#WomenEd Unconference

So, had an amazing day at the first WomenEd unconference yesterday. Kindly hosted by Microsoft, at Cardinal Place. The day opened with some inspiring speeches that helped not only put you at ease but remind you why you were there. It was a non-stop busy day, and I won't lie I was shattered on the bus home, but it was definitely worth it.

The first session I went to was about Feminist Leadership; an incredible discussion led by Kay Fuller that really got us not only thinking but talking about what feminist leadership was and what it looked like in the educational world. I came away with so much to think about, and so much more that I wanted to find out. So a huge thank you to Kay for such a wonderful start to the day.

I then went to an interesting discussion about the use of academic work and research in informing the public debate about social justice in education. This was chaired by Dr Ruth Boyask and the discussion that followed got me thinking about the dilemma that we seem to have in education. We have politicians making educational policy who have not taught, or lack the long-term experience of education. What can work in a manifesto may not work in the classroom, and this was what we discussed. The trouble we found was how you encourage people/schools to try out educational theory, research it in meaningful depth and then use this to feed into policy. A fascinating talk, with a lot of food for thought.

It was a quick sprint over to the auditorium for the next session, which was absolutely packed. This was to hear Jill Berry speak about how every teacher is a leader. The session was full of fascinating anecdotes and experiences as well as practical and realistic advice. Jill was an engaging and honest speaker! I particularly liked the admissions about her thesis (a kindred spirit!) The encouragement to think about support, mentoring and leadership was so important. This is the only way that as women we will begin to break the glass ceiling in terms of leadership and challenge.

Finally I went to an incredible session titled 'You can't be what you can't see' led by Bennie Kara, this was a session exploring the importance of diversity in leadership. The only way we will encourage current students to consider education or leadership is by showing positive role models, this is something we all need to engage with. To ensure that our students, and colleagues, can be the best they can. Some really interesting points came out during the discussion that certainly got me thinking.

Then came my session! I led a session looking at how you can manage your mental health. It started as a discussion about what had brought colleagues to this session, which included some poignant and powerful examples (if that isn't cliched to say that). I was so grateful that people had the bravery and courage to share some of these things. A year ago I certainly don't think I would have had the courage to have done so. This is why #WomenEd matters, if it encourages just a handful of woment o be that 10% braver it has already achieved so much.

A truly amazing day!

Managing your mental health

Exam results are in, tears, happiness, surprise and shock. (and that's just staff!)
Amongst all of this teachers across the country are gearing up to return to the classroom, some familiar classrooms and some to new sites. With that brings the excitement of new students, new expectations and new stationery (or is that just me?). However, we must also be realistic and acknowledge that with this there will be teachers already suffering from stress, depression, anxiety and other mental health concerns. Many will, like me, go undercover and be unnoticed by all bar those who really need to know.

Afraid that if we are honest people will question our ability to cope, to teach and to manage. I used to be afraid that if I admitted to mental health problems then people would judge me, find me wanting and not trust me to be promoted. This is my own fear, but that doesn't mean that it didn't impact further on my mental health.

I am really interested in hearing your stories. How have you managed or maintained your mental health in teaching? You can comment below or catch me on twitter. Thank you!

Morale

It's that time of year when the outside world expects us to be winding down. Perhaps people keep mentioning gained time. Maybe you have lots, maybe you have none. Either way as we hurtle towards the end of term I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that the 'to do' list keeps getting longer. There are so many things you feel you need to tie up or resolve before the summer term. Every day seems to bring a new project, task or item that requires attention, interaction or a solution.

What I am essentially wondering is how people maintain morale? Do you celebrate the end of term with colleagues or your department? Do your school put on an end of year meal to reward staff for hard-work? Please share your experiences!

Exam pressure and revision techniques

Who is more stressed and worried during this period?!

The inevitable articles will start as we near the results days in August that this year's exams were easier than ever. That we will see more and more students getting the top grades, implying that teaching standards have dropped and students are not working as hard. This isn't fair on anyone, having seen the amount of work that students are putting in and the stress that it is causing them, it belittles the work that us, parents and students are putting in.

Every year we teach students not only the content that they need, the exam techniques and skills but also the ways in which to revise. There was a fascinating article from the BBC about different revision techniques and the success or hindrance that some can play.

Highlighting
As someone who loves their stationery and nothing more than colour-coding both their notes and work I've been a fan of highlighting when working. The BBC article, linked above, raises some interesting findings about this approach. That upon reading actually make a lot of sense; the idea that highlighting sections or sentences at a time means you are only focusing on one concept or issue at a time. Rather than building the bigger picture or connecting concepts, which for many subjects is essential.

Making summary points
This is an interesting one with Professor Dunlovsky suggesting that summaries do not help that much. Stating that students who re-visit and re-read learn as much as those who are making summaries as they read. This is an interesting finding, I found (or thought) that when I was at university this was something that helped me. Although I did make summary notes as I went along, as well as part of my revision.

Memory aids/mnemonics
Useful but with a caveat that they are only really of benefit for short bits of information, like remembering the order of the planets or colours of the rainbow. Rather than being of use for longer passages. This is perhaps not surprising. What was surprising was the suggestion in the research that this approach didn't work for subjects like Physics or Maths. I remember at school being taught a number of mnemonics for both these subjects, although as with other things I revised the concepts and tested them out as part of my revision, so perhaps it was that they played more of a role, rather than the mnemonic. Which brings me nicely on to the findings about what worked well.

The successful approaches
This is based upon the research as discussed in the article and I do appreciate that individuals may still find different techniques work well for them. Spreading out revision over a longer period of time and testing yourself regularly were found to be the most effective. This is not surprising, giving yourself more time enables you to review, check and test your understanding in the hope of cementing it fully before the exam. I am sure I am not alone in suggesting that students start revising before May! Planning ahead and revising your subjects over time, acknowledging that you have possibly at GCSE 10 subjects to revise and balancing your time, rather than trying to revise Biology in one block before moving on to Chemistry is the sensible approach. This ensures you are doing little and often rather than trying to 'cram'.

As we are well under way in the exam season there is still time to work on revision! Whilst research has identified the statistically more beneficial approaches, any revision is better than none!

Last term....(marking and musings)

So, the last term of the academic year looms. I'm struggling to get my head around how the year has gone so fast. It's been an enjoyable year, in which I think since returning from maternity leave I've found a huge energy for my job. I've found myself reading more around the subject, re-visiting teaching books and material that I hadn't read for a while. Twitter and this blog seemed like the next step, in order to engage further with the way I teach.

The area I think I have developed the greatest interest, in terms of reading and research, has been marking and assessment. The more I learn, the more I think I took for granted and assumed about my marking and feedback. Making sure that every comment, point, tick or symbol was not only useful but informative. There is also then the tricky balance of praise and progress. No-one (or perhaps it is just me!) really likes being told what isn't great and needs improving, even if that actually helps you, it can still sting.

If we consider that students could have 4-5 other classes in a day that is potentially a lot of constructive comments and structured progress and development! Whilst it is extremely useful and supports/structures progress it could get draining and demoralising for students, particularly those that already have lower self-esteem. That is why it is crucial to structure progress comments

• in a clear manner that won't confuse the message or your aims
• in a positive way, to ensure not only that students engage with the feedback but that they feel confident about their ability to progress in the subject
• linking to a specific area; be that use of evidence, spelling or ability to explain an argument for example
• if possible including a question (more about this in a minute)

I've found including a question as part of my feedback has been beneficial, it provides a clear and defined task as part of the feedback as well as directing focus to a specific area. Next blog post will focus on how praise is used in marking and feedback.

Online learning

Since broadband made it's way into my home years ago I have enjoyed an online world. I've learnt so much and gained friends and connections around the world. The one thing I had not done was take an online course, a proper, get a certificate at the end (!) online course.*

Well, that's all changed. I signed up some time ago to EdX but never got round to actually registering for any courses. Then I saw Data Wise, which was being run by HarvardX. It was exploring how you could use data to inform and improve your teaching and the outcomes for learners. How to ensure that data was not only useful but being used more usefully. Looking at the different types of data that you might use in your teaching and then how you can plan for and work collaboratively with data and your colleagues. I have really been enjoying the course, the material is engaging and interesting, and it has got me thinking about how I use data and how I can use it better. I would definitely recommend teachers look at online courses.

*Ok, it's an online .pdf certificate. But I will be able to print it out!

3 stars? 2 stars? 1 star? Wish? Getting to grips with feedback

Providing feedback to students, whether immediately, at the end of a lesson or later, is so important. It so important to ensure that the feedback given, whether written or spoken, is understood and achievable for the student. When training as a teacher we talked in terms of SMART targets and our own targets were phrased and developed with this in mind. I often wonder whether we keep this at the front of our mind when setting targets for students and providing feedback.

We all discuss at the start of any new course or academic year the target for each student, we talk it through and we agree upon it as teacher and student. But, to what extent are we discussing the journey to that target?

When we give feedback, both as teachers and when we encourage students to, we all have our own bank of approaches and ideas:

• some like a traffic light system
• others favour 3 stars and a wish
• smiley and quizzical faces have been noted previously!
• others favour a more lengthy comment and question approach

I am not attempting to state or argue as to which is best, all focus upon providing students with a positive comment to recognise their contribution, engagement, effort and knowledge. We all thrive on praise, there are numerous articles written that weigh up the type and frequency of praise with the impact upon the development of a young person. But, put quite simply most of us like to hear when we are doing something well. We feel acknowledged and valued. As teachers we want our students to feel this. The wish or quizzical face denotes the required next steps for the student. This may be a simple task such as completing missing work, it may be a question to test and stretch or it may be a focus for future work such as spelling.

The more I teach the more I recognise that there is still so much for me to learn about feedback. About feedback to get the most out of students, to have the greatest impact and to help that progress in the most manageable and importantly engaging way.

Peer-assessment

Such a great and beneficial tool in the classroom. Not only does it give students the chance to review and engage with different ideas and their peers it enables them to apply the success criteria. By applying the success criteria critically to someone else's work it helps, in my opinion, the student to see what and how the teacher is reviewing their work. It also helps provide a realistic model for the task.

Something I am conscious of is that finding the time to do peer-assessment is not difficult, it is something that can be built in easily to a successful plenary. Finding the time to do peer-assessment in depth, successfully and with the students fully aware of what and why they are doing this is much harder. I think in the past I have been guilty of thinking that students will be able to review someone else's work and comment on it, as if that was an easy thing. I have been reviewing my approach to peer-assessment and am contemplating trying some new things:

• creating target and achievement statements
• making sure I use the statement banks regularly both in class and in book feedback
• providing different opportunities for peer-assessment, rather than just the usual swap with a neighbour

I think that I will be creating A5 laminated statement banks that can be left on tables next to student work, enabling students to rotate around the room and find a new and different book to mark. Alternatively I can collect books and hand them out randomly, but I think they may take up unnecessary time and create more confusion. I also propose to try the statement banks as a means of providing extension material for students, enabling them to review their work with a better level of focus.

Anyway, I'll check back in on this in a couple of weeks. Hopefully with good news. Will welcome any comments and thoughts from others about peer-assessment and what has worked well!

Learning to teacher in the secondary school

I've been revisiting some reading material that I bought years ago when training to be a teacher at university: Learning to Teach in the Secondary School A companion to School Experience Edited by Susan Capel, Marilyn Leask and Tony Turner.

I've been dipping back into it to review my use of assessment, marking and feedback. It is amazing how refreshing it was to do this, to take the time to go back to something that opened my eyes in such a way the first time.

I'm currently reading the chapter about assessment and a few basic things struck me; the checklist for understanding (Holt:1964: 176) is brilliant. So clear and concise and yet it makes so much sense in terms of identifying for both student and teacher how to measure accurately if students understand something. I am considering creating a checklist for my wall for students to use as part of plenary and revision activities. To help them identify what they need to be able to do in order to say that they 'understand' a topic or study area.

Making marking matter

So in my last post I mentioned trialling a traffic light system and borrowing some tips and techniques from friends in the primary school sector. These tips included:

• a wipe clean A1 traffic light poster and board pen
• a traffic light stamp - pre-coloured
• a blank traffic light stamp

These have been really useful as part of my verbal feedback and in class cues. The pre-coloured stamp has enabled me to circulate and give feedback that identifies; both effort/engagement and whether the work being produced is on-track. It has been really useful as a motivator for students. The wipe-clean poster allowed me to write down what I meant by red (off-track), amber (working towards on-track) and green (on-track). It enabled me to identify the behaviours I associated with good learning and provide a reminder for students about the purpose of the traffic lights in their feedback (both written and oral).

So with half-term upon me I have the chance to reflect properly, and to review some of the student voice that I have been collecting.

Marking and Feedback

So, this is an area of particular interest for me as a teacher. As a newly qualified teacher I found myself worrying about how much I should mark, what I should say and what parents expected to see. As I have gained both confidence and experience as a teacher I have spent much time looking for ways to improve my marking, in particular to ensure that students learn from it rather than simply seeing it.
One of the most common reactions to handing back a piece of work, particularly if it was a test or assessment, is the rush amongst students to find out their grade and then to compare it with their peers. Whilst this can be a positive experience and can boost confidence as well as showing progress or act as a means to motivate, does it actually engage students in the learning process?
The next challenge then is the role of comments at the end, and during, assessments and work:

• ensuring you have the time to do this justice
• ensuring the comment has meaning and not simply 'well done'
• making sure the comment identifies to students whether they have made progress
• identifying where students are in terms of their targets
• rewarding effort and praise
• enabling the student to respond to comments and concerns
• clearly showing the required next steps

As the list shows there are a number of things that would be useful and/or beneficial to see in marking feedback. This was my starting point. I am currently working on a traffic light centred system. The purpose of which being;

• identifying quickly for students through red,amber, green whether they are on track for their target grades
• providing a tick list of four effort options; ranging from off-target and no/minimal effort to excellent effort and engagement both in written and oral contributions.
• teacher comment and feedback: a small box for written comments and next steps
• a response box for students
• the ability to add an overall grade if required

I feared at first that this might become too time-consuming, but so far it is working well and providing quick, visible and obvious feedback for students. The next step will now be to get feedback from students about what I am doing.

Hello world!

Welcome to the new blog Teach Northants. Hopefully a place for people to share thoughts, ideas and tips. At least that is what I hope!
I am passionate about developing marking strategies that help students make progress but don't eat your evening!