As 2024 comes to a close, it gives me a little time to relfect on some of the writing that I have been reading this year that has helped to frame my thinking through the world of education and leadership this year. I usually dip in and out of a broad range of educational books through the year and this past year has been no exception – I have been focusing on Feedback and review in the past term and earlier in the year was looking at Cognitive Load Theory.
5: Leadership Matters by Andy Buck
As a school leader from time to time you need to get a bit of advice about how to handle delicate situations and when I need such advice I usually start by dipping into my copy of Leadership matters. There is a lot of usuaeful guidance on how to manage people. Its not always the kids we have issues with – sometimes it can be hard to manage the adults in a school. . . . or at least to do so fairly and equally so that you are trying to get as much out of each of them. Schools really need to be places where teams of people work together for the betterment of the students . . but that does not always mean thigns are easy and Buck helps me to understand how to put structures of support together.
4: Understanding how we learn by Yana Weinstein, Megan Sumeracki and Oliver Caviglioli
A lot of the things that I have been trying to implement over th elast couple of years in school rotate around the expansion and improvement of student’s memory. This is the ball gamne and this seminal book really helps to get into some of the detail about how learning and memory can be improved to enable and acentuate learning.
3: The Revision Revolution by Helen Howell and Ross Morrison McGill
Bizarrely this is the only Educational book that I have read from cover to cover this year! There is some nicce information about how to build a culture of revision in a school and whilst some of the information and advice is a little far-fetched there are some nice examples of how and when to be pro-active in trying to support students and their revision. This is something that is always on my mind and requires careful planning. Though, I suppose the best advice is to make sure that teachers know what they are tryting to do and how they can best support student with their own revision support.
2: Making Every Lesson Count by Shaun Allison and Andy Tharby
I love this book. Ever since this book came out in 2015 I have been using it and recommending it as somethign that should be common reading for all teachers that I come across. I have used it to help re-write and define how we ‘do’ lessons in our school and I am constantly referrinf to different sections as we look at each of the basic elements for lesson construction. I have to leave this one close to my desk in school to make sure that I have quick access.
1: The Feedback Pendulum by Michael Chiles
Recently, I have been doing a detailed dive into the world of Feedback and how this can be better utlised so that students know exactly where they are and what they need to be doing. Chiles has put together a good book with some nice examples build in to support – though I am lookign forward to Kate Jones book on the same subject arriving with me over the next couple of days.
Check out my most recent blog posts below!
The article discusses the importance of designing effective internal assessments for GCSEs and A Levels, emphasizing continuous reflection and modification of exam papers. It presents twelve reflective questions for Heads of Departments to evaluate exam appropriateness, question coverage, differentiation, marking consistency, and feedback processes, highlighting the role assessments play in the learning journey.
I have been doing a lot of thinking about homework recently. Homework is a divisive topic. Teachers generally don’t like homework because it creates more work, more follow-up, more opportunities for students to not complete something so a sanction would have to be applied, more marking to add to the pile. Parents think that homework…
How rest can improve productivity
Tim Manson
December 2024
Discover more from thinkdotlearn
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
