🧵 Lots of talk around workbook design as a way not just to create a shared language at departmental level, but also minimise workload so teachers can focus on the important stuff: tailoring their lessons for their students.
A few materials to help ⬇️
Spending some time in departments discussing how to create a format that supports your subject and builds familiarity and knowledge over time.
Making these concrete helps, but be prepared review tight/looser aspects might emerge once work gets underway: saysmiss.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/workbo…
To support these initial discussions, this might help:
saysmiss.wordpress.com/2020/07/29/bey…
And I walk through the practical implementation of this here: saysmiss.wordpress.com/2021/03/28/bey…
For English specialists, I created a series of recorded sessions to support: saysmiss.wordpress.com/2020/11/14/eng…
But this is a fantastic synthesis across a range of subjects from @amy6313 who adds a much valued voice to the argument for workbooks as core materials of the enacted curriculum:
Like anything, implementation of workbooks can lead to various ( I would argue, understandable) misconceptions around:
- the workbook acts as curricular constraint;
- opportunity-cost for staff workload
- ensuring quality
- production of materials means curriculum is complete
Putting together a curricular infrastructure will help here.
💭Who are experts in what and how do you know?
Undertaking a subject(not exam Q!) audit and contextualising this with a discussion is helpful.
💭 how will this work be undertaken in a way that doesn’t impact workload?
Anything that’s good for curriculum but bad for workload isn’t good for curriculum.
💭 how will this be implemented in a manageable way?
Trial with one class, one year group; review, scale up.
💭how will we support teachers to make use of the workbooks?
Consider time for collaborative planning, making where time not spent creating materials can be repurposed to thinking about attending to the purposeful stuff
saysmiss.wordpress.com/2021/11/20/a-n…
With an example of what this might look like: saysmiss.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/the-we…
This then might enable the opportunity to be strategic in cluster planning, with experts in one aspect paired with those less expert in that particular area of the subject. Crib sheets created also support teachers with subject specific PD, or teacher guides:
A huge caveat: anticipate the need for adaptation. Workbooks do not equate to a complete curriculum, because such a thing doesn’t exist. View this as merely a way of redirecting time from becoming Experts of Documents to Experts of Subject.
For lots of examples ⬇️
The Tempest: saysmiss.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/the-te…
Origins of Literature: saysmiss.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/origin…
More here (with expert crib sheets) saysmiss.wordpress.com/key-stage-thre…
saysmiss.wordpress.com/key-stage-four/
Then, you can start to think about subject specific PD to support teachers with subject knowledge to teach it! 🧵DMs open @Team_English1
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