Teacher Feedback

Reducing the Burden of Teacher Feedback

Time spent on marking students’ work and writing individual feedback has long been seen as adding to teacher workload. Moving away from written feedback is an obvious option to reduce teacher workload but schools are often reluctant to let go of the evidence that written feedback provides.

In an environment where school leaders are looking to reduce teacher workloads, it is important to be able to prove to Ofsted and parents that verbal feedback is an effective alternative to providing written feedback.

Looking at some current research into verbal feedback methods may help school leaders and teachers ensure they are following best practices. It should certainly open a debate into how changes could be trialled.

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Children in playground

5 Active Learning Ideas

Active learning is about far more than just getting pupils to be physically active in the classroom. Lots of research suggests that regular active learning activities can have huge benefits to the effectiveness of student’s learning but the strategy only has a significant impact if the learners are given the opportunity to actively engage with material so that they retain the learning.

Three primary schools that took part in the annual National School Sport Week run by the Youth Sport Trust found that using active learning helped students to develop specific skills and explore concepts in a different way.

Here are 5 ideas for introducing active learning:

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Extending School Day

Extending School Day From 8 AM to 6 PM

It’s been over a year since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and in that time, children have barely set foot in school. Concerns over time away from school, academics, and activities are high, and many debates over the undesirable effect on children and their future. While theories are being tossed around and solutions are being sought, the UK Government has a proposal—to increase school timings from 8 AM-6 PM.

But the question is, is it worth it?

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Support Children's Mental Health

How Can Schools Provide Physical Learning to Support Children’s Mental Health?

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, all of us have been forced to somehow juggle work and life in lockdown alongside our mental and physical health. But one thing’s for certain; regular exercise is of the utmost importance, especially for young people.

The research supports this. Schools that enable children to participate in physical activity have a track record of providing opportunities for students to find their niche and develop skills beyond the classroom.

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Should school start later?

Should school start later to benefit students?

The coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on the way we live, work, socialise and learn. Even though it’s been a challenge for many people, others have welcomed the flexibility and freedom that comes with ‘remote life’.

But what about the world of education? It goes without saying that teachers, parents and students have struggled more than most during lockdown. So how can we learn from what they’ve gone through and make their lives better moving forward?

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Recovering from the pandemic

Let’s put the curriculum centre stage post-pandemic

Ask any teacher what the foundation of schooling is and chances are they’ll say the curriculum. It underpins nearly everything a teacher does – structuring lessons, delivering content and assessing how well students are performing.

So when schools and the wider education world emerges from the pandemic, will the curriculum save the day in terms of the attainment gap and accountability?

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pupil outcomes and reduce their workload

Can teachers raise pupil outcomes and reduce their workload at the same time?

Ask any teacher whether it is possible to raise pupil outcomes while reducing their workload and most will probably answer the same – no.

However, a new book by Robert Powell called Live Feedback explores strategies that promise to engage learners, raise attainment, and reduce the time spent on detailed marking of students’ work.

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Remote Teaching Survival and Success

Three Tips for Remote Teaching Survival and Success

It has been approximately one year since the coronavirus pandemic changed the way in which we live, work and socialise. But how well are teachers coping with their remote education environment?

For many, it has been a constant struggle of trying to stay on top of increasing workloads alongside the challenges that come with permanently being online. As a result, this has led to a disconnect between the teacher and the student.

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remote teaching

Research-based approaches to help with remote teaching

This time last year, teachers up and down the country were looking forward to the second half of the school year after a restful festive season. Little did they know that their approach to teaching would have to change drastically towards working remotely.

It’s been a steep learning curve for teachers and students alike, with many struggling to adjust to our current COVID normal. But have we learnt anything about how best to teach remotely?

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Retrieval practice students

Retrieval practice is only as effective as the tasks you choose

A new research paper has revealed that the type of recall task a teacher chooses can substantially influence the effects of learning by retrieval practice.

It matters how to recall – task differences in retrieval practice (Endres et al, November 2020) explores how 54 university students studied two expository texts, followed by retrieval practice tasks.

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