How to stretch and challenge your students

There are two ways to interpret the phrase “stretch and challenge”. On the one hand, it relates to whole-class teaching and the importance of stretching and challenging every pupil’s thinking. On the other, it relates to individuals and the importance of pushing the ­thinking of the most able pupils. Both interpretations are equally valid and essential components of great teaching.

Stretching and challenging all pupils

As teachers, we know it is not enough for our pupils to coast through lessons, picking up the minimum they need to get by. First, motivation and engagement are likely to sag if the work is too easy. Second, we want the very best for our pupils. We want them to love learning, to be stimulated by the lessons we teach and to develop intellectually. So it is vital that we strive to stretch and challenge all our pupils. The three key areas through which we can make this happen are planning; lesson structure and pace; and the expectations we convey.

Planning

When creating your lessons, ask yourself if the content is sufficiently demanding. How close is it to what your pupils already know? Does it include ­conceptual and concrete material? In what kind of language is it couched?

Ideally, you should be aiming for material that is just beyond the point pupils have already reached – something just at the edge of their capabilities. This idea arises from Lev Vygotsky’s notion of the zone of proximal development. This is the essence of education, where pupils are put in a position that enables them to move beyond their existing knowledge and understanding.

To judge whether your content is sufficiently challenging, elicit information from your pupils. When teaching and marking, observe how the class is coping with the material you present. Adjust the content of your lessons accordingly. At first, your content will probably oscillate between slightly too easy and slightly too difficult, but through trial and error you will come to develop a sound sense of what level of content a class can handle.

Do not be averse to plunging your ­pupils into the realms of uncertainty from time to time. This helps to keep their thinking sharp, stops them getting complacent and discourages automatic recourse to what has been proved to work. Use content aimed at pupils who are two or three years older, that requires a high level of interpretation or challenges their received beliefs.

Lesson structure and pace

When you are planning, and teaching, keep the following questions in mind:

1. Why are we doing this?

2. What am I expecting pupils to do at each point?

3. What is the optimum amount of time for each activity?

The first question deals with purpose. If the answer is unclear, it is time to think again. Pupils are unlikely to make significant progress if there is no clear rationale.

The second question focuses on how you are intending pupils to engage with the learning. Ideally, activities should be structured so that every pupil in your class is doing something. This includes listening, reading, writing, talking and so on. Nobody should be passive or doing nothing. We must make every second count.

There needs to be a definite link between the answers to questions one and two. If an activity does not serve a specific purpose, what is it doing there? Jettison anything that does not help you achieve your aims: cutting away excess and ­unfocused activities will help to maintain a sense of drive and challenge.

The third question deals with pace. That does not mean rattling through a series of activities, but giving the right amount of time to each lesson segment.

It involves constantly assessing what stage each pupil is at and being flexible enough to act on these judgements.

For example, you might move half the class on to a new activity while the others continue with what they are doing; give extra time to an activity because pupils have found it difficult; and truncate an activity after realising that pupils have understood it more quickly than anticipated.

High expectations

Never underestimate the importance of having high expectations of all pupils. We know that every pupil can make progress, given the right set of circumstances (including a great teacher).

Here are five ways to convey your high expectations:

• Reasoning: When pupils share their opinion with you, or with a partner during discussion, push them to explain what underpins that opinion. Do not let unsupported assertions escape without asking “Why?”, “What reasons do you have for thinking that?”. You can even train your pupils to start asking these questions of each other.
• Products: Plan your lessons so that pupils are building up to creating some kind of product – an essay, perhaps, or an extended piece of drama or a presentation. This will imbue your lessons with purpose and show them that you believe they can create significant pieces of work.
• Success criteria: Make sure that every pupil knows what the success criteria are for each major piece of work you ask them to do, and that it is possible for everybody to attain them. In a positive classroom, pupils will be more likely to push themselves to excel.
• All, most and some: If you use the idea of “all, most and some” in your planning, do not share it with pupils. Consider how demoralising it must be for a pupil who knows they are not top of the class to see that noted down at the start.
• Formative feedback: Set your pupils challenging targets regularly. Forget about sharing grades for the moment. Instead, tell pupils what they need to do to improve and give them the opportunity to do it.

Challenging more able pupils

So how do you push the thinking of more able pupils in the context of whole-class teaching?

Socratic questioning

Socrates, an Athenian philosopher born in 469BC, appears in the dialogues of ­Plato interrogating his fellow citizens to draw out the assumptions, errors and misconceptions in their thinking. We can use Socrates’ methods in the classroom to challenge the thinking of all pupils – particularly the most able.

There are four roles that Socrates takes on when asking questions: the gadfly, the stingray, the midwife and the ignoramus. Teachers can flit between these in order to question the views, opinions and judgements held by more able pupils.

• The gadfly: Mimic the practice of the gadfly, which nips away at larger animals. This involves asking lots of little questions intended to push thinking and avoid sloppiness: “What do you mean by that?”; “But, what if…?”;  “What evidence do you have?”; “Does that always apply?”; “How can you be certain that is true?”.
• The stingray: Administer a shock to ­pupils’ traditional way of thinking in the same way a stingray unleashes its sting: “Imagine if X was not the case, what then?”; “What if everything you’ve said was turned on its head?”; “What if a great change happened?”.
• The midwife: Ask questions that help give birth to ideas: “That’s an interesting idea; could you explain it a bit more?”;  “How might that affect things?”; “What made you think of that idea?”.
• The ignoramus: Emulate a character who has never encountered the topic you are discussing and play dumb to encourage explanation: “What does that mean?”;  “I don’t understand – can you start from the beginning?”; “So, do you mean that…?”.

Listen to what the pupil says and look for ways to respond in one of the above guises. Fix on to a pupil’s assertions and question them. This might help you to identify inaccurate use of a concept or over-reliance on a weak piece of analysis.

Evaluation

This is all about making judgements: “What do you think and why?”; “Is this better than that, or vice versa?”; “Which option should we go for and what reasons do you have to support your choice?”.

Really good evaluation demonstrates a mastery of the topic. Pupils will be able to highlight the strengths and limitations of the issue before making a judgement about what ought to be done or what they believe is the best perspective on the matter.

Nearly every activity you do in the classroom can be supplemented by an evaluation task, directly or tangentially associated with the topic.

Use evaluation command words – appraise, argue, assess, critique, defend, evaluate, judge, justify and value – to frame questions and tasks for pupils who finish before their peers. Or build them into your PowerPoint or interactive whiteboard slides as extensions. You will then have them to hand as soon as pupils finish the main work you have set.

If you make regular recourse to evaluation questions and tasks, pupils’ ability to make reasoned judgements will improve and this will trickle into the rest of the work that they produce.

Critical thinking

This involves analysing the issue and reflecting on the best way to tackle it. It can be challenging for more able pupils because it asks them to alter their mindsets and to think differently.

• Analyse meaning: Have pupils analyse the accuracy and precision of their writing and speech. When they have finished an activity, ask them to review what they have done. How accurately did they convey the meaning they intended? How precise were they in their choice and use of words? How could they have said the same thing but more simply? Get them to amend or redo their work accordingly.
• Self-criticism: Stretch pupils’ thinking by asking them to reread what they have written critically. Ask them to revisit the work and develop a series of questions in connection with it. These will focus on issues thrown up by the text or questions that have not been answered in the text but ought to have been.
• Challenging debate: Ask pupils to look through their work and identify every instance where they have put forward an argument or a view. They should then come up with two pieces of evidence and two examples (additional to anything in the text) that could be used to support their argument. This will stretch their thinking and improve their arguments.

For further ideas on how to stretch and challenge more able pupils, see Mike Gershon’s Challenge Toolkit resource at www.tes.co.uk/mikegershon. He has written seven books on pedagogy, all of which are available on Amazon.

Technique checklist

Evaluation keywords:

• Appraise
• Argue
• Assess
• Critique
• Defend
• Evaluate
• Judge
• Justify
• Value

Socratic questioning roles:

• The gadfly
• The stingray
• The midwife
• The ignoramus

Stretch and challenge through planning:

• How difficult is the content?
• What are you asking pupils to do?
• Will pupils be learning actively?
• How will you adapt the length of tasks?
• Do pupils know why they are doing the work?

 Source: http://newteachers.tes.co.uk/content/how-stretch-and-challenge-your-students

How to develop teacher presence and command attention in class

How to develop teacher presence and command attention in class

Why do some teachers struggle to control a class while others manage to get a lesson flowing seamlessly with apparently little effort?

It could simply be down to the “presence” they have in the classroom. This is a vague term, but learning how to have presence, or build on what you already possess, could create a more harmonious and effective classroom and strengthen your relationship with your pupils. Broadly, the word means being able to use your personality and body to command attention.

Teachers are not actors and developing more presence is not about trying to transform yourself into a Hollywood star. But, as public speakers and communicators, they will be more successful if pupils find their lessons memorable and they have good interpersonal skills.

Being in the spotlight can be frightening and nerves make us behave differently. Developing presence can help to prevent paralysing symptoms such as breathlessness or a dry mouth. Those who already have it are often more aware of the impact of their body language and use gestures, or even a glance, to create the effect they want.

Developing teacher presence

Anyone can learn these skills, according to Mark Almond, a senior lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University who trains teachers in the art of creating presence. But not everybody gets the chance.

“Some educators blanch at the idea that teacher presence should be included in training, as it is such a vague term,” he says. “But I believe this is an area teachers want to be trained in. They think their existing training lacks how to develop interpersonal skills, how to create your own identity and connect with pupils.”

Some actors use the Alexander technique to relax – gently realigning the body, breathing from deep in the lungs and using the body economically. This can also be useful for teachers who struggle to relax.

“You may be feeling awful at having to walk into a classroom of 15-year-olds, but if you display your anxieties to that class, you will have problems,” Mr Almond says. “Walk in to the room slowly with your posture straight, chin up, make eye contact and speak to your pupils in a clear and audible voice.”

Looking physically confident will help to create presence. A good posture makes a person look strong and commanding. Keep your head still when you talk, and speak slowly.

Guy Michaels, an actor-turned-teacher who now runs courses for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) on how to create classroom presence, says: “Nerves can prevent teachers from communicating effectively. Many teachers will explain a task, then explain it again, using a different set of words. This confuses the class and any clarity is gone. You are not allowing the idea to sink in.”

Teachers should grow comfortable with using stillness and silence as part of their repertoire. “Many teachers say ‘I’m not a performer’, but they have an audience of 30 people waiting to be entertained,” says Mr Michaels.

“Teachers often work to rigid lessons, they are obsessed with planning, and there is a danger they can lose their flexibility. They should listen and improvise, be excited and infectious.”

Masking your anxieties

So how do you mask your nerves and transform unhelpful body language? The first step is to get rid of any signs of tension. And the way you breathe is a key factor.

“If you can’t take deep breaths, you can’t speak with authority and resonance. It’s a waste of energy and affects where your breath comes from,” Mr Michaels says.

“Children pick up on signals of fear. The first thing you have to do is understand your fight or flight response – what happens when your body releases adrenalin. It gives you a low status. These are physical signs like fidgeting, a stooped head and sweaty palms.”

But how do you avoid them? He advises teachers to “stand as tall as you can be. It gives you an anchoring and this helps to keep you grounded and calm.

“Scale your physical presence up or down. Use gestures to punctuate what you are saying and move around in the space if you want a big presence. This helps you appear to be a strong, confident teacher.”

Many of our nervous physical ticks can be unconscious. A good way to start tackling them is to ask a trusted colleague to observe you and give their candid thoughts on your body language and other physical traits. Or try video-recording yourself. It is incredible how much the small screen amplifies even the slightest movement.

Pause for thought

Another tip is simply to pause. This allows you to organise your thoughts, so you can avoid repeating yourself, and makes you appear calm and in control.

Observe others in authority who appear to have an inbuilt confidence. Why are they watchable; what are they doing right?

People with charisma use their body effectively. Eye contact is one of the most important weapons in a teacher’s arsenal.

Try this simple physical test: ask your pupils to face you and put their arms up. They should then begin slowly lowering them until you make eye contact. Each time you do, they must freeze. The aim is to make sure that no pupil ends up with their hands in their laps.

Eye contact can help vary the pace and energy of a lesson. “If you want a different effect, stay still and cast a net around the room with your eyes,” Mr Michaels adds. This will help to give you an aura of authority – and make them take notice of you.

Using the space of the classroom differently can also vary the dynamics of the lesson. Try teaching from a different area, at a different height or even sitting on a desk with pupils.

Presence means you can set the tone in your classroom.

You as the storyteller

Think of yourself as a storyteller, conveying a secret through your teaching. Vary your language: use active verbs to create excitement and an emotional response. Create anticipation or intrigue with props or timing, letting each activity be revealed one at a time.

Appear energetic and eager to talk about your subject. It might be the thousandth time you have taught a topic, but behave as if you are enjoying yourself. Enthusiasm is contagious.

Adjust the tone and volume of your voice to convey emotion and alter the pace of the lesson.

Teachers are not actors but some theatrics can create a buzz. Why not use over-the-top gestures from time to time, to express delight, mock boredom or surprise? Such charades – pretending to snore, feigning a heart attack (when appropriate) – can amuse and engage pupils.

Having presence also means that you are confident enough to be spontaneous and improvise. This creates a vibrant lesson and can create energy if it starts to lag; it also means that you can respond swiftly if pupils become disruptive.

According to Rob Salter, a London teacher who trains his peers in how to create presence, US president Barack Obama is a perfect example of someone who already knows how to harness his charm.

“He shows how being still and pitching his voice lower…and from the diaphragm, gives an air of authority,” he says.

“Presence is as much about how you perceive yourself. Cultivate it. You should set the tone and get children to buy into your vision.

“Have a part of the classroom which is the equivalent of the front of a stage. Use it when you need to get the focus back on you – for example, if the noise levels go up. This gives you an aura. Use different spaces to create different energies.”

The message is simple. By controlling the atmosphere of the lesson, you are showing pupils how to behave.

Exercises you can practise at home

Tips from courses run by RADA, the National Theatre, Rob Salter and Mark Almond.

Voice

• Breathe in and hold for three seconds. As you breathe out, project your voice and say the days of the week; then try the months; then the alphabet. This helps you to speak from the chest,  not from the back of the throat.
• To seem authoritative, practise your breathing to find your “home note” – your own distinctive voice – from your chest.

Physicality

• Stand in a grounded way. To find your “centre”, stand with feet apart and bend your knees slightly.
• Lengthen your spine. Stand as if your head is being pulled up by a string. Hunching reduces your capacity to breathe properly.
• Release tension by swinging your arms from your shoulders. You can extend this to “shake out” your whole body.
• To calm breathing, raise your arms slowly as you breathe in, and bring them down again while exhaling and making a “ssshh” sound.
• To check you are breathing from your diaphragm, try stamping your foot while shouting “ha” as you breathe out.
• Imagine you are blowing up a balloon with a long, slow, outward breath through the mouth until there is no air left in your lungs. Then, on the in breath, through the nose, imagine you are smelling a bunch of flowers.
• Think about eye contact – aim to look open and receptive. Make eye contact with your pupils, even if you are shy.
• Scale your physical presence up or down.
• Use gestures to punctuate what you say and move around in the space if you want to create a bigger presence. This helps you to appear strong and confident.
• To create an aura around yourself, stay still and cast a net around the room with your eyes.
• To bring your energy into the room, stand with your feet planted and say “I am here”, taking one step with each word. Tread firmly on the floor and say the words out loud.

Varied use of space

• Teach from the back of the classroom.
• Kneel or crouch down between desks or at the front of the room.
• Sit at a desk, on the floor or on a chair or table.
• Try entering the pupils’ physical space; sit next to them, lean on their desks, walk slowly between desks.

Adopt a relaxed and positive facial expression

• Give yourself a facial massage, concentrating on your forehead, cheeks and jaw.
• Practise relaxing and using your facial muscles by widening eyes, puffing out cheeks, stretching your mouth into different shapes and flexing your chin. Now scrunch up your face as tightly as possible.
• Move your eyebrows up and down. Try to move one at a time.
• Break into a big grin with wide eyes.

Five top tips to make the most of your school playground.

 Redesigning your playground with PE and sport in mind will help encourage pupils to stay fit and healthy. Photograph: Alamy

There has never been a more important time for physical education (PE), school sport and health-related activity in schools. Research shows that half of all seven year-olds do not get enough exercise and one in three young people leave primary school overweight.

From an early age, lifelong patterns of positive behaviour and involvement can be established through participation in physical activity and play.

Both informal and structured activity is essential for the mental, physical, emotional and social development of every young person. Through such activity, children develop movement and coordination skills, social skills linked to communication and language, and creativity and cooperation – all essential tools to aid successful learning in the curriculum and beyond.

It is essential to create the right environment within school for the development of the physical literacy of all pupils. That is why having the right playground is so important. Here are five key points to help maximise your playground space to inspire young people to undertake physical activity:

1. What does your playground need?

A needs analysis of your playground will help inform you of what improvements can be made. The analysis should focus on gathering and reviewing the information, consulting end users and key stakeholders, and establishing priority requirements. It is important that you are inclusive throughout the process and make a special effort to understand the requirements of children with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities to incorporate these into your plan. Consider the following key questions: How well is the space used? Are there any small areas that are not currently used? Are there any awkward-shaped spaces? Are there spaces between existing buildings that have always been under-utilised? What is it currently used for? Who is using it? Who is not using it? What would the pupils like it to be used for?

2. Review your activity

A review of your school’s current delivery of PE, school sport and healthy active lifestyles provision will help to identify areas of strength and those in need of development. It is crucial to consider three key areas of physical education, school sport and physical activity. Questions to ask include: What is the current use of the existing space? What is the current use of other space that could be included within the new area? What is the potential use of the new space?

3. Team effort

Engaging the right people at this early stage will ensure they are committed to the project. The key stakeholders that should be consulted from the very start are: governors, headteachers, teachers, teaching assistants, lunchtime supervisors, parents and pupils. They can be consulted in a variety of ways including: meetings and class discussions; school sports council(s); playground committee; questionnaires; observation studies and pupil drawings.

4. Design and build

It is always a good idea to appoint a contractor to work with you to check the feasibility of the components and configurations selected. They can also agree with you on the most suitable combination given any site constraints and the available budget. The options can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your school site. Key considerations within your design should include the space, the surface and the storage.

5. Plan the schedule

Once the installation is complete, your pupils will be excited and eager to use it immediately. Plan how the space will be used across each week, prior to completion, to ensure quick and easy access. To maximise use, consider programming use of the playground at all possible times (before school, during PE lessons, at break and lunchtimes, and after school) and consider its appropriate use by community groups too at weekends and during holidays.

This year, more than one million young people will be participating in National School Sport Week from 22–26 June. Thousands of schools across the country will make a pledge to get more involved in physical activity, school sport and celebrate school achievement. To receive free resources, toolkits and ideas to help run an exciting sporting week that will inspire all your pupils and the chance to win visits from Olympic and Paralympic athletes, click here.

The Youth Sport Trust has a range of resources and programmes aimed at helping member schools improve the quality of the PE and sport activities offered at their school. More information on membership can be found here.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/youth-sport-trust-partner-zone/2015/mar/06/five-top-tips-school-playground

Eight top tips for making extracurricular work in school.

Eight top tips for making extracurricular work in school 

From coding clubs and poetry to outdoor pursuits, we round up the best ideas from our live chat on extracurricular groups in schools.

 Extra-curricular activities don’t have to sport-related – tap into the things students are interested in outside the classroom. Photograph: Alamy

It’s not just during classroom hours that young minds can be nurtured, and research suggests that pupils who participate in extracurricular activities perform better academically and socially.

But how can teachers make the most of their out-of-hours offering? We ran a live chat on the topic. We asked a group of experts questions such as: how can schools arrange opportunities without overburdening staff? How can we engage parents? Plenty of teachers shared their advice, tips and tricks – here’s a round up of their advice:

Experiment with activities

What kind of extracurricular activities are offered apart from sports? We have an eco-club, coding club, raspberry pi club, minecraft club, and a poetry club, among other things.

• Sarah Zaman teaches computing across the school at St Johns C of E primary school in Stockport.

I feel that a lot of extracurricular activities in schools tend to be PE-focused whether run by staff or outsourced but there need to be more activities for our children who are not interested in sport.

We have a variety of things in our school such as rocket building, maths magic, film, horticulture and a group that runs a business as part of business studies.

• Ian Dutton is a former teacher who qualified in 1977 and has been involved in school improvement since 2001.

Think about safeguarding

A large concern is safeguarding and any volunteers really need to have their DBS [criminal record check] registration. Many local clubs have this for their coaches who assist in schools periodically, but it can be expensive for schools to support DBS for coaches who are not contracted. There has to be a commitment from the senior leadership team to support both the links and the support for DBS.

• Ian Dutton

Get support from local businesses

rwood1

11 March 2015 5:29pm

One way of facilitating sessions is to draw upon support and skills from local business. Employee volunteering is big business. Utilising the skills and knowledge of volunteers provides students with aspirational role models, develops their confidence and self-esteem within a structured yet informal learning environment, whether curriculum linked or not and provides personal development for volunteers. Extra curricular activities provide students with development opportunities they may not have access to due to social deprivation and/or home circumstances; buildingcharacter and social capital which will make them more rounded, employable citizens. Contact a local Education Business Partnership for support developing links with business. At Tower Hamlets EBP, our business volunteers provide extensive support to our schools both during and after the school day.

Get senior students involved

The involvement of senior students is important for everyone – the older ones get good experience and the younger ones have good role models. This is particularly the case with clubs and societies, such as debating and public speaking, where qualifications [to run clubs] are not needed.

• Andrew Fleck is the headmaster of Sedbergh school and chairman of theHeadmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference North East division.

GarethPearson

11 March 2015 6:55pm

This comment has been chosen by Guardian staff because it contributes to the debate

In my experience, staff often do too many x-c activities and should stand back and give the older pupils the space to lead. We should all paddle a little less hard and allow the pupils to take up the strain. They will gain so much more.

Make sure you get the whole school involved

We encourage all staff to help with our out of school offering. Teaching assistants, cover supervisors, mentors etc have been significant in what we provide. Many are also local and happy to support in school closure periods, weekends and holidays. Also they don’t feel the “pressure of results” as intensely as teaching staff do.

• Ian Dutton

School culture is important

We start with a competitive culture in school and that can extend from team sports to heptathlon, darts etc. I cannot understand why the concept of “houses” is not more widely adopted – it gives a sense of place in the school and promotes healthy competition. Thereafter, it’s the people. As head, I appointed a director of sport and extracurricular activities at the first opportunity. It is a senior post and seen as such across the school. We consider extracurricular alongside teaching ability when appointing staff. We also stipulate that all staff must commit to activities on three days per week including Saturdays.

• Andrew Fleck 

Get teachers to run activities they love

Guardian contributor

susanwessels31

11 March 2015 7:34pm

This comment has been chosen by Guardian staff because it contributes to the debate

1. Allow teachers to do activities that they are pasionate about
2. Get senior pupils involved in leading activities for the younger years
3. Remember that their is so much more to our pupils than just the exam candidate and all the X-C activities allow them to develop their characters doing something they genuinely love.

Thank you.

I used to love running my history club for girls in years 7 to 9. We called in young historians and had a wonderful time every week. The girls chose topics and gave presentations, and then sometimes we had a themed party or other fun event eg medieval Christmas. It was fantastic. I went on to teach many of those year 7s A-level history. Some of them have just graduated with a history degree.

Source http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/mar/19/eight-top-tips-making-extracurricular-work-school