sQEAk Issue 2 | Page 3

A fantastic extract from a blog known as MsFindlater ' s Teaching Blog , found by Leigh , and adapted slightly to fit our Academy , there are some fantastic ideas here that aren ’ t onerous , and will really help to show off the progress that students make .
In a recent and extensive study looking at the impact of different elements on the learning and progress of students , Professor John Hattie found feedback to be one of the most important factors . We could not agree more . Good quality feedback that students are guided to use well is immensely powerful .
Judging Progress : There are hundreds of wild and wonderful ways to check , gauge or judge progress overtly in the lesson . We should not put on a show every time an observer is in the room , rather we are suggesting that we need to bring some small routines into our everyday lessons . These routines will not only help observers see the progress being made but also help you and the students see it too . Making the learning visible is great for getting pupils to see others in the class progressing and understanding how they got there . They are modelling learning for you . In doing this they are helping one another to progress while you sit back as a proud teacher .
We do not believe that a teacher ' just knows ' when students are progressing . It is essential that we actually dip in and check the learning is taking place . We also need to check where the students are within that learning so we can adapt what we are doing for all students . For us it is not good enough to just leave it until we mark their books to see if they ' got it ' - the learning time has gone then , it ' s too late . Some feel that students won ' t know if they have progressed . If that happens in our class we feel like we have not succeeded . We immediately go back and look at how we can help them see the steps for progression in this area . Empower them , they need to take charge of their own progress and need us to show them the way .
High Aspirations : Half the battle with students making progress is their lack of self belief . They have to believe they can achieve and trust in us that we are there to guide them . We care a great deal about getting the very best out of all of our students . If our students don ' t do well , we should always look to ourselves before pointing the finger at them or their past performance . Top set to bottom set , we should ensure they all know that we believe they can achieve and will fight to get them to do the same .
We are great believers in reflection , hard graft and commitment in staff and students alike . We constantly reflect on our teaching and their learning and work hard in order to get the very best we can from them . We should aim to get them to do the same during their time with us .
Raise the bar and they will strive to reach it .