🧵 on making school a compelling place to be:

I rarely speak about the fact that I was a school refuser. I found it difficult to attend for many reasons, that, given the opportunity, I opted out of doing so. I was not quite sporadic enough to be a major concern until later in Year 11, and managed a brilliant set of GCSEs because I was gifted with a month of study leave. By the time I reached the end of my A levels, I was attending around the 30% mark.

🧵 New teachers! Prepare for teaching this term by knowing:

▪️Retrieval isn’t repetitive if you are a novice- as long as it’s useful, of course
▪️explanations are at their most beautiful without waffle - and that’s hard when you’re a subject expert ▪️it’s difficult to apply learning if you have not seen this exemplified- which is why examples delivered by an expert are invaluable
▪️knowing the common pitfalls and signposting them demystifies the subject for less confident students - it’s a gift to know this in advance

🧵

T&L principles are commonplace but often miss the conceptual framework required to ensure it is not a matter of pedagogy before subject.

Whilst simpler to convey to teachers as an agreed lesson to lesson format, they can sometimes lead to huge distortions.. Because:

i) if a teacher considers generic T&L as a sequence for teaching before subject, it’s more likely they’ll lean less on concepts that are hugely beneficial to draw attention to for students to make connections over time;

🧵

Leading principles of curriculum development are not *just* about curriculum substance..

⬇️ Curriculum design and delivery has become increasingly a matter of more than the subject. There is a danger of significant variance when we consider the role of curriculum in schools.

Some key messages from our session @rEDSurrey2022 yesterday 🧵 ⬇️ #rEDSurrey22 There are a great deal of fads and lethal mutations hanging around as a result of curriculum development. Generic approaches to pedagogy that disregard subject specificity for instance. It not only dilutes the offer for pupils, but leads to a huge disconnect for teachers.

What does ‘Learning vs Performance’ mean for teachers and students? @InspiredLearn_ ⬇️ #rEDSurrey22 Underpinned by Dunlovsky et al., @InspiredLearn_ warns us against being lured by beautiful highlighting as an indicator of effective study #rEDSurrey22

First session #rEDSurrey22 is @msybibi drawing really succinct connections between coaching, learning and effective mechanisms of professional development. An interesting discussion of how we distinguish between coaching and mentoring, how interchangeable the terms have become- and does it matter? #rEDSurrey22

🧵 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…

Several messages asking for exam marking recommendations. I’ve never outsourced but I know many who have used @ChapterEdu and they come highly recommended. A few things to note when outsourcing marking:
💫 ensure to carry out due diligence to ensure… ⬇️ The company are legitimate and able to trade as such.
💫 Exercise caution around any explicit mention of exam board specialisms. Examiners are breaking terms of appointment if they use their role in a commercial capacity:

🧵 I’ve been thinking about collaborative curriculum development and why it’s so important..

💭 the *perfect* English curriculum doesn’t exist, because it needs to attend to context- context of who it will serve, but also who enacts it. 💭 this is why diversity of thought, underpinned by solid frameworks for difficult conversations make for *amazing* subject level debate in departments.

🧵
I’ve spent the last few months increasingly interested in how we communicate in schools: to develop professional relationships, instigate change, make judgements or decisions, or aid improvement over time. As a great deal of our work in schools is intangible, the discourse.. We choose to engage in is in some part the vehicle through which we identify and drive change. As Annie Dillard states, ‘how we spend our time is how we live our lives,’ as in #StopTalkingAboutWellbeing, I highlighted what a difference conversations can make to..