Fitting the jigsaw together...

I've often struggled to get students to link different aspects of Geography together. This is an essential skill, especially during the Avery Hill Cross-Unit Task. I hit upon an idea after seeing the excellent global warming videos highlighted on the SLN Forum recently. I really wanted to use these videos as soon as possible, however the issue of Climate Change comes much later in the year. Instead I used each video as a starter in a series of 2 lessons of flooding in Bangladesh. During the first lesson pupils had to link what they saw in the video (about energy saving) to flooding in Bangladesh. The second lesson I used the second video (with the polar bear at the end) and posed the following questions to the pupils:

1. Why should we care about Global Warming?
2. What can we do about it?
3. Link your answers to the issue of flooding in Bangladesh.

I was impressed by the students' grasp of the issue, and I believe that the links between the two issue were brought home. Another benefit of doing this was the resulting discussion about local effects of Climate Change also, and the level of scientific uncertainty over the issue.Following up on this idea I then used an LEDC or MEDC starter when introducing flooding in MEDC countries. The objective was to challenge the class preconceptions of what LEDCs and MEDCs look like

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High Impact, Low effort

This month is the start of the #29daysofwriting challenge. I enjoyed this last year and will be using my Staffrm account to post. I'll also be reporting here, both to give a little more detail and to keep a log of what I have written. The challenge developed a great sense of community last year, which is why I'm choosing to write on Staffrm. What I would say to those who are new to writing or don't want to run out of ideas is: Write for yourself. Clarify an idea, write something out loud. The process of distilling thoughts into writing is immensely beneficial to your practice. If other read, comment and respond, that's a bonus. Ignore the muppets who know nothing of your context, style or students. Mix it up - I like to read about real stuff from real classrooms and schools and also about other stuff. If we always write about school, how does that work for workload? If you've nothing nice to say, don't say it. So, the following has been ...

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey. As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others. Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up. I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions. From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment. From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die. How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach? Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment i...

Banned Word Board

Today I want to share some simple ideas that I have found to be very effective in the classroom. I can't say that they are my own original ideas, although I have played around with them. The first is the Banned word Board. This is a simple display in the classroom that lists a number of words that are not allowed to be used by pupils in their written or oral answers. The effect has been an increase in the quality of written work, and I have almost made comments such as 'Sir it's simple, the stuff just affects the thing and causes people problems'. Pupils are now more able to use specific language, something that is vital especially at GCSE. I have had to make a few modifications, such as the introduction of 'Heavenly Words' This is an additional display placed on the ceiling. I found this necessary as pupils needed some stimulus in finding replacement words. After advice received after posting the idea on the SLN forum , I have also introduced semi-banned words...

David Rogers

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