How to teach the ‘perfect’ English lesson

David Didau27th March 2013

How to teach the ‘perfect’ English lesson

David Didau27th March 2013

The plan

• Session 1 Planning – 10 - 11.30

• Session 2 Marking & feedback – 11.50 - 1.20

• Session 3 SOLO taxonomy – 2.00 - 3.20

Disclaimer: there is no such thing as a perfect lesson

What should we include in

an English curriculum?

What is ‘progress’?

• Performance vs learning

• Introducing ‘desirable difficulties’

• Spacing & interleaving

Spacing

Spacing

Interleaving

Writing WritingReading

Audi

ence

& p

urpo

se

Spel

ling,

pun

ctua

tion

&

gram

mar

Para

grap

hing

& st

ruct

ure

Anal

ysis

ing

Usi

ng e

vide

nce

Cont

extu

alis

ing

Audi

ence

& p

urpo

se

Spel

ling,

pun

ctua

tion

&

gram

mar

Para

grap

hing

& st

ruct

ure

Anal

ysis

ing

Usi

ng e

vide

nce

Cont

extu

alis

ing

Audi

ence

& p

urpo

se

Spel

ling,

pun

ctua

tion

&

gram

mar

Para

grap

hing

& st

ruct

ure

Anal

ysis

ing

Usi

ng e

vide

nce

Cont

extu

alis

ing

Our KS3 programme of study

APP lite

The Learning Loop

assessment of prior knowledge

Setting the context

& building the field

modelling & deconstruction

deliberate practice

feedback

reflectionrepeat

Joint construction

Independent construction

@Pekabelo

What might make a ‘perfect’ lesson?

The bit that’s observed

The bit that makes it ‘perfect’

Planning Principles

• Time is precious

• Marking is planning

• 5 planning questions

• Focus on learning not activities

• ‘Break’ your plan

1. How will last lesson relate to this lesson?2. Which students do I need to consider

in this particular lesson? (pen portraits)3. What will students do the moment they

arrive? (bell work)4. What are they learning, and what

activities will they undertake in order to learn it?

5. How will I (and they) know if they are making progress?

5 planning questions

Activities

http://www.newtools.org/showtxt.php?docid=737

During the lesson

1. Explain why to the observer

2. Observe the learning

3. Questioning

4. Take the temperature

5. Take risks

Who would make the best US President?Questioning

LEARNING: To be able to

analyse characterisation

OUTCOME:

So that we can Evaluate Steinbeck’s intentions

ZOOM OUT

So that we canZOOM IN

Your questions (QFT)

• Which of your 3 best questions will allow you to meet the learning outcome?

• Choose 1 which you will rewrite

Question Grid

Is?/Does?Present

Did?Past

Can?Possibility

Could?Probability

Will?Prediction

Might?Imagination

What?Event

Where?Place

When?Time

Who?Person

Why?Reason

How?Meaning

First

Second

How deep do you want your

questions to go?

Your questions

• Choose a quotation about your character

• Answer your question by ZOOMING IN and OUT on your quotations

• Take a risk – do something surprising!

Review

• Proofread your work• Highlight where you’ve taken a risk• Explain how well you’ve met the outcome• Peer assess

LEARNING: To be able to

analyse characterisation

OUTCOME:

So that we can Evaluate Steinbeck’s intentions

moment?

• How might “the best laid plans o’ mice and men” go wrong?

•Who might die?!

…try to read between the lines and evaluate the writer’s intention a bit

more…

The use of the word ‘poison’ likens Curley’s wife to

something that kills and damages. Also it makes the reader think of plotting and secrets which could explain

why the men are wary of her because she can get them

into trouble…

Show me

a teacher

who doesn’t

fail every day

and I’ll show you

a teacher with

low expectations

for his or her

students.

Dylan Wiliam

Break

Back at 11.50

Session 2

Marking & feedback

What’s the shortest word in the English language which contains each of the first 6

letters of the alphabet?

FEEDBACK

What % of feedback do students receive from their

peers?

80%

…and 80% of this is wrong!

Dylan Wiliam: one of the most effective assessment for learning strategies is to ‘activate students as the owners of their learning’

5

Use more colour

4

Trie to improov

the spelling

3

Make it neater!

2

Add more detail

1

Do it better

LOL!!

Critique

Critique protocols

Kind (but

honest)

Specific (be

precise)

Helpful (so

that…)

Hard on the content Soft on the person

Step up -Step back

•Gallery critique•In depth critique•Informal critique

Embedding a culture of critique

• Would you ever put on a play without rehearsals? Or play a gig without practicing first?

• What could you possibly achieve of quality in a single draft?

• If it’s not proofread, it’s not finished

Embedding a culture of critique

• Should we cover content, or should we insist on ‘beautiful work’?

• Can we do both?

Key principles

1. Establish the right culture

2. Go over the rules… every single time

3. Aim for perfection and insist on quality

4. Critique a variety of media

5. Only critique work when it is ready

Critique in practice

• 5 minutes to plan a lesson which introduces to a class

• Critique each others’ plans

• Review your plans

Learning outcome: To improve the quality of written feedback so that…

Students know how to improve their work

Students have time to act on feedback

Progress is made visible

• Importance of feedback

• What do you currently do?

• To grade or not to grade?

• Is praise important?

• How can we make sure feedback is ‘received’?

Reviewing written feedback

DIRT

Triple Impact Marking

1. Students reflect on their work

2. Teacher asks questions and sets improvement tasks

3. Students answer the questions and complete tasks

TIM in EnglishStep One – You will:• Use the CSP Code to proofread

your work• Highlight work you are proud of• EXPLAIN how you have met the

SUCCESS CRITERIA

TIM in EnglishStep Two – Your teacher will:• Use the CSP Code to point out your

mistakes• Use the SUCCESS CRITERIA to

explain how you can improve• Set specific tasks for you to complete

TIM in EnglishStep Three – You will:• Read the feedback written in

books• Answer any questions the

teacher has asked• Complete the tasks the teacher

has set

Learning outcome: To improve the quality of written feedback so that…

Students know how to improve their work

Students have time to act on feedback

Progress is made visible

Feedback & next steps…

LunchBack at 2:00

Session 3Using the SOLO

taxonomy to design learning experiences

so that…?

What do you know?

Levels of understanding

• In pairs, arrange the five statements about assessment for learning in order of understanding

• You have 3 minutes

A problem with Bloom’s…

Night Hawkes by Edward Hopper

How many different “Blooms” levels were

involved?

What kinds of thinking did you do?

• Can we define analysis as teachers?

• Can you separate thinking from content?

SOLO is better because:

• It’s a formative tool – provides useful feedback and makes next steps clear

• It’s a useful assessment tool – clear links with mark schemes

• It focuses on progress• It describes the learning outcome

With SOLO we can…• thoughtfully design learning intentions

and learning experiences

How does this apply to other situations?

How can you connect this knowledge?

What do you know about…?

Learning objective: To understand how power is presented in Macbeth

I know several things about power in Macbeth

I can explain the links between the things I know about power

With SOLO we can…• identify and use success criteria which

enable students to make meaningful progress

I can suggest reasons why Shakespeare might have made these choices

With SOLO we can…• differentiate effectively by allowing

students to choose the point at which they can access lessons

• SOLO stations

With SOLO we can…• provide feedback and feed forward on

learning outcomes which is simple to understand and straightforward to act on

Feedback: “How have you demonstrated that your knowledge is multistructural?”

Feed forward: “What do you need to do to make it relational?”

With SOLO we can…• reflect meaningfully on what to do next

“OK, so my work isn’t relational yet. How can I connect what I know?”

Language of learning

UnderstandingDeep & surface

learning

Knowledge success criteria

Progress

What makes you clever?

What happens when a student “establishes a

relational construct which is wrong”?

How much do you know?

What do you think?

BeforeBefore

Before Now AfterAfterAfter

BeforeBefore

Before Now AfterAfterAfter

BeforeBefore

Before Now AfterAfterAfter

Migingo Island on Lake Victoria is claimed by both Kenya and Uganda. The population of 131 is made up of mostly fishermen and traders.

• Where was the now part?

• Where was the before part?

• Where was the after after part?

Implications…

• Task design is essential to allow students to work with content knowledge in increasingly complex ways (progress)

• Task design could be as simple as planning the questions being asked (differentiation)

Comparison alley1st thing

2nd thing

What they have in

common

Dulce et Decorum

Est

In Flanders Field

Shall I compare… thee…

to a summer’s

day?

Why would you use SOLO?

How could you use SOLO?

What do you now know about SOLO?

Using the SOLO taxonomy to design

learning experiences so that…?

It’s always better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission

Be brilliant and people will forgive you anything

Two pieces of advice

Sapere aude!

David Didau@LearningSpy

learningspy.co.ukddidau@gmail.com