Planning by @smanfarr

Name: Sam Williams
Twitter name: @smanfarr
Sector: Secondary
Subject taught (if applicable): English
Position: Assistant Head
What is your advice about? Planning

1. Plan for impact and not just activities to do.
2. Spend time planning what matters e.g. Your questioning is more important that how a presentation looks.
3. Don’t plan in isolation- other people’s ideas / experience can really help.
4. Planning is part of the process and should be informed by how well students were able to access/ complete the work set.
5. Plan to take time off! Rest is important too!

Decluttering planning by @rufuswilliam

Name: Rufus
Twitter name: @rufuswilliam
Sector: Secondary
Subject taught (if applicable): Maths
Position: Lead Coach
What is your advice about? Decluttering planning

1. Use textbooks whenever possible.
2. Plan straight onto the presentation tool you are using, such as PowerPoint. Or, if you use a visualiser, then plan neatly in an exercise book.
3. Black writing on a white background is sufficient.
4. Note that you have time to model and use the whiteboard in the lesson. Often this is better than having an explanation already written on a slide.
5. Your best resource is you and what is in your head.

Planning for behaviour by @Rosalindphys

Name: Rosalind Walker
Twitter name: @Rosalindphys
Sector: Secondary
Subject taught (if applicable): Physics
Position: Physics Teacher
What is your advice about? Planning for behaviour

1. Plan the best activities for learning the hardest content.
2. Take your planning for (1) and put it in the bin.
3. Plan activities to stop misbehaviour. Cool practicals, “accessible” (easy) work, periodic copying all work well.
4. Reflect and weep.
5. Apply for jobs in schools that have proper systems for behaviour. It doesn’t have to be like this!!!

Cross curricular topic planning by @heymissprice

Name: Emma Price
Twitter name: @heymissprice
Sector: Primary
Position: Teacher
What is your advice about? Cross curricular topic planning

1. Identify the broad direction of the topic e.g. History/Geography/Science and which programmes of study you must cover. Don’t get sidetracked.
2. Don’t overplan and try to fit too much into a short time. Being focused and disciplined is key – the National Curriculum is not the beast it once was.
3. Don’t make tenuous links for the sake of it; it won’t make the learning more effective. Accept that some stuff just needs to be taught discretely.
4. Teach. Cross curricular learning still needs to be taught. It’s not an excuse for copious group work and discovery.
5. Coming up with an engaging, alliterative title is really not necessary. It’s all about the learning.

Planning by @Mjburnage

Name: Matt
Twitter name: Mjburnage
Sector: Secondary
Subject taught (if applicable): History
Position: Teacher
What is your advice about? Planning

1. Simplicity is under-rated. Complex lessons aren’t necessarily good.
2. Focusing on what is learnt is more valuable than focusing on how it isn taught. Being clear about the content of your lesson(s) is key.
3. Don’t be afraid to spend more time on something if it appears students are struggling with it.
4. Focusing on the scheme of work/curriculum is more valuable than focusing on individual lessons.
5. Be clear on the conceptual thinking you want students to do. If you dont get it, students probably won’t.

Planning MFL lessons by @JessicaLundx

Name: Jessica Lund
Twitter name: @JessicaLundx
Sector: Secondary
Subject taught (if applicable): MFL
Position: Teacher
What is your advice about? Planning MFL lessons

1. Don’t use pictures – they distract kids from the language. Use the written word instead, and get them reading out loud lots.
2. Never, ever, spend more time making a resource than the kids will spend using it.
3. Don’t use the target language and mime. Translate every word you use until they know it without the translation.
4. Repeat the good stuff over and over and over again until they know it. And I mean really know it.
5. Don’t give them fun. Give them everything they need to know, and they’ll enjoy how confident they feel.

Doing Supply When There Is No Work Left by @Juanofthefourty

Name: Jaun Ofthefourty
Twitter:  @Juanofthefourty
Sector:  Early Years, Primary
Subject:
Position: Supply
5 Bits of Advice About: Doing supply when there is no work left

1. Have something prepared (even just mentally) for every possible subject. It’s not fun having to improvise a day’s worth of engaging lessons.
2. Use the walls and displays to give you ideas of what the children are learning. It will help your teaching feel relevant.
3. Don’t plan anything that requires marking. Why add to your workload?
4. Quizzes are brilliant. They’re easy to plan, build teamwork, test the children’s knowledge and they’re fun.
5. Whatever you deliver, do it with confidence and conviction (faked, if necessary). Pupils are experts at reading body language and will pounce on any chink in your armor.

Planning by @TLPMrsF

Name: Rebecca Foster
Twitter:  TLPMrsF
Sector:  Secondary
Subject: English
Position: Lead Practitioner
5 Bits of Advice About: Planning

1. Plan backwards – what do you want students to be able to do, know or show by the end of the lesson? Then work out how to get there (where before how).
2. Think about how you can hook them from the moment they walk into the classroom (a piece of music, an image, a challenging question, you in fancy dress…).
3. Get students to show you what they already know or can do. Pay attention at this point so you know who needs more support or more challenge.
4. Model. This might be through the use of an exemplar or you talking through HOW to approach a question.
5. Let students get on with it and offer a range of support to allow ALL students to achieve.

Using the Department’s Scheme of Work by @ellieerussell

Name: Ellie
Twitter name: @ellieerussell
Sector: Secondary
Subject taught (if applicable): science
Position: Lead Practititoner, Science
What is your advice about? Using the departments scheme of work

1: In most cases the existence of a shared scheme of work is a blessing. Many of us ‘older’ teachers remembering starting teaching and every lesson was your own… From scratch!

2: Just because somebody with more teaching experience than you has written a lesson, doesn’t mean their way is the best way. The odds are it has useful content though.

3: Read ahead through the SoW before starting the topic. Consider the key points to prioritise and ensure students understand in the time you have.

4: Often SoW writing is shared out between members of a department. One colleague’s style might suit your style more than others, but variety can be good.

5: Find a couple of colleagues you can turn to for help if you think your class is struggling. Often you’ll find we have already made useful lesson tweaks!

Planning a Lesson by @AFosterTeach

Name: Andrew Foster
Twitter name: AFosterTeach
Sector: Secondary
Subject taught (if applicable): Performance & Learning (previously History)
Position: Head of Performance & Learning
What is your advice about? Planning a lesson

1: Write down how long you will spend planning the lesson before you start. You can always spend more time on any lesson but as time is finite, that doesn’t mean you should.

2: Start with what you want the children to know & understand by the end of the lesson. Get as much detail on this as you can in the time you have allowed yourself.

3: “Why should they care about this?” is a good question to ask of the specific content of your lesson. Know the answer well enough to argue its case convincingly.

4: If your exposition is supported by arresting visual images, your pupils will retain more of it. Gather & incorporate as many of these as you can in the time you have allowed.

5: Recall through testing increases retention. Incorporate low-stakes testing into every lesson to increase learning.