighth principles. The connection with the fourth principle is that modelling is a form of scaffolding and can support the process of moving through the sequence of steps involved in learning.

Strand 4: Stages of practice

Stages of practice: Sherrington's fourth strand, involving Rosenshine's fifth, seventh and ninth principles
Rosenshine's fifth principle states that teachers should build more time into lessons for guided student practice of the tasks and material learned. Rosenshine observes that more effective teachers do this. Practice is required to store what is learned in long-term memory; the best form of guided practice is that which is guided by an expert.

Sherrington writes that guided practice involves close supervision and feedback from teachers. Teachers need to observe students' attempts to learn and complete tasks, to ensure that they build confidence and do not make too many errors.

Rosenshine's seventh principle holds that teachers should strive to obtain a high success rate in questioning and practise exercises with students. Rosenshine writes that a success rate of 80% 'shows that students are learning the material, and it also shows that the students are challenged' (p. 18). A success rate much higher than this would suggest a lack of stretching and challenging. If a teacher were, for example, setting class tests and the whole class were regularly scoring 95-100%, the teacher should make the tests harder, to ensure the class is sufficiently stretched and challenged. But if the success rate is too low, it suggests the class is making too many mistakes.

Rosenshine suggests that a success rate of around 70% is too low. In the only issue he raises with Rosenshine's principles, Sherrington suggests that we shouldn't worry too much about the precision here; we might find that a lower success rate is in fact optimum.

Rosenshine also writes that the most effective teachers taught material 'in small steps followed by practice', indicating the connection Sherrington observes between this principle and the fifth principle. Here we can also see a connection with the second principle, 'present new material using small steps'.

The ninth principle, 'independent practice', involves students practising tasks without guided practice from the teacher. While independent, this practice should be monitored, to ensure that mistakes are not made - e.g., a teacher checking the work a student has completed during independent practice.

Rosenshine argues that independent practice is required for overlearning and automaticity. This is the stage of practice we should be aiming for as teachers with our students. 'Students need', Rosenshine writes, 'extensive, successful, independent practice in order for skills and knowledge to become automatic' (p. 18).

In the blog post discussed above, Sherrington writes that Rosenshine's principles provides 'the best, most clear and comprehensive guide to evidence-informed teaching there is'. Among the reasons Sherrington offers for why all teachers should read Rosenshine's 'Principles' are that it 'resonates for teachers of all subjects and contexts', 'because it focuses on aspects of teaching that are pretty much universal', including 'questioning, practice [and] building knowledge'; it 'makes direct links from research to practice'; it 'does an excellent job in helping teachers to link practice to cognitive psychology', through, for example, Rosenshine's 'references to ideas about memory and cognitive load theory'; and the research 'is often based on linking classroom observations to student outcomes'.

Sherrington offers two important pieces of advice on how to best engage with Rosenshine's principles:

1. First, don't turn it into a checklist - e.g., principles to be ticked off during lesson observations. Sherrington emphasises that Rosenshine's 'Principles of Instruction' is 'a guide for professional learning', rather than 'a ticklist for accountability'.

2. Second, explore the implications of each principle at a subject-specific level. The principles and the strands into which Sherrington divides them need to be contextualised for successful implementation and applicability. They 'have meaning', Sherrington writes, 'only in the context of curriculum content'.

[1] Frederick Reif, Applying Cognitive Science to Education: Thinking and Learning in Scientific and Other Complex Domains (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2010), p. 361. On applying cognitive load theory in the classroom, see D. Shibli and R. West, 'Cognitive Load Theory and its Application in the Classroom' ( Impact, February 2018).

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Tom Sherrington's division of Rosenshine's principles of instruction into strands | CIRL

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Jonathan Beale, Researcher-in-Residence, CIRL Our blog last week offered a brief introduction to Barak Rosenshine's influential 'Principles of Instruction' and Tom Sherrington's division of Rosenshine's principles into four 'strands', in his book, Rosenshine's Principles in Action .

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https://www.nfer.ac.uk/key-topics-expertise/classroom-practice/

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The quality of teaching is the most important school-based factor affecting children's attainment, particularly for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Teaching strategies based on robust evidence, coupled with the careful use of assessment, can improve teacher effectiveness and children's outcomes.

We work closely with schools, involving them in research and evaluation to identify what works - and what doesn't - in improving children's outcomes. We also use our expertise to produce evidence-based tools, practical guides and products that can help teachers to do their jobs most effectively.

Our classroom-focused evidence, cross-cultural comparative analyses and specialist assessment knowledge support quality teaching. The depth and breadth of our experience means we also have insight into the personal and social factors that can affect student progress.

Our research provides insight into policy developments in education in the UK and internationally. We interrogate UK datasets and examine the results of the International Large Scale Assessments (ILSAs) to identify the impact of what and how subjects are taught and children's experience of school. For example, recent studies have looked at international curricula for maths and science, exploring the characteristics of education systems that are successful in science.

Our Education Trials Unit manages the entire life-cycle of a trial, investigating the context and processes through which an intervention is delivered in the real world, as well producing robust evaluations of impact .

As well as arming people with the best available evidence, we know from our research that people also need contextual knowledge and ways of managing change to optimise the influence of evidence on classroom practice and thus children's outcomes. We therefore, also investigate what promotes and prevents the use of evidence in education.

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The quality of teaching is the most important school-based factor affecting children's attainment, particularly for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Teaching strategies based on robust evidence, coupled with the careful use of assessment, can improve teacher effectiveness and children's outcomes.

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reaction to Barak Rosenshine’s “Principles of Instruction” | think twice

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https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/2019/04/25/revision-apps/

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How can we help students prepare for their exams?

Teaching and support staff in our schools will be working very hard to create amazing resources to support pupils. During this busy time of year, apps can come to the rescue for busy teachers and help reduce the stress of planning in order to improve pupils' grades.

Here are 10 apps to consider:

This can be accessed via PC or the app downloaded on to tablets. All the quizzes relate to different specs and are set up and ready to go. Many levels can be accessed from GCSE to A level. It is managed by staff or students to test knowledge.

This allows teachers to create simple quizzes that students can take quickly on laptops or via classroom tablet computers or their own smartphones. Quizzes can be true/false, multiple choice, graded short answer or allow open-ended short responses. Activities can either be teacher-paced (for use during a classroom discussion) or student-paced (for use as a more traditional class-end "exit ticket" or quiz). There's also a gaming element: the "Space Race" feature can set up a quiz so that teams of students can compete against one another to launch rockets into space.

Many know about how Quizlet can be used to create keyword flashcards online and give out to students but Quizlet live allows these to be practised in the class. The added bonus is that pupils must work together as only certain pupils in one group will have the correct answer. This means that everyone has to be involved and no one can take over and answer them all.

Another great app for creating timed quizzes for added competition for key words or ideas. Kahoot can be used online or as an app so that pupils can work in teams or alone to get the correct answer to personalised questions. Also, a fab feature for progressions is Kahoot ghost that allows the same pupils to try to beat their own scores! This is great to show revision progress from the start of a lesson/session compared to the end.

Though just for languages, this app can be very useful for all school with many more pupils covering a language to meet EBacc qualifications. This is a useful app for all languages and uses videos to help learners.

A visual thinking tool for structuring information, helping students better understand, remember and generate new ideas.

This is an app with a cost but it might be worth a whole school looking at getting it and allowing access for pupils. It can provide short bursts of revision for many GCSE topics and tracks progress too. It even allows the pupils to access past papers and mark schemes.

This app allows pupils or teachers to create mind maps and flashcards using key terms. Banks of subject resources are freely available and mind maps can be set as a video to show different themes.

This app is another way of using a dictionary and with an increased focus on key terms and a content-rich curriculum. This could be useful across many topics.

Exam season can be stressful for pupils and mindfulness can be a way to combat this and improve grades overall. Taking time at the start of a revision lesson or an exam to focus and relax can be a useful tool for achieving top grades. This app is easy to use and puts lots of mindfulness activities in one place.

There are many revision tools that can be utilised for revision that help both teachers and pupils get organised. They can save time and effort and can be great fun too! These are just some of the apps I recommend and there are plenty more to consider.

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Download the PDF poster for your classroom and staffroom.

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How Can We Help Students Prepare For Their Exams? via @TeacherToolkit

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How can we help students prepare for their exams? Teaching and support staff in our schools will be working very hard to create amazing resources to support pupils. During this busy time of year, apps can come to the rescue for busy teachers and help reduce the stress of planning in order to improve pupils' grades.

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Six key revision strategies for long-term memory

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https://www.tes.com/news/how-can-teachers-schools-teach-disciplinary-knowledge

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Disciplinary knowledge: an Ofsted obsession, but what is it?

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With Ofsted emphasising the importance of disciplinary knowledge in its subject reviews, head of geography Mark Enser explains that substantive knowledge is still crucially important

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https://www.tes.com/news/booklets-why-theyre-effective-and-how-i-use-them

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Booklets: why they are effective, actually

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There is a place for booklets in the secondary classroom, argues Clive Hill - if teachers design and utilise them effectively

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A theoretical look at how to incorporate cognitive research into subject curriculum design - impact.chartered.college

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Amanda Spielman (Spielman, 2017) has said 'at the very heart of education sits the vast accumulated wealth of human knowledge and what we choose to impart to the next generation: the curriculum.' As a physics teacher, the new, more rigorous exam specification has come as a bit of a shock.