Behaviour - Cut out noise in class with our 35 top tips!

From storytelling to Star Trek quotes, there’s an art to keeping students quiet. Here, teachers share their tried and tested methods

Yasuyuki Kuwahara tells stories. Elicia Shepard sings. Mary McCarney uses a small bell and her husband pretends he is on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.

These teachers - working in Japan, South Korea and the US respectively - all have the same aim: to get their class to be quiet.

Teachers want to quell the natural noise of youth for various reasons: to give instructions, to teach, to create a productive environment for individual work, to ensure the pounding headache that has been knocking on their temples since lunch does not escalate to a critical level of pain…

But getting a class to be quiet is tricky. So TES decided to look at how teachers around the world were performing this conjuring trick. What we uncovered was a range of techniques as varied as they were ingenious, a treasure trove that you can plunder for your own uses. We present to you 35 golden rules for silencing your class.

1. “I always have my guitar with me and explain that by the time I’ve finished playing all six strings of a chord, they need to be sitting down quietly.”

Craig Clarke teaches at Anfield School, a primary in Hong Kong

2&3. “Our teachers use strategies such as writing riddles on the board for the children to solve and playing classical music.”

Amanda Dickson is head of primary at Academia Britanica Cuscatleca in Santa Tecla, El Salvador

4. “When the class are sitting down and I’m explaining something, I’ll move around among them. If anyone’s talking, I’ll tap them on the head or put my hand on their shoulder - or even stand in front of them.”

Kirsty MacPhee teaches at Hazlehead Academy in Aberdeen, Scotland

5. “I tend to pinpoint the noisiest individuals and tell them to be quiet by shouting their surname. Everyone else falls in line as a result. This means that I am not telling people off who are being quiet, as can happen with some whole-class techniques.”

Jeremy James teaches at Lycée Champollion in Grenoble, France

6. “I start sharing a brief story. Most of the time the students become quiet, because those who are interested in the story make the noisy ones stop talking.”

Yasuyuki Kuwahara is a citizenship and cultural studies teacher in Tokyo, Japan

7. “Take two minutes and let them make as much noise as they can with the agreement and understanding that this noise is purposeful and within a set time.”

Jennifer Murray teaches at the Deira International School in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

8. “I use chants and songs. One chant I sing is ‘Look, look, look at me’ and the students will say ‘Look, look, look at you!’ I sing it loudly, then quietly, and then in a whisper until all the students are looking at me.”

Elicia Shepard teaches children aged 5-11 in South Korea

9. “Shake a shaker or rattle a tambourine. It will automatically gain the children’s attention. If you make it into a game, they will get used to standing still and being quiet when you do this.”

Alice Edgington teaches at St Stephen’s Infant School in Canterbury, England

10. “I like to say ‘1, 2, 3 eyes on me’. They put their hands on their head, say ‘1, 2, eyes on you’ and go quiet in a flash.”

Denelle Calafiore is a teacher in Melbourne, Australia

11. “I give short, easy-to-follow phrases that the students have to repeat in a certain way. So I may say ‘Class, class’, and they all have to say ‘Yes, yes’ in response. Another example is ‘Classity class’ with the response ‘Yessity yes’.”

Amber Ernst teaches at Sleepy Eye Public Elementary Kindergarten in Minnesota, US

12. “I use a stick to hit the desk of any student who speaks when they shouldn’t. Although I never use this stick on the children, the rap on the desk gets their attention.”

A teacher in the Kedah region of Malaysia

13. “Talk quietly. The students then go quiet so they can hear you. It doesn’t always work but when it does it’s surprisingly effective, and it saves your voice.”

Greg Ashman teaches at Ballarat Clarendon College in Victoria, Australia

14. “For the younger kids, I love a game of ‘Miss S says’ (a game like Simon Says). I give them a quick succession of ‘Miss S says… ’ actions and finish with ‘Miss S says ready to listen’.”

Anna Slssinger teaches at Kendal School, a primary in Christchurch, New Zealand

15. “Developing ‘the look’ is vital in keeping control when chat starts to simmer. It can be a raised eyebrow, a tilted head, a pursed lip - whatever works. It’s non-verbal and non-confrontational.”

Zofia Niemtus teaches at Lambeth Academy in South London, England

16&17. “I have an old-fashioned bell on my desk. One short ring and my fourth graders (aged 9-10) usually respond very quickly. My husband (who teaches third grade at my school) calls out ‘Captain on the bridge’, to which his students respond ‘Ready and waiting, Sir’ - he is a Star Trek fan…”

Mary McCarney teaches at Atlanta International School, US

18. “If I give them a warning for talking when they shouldn’t be, they get a yellow card. Three yellow cards result in a red card, which leads to an anmerkning - 10 of these would result in a lowered grade for behaviour.”

Anne-Gro Hoyer-Trollnes teaches at NTI Gymnasiet in Stockholm, Sweden

19. “I clap my hands and say ‘Look at the screen’, where I have this great online tool displayed. The meter shows that the noise level is not acceptable.”

A teacher at the Rock Academy in Fish Hoek, South Africa

20. “I call out ‘freeze’ and everyone freezes in whatever position they are in. They know this is the cue to be quiet.”

A Rock Academy teacher

21. “I stand in front of them and perform actions like the Macarena dance. It gets their attention quickly and they quieten down and join in.”

A Rock Academy teacher

22. “I have a flowery necklace called a ‘lei’ that I wear when I want quiet. The students know that nobody should talk when I am wearing it. When I take my lei off, they can talk to me.”

A Rock Academy teacher

23. “I get the children’s attention by saying ‘class’ in a variety of ways and the children respond with ‘yes’ in the same tone and way. So I’ll say ‘claaaass’ and they say ‘yeeees’. I mix it up all the time.”

Rajdeep Corby teaches children aged 7-11 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

24. “The key is that when the bell rings there is something clear for the students to be doing, such as working on some warm-up problems.”

Gary Rubinstein teaches at a high school in Houston, Texas, US

25. “I set them a goal to achieve a certain number of good behaviour points. I often involve parents in setting the initial targets.”

Daniel Dunlevie teaches children aged 5-11 in Melbourne, Australia

26. “Humour can be a really effective tool - a joke or bit of banter - but be careful not to cross the line.”

Georgia Neale teaches at Ringmer Community College in East Sussex, England

27&28. “Clap out a rhythm and get them to repeat it. I also use a singing egg timer - they have to be silent before it runs out.”

Mairead Doohan teaches at SCL International School in Surat Thani, Thailand

29. “I use ClassDojo, an online behaviour management system that allows teachers to award points to students when they meet expected behaviours.”

Bianca Hewes teaches at Davidson High School in Sydney, Australia

30. “I stand at the front with my arm in the air. The class copies the action. Silence follows very quickly.”

Rhian Davies teaches at Marple Hall School, Stockport, UK

31. “I decide, together with the students, the success criteria for a quiet class and use a reward and sanction system to enforce it.”

Anne Taffin d’Heursel-Baldisseri is head of pre-preparatory at St Paul’s School in São Paulo, Brazil

32.“A sound-effect machine works really well. The device I use has a variety of different noises. I particularly like using the BBC ‘breaking news’ sound.”

Helen Staniland teaches at Deira International School, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

33. “I use a tally system. The children are grouped and each group has 100 marks at the start of the lesson. When a student makes a noise, a mark is deducted from their group tally. At the end of the day, I announce the winning group.”

Archard Ruyange was deputy headteacher at the School of St Jude in Arusha, Tanzania

34. “My aim is to motivate children to be quiet by rewarding them with interesting experiences. The one that really controls noise levels is the promise to be involved in things such as Megaconference Jr, which connects them with schools from all over the world.”

Suzana Delic teaches at Primary School Horvati, Zagreb, Croatia

35. “The best way is simply to wait patiently, without saying a word, and the students calm down one by one.”

Hanna Pohjola teaches visual arts in Åkersberga, Sweden.

Teaching Tips - Fun Science Experiments!

Science teachers know that children believe there to be no fun science experiments. This of course is not true, but children continue believing so anyway. Perhaps it is because teachers have a difficult time getting through to their students, and showing them how fun and fascinating science can be. As a teacher, you have to understand that children have a certain attention span, and you have to catch them in that time or they can be lost to you for the rest of the period. Here are some teaching tips on how to get your students convinced that there are fun science experiments out there!

1. Research

The very first tip towards fun science experiments, of course is to find some fun science experiments! The Internet is an amazing resource, and you can find many easy and low cost experiment ideas which can be really fun for you and your class to do. Find an experiment that is fun, relevant to what you're teaching, and pretty simple. The simpler you can demonstrate a concept, the more likely your students are going to understand it.

2. Give a Class Overview Before the Lecture

Before beginning each lecture class, whether or not there will be a laboratory activity involved, tell your students what you are going to discuss for the day. Include in your class overview the fun science experiments you have lined up to help them learn the day's science lesson. Telling your students beforehand that there will be a fun part in the day's lesson will keep them attentive with anticipation. If you tell them that after explaining a concept, you will produce lightning in a jar, they are likely to stay tuned to what you have to say.

3. Appeal to Their Interests

Find a way to bridge what you need to discuss with something they will want to discuss or do. For example, declare on day as "tattoo" day. Give them a discussion on photosynthesis, how plants get color, change color, and how dye can be extracted from plant flowers and leaves. Then, open with one of the fun science projects related to plants. You can say that you will be making your own henna, and they are welcome to take the last fifteen minutes of class to create tattoos on their hands and arms. Henna tattoos are hip, and most young kids enjoy them. In this manner you were able to show your students a fun science experiment that is directly related to their lesson.

4. Call on Someone Popular

This is an age old trick, but it always works. As a teacher, you probably more or less know who the popular or well liked kids are. When you have one of your fun science experiments lined up for the class activity, call on one of the popular students to help you demonstrate or do the experiment. This will catch the attention of the rest of the class because they will want to see how well the popular kid will be able to do.

5. Learn to Be Goofy and Messy

This is something that works no matter what your subject is. If you can goof off in front of your students and learn to laugh at yourself, they are likely to enjoy your classes, and pay attention. Adding humor into your fun science experiments or not minding how big a mess you create can appeal to some students. Even if they think you're a total goof ball, at the end of the day you would have achieved you goal of teaching them a science concept, and making sure that they understand it well!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3783019

The importance of a good seating plan

Award winning teacher Phil Beadle explains why the seating plan is the single most important piece of behavioural modification equipment you have in your toolbox

There are different schools of thought on the seating plan. I have a particular methodology, which I’ll explain later, but first, a bit on why classroom organisation is the most important philosophical decision you will make in your career and why you should turn your face away from the darkness and towards the light.

Here’s a shock. You are not necessarily the cleverest person in your classroom. You may not even be in the top ten. Yes, you are the one with a degree. You are the bigshot,for now. But, let’s face it, you have no idea what the children in front of you may one day become. Something altogether more impressive than a piffling, cardiganclad, Cornish-pasty-shoe-wearing schoolteacher, perhaps?

Groups is the way to go

Any survey of students that asks them the important question, “How do you learn best?” finds the same answer at the top of the list. “Groups,” their replies will scream, with one impassioned voice. “We learn best in groups. WHY WON’T ANYONE LISTEN TO US?” Having your desks set out in groups is the right way to organise your classroom. Period. No discussion. No arguing.

Having the tables in groups allows you to set them the grouped speaking and listening activities that are the way in which they learn most effectively. Having your tables in groups lets them learn from each other. And having your tables in groups is a spatially symbolic move away from the Dickensian notion of the teacher standing at the front talking cobblers about really hard sums all day, every day.

Having your tables in five groups of six is the optimum classroom layout, in that it allows you to mix up the activities. You can do a paired activity, then one in threes, then one in groups without so much as a single moved chair. Not only is it convenient but it is good use of the classroom space. If you ensure that each group of tables is positioned as near to the boundaries of the classroom as is possible, whilst still allowing the kids at the edge to be able to breathe, you are left with a space in the middle of the classroom in which kids can do exciting kinaesthetic activities, or you can stand in the spotlight declaiming your own shockingly bad poetry in a fruity RSC bombast.

Having your tables in groups also allows you to implement a quite interesting piece of methodology, which I’ll explain now. Many years ago, when doing some work on boys’ achievement for the then DfES (Now the DfE) I chanced upon Ofsted’s report on the same issue, and actually read the bloody thing. In it there was a fascinating section about the seating plan (Christ! I really, really must do something about my work/lack of anything anywhere near resembling a life balance).

Boys and girls together

Ofsted suggest that the best way of getting serious work out of boys in a mixed school is getting them to sit with slightly lower ability girls. If they are sat with higher ability girls then they just go into learned helplessness mode and get the girls to do their work for them. If they are sat with girls of the same ability range they go all stupid and competitive. But if you sit them with girls they can help, they change character immediately: becoming nurturing, gentle, supportive and interested in their own attainment and that of others. I use this method now for every class I teach and, you know, it kind of works.

There are teething issues with implementing any new seating plan. This methodology doesn’t take account of existing relationships, for instance, and it may be that you’ve sat people on the same table who pathologically detest each other or, worse still, are the best of friends. But with the odd tweak it can be made to work. It has, at its base, the important basic that boys and girls must always be sat next to each other, and is a defensible methodology in terms of Ofsted or senior management asking probing questions of you. Of course, it’s useless in single-sex schools, and it relies on there being a critical mass of relatively high-attaining males in the class, which is not always so. It also condemns the highest ability girls to sit on a table with the three lowest attaining males. But this too has benefits, which you’ll find out once you implement it.

Do not go back on your word

The implementation of a seating plan can be bloody however, and you must be both rigourous and intractable, as the kids will seek to circumvent it. Any request from a student must be resolutely refused. “But Miss, I don’t like …” or, “We don’t get on …” must be treated as the irrelevant impertinence that it is. You decide where they sit, and you have arranged the seating plan to maximise their attainment not so they can sit gossiping with their best mate. You will find that within a lesson or so, they will attempt to just go and sit back in the place that they want to occupy, you have to call them on this immediately. Acceding to even a single request regarding where they sit will lead to chaos, and chaos is not what we’re after.

Source: http://newteachers.tes.co.uk/news/importance-good-seating-plan/45960

Top tips on handling parents evenings

Parents evenings are one of the best opportunities you can have for building up relations with the home. Experienced teacher Tom Bennett explains how to make the most of them

This is one of the best opportunities you can have for building up relations with the home. Why is this so important? Because if the parents support your teaching, you’ve brought learning home. Few children will misbehave or girn unattractively at you if they know that their parents will descend on them like the Abyssinian hordes when they get home, because between school and home, they have nowhere to hide.

But the converse is equally true: if you lose the sympathy of the parents you might be dealing with little Sammy’s belligerence until Judgement Day. So it makes huge, perfect, glorious sense to make a meaningful contact with the parents or guardians of the students; and parents’ evening is the perfect place to do it.

So your attitude to the evening must be positive. It’s an opportunity, not a chore, despite the obvious loss of the occasional evening you endure. Here are my best tips for making them work:

• Stand up when they enter and shake their hands. Tell them how nice it is to see them, and thank them for coming in. If that sounds obvious then it’s because it is. But I am amazed to see teachers not doing this. Such a simple courtesy, effortlessly creating an atmosphere of warmth and conviviality.

• Start with something positive about the pupil; everyone, no matter how unlovely, has something nice to be said about them. ‘Charlie’s been an interesting boy to teach,’; ‘Ama has made some great contributions to debates,’ etc. Charlie and Ama might have the mark of Beelzebub tattooed on their foreheads, but do this; make an effort. Few are the parents who think their child is the naughty rascal that he or she might appear to be in school; so if you start with something negative (‘Your son is disgusting’) then the parents will instantly be defensive.

• Have some meaningful data available. You should be able to say something about their attendance, punctuality, equipment, progress, behaviour, current grade and prospects. The more evidence you have to support this, the easier it is to convince the parents if there is a problem.

• Have some bookwork to show the parents. This is a great technique, because it is indisputable (see: data, above). The parents can see how well or not little Shelley is doing by the quality of work she produces. If the work is poor, it’s an interesting talking point, and the parent is usually shocked. It’s often useful to have a great pupil’s work to show by way of contrast.

• Be aware of any specific difficulties the pupil may have. If you have a go at Robin or Ray for sloppy handwriting or spelling, and the parent says, ‘But didn’t you know he’s dyslexic, blind and has no hands?’ then you will look exactly like the pillock you are. Same goes for more able children; be aware of the gifted and talented register, and make sure that you know the pupil needs different challenges.

It might sometimes look as though you have nothing in common with the parents, but I guarantee you do: the well-being of the student. If you say, ‘We both want the best for Daniel,’ then you tacitly create rapport between you and the parents because it’s something they can’t disagree with. You do want the best for Daniel, right?

Source: http://newteachers.tes.co.uk/content/tips-handling-parents-evenings

23 ways to get you up to speed with SEN

Special educational needs is a huge and bewildering arena. Anthea Davey unravels a few of the complexities

1. KNOW YOUR PUPILS

Make sure you know of any special educational matters for each child who you teach, and check that your records are up-to-date. Keep to the facts — don't make assumptions and label children without evidence; this can lead to low expectations and pigeon-holing.

2. FOLLOW THE CODE

The current SEN code of practice (since January 2002) gives advice on how to identify children with special needs and provide for them within the education system. Most children who have special needs are in mainstream schools, so the code affects every teacher.

3. LISTEN AND LEARN

Talk to colleagues about any children you teach with particular special educational needs — they could have some useful strategies for dealing with individuals. If another teacher in school has learned the hard way, maybe they can help you avoid some classic mistakes.

4. GET PROFESSIONAL ADVICE

Children with special needs, particularly emotional difficulties and challenging behaviour, can make you feel incompetent. Get expert help from professional organisations.

5. ASK FOR TRAINING

Your school might have specific SEN training every now and again, but ask about courses run by external providers. The school will pay course fees if you can justify it as part of your professional development and they can't train you in school.

6. 30 LESSONS IN ONE

Differentiate: This doesn't mean a different lesson for every child — just make sure that you simplify for the pupils who find the work particularly difficult and give extension activities to the whizz-kids.

7. KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON TARGETS

Each child on the SEN register has an individual education plan (IEP), which should list three or four targets for that child and strategies for achieving them, plus a review date. Pay attention to it.

8. TALK TO YOUR SENCO

You need to know who your Senco (special educational needs co-ordinator) is. He or she is responsible for organising the special needs provision, so get to know him or her. You can help each other, and he or she should be able to offer you advice and expertise.

9. DON'T MISS OUT ON EXTRA HELP

The school's SEN procedures should be explained to you during your induction. If you don't know them, find out now. Some of your class might qualify for extra support in the classroom or be taken out of class and given extra help in certain subjects.

10. KEEP UPDATES TO HAND

A formal meeting, known as an annual review, takes place when a child has a statement of special educational needs, but keep a check on the progress of all pupils on your SEN list, and update as often as you need to. Keep records of targets attained, too — you might be asked at short notice for evidence of progress by, for example, the Senco or an outside agency.

11. WORK IN A TEAM

You will probably need to liaise with at least one of a number of other professionals: the Senco, the school nurse, occupational therapists and educational psychologists. If you have a learning support assistant in class, keep them informed of plans for your lesson. The more they know, the more help they can be to you.

12. TALK TO PARENTS

Make sure you keep in touch with home, so that parents, or other carers, feel fully supported. They will often be the best people to give you advice about their child.

13. DEFER TO THE EXPERTS

Don't agree any diagnoses of special needs with a parent, or give commitments to extra provision, even if a distraught parent demands it — those decisions aren't yours to make. Talk to the Senco, who can organise relevant experts to assess a child's special needs.

14. MAKE YOUR CLASSROOM WORK

The layout of your classroom affects how your pupils learn. If you have children who can't see very well, sit them near the board. Those with hearing problems might need to lip read, so think carefully about your position and how you move round the room while you're talking.

15. LEARN THE LANGUAGE

Make sure you understand the information you are given on a child. The characteristics of a disorder can vary enormously. Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), for example, is the term used to describe a range of disorders within the very wide spectrum of autism. It's not good to generalise, as every child is different. There is lots of specialist jargon, so if you don't know what something means, ask.

16. NOT GETTING THE THREE RS

Pupils with dyscalculla have difficulty with mathematical skills, such as understanding simple number concepts and learning number facts and processes. Dyslexic pupils have difficulties learning to read, write and spell. Concentration, organisation and pronunciation of common words can also be affected. If you spot a child with any of these difficulties, look again at their IEP. If they haven't got one, ask your Senco about the possibility of setting one up.

17. "CLUMSY KID"

Pupils with disorders such as dyspraxia find movement, co¬ordination and balance difficult so can sometimes appear clumsy. The knock-on effect can be hesitancy in their actions and poor social skills. In physical work, build up confidence through slowly developed targets. Be patient if you have pupils with difficulties like these — it's even more frustrating for them. Take extra time to explain tasks.

18. TACTICS WITHIN STRATEGIES

You may need to adapt your teaching strategies depending on the severity of a child's special needs. If you teach children with hearing, visual or multi-sensory impairment, for example, what impact will background noise or the effect of light and shadow in the classroom have on their ability to concentrate in your class?

19. TALK UP SUCCESS

Children with learning difficulties, whatever the cause, may suffer from poor self-esteem. That's why target setting is a priority and praise is important. Be positive; if a child isn't succeeding at something, remind them how they've done well before.

20. DROP A FEW NAMES

Talk about others who have overcome difficulties. There are many famous dyslexics, for example: Albert Einstein, Whoopi Goldberg, Orlando Bloom and Benjamin Zephaniah. See www.dyslexia.com for more.

21. BE OPEN-MINDED

If you are told about a child's medical condition or physical disability, don't assume they have special needs. Many will take part in the standard curriculum or may only need minor adjustments to it. Don't turn pupils into victims.

22. SPEAK AND BE HEARD

If a child has speech and language difficulties, they may have trouble understanding the meaning of words, following instructions, making themselves understood and paying attention. Try to keep your sentences short, repeat what you say if you need to, and feel comfortable using gestures and props. Speak slowly and simplify your language as necessary. You can do this without sounding patronising. Make sure you leave time for the child to speak too.

23. ALWAYS ASK

Other teachers are a wealth of information and advice, and there are always new disorders and unfamiliar words. You might find yourself teaching a child who seems to be presenting behaviour that you've never seen or heard of before.

Source: http://newteachers.tes.co.uk/content/23-ways-get-you-speed-sen

12 ways to sharpen up your subject knowledge!

Here are a few ideas to help you find fresh sources of subject inspiration

Perhaps you could try some online research, exam marking or embark on some training...

Staff development budget

The person in charge of the budget may be saving it all for the latest scheme to include/map/otherwise insert something into your already overcrowded day. Worse still, it may be earmarked for a week's residential with the bloke she met at last year's residential.

Course fliers

Every day dozens of course flyers fill your head of department's pigeon-hole, so make sure you see them. And in your annual performance review, state loudly that you need updating in Jacobean drama for key stage 5, not integrating key skills. Sooner or later the message will get through.

Join your subject association

A relatively painless way of keeping up to date. For your money you receive a newsletter which will announce recent research in your field, and your association may be active in lobbying to influence policy and fund research of its own. Become active in the association and sit on consultative groups after all, where did they get all the people to agonise for years about the national curriculum from?

Exam marking

This is the best thing to do if you are a person who would rather go to the pub than go on a course. Old hands will tell you exam marking isn't worth the money, but at least there is money. Marking the paper forces you to be up to date, with the mark scheme giving you the answers. The examiners' meetings are full of people showing off their subject knowledge, so take notes. This is the way to stay on top of your subject if you're a prevaricator. And it'll pay enough for a holiday. You have to get permission from your head, but the school is paid for your attendance at meetings. To find out more about exam marking contact OCR,  AQA or Edexcel.

The Open University

You're a new teacher so you've probably been to a bog-standard university with buildings, bars, debauchery and a bit of work.You may think it was a good university. Actually, it was social life with a degree attached. The Open University is a good university and exists for people who thirst for knowledge. You can enrol for odd degree modules which fill gaps in your knowledge — that course on Monday morning that you never bothered to attend, for example.

Blag some training

Here we're getting into the more unorthodox practices, but many colleagues may have done this. Your local university will not only run a programme of evening classes but will also have part-time degrees, PGCE modules and MA programmes. You don't need to do the whole thing. If you find out what's on, and something looks good, ring them. But on no account ring the admissions office as they will have a procedure and will be inflexible. Instead, get through to the harassed academic course leader and ask if you can just attend for as long as the bit that interests you lasts. Stress that it will help you, and your presence as a practising teacher may add something to the class. Offer to pay an appropriate fee — this causes confusion as they won't have a fee structure for odd bits so it may be easier to let you attend free. A friend attended part of a primary maths MA module course free and got a promotion to maths co-ordinator. If you don't ask, you don't get.

Try your LEA

Your local education authority inspectors or advisers will undoubtedly run some provision at convenient twilight times. These aren't always well publicised so phone them and ask. Better still, if a group of you from across the authority are interested in something, ask them to put a session together for you. Be pro-active, Remember your authority for the future too, if you take a career break to travel. They run free courses for returners to teaching.

Join a subject specialist group

If you are isolated, or in a small department, see if other local teachers meet on a regular basis. Some schools put aside one of their five training days so subject teachers across an area can meet. If there's no sign of this, start one yourself. Write to the teachers in charge of your subject in all the schools within easy reach and see if there's any interest. If there is, approach your head and ask if one of your staff development days, or half of one, can be organised for subject updating.

Watch TV

Sometimes staying up to date can be as simple as swapping soaps for something more factual. There is plenty to watch: sport, history, geography, economics, popular science. A colleague was watching the British women's curling team win gold at the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in the United States in 2002. As they did the ice-brushing bit, he suddenly understood how he could explain a part of the A-level maths syllabus on friction. The next lesson, during an Ofsted inspection, he arrived with a broom, swept the floor, and delivered what the inspector described as the most inspirational lesson she'd seen.

Use the internet

If you haven't done so yet, join The TES Connect Forums and dip into your subject forum for updates and ideas. Special interest sites will email you when they have been updated, and you can subscribe to discussion groups and feel virtuous while wasting time instant messaging.

Be well informed

Paid online subscriptions to newspapers such as the Financial Times and Economist can be useful, and keeping an eye on the BBC's website is invaluable, To put something back join a "wiki" — a website that allows users to add content, as on an internet forum, but also allows anyone to edit the content. Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, is the best known.

Train as a moderator, verifier or inspector

This is the "sell your soul to Satan" option and more applicable to secondary and FE teachers. As a sort of external examiner, you will be kept up to date by your exam board, and you get to descend on other schools and colleges to confirm grading or examine, inspect and grade their exam work. As well as getting a self-esteem boost by having your fellow teachers grovel, you get to pick up a host of useful tips from them. Ultimately, you might become an Ofsted inspector, in which case you become all-powerful and whatever you say is up to date subject knowledge.

Source: http://newteachers.tes.co.uk/content/12-ways-sharpen-your-subject-knowledge

Brilliant Art & Design ideas: tried and tested tips for lessons

Looking for inspiration to brighten up your Art & Design lessons? You've come to the right place

Art and design teachers share ideas for getting creative with lessons, including message for mum, success on the cards, snow far so good, and morris major.

Ages 4 to 6

Message for Mum

For Mother’s Day my Year 1s make cards and photo frames. 3D flowers are nice. Cut the card into a flower shape, then fold the petals into flaps. My reception class like a teapot-shaped card with a tea bag inside, plus a poem about mum. Or make a photo frame of card, with art straws to cut, twist or bend and decorate the border. Spray with silver or gold paint. Then each child sticks a photograph of themselves in the frame.

Lianne Boyce is a Year 1 teacher at Morna International College in Ibiza, Spain

Ages 11 to 16

Success on the cards

Art & design can make a valuable contribution to speaking and listening skills. In our art department we have devised a set of review cards that we use as our “pass the puppet” plenary game.

The cards have questions such as:
1. Explain your use of colour in your work (comprehension).
2. Tell us the properties of PVA glue (knowledge).
3. Argue why your work should be chosen to hang in the staff room (evaluation).

The music plays and when it stops the pupil with the puppet puts it on, chooses, reads out and responds to a review card. If they answer confidently they keep the card and the pupil with the most cards wins.

Liz Stevens is head of art at Frankley High School in Birmingham

Ages 5 to 11

Painting by numbers

Creating a “wow factor” mural enables pupils to appreciate an artist’s work and apply different techniques as they create an original piece of art. Select a picture by an artist you are studying and make a coloured copy. Measure your display space, then divide the coloured copy into enough squares for each pupil. Number the squares. Each pupil reproduces the details in their square using art materials as appropriate — for example, thick paint or oil pastels are effective for the swirls in the work of Vincent Van Gogh. Sugar paper is also a strong base. Encourage
pupils to fill their paper with detail and watch their responses when it’s time for the assembling
of the finished work.

Lesley Higgerson is a primary teacher on a short career break

Ages 8 to 11

In the picture

One of the biggest problems children have with writing stories is the ability to empathise with their characters enough to understand and describe how they are thinking, feeling and reacting to events. One way of overcoming this is to use paintings in combination with drama techniques, such as freeze frame or thought tracking. Paintings, such as An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump by Joseph Wright of Derby, help to solve the thorny problem of structuring a story. By analysing and describing the different reactions of each of the characters to the cockatoo’s suffering in the air pump, with the help of drama children can structure and write powerful narrative with plenty of emotion and rich use of vocabulary.

The description of each character also helps them to plan paragraphs and the foreboding setting in the background provides many opportunities for powerful word sketches about settings as well.

Libby Lee is a primary teacher at North Mymms St Mary’s C of E in Welham Green, Hertfordshire

Ages 7 to 11

Snow far, so good

Your pupils can produce masterpieces from simple items: a sheet of paper, black and white crayons and a pot of blue paint mixed with a lot of water. Ask them to sketch the outline of a large old house that almost fills the page, colour in the walls of the house with black crayon and the roofs with white crayon for snow. Have them paint over the entire page with their wash of blue paint. Combine their pictures and the result is a stunning display of an old village of snow covered houses with a background of clear blue sky. Lack of perspective helps to make the buildings appear full of character. Every pupil can be proud of their  contribution, and may become the next Pieter Brueghel, a painter of landscapes such
as Hunters in the Snow.

Rosemary Westwell is a teacher in Cambridgeshire

Ages 8 to 11

Morris major

To start our art topic on the Victorians in Year 4, we looked at the William Morris website,www.morrissociety.org. This shows a range of the great craftsman’s work in various media and, in class, pupils discussed which wallpaper, tapestries and tiles they preferred. I explained that Morris was fascinated by patterns in nature and wanted to reflect this in his art. Pupils made close observational drawings of leaves, flowers and natural objects collected locally. They designed their own Morris-style tiles on card using felt-tips and pastels, based on their original drawings. They then copied their designs on to plain ceramic tiles. The result was a beautiful display of Victorian tiles and happy pupils who had gained insights into 19th-century
refurbishment and the ideas of an innovative Victorian.

Charlotte Dowling teaches at St Mark’s C of E First School in Dorset

Ages 9 to 11

Well matched

While still in Year 5, each child was allocated a Premiership football club. In Year 6, their art and design brief was to design next season’s kit. The children found out about the traditional kit colours (home and away) and logos and designs. They then designed a range of possible kits and sent their designs to the club chairmen for their comments. Eighteen out of the 20 clubs responded, many with letters from the chairmen. Some clubs, though, went further: Everton sent a signed first team shirt and said it plans to put the young boy’s work either on its website or in its club magazine. Manchester United sent goody bags and footballs as well as a signed shirt. Middlesbrough sent its own kit manufacturer’s design portfolio along with three replica shirts (this season’s actual kit and two designs that were ultimately rejected). Fulham gave the boy in question tickets for his family (and thankfully me) to go and watch the recent match against Reading from a directors’ lounge. We plan to continue the project and for the children to make up sample shirts of their designs. Many of the clubs have expressed an interest in seeing the results.

Mark Gilronan is a deputy head at Elaine Primary in Rochester, Kent