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BBC Live Lessons

17/11/2018

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A couple of months ago I received a message from the Production Team at BBC Teach; they're working hard to create a range of resources designed for teachers at all stages of their careers! The aim is to fill the gap left behind by Teachers' TV: a resource I remember vividly from my own training days.

Alongside their content geared for professionals, they also produce timely and effective lessons, broadcast LIVE, covering all manner of subject areas and events. The most recent one being Remembrance! And some silly sausage asked ME to be part of the panel discussion afterwards!

I cannot even begin to tell you how terrifyingly incredible the experience was. I spent the entire day convinced I recognised EVERYONE "off the telly" and I found myself giggling for no real reason other than at the sheer ridiculousness of it all: a real pinch yourself moment.
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Every single person I met was so kind and generous. It's fair to say - and clear to see - that I was utterly petrified, but every member of the team was so supportive and I was so grateful for their help. I always think that any adventure that makes your heart race is a good one, so this ticked all the boxes. Plus I met some truly inspirational people.

You've never seen such a well oiled machine! Travel arrangements, cameras whizzing, backstage crew, people in the gallery, assistants, make-up people...there was a specific person for every single item on the 'to-do' list. It was astounding. Check out the LIVE LESSON HERE, and catch up on the DISCUSSION PANEL with Ros, Susie and myself HERE.

​Thank you so much to BBC Teach for inviting me to take part in this. I was absolutely honoured. I learnt so much from the experience and I'm so thankful for the patience you took with me. This is easily the scariest thing I've ever done, and I'm so grateful.
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Book Look

10/11/2018

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Our first term together was full of great lessons, both for staff and pupils; learning together is so important - I'm not sure a working day goes by without coming to a new realisation!

As discussed a couple of weeks ago, our first topic was titled Darwin's Delights. You can peruse our Topic Books here. As a result, I received a few requests to browse through the rest of our learning, so here it is! I have used today's date to help me randomly choose the books to show you.

In English this term we have aimed to learn about: colons and semi-colons, layout devices, subjunctive form and passive voice, subordinate and relative clauses to name a few!

To learn about these, we applied them to writing inspired by our text (Sky Hawk, Gill Lewis) and topic (Darwin's Delights), which saw us creating: information texts on ospreys, Darwin and the Galapagos; diary entries from Iris and Darwin; and persuasive, formal letters to the Gambia. Check out the topic books to see the finished products! 
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In Maths this term, we have aimed to learn about:
Number and Place Value (including ordering numbers, comparing numbers, partitioning numbers, negative numbers in the context of money and temperature, finding the difference between positive and negative numbers, and addition and subtraction of positive and negative numbers).

The Four Operations (including formal column addition and subtraction, long multiplication, short and long division, finding common factors and multiples, prime numbers, and using the order of operations - BODMAS - to help solve longer calculations).

(Sidenote - having followed the cohort up from Year 5, I'm finding a lot of the Maths is repeated? It's providing a strong base from which to plan, because I know exactly what we covered last year, but I therefore I also worry I'm missing something? Let me know!)

We are tremendously proud of the children and everything they are achieving on this journey so far! Thoughts and feedback welcome! 
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Darwin's Delights

27/10/2018

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It feels like only yesterday I was writing to you about this year's classroom. Blink, and the first term is over! It's been a term of all kinds of progress, both for myself and the children! Our school has recently moved to using the Cornerstones products: a cross curricular, thematic approach built around exciting topics. They give lesson suggestions, supplementary texts that could be included, all sorts! It's safe to say that our team have really enjoyed engaging with our first topic in Year 6 - Darwin's Delights! We've applied so many of our skills to different contexts and we are so pleased with the children's start to the year!

DT, Art, great links with our Science topic, Geography and a few History skills too. I wanted to share their work so far this year. It is my intention to share their learning each term. Almost like an online moderation exercise. All feedback is welcome!

We've tracked Darwin's journey, written in role from the HMS Beagle, explored the Galapagos, sketched the tortoises... Alongside the topic, we read Sky Hawk by Gill Lewis. The text inspired much of our writing. I'll share our English and Maths books in a couple of weeks too if you like?
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BROAD

12/8/2017

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My research dissertation was around the subject of teacher control; the title was something along the lines of, "To what extent does teacher confidence affect pupil achievement and self-esteem?" - the idea being, if a teacher isn't brave enough to let go, and is constantly providing a rigid example for children to copy, will they ever be able to match up to the standard in a way they could replicate on their own? Or will it be a constantly negative comparison to the version you created, leaving them ill-equipped?

Naturally, the conclusion was as fluffy as, "a mix of strategies is best" - this is the conclusion for everything in education. Often a rigid example (the support) is required near the beginning of learning something, and then you can loosen the strings as their experience broadens. Like learning to ride a bike.

With this in mind, the fourth part of my #LearningFirst workshop was about teaching the children the importance of Responsibility and Choice.
Strategies for improving teaching and learning:
1. Honest Modelling.
Your input should be you exampling what YOU would do, however, I think it's important that you let them know OTHERS may do it differently. Explain that if they're finding it tricky, to stick with the method that you have shown, but if they have a way of doing something themselves, that they can confidently explain, then that's alright! (Use their explanation to clarify any misconceptions too).

2. Provide options.
Imagine how far you would get through life without needing to make a decision. Would you ever achieve anything of any real value if you were constantly told what to do? My Maths is self-differentiated, and I veer away from guided groups in writing. Teach children the importance of making choices, and create a sense of pride in being an independent learner. You will also be able to promote more self and peer assessment through this route as they navigate their own decision making.

3. Foster Creativity.
One of the things that makes marking more bearable is that I have 30-ish pieces of work that all different! Disseminate the information they need and watch what they do with it. My class and I have an agreement, whatever they present to me at the end of the lesson needs to be informative and aesthetically pleasing. Try it, you'll be amazed at what they produce. You'll also be maximising the occasions that they find themselves solving problems.

4. Use responsibility as an assessment tool.
Often, the argument against providing less support is that they 'can't be bothered if you don't help them'. If this is the case, your classroom ethos is wrong, not the fact you haven't given them a structure. My children know that taking the easy way out is not going to get them anywhere - a fact they can apply to life. Granted, they're also aware it's going to be tough at times, but then I echo the thought above - teach them what pride feels like.
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You can catch up on the previous #LearningFirst posts using the links below:
Intro
The Day
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
We are forever talking about a broad and balanced curriculum, so let's consider how many life lessons outside of that we can start teaching without even needing to plan them!
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Reward

17/6/2017

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When levels were taken away, schools were left at the mercy of large companies claiming to use teacher feedback to generate products. While I'm sure they were tried and tested, many were rushed out in a race for profit against necessity. 

Developing systems for assessing reading and maths is easy; write a set of questions and have a program that does something with the data. However, systems for assessing writing are trickier.

With a lot of my posts recently regarding teaching writing, I wanted to develop a system that reflected my ethos.

And today, it's finally ready to share with you, for free!
Why?
I found with many purchasable systems, they relied on a very basic, unfounded belief that all children make equal gains at timetabled stop-points within the year. As current teachers, we know that simply isn't true, yet in the business of proving progress, you'd be required the tick the box regardless, in order to make the algorithm give the result you needed on the analysis. I wanted a system that better reflected how children make progress in writing, while also giving leaders what they needed.
How?
Many systems work on a 3 tiered system, likely stemming from the end of Key Stage judgements. Regardless of vocabulary, they mostly work with synonyms of: below, at, above (age expectations), with a number or letter associated. And that's it. That's the bit I had a problem with. 

We have all been in the position where you have made an initial judgement on a child's attainment, but when you've come to the next assessment period, progress is abundantly clear, but you're not willing to award the next band yet. So, on paper, they've not got any better?
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My systems works on the simple idea that you can reward children for the smaller steps in progress that they make. By awarding points 0 through 10, you can always credit the children for their inevitable progress, and the overall judgement is based on what percentage of the skills (at whatever level of capability) they are completing successfully. 

But...
Don't ask, "But how do you know whether to award them a 4 or a 5?" Use the same part of your brain that decided whether they were at or above, or a 3b or 3a. It takes a few turns, but it always has done.
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(They haven't all regressed back to zero. As we approach the end of the year, I will enter my Summer data)
What?
Below, I have provided an Excel and PDF for every section of the English curriculum.

The PDFs can be used as posters, stuck in books, checklists, record keeping etc.

The Excel documents allow you to record the children's achievement for each objective. You can filter by groups, and it shows an analysis of each term, for easy comparison.
year_1_writing_targets.pdf
File Size: 66 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

year_2_writing_targets.pdf
File Size: 70 kb
File Type: pdf
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year_3___4_writing_targets.pdf
File Size: 78 kb
File Type: pdf
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year_5___6_writing_targets.pdf
File Size: 80 kb
File Type: pdf
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writing_assessment__year_1_.xlsx
File Size: 222 kb
File Type: xlsx
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writing_assessment__year_2_.xlsx
File Size: 226 kb
File Type: xlsx
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writing_assessment__year_3___4_.xlsx
File Size: 232 kb
File Type: xlsx
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writing_assessment__year_5___6_.xlsx
File Size: 235 kb
File Type: xlsx
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AOB:
  • You can see some specific posts about improving progress in writing HERE, HERE, and HERE (this features almost everything you need!) 
  • I learnt a tonne by doing this. I'm aware there are some big analysis questions that it might not be able to answer at the click of a single button, but I gained so much knowledge from experimenting with formulas and setups. With all the research that went into making it, it's been a brilliant development exercise for me.
  • I am extremely thankful for everyone in my school who has given it a go. Thank you so much for your time and trust. Whether we use it again or not, I'm so grateful for you testing it out for me; I've learnt a lot
  • The creation of this has been the prompt of some big revelations to me. I used to be quite fluffy with regards to assessment; why can't we just allow them to get better? However, as I mature in my teaching years, I'm starting to see the necessity of some form of data, some form of universally understood language, which undeniably needs to be numerical. More on that soon...
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One

20/5/2017

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BOOKED IS ONE YEAR OLD! I can't believe it.

This week, marks one whole year of my first ever app, and I couldn't be more proud of it. I'm also shocked, that in the year that's gone by, I've not blogged about it before!

As teachers, we often get asked by eager parents, keen to help their child progress, what they can do to help. Now, I don't know about you, but when it comes to reading, I've always talked about the importance of comprehension; understanding what's been read.

In it's simplest form, it's vital that you ask your child questions while reading. There won't always be a clean-cut answer, but the fact you're delving deeper into the text, discussing different topics and engaging further with the book will be a real benefit.
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But what sorts of questions should we ask?
And that's where I came up with Booked! I wanted to create a bank of question stems that could be used by families when reading together. Adding to that, I wanted to encourage children to read with their families more, so I wanted there to be a game element too. That's where it started.

One Year Later...
  • Booked is supporting learners and their families in several locations around the world.
  • Booked has sold in the UK, Norway, USA, United Arab Emirates and Australia!
  • Booked has been featured in the Primary Times magazine!
  • Booked has been added to various school newsletters, promoting reading together at home!
  • Booked has been renewed in the App Store, and I have plans to make it available for Android users too (thank you so much for your patience).
​...and there are bigger plans afoot.

​But for now, I wanted to share some resources.

PROMOTE BOOKED IN YOUR SCHOOL!
Available below, are some free posters that you can use to spread the message of Booked in your school. A black and white version is available too!

Also, if you'd like to add Booked to a school newsletter, contact me here, where I can send you a blurb, screenshots, anything you like! 
Poster (Colour)
File Size: 393 kb
File Type: pdf
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Poster (B&W)
File Size: 411 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Booked has over 150 adaptable questions, split into Fiction and Non-Fiction, ideal for sparking discussion over every type of text! Many of them feature completed examples, to help you ask the right questions to make the best progress!

Don't worry, if the question doesn't quite fit the topic you're reading about, there is helpful Switch button that will give you a new question to use, and you can tap it as many times as you like!

Below is a sample of 20 questions available for you to download. Print them using "Multiple Per Sheet" to make handy question cards for a variety of uses:
  • In class, peer-to-peer,
  • In intervention work, adult to child,
  • In small group work, teacher to learner,
  • At home, families together
Or, alternatively, print them full page and have them as prompts in your book corner!
Booked (Questions)
File Size: 2377 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

While I'll never recover the costs of creating the app, I loved every step of the project, and I fully intend on doing it all again soon; it's an expensive hobby, but I really enjoy the process. I'm so grateful for everyone's support - the feedback has been so kind and generous. I can't believe, after making a little sketch in my notebook, that I now have something selling globally; this has been such an adventure. Thank you for everything. Mr N. x
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Countdown

21/1/2017

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The countdown to the #LearningFirst Conference is down to single figures, and I might be the most frightened I've ever been. Saying that, I'm so grateful to everyone at @BeyondLevels, and Canterbury Christ Church, for offering me the opportunity to push myself outside of my comfort zone - I'm excited to learn from this experience.

As part of a packed programme, I've been asked to present a workshop, detailing different ideas regarding living in a world without levels, which, to me, is the best scenario; take back control of assessment, and put learning first. Amongst an itinerary of PhDs, Masters Graduates and big names, I'm hoping to be the reassuring voice of you - the teacher. I'm petrified, but looking forward to meeting you.

Naturally, my learners are far braver than I am, so I've roped them in to help me. Here's a preview of what you can expect...
​See you at the weekend!
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Plan A (Part 2)

10/12/2016

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Next, we move to start planning a class version of the finished product. We remind ourselves of the criteria we have been learning about, and I model the thought process behind planning the piece. Following a short modelling of the writing, using the plan we have made together, the children use their plans (loosely based on our class version) to write their own. Most often, the writing at this stage all reads fairly similarly, because they are working from a similar template featuring similar ideas. I walk around this lesson sharing great examples from the children.


Finally, I take away all support. Using a completely blank plan, the children write an independent piece of writing, having had experience of the Success Criteria, the planning process and using a plan to write. The writing at this stage will all be completely different from each other because they have worked on it completely independently. I stay put this lesson and twiddle my thumbs, praying for a worthwhile outcome.
​
While we have been working on collecting words and phrases, constantly asking for the purpose of prepositional phrases and adverbials, I have also been reading a little bit of the book each day. We ask ourselves, what could happen next? As a class, we plan a chapter using a template, with encouragement to note down the words and phrases we have been collecting. I photocopy this half-completed template (which also gives space to include ‘other tools’, to remind ourselves that, although we are learning about prepositions and fronted adverbials, there are lots of other strategies we can include). I model my writing using the plan, the children also write theirs.

A few days have gone by and the children have had a chance to read and respond to any feedback they have been given about their writing (from myself and others). As before, I have continued to read the book and we are up to a new point. What happens next? Using a blank plan and no modelling, the children have a go at creating their own piece of writing.
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This process relies on them having paid attention at each previous stage in order for them to apply their learning of each skill at the end; the middle section is undoubtedly the most important, where we see the effect this skill has on a piece of writing. Visually, the learning process is extremely clear and the children are able to articulate the progress they have made. Each lesson starts with revision of the skills already covered, ready to add a new one to the list.
 
It does sound extremely long winded, with an easy response being, “How do you have time? There’s so much to cover!” But my equally easy reply would be that it’s important to invest time. As long as you have a rough plan about where you’ll teach each skill, and in what context, you’re safe in knowing you’ll get the coverage you need, while gently adding new learning to the ever-increasing list of features young writers are expected to exhibit.
 
I have found this method to be extremely valuable because it gives the learners more stable ground to move forward; investing time into teaching, and designing specific, purposeful practice opportunities, saves time banging on about the same missing features. The challenge as the teacher is to ensure the skills you have taught previously continue to be used, despite changing the focus to something new. For example, while I taught you about time connectives through writing instructions, there’s no reason you can’t continue to use them in your recount, when the new skill I’m teaching you is how to use conjunctions. Equally, I could teach you about using adjectives in your narrative to describe the setting, but I will still expect to see them in your non-chronological report about a creature, when I’m focussing the learning on the purpose of paragraphs.
 
Constant revision and visual clues help the children embed the learning; this is why I refer to all the skills as the ‘tools’ of writing. However, that’s nothing without you! Use personality, make jokes, anecdotes and actions for them to pin their knowledge to. For example, I always talk about using sights, sounds and feelings in writing; I point to my eye, ear and heart every time I say them. I know that when I say ‘feelings’, I can ask my children ‘Just emotions?’ and they’ll all point to their arm and reply ‘No, physical feelings too!’ I’m amazed they’ve retained so much, but I guess that's through spending time learning something, and repeating the quality we're looking for, rather than expecting sufficient competency after the first model.
 
Dear Student, I’m so sorry my explanation the other day was so poor, I hope this is a little better. I know what I mean! :)
​Dear Colleagues, I'd like to know what you think; have I overthought something so simple, or do you do something similar?
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Plan A (Part 1)

12/11/2016

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A short while ago, I was trying to explain how I plan English to a student; I found it extremely difficult. This concerned me because I felt as though my poor attempts at explaining were reflective of my approach, rendering my methods useless, yet I was also extremely aware that no idea is original, and that there must be others who plan in the same way I do (just they can articulate it in a clearer voice).

So my post today comes with two aims:
  1. The first aim is complete self-indulgence; I need to rectify the unacceptable definitions I scrabbled through the other day...although I may not do any better here.
  2. The second aim is to let you know how I plan, as it may be something you can add to, or want to try yourself.

I’m a big believer in teaching a concept before expecting the children to apply it. Many will do both at the same time; model a series of skills while applying them. Personally, I’ve found it difficult to do this. I prefer to break down a process and teach the steps, then model how to use the steps to create success. In my class, this often means that Success Criteria can be the same for a few days in a row, as we gain confidence and learn about each piece of the criteria. Over time, I have found my children more able to retain their learning through this method, as I try to make the learning more explicit before attempting the applying.

To illustrate, I’m going to give a commentary of my decision making process, alongside a fictitious sequence to demonstrate what I mean.
First of all, I choose a book as a vehicle for our learning; a book to inspire different types of writing. High quality texts allow us to use the characters, settings and situations. We spend the term enhancing our reading skills, while learning aspects of writing too!

​
Secondly, I decide what it is I want the children to learn. When first meeting them, I most often want to recover the very basics. This enables me to refer to these basics in a mutually recognisable way, adding them to our Tool Box. Once these simple metaphorical plates are spinning I begin to choose age appropriate skills to teach.

I choose a type of writing that I want them to eventually example these skills in. While I’m not teaching them the genre, I choose a text-type that would best show off the skill I’m going to teach (although once we have experience of it, I will continue to refer to the same skills across other writing too, outside of the text-type, using the Tool Box as a reference).

​
I write an example of the text type, ensuring I use lots of instances of the skills I want them to learn about. I use this in the lesson to explain what I’m going to be teaching over the next few days, before we have a go at writing our own. The children label the examples I have included, ready to begin to refer to as soon as possible.

Although they haven’t ‘learnt’ about them yet, the class are ready to tell me ‘what I’m looking for’. Now I can teach the different pieces I need them to learn. Depending on how many things I’ve chosen to teach them, and how complex they are, the next duration could be varying lengths. I try to fit in lots of chances to collect words, phrases, read extra examples…, and then have the children apply each thing separately to improve their experience of each piece of the criteria. This also gives them more variety when it comes to independent writing as they’ve had longer to think of ideas.
My favourite book is ‘Stormbreaker’ by Anthony Horowitz. It’s such a great hook and once they’re into the first one, they have a whole series to get through! I also like to use snippets of the film alongside the writing.
​


In this example, let’s say I need my Year 4 children to learn how to ‘express time, place and cause using prepositions and prepositional phrases’, and ‘use fronted adverbials to provide the reader with additional information’.

​
Lots of parts of language are best represented in various non-fiction, but for this I am going to choose narrative. I will be asking the children to write the next chapter and, alongside the other skills we have learnt so far (that I expect to see present) I will be specifically looking for prepositional phrases and fronted adverbials.


​
I have written my own version of a chapter, and I have filled it with examples of prepositions and fronted adverbials. We spend a lesson where I talk to them about my thought process as I was writing, we highlight the examples I have used, and also spot ‘other tools’, to reinforce the idea that our writing skills are transferrable.

The last lesson ended with me constantly placing my flat palm on my head every time I said ‘preposition’ and slicing my palm through the air when I spoke about a ‘fronted adverbial’ (I may also tap the back of my head when I explain these tools give the reader more information). These lessons start with me asking for the purpose of these tools, providing writing where they haven’t been used. We discuss the effect that has been lost, before adding examples of our own to see how we can change the effect the writing has; cue ample post-its as we celebrate great examples.
To be continued...
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The Homework Debate

22/10/2016

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I'm surprised I'm writing this, but I want to discuss homework. What once was the bane of my teaching life, has become a staple part of my week, and I'm almost starting to enjoy it.

​I completely understand the debate...
YES TO HOMEWORK
It supports education at home.
It allows families to see what their child is learning.
It helps to consolidate skills taught; practise makes perfect.
Homework encourages organisational skills.
NO TO HOMEWORK
School should be where the educating happens.
​Homework interferes with family life.
We risk the children rehearsing incorrectly.
It's a waste of childhood.
However, with my recent thoughts regarding the children's future (whether that be based on their behaviour, career choice, support from home, or general attitude), once again I'm beginning to consider the wider lessons of homework. It's more than an awkward hour on a Sunday, and I think my change of heart has been triggered by how I've conducted myself composing the tasks in the first place.

Today's blog is a quick timeline of my exampled approaches so far, with some pros and cons for balance.
During your NQT year, you're getting to grips with so much more than just homework. I'd love to write a blog about my earliest experiences as a full time teacher, but there's no way I could write it vividly enough. 

However, I can say it was the most positive and worthwhile NQT year I could have had, and I learnt the best lessons that have lead me to my current practice (which I'm very proud of). And, after ticking off other items on the list, homework became the next thing I wanted to handle. 

Across ALL examples today, you'll notice that I've never handed out a 'sheet'. Personally, I think they're the worst option, and likely the biggest cause of such negative connotations of homework. As always, it's the way it's done that causes the debate, not the actual concept.
You'll also notice that most examples have always featured a description of the learning we've been doing at the time, some kind of catch up for the families to stay informed.

I used to pour hours into making these; a constant stream of tables and borders, in a naive bid to make home learning attractive. It wasn't a good use of time considering the impact, but it felt right at the time.
After a couple of years, and now with a new year partner, we tried something else. With a school move to 'creative' home learning (but not wanting to bombard families with a weekly model to make), my Year Partner suggested we organise the homework into 3 categories - it was really effective. Each week, the task would rotate between:
  • Discuss - some sort of debate or question that we would expect the children to have at home. They could make notes if they wished, and it made the perfect prep for upcoming lessons.
  • Skill - the more traditional type of homework. Exercises based on recent learning; maths questions, pieces of writing and the like, to example what we'd been teaching.
  • Create - Something artistic and practical linked to what we had been learning about.

It was a good system that I would recommend. It found a nice balance between the different approaches and allowed for many skills to be shown.

I also enjoyed, in particular, the Discussion tasks, because I felt they promoted conversation, and family time.
As a school, we were keen for feedback, so after a Parent Questionnaire, we tried a different system.

Each term, we would send home a list of activities that could be completed within the term. Each activity linked to various areas of the curriculum, and we expected 3 to be completed by a certain date.

The work could be submitted at any time (before the due date) and a simple tick-list was used to keep track of how many pieces each child had completed. We set aside time in class for the children to present what they had done and we often found children wanting to complete more than necessary.

We had a really good response from families because I think it alleviated some of the weekly homework stress, as there was such freedom with regards to time. Again, this is a system I would recommend.
With a change of school, where things are organised differently, my approach to homework is different again (which I'll share another time). But it's not only the system that has changed, it's also my own thoughts.

Completing home work used to irritate me as a child, and setting it was very similar. It was always an afterthought on a Friday. It took strength not to pull up the first worksheet on Google because, when done properly, it really does have a place and, as a teacher, you can do a lot of good with a well-written piece of homework. My constant thinking recently, is that our children are our investment for the future, and they need to be equipped with a myriad of talents. Now, I find myself putting the time in because I want to; I want them to go home and show off what they can do - I want them to keep their brain buzzing with skills, ready to apply at any given moment. 

It doesn't need to detract from playing outside and going to the park, it can be done as well as. So, my top 3 pieces of advice:
  1. Find a system that works for you; if you don't believe in it, they won't either.
  2. Make time for it; you'll be surprised how much quicker you'll be when you tailor it to what you want. If that sheet you found is what you taught them, go for it - but don't pull out something for the sake of it that isn't quite what you've taught in a way they wouldn't recognise. You'll be wasting everyone's time.
  3. Speak positively about the impact this could have when done right; praise ambition and effort.

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