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Tips for Teachers newsletter #1

Use both sides of mini-whiteboards, behaviour & Dylan Wiliam

Craig Barton
Mar 23, 2023
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Tips for Teachers newsletter #1

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Hello, and welcome to the Tips for Teachers newsletter. For over 400 ideas to try out the very next time you step into the classroom, check out my Tips for Teacher book.

šŸ’”Ā A quick tip to try in classĀ this weekĀ šŸ’”

Everyone loves a mini-whiteboard, right? But do you make use of both sides of mini-whiteboards?Ā 

Now you can ask students a complex, multi-step procedure. Students can do their working out on one side, and then write their final answer nice and big on the other. Or if you ask students to vote for the answer to a diagnostic question, they can write their answer nice and big on one side, and make some notes on their reasoning on the other.

When students show you their boards, you ask them to show the big answer side first. This allows you to clearly see a spread of the answers. If you then choose a child to question further, you can ask to see the other side of their board, and share this with the rest of the class if relevant. This simple idea prevents you from needing laser eyesight to pick out the final answer amidst a board full of working out.

And it also helps the student. It can be daunting to explain your answer to the rest of the class or to your partner. But if students have their working out or reasoning written out, it acts as a support to help improve their verbal explanations. This may be particularly important for your quieter, less confident students.

  • What would you need to change to make this tip work for you?

  • When could you try it for the first time?

  • View all the Tips for Teachers shared so far

šŸ“ŗĀ A video to discuss with a colleagueĀ šŸ“ŗ

Head of Maths,Ā Femi Adeniran, described how the objectives in his first week of lessons are nothing to do with content, and all to do with behaviour.

If the video doesn't play, clickĀ here

Subscribe to the Tips for Teachers YouTube channel so you never miss a tip

šŸ‘‚Ā A podcast episode to listen to on your way homeĀ šŸ‘‚

The legend, Dylan Wiliam, shares his five tips:

  1. Make feedback into detective work

  2. Make detention work fit the crime

  3. Make question planning part of lesson planning

  4. We have little insight into our learning

  5. Don’t let ā€œDon’t knowā€ be the end of the conversation

Listen to the podcast here.

Search for Tips for Teachers on any podcast platform (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc) and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

šŸ˜ŽĀ Final bits and bobsĀ šŸ˜Ž

Do you know someone who would enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to them, or direct them to the sign-up page hereĀ where you can also read all previous editions

Check out my Tips for Teachers book

Do you and your team want some high-quality training or coaching, with ideas you can use in your very next lesson? Book some Tips for Teachers CPD

Check out the all-new Tips for Teachers online courses

If you value my work, please consider becomingĀ a Patreon


Thanks for reading Tips for Teachers by Craig Barton! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

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