PUPPET SHOW (and show and show..)

Form 1 got very excited this week. Not only did we do dialogues using puppets but we used my iPad to record it. Result! (apparently) On a serious note, using the puppets meant that the shyer pupils including those with conditions that make them reluctant to participate in the whole class scenario fully embraced the whole experience. You can view all 87 pupils (or rather their puppets) here

MARGINAL LEARNING GAINS - OUR PREFERRED FUTURE

I have been doing a lot of reading re coaching recently , as well as my daily Twitter fix. The two met nicely this week with this blogpost http://createach.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/marginal-marking-gains.html as well as @fullonlearning's blogposts about Marginal Learning Gains which tied in with the concept of a 'preferred future' when coaching, whereby coachees envisage what they want their future to be like and how they will get there. I will leave it to the others to explain the detail much better than I could, but we started our journey in Grosvenor this week with my Form 5 and Upper 6 classes. We talked about the marginal gains which contributed to the huge success of the British cycling team. I was impressed how much they already knew and how attentive they were to the discussion. They then got a bicycle wheel template to fill in. Form 5 filled one in individually after a quick chat about the key areas to consider. Theirs is in preparation for their speaking controlled assessment. The idea is that by the time they leave the room at the end of the speaking exam, they will have ticked off every segment of their bicycle wheel. We talked about what they would do in class, at home, considering the mark scheme and practical things such as drinking water and stress busters.

They are going to do a general one, for their Spanish GCSE. Upper Sixth are also going to prepare their own individual wheel but as a (small) class, we decided to make a wheel similar to the King Lear one here to prepare for the literature essay. We are looking at the mark scheme and breaking down essay techniques as well as looking at other things we can do to achieve our preferred future. I'll post the completed wheel here. The exciting thing is that other teachers in school are enthused by this too and it will tie in so well if the pupils are able to connect their learning in this way.

THE LITTLE THINGS

When you have 3 sets each of Forms 1-3 with 26 pupils in each set, there is quite a lot of marking involved. And with a renewed focus on presentation in our department (yes we are quite fussy about all that) then what better way to save your nerves and your red pen, than to order yourself a customised stamper courtesy of superstickers.com?

For those who don't speak Spanish, it says "Date, title, ruled in red" As I said, it's the little things..