Making Every Lesson Count
This post is a summary of the book Making Every Lesson Count by Shaun Allison and Andy Tharby.
The book aims to provide a set of strategies, based on research and anecdotal evidence, that teachers can implement to improve their teaching. Most strategies are accompanied by an anecdote on successful (or unsuccessful) implementation, and references to further research.
This summary is presented as a list of statements summarising the main ideas, each with a page reference so you can read the original in more depth.
Introduction
The importance of excellence and growth (p3) and the need for great teaching to support them. These are the core ideas that the book is based on, and they underpin excellent teaching.
"Exemplary teachers are not born great, they become great" (p4) and the fact that just as students can improve, teachers can also become better.
"The effect of achievement on self concept is stronger than the effect of self concept on achievement" (p4)
Independence is a desirable outcome of teaching, not a teaching strategy in its own right (p9)
In order to achieve the core aims of promoting excellence and a growth mindset, the authors break excellent teaching into 6 key concepts, and they present the visual shown to summarise and link them together (p7). Each concept has a chapter dedicated to it.
Challenge
"Challenge in education is the provision of difficult work that causes students to think deeply and engage in healthy struggle" (p 14)
The key principles of challenge in the classroom are (p15):
It is NOT just about the "most able"
We should have high expectations of all students all the time
It is good for students to struggle just outside of their comfort zone, as that is where they are likely to learn the most.
"Differentiation" is done through giving different support to students, but for the same task, based on needs as they arise in the task, not based on preconceived ideas (p18)
Only use single learning objectives (not an All/Most/Some approach) so as not to close down some students aspirations (p20)
Knowing your subject well is very important to be able to challenge students (p23)
Challenges should be firmly rooted in subject content and not the peripherals, such as animating a powerpoint or creating a rhyme (p25) - linked to "memory is the residue of thought" by Daniel T Willingham
"It is hard for students to aspire to excellence if they have no inkling of what it looks like" (p25) - excellence wall to display the very best work, either in your room or as a department
"Truly high quality work requires thought, reflection and redrafting. This redrafting process needs careful structure and support" (p29)
Challenge is not just about in an individual lesson. It is better to have something challenging to build up towards during a unit of work, which will involve students using their new knowledge. (p35) Not every lesson needs to be a challenge.
Use the SOLO taxonomy to plan progression. Students need to start with single facts, then multiple facts, then seeing the connections between these, and finally applying these ideas. (p39)
Carol Dweck claims that "yet" is one of the most powerful words we could use. So when a student says "I can't do it" we should end their sentence with "yet!" (P45)
Be careful not to confuse challenge with task difficulty. Giving students a complex task to learn challenging material just makes it more difficult. "The take-away is this: always look for the easiest path to learning challenging material, not the hardest". (P49)
Explanation
"In your best explanations, your artistry with words will transform complicated and abstract material into something clear and meaningful" (p53)
Three principles for best explanations (p54):
Connected to prior knowledge
Think about limited working memory
Turn abstract into concrete
The six "sticky" principles (SUCCES) (p55-56):
Simple - choose core principles and teach these
Unexpected - generate curiosity by probing gaps in knowledge
Concrete - give students to chance to link learning to something they know
Credible - let them "see it to believe it"
Emotional - get students to feel something in the context of learning (empathy, joy, aspiration)
Story - use story around the concept
Curse of knowledge is a problem for explanations. Need to go back to basics (p56)
Need to know the starting point for the students before a good explanation can be given. Check prior knowledge using: quiz; brain dump; creating questions (p60)
Importance of knowing and planning for misconceptions. Keep a record of them and discuss as a department. (p61)
Explain First (p64-66): asking "Who knows" can lead to development of misconceptions, and students remembering the wrong thing. If it is completely new, explain first, then ask for examples.
Withhold a little knowledge to spark curiosity - generation (struggling to find answers before being told) can aid long term memory (p66)
Concision and repetition are the key to great explanations (p68)
The power of analogy. Connections to prior knowledge (p73)
Give very clear instructions - silence; make it short; ask students to repeat (p81)
Be very careful with students explaining things to each other. Can lead to big gaps in knowledge (p84)
Departmental T&L meetings could be used to discuss crafting excellent explanations (p85)
Modelling
To learn how to do something, students need to watch and listen to experts as they guide them through the process, step by step, before they make an attempt themselves (p91)
Modelling as the first step towards a child's independence (p93)
Live modelling - you get better at it with practice, silent examples and then co-construction (p95)
Importance of independent work directly after modelling, so students can practice the new techniques (p97)
Make sure the modeling shows achievable work, and make use of students' work to achieve this (p102)
Use inspirational models of true experts (Ronaldo, Nigela Lawson), but emphasise the need for lots of practise to get to that point (p105)
Share multiple models and compare them (p107). Perhaps using student work from a previous year.
Use lots of questions when modeling: "what am I doing?" followed by "why am I doing that" (p109)
Model spoken language, and insist on high levels of this. Using full sentences and subject specific terminology (p112)
Get students to compare completed work against model. Has the benefit of them knowing what they are talking about before seeing model (p114)
We must model all parts of the learning journey, however small and seemingly insignificant, whether they are summatively assessed or not (p115)
Create displays of model work using previous student work, teacher designed models and real world expertise (p117)
Modelling is a necessity, but too much can stifle creativity (p119). Best to mix it up, and space it out over lessons (p120)
Practice
"Practice makes permanent" (p125) and "students learn what they do" and "Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect"
"Genuine mastery of a challenging task is impossible without effort" so hard work is necessary to learn through practice (p126)
Practice for fluency (so well known it does not take up space in working memory to use it) vs deliberate practice (which is difficult and leads to learning as students are at the limits of their knowledge) (p126)
Practice continuum (p128)
"To securely learn a new concept, a student must revisit it in its entirety at least three times over a few days or weeks" (p129) and it is our responsibility to provide these opportunities. "Never assume that just because a student understands the concept once that they have retained it forever" (p131)
Mix up practice, rather than doing lots of the same thing in one go (p133)
Retrieval is best just before forgetting, and the harder you have to work to retrieve something the better. Elaborating on why it is true will embed it even further (p137)
Fold practice of the basic skills into the more advanced ones (p139)
For designing curriculum: which ideas are crucial; how can you build in opportunities to practice these throughout other topics/skills (p140)
"Spend time on the small details that contribute accumulatively to an answer" (p142)
"…every fine detail can be enhanced and refined by repeated practice…" (P143)
Use discussion as a means of practice (p145)
Paired work as a precursor to independent practice. Split task in 2 and one acts as coach (p152)
Don’t give scaffolds too quickly/easily -can send a very dangerous message (p154)
Practice does not need to be drill and kill, use a range of tasks, however learning should be the focus not engagement (p158)
"Core concepts that once understood, transform perception of a given subject" which need the most deliberate practice to gain competence (p160)
Feedback
Learning is like trying to find your way in an unfamiliar city: first time you need lots of feedback you are going the right way (checking maps, asking directions), but as you do it more, you require less feedback (p166)
But you actively seek this feedback and that is important too (p167)
The aim of feedback should be to close the "learning gap" (p168)
Feedback is a two way street: teacher to student on how to improve; student to teacher on what issues need reteaching. (p168)
Types of feedback (p169):
Feedback on task or product
Feedback on process
Feedback on self regulation
Feedback at personal level
Questions to think about (p170):
Does it close learning gap
Is it manageable
Is it fit for purpose
Does it take most effective form
Is it holding students back
Implement a DIRT (Dedicated Improvement and Reflection Time) system (p172) - there are several examples of how to do this
Symbol marking - write a symbol for common errors/feedback on student work, then project codes (p179)
Don't underestimate the power of verbal feedback (p181)
Be careful with peer feedback - use Kind, Specific, Helpful system (with sentence starters on p186), and model how to give feedback before doing it (p185)
Feedback should also identify the best bits, not just things that need correcting (p191)
Walk around and highlight errors, but say nothing. Onus on student to fix (p193) This only works if students have a good mindset, and are not going to become risk averse
Refuse to mark/check work until student has shown they have thoroughly checked it themselves (p196)
Too much feedback can lead to dependency. Want students to develop as self regulators (p198). Feedback should be more work for the student - Dylan Wiliam
Be aware of offering second drafts from start as some might make no effort for first draft. No effort, no second draft. (P199)
Questioning
Purposes of questioning (p203):
To test understanding of a new concept
To deepen and develop understanding (also called probing or Socratic questioning)
To ensure that students take a share in cognitive work of the classroom
To form and maintain your classroom culture
The most effective teachers tend to ask more questions (p204) from Rosenshine
Always aim to have follow up questions (p205)
Socratic questioning in 6 levels (p207):
Clarify their thinking
Challenging and probing assumptions
Demanding evidence
Looking at alternative viewpoints
Exploring implications and consequences
Questioning the question
We need closed questions to check surface knowledge before using open questions to develop deeper knowledge (p210)
Plan questions, starting from the endpoint (p211)
Dealing with "I don't know" (p216):
Give the student the answer and get them to explain how/why
Give them two options and get them to explain which
Remind them of the facts
Rephrase as a comparison with prior knowledge
Think, pair, share
Ask another student, get them to repeat and answer again later
Use questioning to help scaffold pupil thought, and to structure their answers using academic language (p218)
Always give enough wait time - "thinking deeply takes time and effort" (p220)
Use a variety of: hands up; random questions; cold calling (p221)
Use a "yes/no" continuum to turn a closed question into an open discussion point (p226)
Managing discussions can be difficult. Try ABC: Agree with, Build on or Challenge. Use stems to promote good language use (p229)
Make use of Hinge questions to quickly identify if students have mastered a concept (p230)
Common mistakes in questioning (p235):
Getting students to guess
Asking the wrong student at the wrong time
Asking an open question before teaching knowledge needed to answer it
Attempting discussion with poorly behaved class
Compared with independent practice, during a discussion only one person is talking at any one time. Keep it focused, and move to practice before it starts to drag (p236)
Beware introverts in the classroom, and how to handle them in questioning sessions. Don't write "Needs to speak more in class" on a report (p237)
Summary
Two main threads (p239):
Promoting excellence, and not accepting mediocrity, but insisting on redrafting towards better
Growth mindset, that intelligence is not fixed. "Through hard work, effort, resilience and determination we can all get better at what we do"