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Dr John Ofsted…..

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It’s been a little while since I posted about a teaching idea.  Although some would argue that’s due to not teaching much anymore, many wonder and stress what Ofsted are looking for when they pop in and talk about pupils making ‘progress.’

Often, teachers pay lip service to AfL, racing to get through the lesson plan rather than adjusting the activities in response to the needs of students.  For example, during a Year 10 lesson last week on coastal erosion, it struck me that the class hadn’t grasped the concept of different types of erosion.  They were also starting to flag at the end of a two hour lesson (and remember that this is a two hour lesson with me – not many people can put up with me for that long!)  This would have a significant negative impact on their progress, so I made an intervention.

Nothing new or too spangly, just used John Davitt’s Learning Event Generator and chose four outcomes at random.  One of them was a Dear John letter which most of the class took up.  There is a selection below from my class as well as those from my colleagues, GeoDebs

What struck me was the measurable increase in understanding and confidence of the class, and allowing them to collaborate on the task also injected some pace into the lesson.

I wonder what Gove would write to GCSEs……..

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