Thought shrapnel: #TLT13 review. Bedrock, mantras and roots

I forget where I first picked up the term ‘thought shrapnel,’ I think it may have been Doug Belshaw. Putting that aside, the first Teaching and Learning Takeover yesterday was full of thought grenades. It was the perfect antidote to seven weeks of a new school and role. This isn’t a cry for help, I’m big enough and ugly enough to be ok, but I’ve been feeling a bit lost this term. Being a net learner rather than contributor is not my usual gear. For that purpose, it was fantastic to bump into old and new friends. It’s really true, when people you respect tell you the same thing, the message sinks in. The event, for me, was like finding that elusive gold at the end of the rainbow. I came away from Southampton University with a mind like this:

I can for the first time, see a clear path though the trees. Thing is, it was already in my head – I just needed help to find it.

Although there was a little bit too much gratuitous Gove and Daily Mail bashing for my taste, I left #TLT13 inspired and with a clear plan and actions that I will put in to place soon. It’s the most useful and timely CPD I’ve received for a long time. I’ve even revisited my manifesto. What follows is a review of the event from a personal perspective, with a smattering of action points.

Jamie Portman’s opening rallying cry hit a chord: do simple things that have a high impact. As attendees had given up a Saturday, Jamie reminded and challenged us to take what we found back into our schools and classrooms. Giving up a Saturday for me makes sense as it doesn’t impact on the time spent in school. Jamie pointed out that schools are far more than the buildings in which they inhabit, they are communities of people. I also liked the way in which Jamie made the distinction between his own views and those of his school. He was there representing himself.

Jamie ended with this video:

I’ve always been someone who wears my heart on my sleeve, and what I took away from Jamie’s talk is that I need to find the bravery to share what I feel, think and believe. I was also reminded that as a senior leader I perhaps shouldn’t be tempted to tinker and play around at the fringes of things and certainly never be the source of more new initiatives than Nick Clegg who is desperately trying to convince us that he’s different from them Tories. Instead, decisions should be made with an understanding of their impact, be based upon a deep knowledge of a school’s context and pedagogy and take into account the workload implications. In other words, what is the evidence that we need to make this change beyond the Oftsed report action points.

Next I headed to Kev Bartle’s session focused upon leadership. I share Kev’s passion for extended metaphors so therefore enjoyed how he linked the main protagonists in The Gruffalo to characters familiar to those working within the British school system. Kev shared his school’s journey to make pedagogy infectious. The approach was not a rush to innovate but to build an approach to pedagogy over time. I like this long term approach and took away the way in which his school didn’t shy away from using the word ‘pedagogy’ and this echoes my own thoughts on what learning actually is.

I really enjoyed listening to the grass roots approach taken to improve pedagogy and it’s something that I plan to reflect further upon. I’ve realised that I need to build upon the work started at my previous school where teachers were given responsibility for leading CPD and developing pedagogy.

The final session I headed to was John Tomsett. He’s already blogged about his session which was about developing a growth mindset within a school. Again, there was a focus on using a grass roots approach. I found John’s session very useful and took away the following:

If you’re trying to change a school’s culture (or implement anything widespread), keep it simple.
One participant pointed out that we should all be aiming to get every child an A*.
The power of mantra: a simple message to reinforce over and over.
Using the mindset questionnaire with students and staff.
Intervention (aka personalised CPD) also needs to happen to staff as well as students.

Again, all things that were in my head already but not fully formed into a plan. I guess the next step is to put it into action!

Massive thanks to David and Jenn for putting together this masterpiece.

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

Search This Blog