With schools being complex organisations, it can feel like school leaders are trying to herd cats at times. As leaders, we seek to exert a degree of control in our schools, so that there is a semblance of order and prevention of organizational chaos. In trying to keep a degree of order in schools, a... Continue Reading →
Class size is frequently a topic for discussion by administrators and teachers. Even when we end up in a school that has lower class size averages compared to other schools, the class size issue does not always appear to go away; we perhaps do not recognize it when conditions are good. So, why is there... Continue Reading →
A lot of effort can often be given by teachers in providing students with a significant amount of feedback following the completion of a task. In a number of cases, this feedback is not particularly useful to the student, particularly if they are moving onto a new unit or topic once the task is ‘done’.... Continue Reading →
A lot of evidence has pointed to the significant positive impact of feedback on student learning and performance over the last 10 years. Many schools have placed great emphasis on tackling how teachers give students feedback to ensured that it has the desired effect - improving learning. Feedback is quite an easy aspect of teaching... Continue Reading →
I recently had a short conversation about innovation in schools and the constraints that may be placed on teachers preventing much needed new learning and innovation. A point was made about schools taking the approach of Google with their 80/20 rule and setting aside time for teachers to be creative in areas where they are... Continue Reading →
In a recent staff meeting we kicked off our first professional development season, which focuses on learning engagements. One aim of the plenary was to begin to get teachers thinking about how they use technology in the classroom. The cartoon clip below was used as a conversation starter to get teachers to think about how... Continue Reading →
