Month: September 2024

10 Rookie Blunders New High School Teachers Make (and How to Avoid Them!)

Posted on by richardjamesrogers

A blog post by Richard James Rogers (Award-Winning Author of The Quick Guide to Classroom Management and The Power of Praise: Empowering Students Through Positive Feedback). This blog post has been beautifully illustrated by Pop Sutthiya Lertyongphati.

Starting your teaching career is an exciting adventure, but it can also feel overwhelming. When I first starting teaching high school science back in 2005, for example, I soon found myself struggling to succeed at (what I see today as) basic tasks, such as marking, lesson planning and managing behaviour. So many aspects of the job were completely new to me, despite the limited teaching experience I gained from the Army Cadet Force as a teenager. I even found it difficult to think straight with so many students making requests and needing attention at the same time. Even writing basic sentences on the classroom whiteboard, in a large and tidy format so that the students could read the words clearly, was a challenge for me at first!

The reassuring news is that every teacher makes mistakes – it’s part of the learning process. To give you a head start, here are ten of the most common rookie blunders new high school teachers make (and, that I have made at some point on my journey!), along with some friendly advice on how to avoid them!

1. Doing Too Much Marking

Marking mountains of work is a fast track to burnout. Many new teachers feel they need to mark everything in detail, but that’s not sustainable! Start exploring alternatives like peer assessment, self-assessment, verbal feedback or even automated tools like online quizzes. You could also try live marking during class, where you give immediate feedback as students work. This not only saves time but also boosts student understanding.

2. Trying to Be Too Friendly with Students

It’s natural to want to be liked by your students, but remember: you’re their teacher, not their buddy. Building rapport is important, but you still need to maintain a professional distance. Being too friendly can blur the lines, making it difficult to manage behavior or assert authority. Keep your role clear, and your students will respect you more in the long run.

3. Inappropriate Use of Social Media

We live in a digital world, and social media can be a fun way to share ideas, but it’s important to be cautious. Avoid posting anything that could reflect poorly on you, your school, or the profession. It’s always better to keep your personal and professional online presence separate. Remember: once it’s online, it’s forever!

4. Oversharing with Colleagues

It’s great to get to know your colleagues, but be mindful of what you share, especially in the early days. Oversharing personal information can blur professional boundaries and lead to awkward situations. Keep conversations friendly, but professional – save your deeper personal stories for your friends outside of work.

5. Not Pacing Lessons According to Long-Term Plans

Pacing is one of the trickiest things to get right. New teachers often get caught up in the moment, spending too much time on early topics and falling behind on their curriculum goals. It’s important to balance the desire to be thorough with the need to stick to long-term plans. Keep an eye on your timeline and adjust your lessons to stay on track.

6. Being Too Lenient with Grading

Being too kind with your grades can do more harm than good. New teachers sometimes grade work too generously, not realizing that they aren’t preparing their students for the higher standards of external exams. Make sure your grading reflects the rigor of official exam boards so students get used to working at the correct level.

7. Relying on Quickly Sourced Content from the Internet

The internet is a treasure trove of resources, but not everything online is classroom-ready. Some teachers fall into the trap of quickly grabbing videos, slides, or worksheets without checking them thoroughly. Always preview your resources before using them in class to ensure they’re accurate, appropriate, and aligned with your lesson goals.

8. Not Preparing Marking Schemes

Without a clear marking scheme, grading assessments can become a time-consuming nightmare. Having a well-prepared scheme not only saves you hours but also ensures consistency and fairness across all students. It’s worth the extra effort upfront to develop marking rubrics and criteria that make assessment straightforward and manageable.

9. Making Promises You Can’t Keep

As a new teacher, you want to impress your students, but making promises you can’t keep – like grading a mountain of work in just a few days – will quickly erode their trust. Be realistic with your deadlines and commitments. It’s always better to under-promise and over-deliver than the other way around!

10. Engaging in Gossip

Gossip can be tempting in any workplace, but in a school environment, it’s especially toxic. Avoid conversations that focus on negative chatter about colleagues, students, or policies. Instead, foster positive, professional relationships. Being a person of integrity will earn you respect from your peers and create a healthier working environment generally.

Recommended further reading

Peer or Self-Assessment? Benefits and Challenges
Using Verbal Feedback: The Ugly Truth
5 Awesome Live Quiz Apps You Can Use in The Classroom
5 Efficient Marking and Assessment Strategies
Effective Feedback: The Catalyst of Student Progress
Maintaining Professional Distance as a High School Teacher: Ten Essential Guidelines
Behaviour Management Basics
How Should Teachers Behave on Social Media?
Falling Behind Your Teaching Schedule: Prevention and Cures
5 Ways to Use Past-Exam Papers With Your Students
The ‘Four Pillars’ of Time-Saving Marking
Working With Colleagues: The Gossip Mill Produces Toxic Flour

What is Dual Coding?

Posted on by richardjamesrogers

A blog post by Richard James Rogers (Award-Winning Author of The Quick Guide to Classroom Management and The Power of Praise: Empowering Students Through Positive Feedback). This blog post has been beautifully illustrated by Pop Sutthiya Lertyongphati.

Accompanying podcast episode:

As educators, we’re always on the lookout for strategies that can enhance our students’ understanding and retention of information. One such strategy that has gained significant attention in recent years is dual coding. But what exactly is dual coding, and how can it be applied in our classrooms to make a tangible difference? Drawing from my own experiences since I started teaching Science and Maths in 2006, let’s dive into the concept and its practical application.

Dual coding in one sentence

Combine good visuals with good verbals, and combine good verbals with good visuals.

Dual coding fundamentals

Dual coding is the process of combining verbal and visual information to improve learning. The idea is simple: when students are presented with both words and images that complement each other, they are more likely to understand and remember the material. This approach taps into the brain’s ability to process visual and verbal information through separate channels, creating a more robust memory trace.

The main thing that educators misunderstand about dual coding is that it’s ‘something we do all the the time as teachers’. But is this really true? How often do we slow down and take the time to pair a good visual with a clear verbal description?

Why dual coding works

From my experience, dual coding works because it leverages the strengths of both visual and verbal memory. When I first started teaching, I noticed that some students struggled to grasp complex concepts through words alone. It wasn’t until I began incorporating diagrams, flowcharts, and other visual aids that I saw a noticeable improvement in their understanding. For instance, explaining the water cycle in a science lesson became much more effective when I paired my explanation with a simple, clear diagram that illustrated the process. In mathematics, verbally describing each stage of a long calculation slowly, as I wrote the steps or delineated schematics, tended to help students understand the operations they had to follow better than if I just wrote the method without commentary.

Dual coding also reduces the cognitive load on students. When information is presented in both visual and verbal formats (and is presented slowly), students don’t have to work as hard to understand the content. This allows them to focus more on processing and retaining the information rather than trying to decode what’s being said or shown. In my maths classes, using visual representations of problems (like number lines or geometric figures) has helped students better understand abstract concepts, leading to more successful problem-solving.

Practical Tips for Using Dual Coding in the Classroom

  • Combine Text with Images: Start by integrating simple visuals with your explanations. For example, when teaching trigonometry, pair each formula with a corresponding triangle diagram. This helps students see the connection between the abstract formula and its practical application.
  • Use Flowcharts and Diagrams: When covering processes or sequences, such as the steps in solving an algebraic equation, use flowcharts to visually represent each step. This not only helps students follow along but also allows them to see the logical progression of the solution.
  • Encourage Students to Create Their Own Visuals: Involve your students in the dual coding process by having them create their own diagrams or sketches. This could be as simple as drawing a quick sketch to represent a concept or creating a more detailed Mind Map® of a topic. I’ve found that when students take ownership of the visuals, their understanding deepens.

My Experience with Dual Coding

One of the most memorable successes I’ve had with dual coding was when teaching a particularly challenging topic in physics: electromagnetic induction. Despite my best efforts to explain it verbally, many students were still confused. I decided to create a step-by-step visual guide that illustrated the process of induction, from the movement of the conductor through the magnetic field to the generation of current. The combination of this visual guide with my verbal explanation transformed the lesson. Students who had previously been disengaged suddenly became more confident, asking questions and even helping their peers understand the concept.

In another instance, while teaching a maths class on probability, I used tree diagrams alongside verbal explanations. The visual representation of different outcomes made the concept much clearer, and students were better able to tackle complex problems involving multiple stages of probability.

Final thoughts

Dual coding is a powerful tool in the educator’s toolkit, one that can make a significant difference in how students process and retain information. By combining verbal explanations with visual aids, we can cater to different learning needs, reduce cognitive load, and make our lessons more engaging and effective.

As I reflect on my teaching journey since 2006, I can confidently say that dual coding has been a game-changer in my classroom. I encourage you to experiment with it in your own teaching practice. The results might just surprise you!