From Good to Outstanding

When it comes to planning for and delivering outstanding lessons we all try our hardest to
keep up with the latest 'buzz' ideas in order to please the powers that be, whoever they
may be. As a frustrated teacher I found that sometimes, to use an analogy, I was a
performing monkey in the classroom aiming to please all. I have decided to put a few ideas
on the page that might help other teachers in my position. My aim is to strip back and offer
some simple advice on what I feel works well in the classroom.
reate thought provoking starter activities ! have the starter ready on the
whiteboard"desk for when students arrive! get class to start as latecomers arrive.
#se tiered learning ob$ectives% &hese can be colour coded to help students realise
progression from green to orange to red means difficulty increases.
#se learning ob$ectives not task based ob$ectives.
I often use in degree of order%
define/recall/describe/summarise (green L/O)
explain/compare/discuss/compose (orange L/O)
anaylse/evaluate/investigate (red L/O)
'efer to learning ob$ectives consistently throughout the lesson ! not $ust the
beginning and the end.
#se hinge point (uestions )(uestions to test understanding before allowing students
to move on to the ne*t learning ob$ective+
,ave mini-whiteboards on the desk most lessons-even if you hadn't planned to use
them, you might find them invaluable when you have to re-model a task and think
on your feet.
Make sure your resources are creative and have learning ob$ectives on worksheets
so students know where they are in the lesson.
Avoid getting students to copy out definitions"key information- get them to work for
this information themselves ! this will improve skills rather than $ust improving
knowledge.
.tep back from being the e*pert in the class from time to time and let students show
their ability to learn independently using the following% thunks"odd one out"choose
the correct definition"here's the answer- what was the (uestion/
#se different types of activities from lesson to lesson ! aim to keep students on
their toes each lesson so they do not know what to e*pect.
'e-model tasks verbally to help differentiate ! you can verbally scaffold tasks for
individual students without having to have 0 zillion different worksheets.
1nsure that you speak to every student in the room at least once during a
lesson)say hello, ask them a (uestion, praise them, comment on their work+.
If students simply aren't getting the content of your lesson, don't soldier on in fear of
deviating from your lesson plan2 instead, re-model and re-shape your learning
ob$ectives and lesson.
Ask probing, open-ended (uestions2 ask them to the students without their hands
up2 even better, apply a 'no-hands' up policy from time to time.
3e consistent with behaviour rules"discipline with every student in the class.
1nsure you know where the learners are with their progression by using A45.
6ossible suggestions% mini-whiteboards"post it notes"summative and formative
assessment etc.+
Always have an e*tension task or two ready ! students should never run out of
work to complete.
1nsure that you complete a plenary to find out which students have reached which
learning ob$ective !Most importantly, use this information to plan for the ne*t lesson.