The events in this article are based on actual occurrences. The names and, in some instances, the genders of individuals have been changed to protect the individuals’ privacy.
The aroma of coffee did little to awake the senses. For a sleepy NQT who was in his first week back at school after the Easter vacation the old routines were a sharp shock the system.
“I’ve got 9Q this morning” – pipes in one colleague.
“Don’t expect much outta them. You might as well bang your head against a brick wall for an hour.”
I stayed quiet – always the best policy in a moaning-match like this. But my silence was justified by another undercurrent.
The ‘care’ factor
Surprisingly, I’d been doing really well with 9Q. Granted: they were a bit noisy and couldn’t sit still for more than ten minutes (most of them, anyway). But I liked their energy – I saw their youthful vitality as something to draw upon.
“Mr. Rogers” shouts John in a funny voice
“Your tie looks like human vomit”
To which I laughed and replied – “Well done for bringing Biology into our lesson today”, to which there were giggles from the whole class.
After that the class did a cut-and-stick activity on chemical reactions, and when we peer-assessed the task I said “Guess what – you’ll find a lot of carbon and hydrogen atoms in human vomit, so once again I thank John for his intuitive reference”
The class roared with laughter.
John does a little dance on his chair like some American rapper.
The wrong approach
These interactions just mentioned demonstrate the power a teacher can wield when he or she actually likes the kids they teach. When we care for and admire our students for the unique people they are, everything else just falls into place naturally.
I believe that teacher-training colleges and school inspectorates have been getting their emphasis fatally wrong for decades. Focusing on lesson methodologies such as differentiation techniques, feedback mechanisms and behavior management: they have missed the vital component that crucially determines student welfare and academic success – that kids need to know that the teachers actually give a damn about them.
Over the coming two weeks I’ll be exploring this ‘care factor’ (which I believe is the only thing that actually matters when scrutinizing the fiber of a successful teacher’s character).
Let’s see this in action this week, so that a greater understanding of it’s power can be realised.
He just doesn’t ‘get it’
In a previous school I was teaching at I had a Year 10 student who had come to me from Germany. He was quiet and compliant in class but a little lack-luster and disinterested.
He completed two Chemistry end-of-unit tests in Term 1, scoring horrendously in both (30% below the next lowest student).
I could have used the old adage many teachers find themselves using: “It just doesn’t sink in with him”,“He just doesn’t get it” and “He doesn’t do enough work at home”.
If I wanted to, I could easily have passed on this failure to the student: alleviating me from all responsibility.
I just couldn’t do that. This bugged me too much.
“If this student carries on like this then he will surely fail. The consequences for his life choices afterwards could be enormous and who’s fault would that be? That’s right, Richard, it would be your fault, because you and you alone are responsible for this kid’s success in Chemistry.”
This is what I told myself.
The next lesson came and I took this kid aside at the end of the lesson, when it was quiet and only I and him could talk. I said to him “Hi John, let’s have a chat. Let’s take a look at these results.”
I shown him his test scores, and how low they were compared to the rest of the class.
“John, I don’t know what’s going on, but I know that you are capable of more than this. I know that you can do much better.”
“I’ve seen the great diagrams you draw in class, and I’ve heard your great responses to verbal questions. I know that you have the ability to do so well in Chemistry.”
“Help me understand, John. Help me understand why these grades are so low.”
John replies – “I guess I just don’t revise enough at home”
“Well, John. We can’t carry on like this. We just can’t. If you continue to get scores like this then you will fail this whole course. John, I cannot let that happen. I care about you too much.”
“In our next test you must get at least 60%. You must. Do you understand, John.”
Jon replies – “Okay, sir. I’ll try.”
“No. No trying. Do it! Do it because I believe in you. Do it because even though it’s difficult you know that this is the moment when you can prove to yourself just how great you are. Do it for the respect you’ll earn within yourself – self respect.”
We end with a macho display of brotherhood – I hold out my fist and he taps his fist against mine.
The corridor tactic
I see John on the corridors at lunchtimes and break times. Now he knows that I’m on his case. He knows that I care about his grades.
“How’s the studying going, John” I say as I pass him by.
“Great, sir”
“That’s good, John, because I know that you are a hard-working student”
This reinforcement continues day after day, week after week until the next test comes.
The success protocol
Before John takes his test I tell him “Go for it. I know you can do this!”
He scores 64%.
I make a massive deal out of it. He gets merits, a note in his diary and a congratulatory e-mail sent to his parents to tell them of his success.
I take him to the Head of Year, and tell him how proud I am of the effort he has made.
John is beaming with pride and happiness.
The belief protocol
Now John knows, with full supportive evidence, that he can achieve anything he puts his mind too.
All it took was some effort by a teacher: directed in a way that would make him realise his full potential; his full power.
John continues along this route, scoring higher and higher as the weeks go by. He comes out with a grade A in IGCSE Chemistry.
This is not a tale of fiction – it’s one of many stories I can recount over the course of my twelve years as a teacher. I have learnt that genuine, heartfelt care and concern for our students can literally and completely change their lives for the better, and forever.
From this care comes the standard teaching methodologies – all of which are great and work well, but only when they are built on the foundation of “It is my responsibility that these kids succeed. I will not let them down. I will not leave anyone behind. I will not allow any student to under-perform.”
More to follow in the next few weeks.
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“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” – Chris Gosser
Teachers are incredibly skillful individuals. We’re good communicators, we’re patient (that’s a no-brainer) and we’re good listeners.
With ingenuity and a bit of personal drive, we can utilize these skills in a number of ways to gain some much-appreciated extra money and experience:
#1 – Private Tutoring
A teacher’s staple when it comes to cash-on-the-side. If you’ve not tried it, then you’re missing out on a massive opportunity!
As a veteran of 12 years of tutoring, my top tips are as follows:
Become confident in teaching more than one subject: I’m a Science teacher but I’ve successfully tutored students in German, English, Science, Maths, UKCAT and BMAT over the years. Expand your skill’s portfolio and willingness to leave your comfort zone and reach a larger market!
Post on websites where parents are looking for tutors: Facebook groups and pages, Craigslist and Learn Pick are all good and have all generated student leads for me in the past
Try to find out the exact topics the student wants to learn in advance of the lesson – this will give you time to create great resources
Teach well! – Be yourself, be professional. Students will love your style and will tell their friends: bringing extra customers to you via referrals!
If the students live far away, then bring them to you – I’ve tutored at coffee shops and even at my home in the past. When students need tuition they’ll be prepared to travel.
Offer group classes – $70 for one student for two hours or $10 an hour per student for 5 students for two hours? Group classes can offer benefits in terms of teaching (peer-assessment and group activities) and help you to maximize revenue.
I strongly advise anyone reading this who wants to be a private tutor (or is currently a private tutor) to listen carefully to this excellent podcast episode in which I interview Ash Bignall, Owner of the British Learning Centre in Pattaya, Thailand:
#2 – Becoming an examiner
Most exam boards recruit examiners on a yearly basis. It’s hard work and deadlines are tight (generally), but the money can be very, very good. Check out exam boards like Edexcel, CIE, the IBO, AQA and others.
#3 – Selling your resources
A number of platforms on the web allow you to sell your worksheets, presentations and other resources to other educators. Check out the following:
Set up a blog to inform teachers about good techniques, or even a subject-specific blog for students. After a few years or less, convert the posts into an e-book and sell your knowledge to others!
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I often like to listen to my favourite YouTubers in the early morning. For me it’s wake up, go for a run, then shower with my iPhone blasting out some stimulating interviews, lectures or discussions.
At one point this week I was listening to an excellent and thoroughly interesting interview with the renowned David Icke in which he made a statement that really got me thinking: “I hear of lot of debate about HOW children should be taught, but very little about WHAT they should be taught”.
As a teacher I think this is a very important issue and I’d like to offer David a considered response.
10 Things I Wish I Was Taught at School
I’m one of those few people who can actually say that I use the stuff I was taught in school on daily basis in my job. I’m a Science Teacher: so naturally I’m teaching my students almost the same things I was taught at school.
“An AMAZING book!”
However, there are a lot of things I had to work out by myself when I left school. Was ‘personal experience’ the best way to learn these things?
I don’t think so.
Many years of hardship and pain could have been avoided had (much) greater emphasis been placed on these ten things whilst I was at school:
#1 How to manage money
Surely this should be a school staple, shouldn’t it?
I was taught how to manipulate equations and a little bit about compound interest, but a more intense and focussed ‘Money Management’ curriculum would have helped me and so many of my friends.
Kids need to know about budgeting. They need to understand how credit cards, credit ratings, debt, home loans, savings accounts, interest rates and investments (such as bonds and mutual funds) all work. They need to know how to avoid debt in the first place, and how to climb out of debt if they fall into it. They need to understand the importance of saving and investing whilst they are young. They need to know how to assess financial risk.
How many schools are teaching this? Almost none, and that’s a tragedy.
#2 How to manage emotions (especially worrying)
Humans are emotional creatures, and life can test us to the limit at times.
How do you deal with worry? What makes you angry or frustrated? What makes people do silly things sometimes? Lust? The ego?
With the advent of the Mindfulness in Schools Projectin 2009, educators began to see how self-observation can be taught to students as a meaningful way to avoid unconscious reaction.
Just think of the problems that this philosophy could solve, were it taken seriously and implemented nationwide. A fifteen minute meditation session per day, for example, could help students become calmer, more focused in lessons and even more willing to embrace self-acceptance, making life more enjoyable.
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older (which equates to around 18.1% of the population every year).
Anxiety disorders can be treated easily, yet only 36.9% of those suffering receive treatment.
Anxiety disorders develop from a complex set of risk factors, including genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and life events.
In my personal opinion, kids need to know this stuff! Yet how many schools offer a rigorous ‘Worry Combat’ curriculum? Almost none.
Yet again, it’s one of things we kind of have to figure out by ourselves (and many people never figure it out).
Scientists have also found strong links between stress and cardiovascular disease, diabetes and osteoporosis.
I think it’s high time that kids were taught about the effects of worry and how to tackle it as part of a national curriculum strategy. Here’s a book I think should be compulsory reading for every school student (click on the book to take you to the Amazon sales page):
#3: The importance of a healthy lifestyle
Schools are getting better at this but much more needs to be done to emphasise the urgency of this issue with our students.
The world is facing an obesity crisis.
Those words aren’t my anecdotal musings – they’re substantiated by lots of data. The Word Health Organisation publishes statistics on global obesity and in their most recent report(dated February 2018) they state:
Worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975
41 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2016
Over 340 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 were overweight or obese in 2016
The report also states that obesity is preventable, which is true: a balanced diet and good physical exercise, when embedded from an early age, can dramatically reduce the chances of adolescent and adult obesity and associated health problems.
In Japan, schools take health education to a whole new level. Students are actively involved in designing the school’s lunch menu based on nutritional value. For Japanese schools, lunchtime is just as much a part of education as Science and Mathematics.
Beginning in elementary school, kids come to understand that what you put into your body matters a great deal in how you think and feel throughout the day.
Lunchtime is a part of Japenese students’ education.
“Japan’s standpoint is that school lunches are a part of education, not a break from it.” – Masahiro Oji, a government director of school health education, told the Washington Postin 2013.
A good model for school’s around the world? I think so.
#4 To question everything
We go through school believing that if something is written in a textbook, then it absolutely must be true.
It is understandable that this viewpoint is encouraged from an early age: students must believe in the integrity of what they are learning in order to take it seriously.
But is this the right approach in a rapidly changing world, where young people need to be better problem solvers and critical thinkers than any other generation before them?
Sometimes the concepts contained in school textbooks are simplified so much (to make them accessible) that they become completely different to the truth.
A classic example is atomic structure. We’re all taught that an atom looks like the classic ‘Bohr Model’, with electrons orbiting a central nucleus in concentric circles:
But did you know that this model of the atom was actually rejectedin 1925? Yet it is still taught to this day in high school chemistry courses.
Perhaps a research-based approach is best for today’s learners and gadget-savvy whiz kids. Is it really necessary to simplify everything? Is it wrong for students to learn the truth about atomic structure (and other topics) even though the knowledge may be advanced and considered ‘above the level of their age group’?
Shouldn’t we be challenging students to accept nothing until enough evidence suggests the theory as being truth?
#5: To respect other peoples’ rights to an opinion
This is a no-brainer, yet statistics on bullying suggest that more needs to be done.
Stopbullying.gov (a US government organisation) compiled a fact sheet based on a variety different studies and reports that:
70.6% of young people say they have seen bullying in their schools (2007).
70.4% of school staff have seen bullying. 62% witnessed bullying two or more times in the last month and 41% witness bullying once a week or more (2007).
In the U.K. the statistics reveal an equally disturbing picture. In a 2016 survey carried out by Ditch the Label (a U.K. based anti-bullying charity), it was found that:
1.5 million young people (50%) were bullied in the year prior to the survey
145,800 (19%) of these were bullied EVERY DAY
People who have been bullied are almost twice as likely to bully others
Twice as many boys as girls bully (66% of males vs. 31% females)
Clearly, these figures are unacceptable and much, much more needs to be done to address bullying in schools.
I would suggest that anti-bullying initiatives must focus on education, not on more sanctions for students who bully.
The following strategies should be taken on by every school:
The United Nations declared May 4th as ‘Anti-Bullying Day‘. What does your school do on May 4th? Consider holding a theme-based day with activities in which kids can get to know about each other’s cultures and preferences better and learn to appreciate diversity.
Diversity, religious freedom, human rights and bullying education as part of a comprehensive PSHE curriculum at all levels of school (even up to and including pre-university students)
Assigning student buddies
Having an assigned member of staff act as a school counselor
Education on cyber-bullying and school-wide implementation of the S.M.A.R.T. acronym given below:
The U.K. government’s 2017guidanceon preventing and tackling bullying is also well-worth a read.
#6 To value creative arts
Creative arts are more important now than ever before. As the world becomes more connected to mobile technology; good images, music and graphics can really make the difference when it comes to marketing products, attracting web traffic and getting your message across.
Let’s be brutally honest – this blog would not be even half as popular as it is if it wasn’t for Pop’s beautiful images. I didn’t take art as seriously as I should have done when I was at school, so I already have a skills deficit that can only be filled in by my excellent illustrator.
Gone are the days when Science, Maths and English paraded at the summit of our educational Everest. The age of the games animator, thumbnail and avatar engineer, app designer and social media marketing expert is upon us!
#7 To respect the natural environment
Schools are quite good at this in general, but there are some easy-to-implement strategies that can further improve this area:
Having recycling bins on site as opposed to standard trash cans
Creating an ‘eco-garden’ on school premises where students learn how to plant, grow, harvest, protect and nurture plants and crops
Getting students actively involved in cleaning up the school environment through eco-clubs and environment committees
Again: rigorous environmental awareness education through the school’s PSHE programme
#8 Public speaking
An increasingly important skill which is not developed enough in schools.
The power of ‘voice’ as the number one marketing tool of the future has been recognized in a number of influential books including Storyshowing by Sam Cawthorn and Ultimate Guide to Platform Building by Wendy Keller.
There’s just no room for shyness these days.
I often tell my students who are interested in business that they need to start building their platform now. They need to build up followers on social media channels (provided the students meet minimum age requirements) if they want to build up a brand name for themselves.
I’ll use myself as a ruthless example.
I started blogging back in 2016, almost a year after my book was published. In late 2016 I set up my Facebook page and in two years, on a modest budget and through my weekly blog, it’s built up to a following of around 1500 great fans and readers.
But just imagine if I’d have had the sense to start all of this when I was 20. That would have been 15 years of platform building!
One of the best ways to build your platform is through voice: videos, writing and having the confidence to get up front and show your talents and skills.
Public speaking should be a compulsory element of school education. Opportunities for students to develop their skills through conferences, plays, shows, group presentations, TEDx talks, peer-teaching and online publishing should all be fully integrated into school curricula.
#9 Manners and etiquette
As teachers we absolutely MUST be role models for our students.
But what does that mean?
“There’s no such thing as an off-duty teacher” – These words werewords spoken to me when I was an NQT.
I think those words are true.
I never saw any of my teachers drunk or smoking, and even on my graduation evening when some teachers came out for a drink at a local restaurant with the students, they acted responsibly.
Our students look to us for guidance and see us as a moral compass – we’re not just sages who impart knowledge without substance.
The way we dress, the way we speak, the way we act: all of these things are picked up by our students.
Are we careful in saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’? Are we careful not to swear or use expletives within earshot of our students?
We absolutely must keep the subliminal messages we send in mind as we go about our daily lives.
As for table manners, correct speech (elocution) and common courtesy: these should be on the curriculum.
#10: How to teach themselves
According to a report published by computer giant Dell Technologies, 85 per cent of the jobs that will exist in 2030 haven’t even been invented yet.
Phrased another way: we are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies and techniques that have not yet been invented.
Whilst teachers have known for decades that computers were set to take over vast areas of business operations, the scale of the acceleration has been surprising even to the industry experts.
In order to really get our kids ready for the future we must teach them how to teach themselves. Constant re-training and skills upgrades will be the name of the game for years to come.
We need to think about ways in which we can get our students to evaluate their work as they go along.
Take a look at the evaluation form, given here, and consider ways to make learning more I.T. integrated.
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So the Easter vacation is almost over. Here in Thailand the local people celebrate Songkran – A Thai traditional holiday which is focussed on spending time with family and relatives.
Having brought my Year 11 and 13 students to the end of their courses, I’m left a little deflated. Like a sprinter who’s just finished the 400 metres I’m left thinking: ‘What’s next?’
“An AMAZING Book!”
Our final year students will hopefully have been revising like crazy this holiday: they need too. These exams will determine the next stage in their lives.
Use of gained time
Here are some things to bear in mind and consider for those of us who will find our timetables a little lighter in Term 3:
Invigilation:You’ll probably be asked to invigilate some exams if you’ve lost some of your timetabled classes. We must make sure that we are fully aware of our roles and responsibilities as invigilators (check again with your examination’s officer – don’t just assume that it’ll be the same as last time). We must be prompt and fully responsible during the invigilation process – the integrity of the exams is paramount and a snap visit from an exam-board representative can happen at any time.
Marking:Gained time can be used to catch up with marking – especially for classwork and homework from students lower down the school
Feedback and mentoring:This is a great time to have one-to-one discussions with Year 1 IGCSE/GCSE students and ‘AS’ – Level/IBDP/SAT students. Make sure they know that you acknowledge and recognise their efforts and that you’re monitoring their progress. Re-evaluate targets or set new ones if these students don’t have targets already.
Tutoring:A great way to help students out and earn some some valuable cash at the same time. Tutors will be in high demand now that the exam season has started. Prepare resources in advance if you can and aim to deliver excellence every time – you’ll be surprised at how quickly your reputation will grow. Websites like Craigslist and Learn Pick are great places to advertise your services to potential students.
Curriculum Mapping and Preparation for next year:Yes, get those long-term plans, worksheets, presentations, games and wonderful resources ready now. We all want to have a summer vacation (notice the word vacation there). Check out ukedchat.com for great ideas and resources.
Offer an extra E.C.A.:You’ll be engaging new students who you may teach in mainstream classes soon, and you’ll be seen as a proactive team-player. What could be better than that?
Do you have any further suggestions? Please feel free to comment by using the box below.
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It was lunchtime but I didn’t mind. Neither did my German teacher.
I ran upstairs and entered her room. She was free – success! I pulled out my listening exam script: a set of learned responses to verbal questions that could come up in my GCSE exam.
I’m sure she was hungry and I’m sure she wanted lunch. I didn’t think about that when I was 16 years old. I probably should have.
She sat with me and helped me with my responses. Her dedication lunchtime after lunchtime was a major factor in the grade ‘A’ I achieved in the final exams. She went on to praise me publicly for my efforts and nominate me for a prestigious school award, which I won.
What makes some teachers go beyond the call of duty?
Not every teacher was like my German teacher, and understandably so. As teachers we work long hours and often give up parts of our weekends and school holidays for planning, marking and perfecting our work.
If I could write one phrase to describe my German teacher it would be this: She really cared.
That’s not to say that my other teachers didn’t care – they did. But my German teacher really cared.
The desire and drive within her to help one of her students had a profound effect on me – so much so that it acts as a huge reminder to me of the duty of care I have to my students today: almost two decades later.
How does ‘authenticity’ manifest itself?
I’ve been fortunate to receive wholehearted care from a number of great teachers in my life. I think their authenticity can be summed up in these main ways:
They don’t just teach their subject:My best teachers tried to help me out with problems I was having in life, not just in my studies. When I broke up with my girlfriend, my Biology teacher gave me some great advice and told me not to let it bother me. “It’s her loss”, he said. When I came into school looking exhausted because I’d had no sleep the night before, a number of teachers expressed concern for me and asked how I was and recommended that I get some sleep. When I was pelted with snowballs and came into my Head of Year’s office crying, he put his hands on my ears to warm them up and helped me to calm down.
They take their duty as ‘role models’ seriously: “There’s no such thing as an off-duty teacher” – words spoken to me when I was an NQT. I think those words are true. I never saw any of my teachers drunk or smoking, and even on my graduation evening when some teachers came out for a drink at a local restaurant with the students, they acted responsibly.
They remember you after you leave:At high school reunions and when bumping into each other in the street, authentic teachers and former students talk with each other like it was yesterday. “How are you getting along, Richard”. “I’m doing fine”, I said. “I always knew you would be a success, you were always a very dedicated student”, my old physics teacher responded in 2006. That felt great. It was a reminder of who I was at my core, and a motivator to keep me on track for the future.
They leave no student behind:I was in Year 10 when me and my classmates took a ‘formulae of ions’ test in Chemistry. About half of the class, including me, failed the test. To this day I still don’t know why that happened, but my Chemistry teacher just couldn’t let it go. She pulled aside all of us as a group, had a talk with us and made us resit the test the following week. On the second attempt, we all got above 80% (and it was an equally difficult test). Afterwards she said “Can you now see that the concept was really simple”. We all agreed.
They give up some of their free time:I already know that this is not going to be a popular one with some of my readers, but it is true. Authentic teachers care so much about their students that they are happy to run classes or tutoring after school or at break and lunch times to help students out. They know that this dedication will pay dividends in terms of the rapport they are building and the results the students will get in the final exams. These payoffs are more valuable to them than their free time, which is very admirable.
What are the effects of ‘authenticity’?
Authentic teachers literally change their students’ lives. They realise that their influence doesn’t just last a day, or an academic year. They know that they are part of a mission to mold their learners into happy, responsible, good adults of the future.
There’s a saying that was used in a Teacher recruitment campaign in the UK in the early 2000s – No One Forgets a Good Teacher.
I would say that no one forgets an authentic teacher, because only authentic teachers can be good teachers.
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World Book Day has always been one of my favorite school events — and even as we move into 2025 and beyond, its magic hasn’t faded. In fact, it’s become even more important as we work to rekindle students’ love for physical books in an age dominated by screens. Here’s my latest reflection on costumes, command terms, and creative teaching ideas for keeping the joy of books alive.
A short story
He waddled his way through the corridor like a happy duckling. Amid the giggles and cries of small children he looked liked a giant orange with tentacles as he waded through the masses on his way to the library. Mr Jones was dressed as ‘Mr Tickle’ from the ‘Mr Men’ series of books.
The outfit must have taken an astronomical amount of time to create. With orange fur and controllable arms it was clear who was going to win the ‘Best Dressed Teacher’ competition.
I, on the other hand, tend to be a little too lazy with my outfit on World Book Day. This year was no exception. Can you guess who I am?:
If you said ‘James Bond’ then well done: you’re right! It’s a quick (and a little too lazy) conversion for me: change my tie to a bow, add a dinner shirt and a white pocket square and I’m ready to serve on Her Majesty’s Secret Service!
“Who have you come as?” one of my friends says to me as I walk into the staff room on Friday (we held our World Book Day a day later because Thursday coincided with a religious holiday here in Thailand — something that happens most years) “I’m James Bond — a classic literary icon who’s been thrilling readers and moviegoers alike for over 70 years” I say (rather upset that I wasn’t instantly recognizable). “Is that even a book” he says. “It’s a whole series of books, written by Ian Fleming”
“Wow. I had no idea”
Costume Capers
World Book Day is great for getting people to ask good questions. Often, the characters we dress up as are in fact movie stars which we never knew existed in books. This can really get kids inspired to read more as they gradually realize that good books are often the basis for their favorite movies or TV shows. Good examples include:
Harry Potter– The all-time legendary series of fantasy books written by J.K. Rowling. These books have formed the basis for 8 beloved movies, with new adaptations and spin-offs continuing to keep the magic alive.
The Hunger Games– These action packed dystopian novels featuring stoic and passionate heroine: Katniss Everdeen, have been transformed into five excellent films.
Twilight– Popular with teenagers and young adults: these fantasy/romance novels were brilliantly conceived and written by legendary author Stephenie Meyer
What message does all of this send to kids when they are fully aware of the facts? That’s simple:Books are cool! Books are inspirational. Books change lives. Read books!
It’s a shame that World Book Day is only once per year. In reality, every day should be a World Book Day as we should encourage our kids to read books and enjoy learning English on a daily basis.
As a teacher at an International School in Bangkok, I have the unique privilege and pleasure of working with classes where, in many cases, more than 90% of the students are working with English as an additional/second language. One of my unique missions every day is to help my students to see why English is a beautiful language. To help them notice patterns and sounds. To ensure that they use the correct language in their answers to exam-style questions.
Examination language
Even in 2025 and beyond, the importance of command terms isn’t going away. In fact, with exams becoming more language-focused across international curriculums, knowing how to decode these terms is becoming even more essential.
Try putting up a ‘command-terms’ display in your classroom (like the one below):
A command terms hierarchy display that follows Bloom’s Taxonomy
I use this display on a daily basis to teach my students how to phrase their answers. I like to turn the command terms into kid-friendly language when going through exam-style and past-paper questions. For instance:
Describe: Tell me ‘what’
Explain: Tell me ‘why and how’
Deduce: Work out the answer and show every step in your work
Eventually, the students can build up a long list of command terms in their Learning Journals or notebooks, coupled with their ‘kid-friendly’ descriptions. The display also follows Bloom’s Taxonomy, with command terms demanding more sophistication in written responses as you go up the pyramid.
The result: Students learn good English vocabulary and score better on exams. What could be better than that!
Command terms are so important, in fact, that many textbooks are now emphasizing them as students work through the chapters. Take this extract from a book my students were using in one of our Science tutoring sessions this week:
Command terms emboldened in a Science textbook
As I was helping these students, I found that explaining the command term first, before tackling the question, really helped in getting a suitable answer. The two girls who I was tutoring would say “Ah, I get it now” when the command term was made clear.
Do you think that students will use these command terms in their daily and future lives? Absolutely! Command terms come up in a range of contexts when operating through the medium of English. For example: “How can we justify this business decision?”, “On the basis of the previous two-years sales, can you predict likely sales for the first quarter of this year?”, “How can we determine who is the best candidate for this role?”, and on we could go ad infinitum.
Isn’t this what language-learning is all about? Getting students to learn key words, then to enjoy using those words and then to apply them to a range of contexts?
In my honest opinion, command terms offer the ultimate key in cross-curricular learning and should be explored by curriculum leaders as a way to really ‘gel’ their subjects together. The result of this: deep learning and an added sense of importance attached to each subject as students see how they link together.
Learning Journals
I have a system set up where students in Year 11, 12 and 13 (ages 15-18, or Grades 10-12 in American/International schools) bring me a journal filled with revision notes, key words, past-paper questions and answers every Monday. It’s such an effective way to boost confidence and performance, but it does require a bit of organisation and leadership from the teacher.
If you have identified students who could use such a journal to focus specifically on learning key words and command terms, then here are the steps to take:
Step 1: Tell the students to get a special notebook. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Just a cheap spiral bound one will do just fine. Some students have even started keeping their Learning Journals digitally using apps like OneNote, Notion, or GoodNotes — which works great as long as they stay organized.
Step 2:The students should divide the first page into three columns:
Key word
Meaning
Pronunciation
For example: Moment, The force applied to a lever multiplied by the distance from the pivot, mo-men-t
For an EAL student you can include a fourth column:
Translation
In this column, the student can write the word in his/her native language.
Step 3: The students should write down the key words they learn every week into this journal, along with all of the other information.
Step 4:CRUCIAL! The key words and information must be CHECKED every week. Check the words, the meaning and the pronunciation (you can even get the students to say the words to you – this reinforces their memory of the terminology).
Don’t forget to reward students for good work too: use your school’s points/merits system, write nice comments on their work and even think of special rewards: a ‘star of the week’ for example, where you display the student’s work on the class noticeboard.
Use voice inflections
Science is great for teaching kids new words. When we, as teachers, genuinely love to pronounce and say key words then our kids will love doing that too.
I have quite a funny little system I use in class. When a key word comes up, I’ll give it a rank:
“Precipitate. Precipitate. Such a beau-ti-ful word. Say “Pre-ci-pi-tate”
Class:Precipitate
“Excellent! Precipitate is number 3 on my ‘Favorite Words in Science’ list”
Student:“What’s number one”
“That’s a secret! One day you’ll find out! A prize to first person to e-mail me my number one Science word when they hear it!”
Of course, my number one word will come at the end of the academic year when the suspense and excitement has been building up for two terms.
Use vocabulary jokes
I’ve recently started experimenting with this and it’s working like a treat! It does take some planning and skill though, and is best described through some examples:
Vocabulary Joke 1: ‘Formal Charge’
I recently used this joke with my Year 13 students to reinforce the term ‘Formal Charge’ – a concept in Organic Chemistry.
“I was walking to the coffee shop yesterday and Mr Davies asked me “Mr Rogers, what is your favorite F.C.? Is it Liverpool F.C.?’ And guess what?”
Class:“What?!!!”
“I said ‘No. My favorite F.C. is ‘Formal Charge'”
Class: (laughing)
I then laugh and say “This is the life of a Chemistry Teacher. Hashtag #chemistrylife”
Class: (giggles and laughter)
This has long-term effects outside of the classroom too. Effects which fully embed the phrases. For example: when I was actually walking to the coffee shop one of my Year 13 students passed me and I said “What is your favorite F.C.?” and she said “Formal Charge”.
Vocabulary Joke 2: ‘Alkali’
An alkali is the opposite of an acid, having a pH higher than 7 (think of soap, for example). I used this joke recently with my Year 10 students:
“A student of mine in Year 9 asked me: ‘Mr Rogers, do you like my homework?’, and guess what happened!'”
Class:“What?!!” (they know that a joke is coming!)
“I said I more than like your work, I ‘alkalike‘ your homework”
Class:(laughing)
I then laugh and say “This is the life of a Chemistry Teacher. Hashtag ChemistryLife — still trending strong in 2025!”
Class:(giggles and laughter)
Clean and fun jokes can like this can be very powerful. The kids will say them to their parents and friends, and if you refer to them outside of the classroom (e.g. John, do you like my new notebook? John: I ‘alkalike’ it), then you can really embed these key terms. The result:Kids will love English, will repeat the words you say and will eventually use these key terms frequently in their written responses.
Vocabulary jokes like these are especially powerful in 2025, when AI translation tools make communication easier — but understanding the why behind words still requires real human teaching.
Other strategies
There are many more strategies you can use to get your learners to enjoy learning the English language. Check out my blog posts on Learning Journals and Vocabulary Values for more tips.
Conclusion
Our aim must be to get our students to LOVE English – speaking it, reading it, listening to it and writing it. Encourage good language learning by:
Taking part fully in English-themed events such as World Book Day (or your school’s equivalent celebration if you’re reading this outside the UK)
Using and embedding command terms
Creating a Learning Journals system
Pronouncing key words in a funny way and getting students to repeat them out loud (elocution)
Making full use of powerful ‘Vocabulary Jokes’
Using other strategies, such as vocabulary games, which you can find on my blog posts here and here.
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There’s no doubt about it – getting students involved in their own assessment and marking has a wide-variety of benefits.
Take this greatsummaryby Rosario Hernandez at University College Dublin for example, which explains that peer-assessment benefits students in four key ways:
Promotes high quality learning
Contributes to skills development
Furthers personal development
Increases students’ confidence, reduces stress and improves student motivation
That’s quite a convincing list!
Not surprisingly, similar things can be said of self-assessment. This greatoverviewby the University of Sydney advocates for the wide-use of self-assessment with students for the following key reasons:
It encourages student involvement and participation, so it’s great for students who normally find group activities or active class tasks a little uncomfortable
When used in conjunction with group work it can be a great way to assess one’s personal role and contribution in the group experience and learning process
Academic appraisals aside, I’ve found from my personal experience that both self and peer-assessment are absolutely invaluable to the modern practitioner. They save you oodles of time as a teacher and students learn so much from each process.
But how should we use self and peer-assessment?
There are a number of different ways that self and peer-assessment can be used in the classroom. My experience has taught me (the hard way!) that the following tasks work really well:
Making corrections to tests and assessments:When any important test or assessment comes up, I don’t think it is appropriate to have students marking these themselves. They’ll get it wrong, even with a mark scheme to use, and will be overly generous on themselves and their peers (unless they’ve been trained for a period of time – more on that next). However, a great activity is to mark the tests yourself, then give the tests back to the students along with the a printed or online mark scheme. The students could then use a coloured pen to make full and detailed corrections to their test papers. You could turn this into an AfL exercise, with students writing down the question numbers they got wrong on the whiteboard, or on an anonymous piece of paper. You could then go through these questions afterwards to clear up common misconceptions. If you run a regular learning journals system (as I currently do), then students could write down the questions and the model answers in their learning journals. This causes very deep-learning to take place and is great for building long-term memory!
Assessing homework, classwork and regular assignments:A great time-saver for teachers. Just make sure the kids have access to the model answers. Don’t forget to collect the work in too – you need to know that the kids actually did the work you asked them to do.
Past-papers:Exam-level students really need to become familiar with the official mark schemes provided by exam boards. They need to become comfortable with key vocabulary, language and command terms. Provide exam-level students with regular past-papers to do as homework. Provide mark schemes too, so that they can self and peer-assess their work in class later. For older students (e.g. ‘AS’ – Level, SAT and IBDP learners) I’ll sometimes give them past papers and mark schemes to take home. Their task is to complete the past-papers under timed conditions and mark them using the mark schemes. The student then hands me the papers completed and marked (this is essential – I need to know that they have completed the assignment). I then check the papers for common misconceptions and target those in class.
Technological means:There a number of ways in which technology can assist in the peer and self-assessment process.Google formsare great; as are online quizzes provided by trusted third parties(e.g.BBC BitesizeandMyiMaths) and online quizzes that teachers can build by themselves (e.g.Quizlets). Make use of these and others (e.g.Kahoot– great for getting kids to use their mobile devices), as they are really interactive and can offer a nice break from traditional methods.
Training students to assess themselves
This is a gradual process and basically involves exposing students to exam-style questions and past-papers; along with their mark schemes, over a prolonged period of time. The process is straightforward but can be monotonous: provide past-papers as homework, classwork, projects and even through a special past-paper ECA club (which I’m currently doing with my IGCSE and IBDP students – it’s very effective).
There are a number of creative ways to train students up in proper exam-technique:
Cut up the questions and answers to past-papers and hand them to students one-at-a-time. They can only come and get the next question when they’ve effectively answered and marked the previous one.
Give students the answers to questions and get them to write the questions! Use the same method as the previous bullet-point above, or set up a large display and get students to put their answers on post-it notes which they can stick to the display.
Get a big container filled with cut-up exam questions. Students have to pick out questions from the container in pairs or threes, and work on them. No two groups should have the same question.
Students can make revision videos, websites and even stop-motion animations that contain exam-style questions and answers. Get students to record the process through a learning journal system.
Challenges when using self and peer-assessment
There are a few challenges, but these are greatly outweighed by the the benefits. I’ll offer some notes from my own personal experience and some solutions.
Some students won’t want to swap during peer-assessment.This can be an issue in some classes. Some students can find themselves isolated and excluded by social groups, and may not be able to find someone to wants to swap their work with them. Whilst this kind of social exclusion is totally unacceptable, and must be dealt with through the appropriate school channels, there is a way to mitigate it in the first instance: collect in every piece of work and hand them out again randomly to different students. That way, they should all have someone else’s work to mark.
Different ability levels:There will be some students in the class who have such a limited knowledge of the subject that they won’t be able to effectively mark the work in front of them, even if they have access to the mark scheme. You could offer a ‘clinic-style’ system, where you sit at a special desk in the room and offer ‘consultation’: where students walk to see you to clear up misconceptions if they don’t understand the work or the mark scheme. You can also walk around the classroom and sit with individuals to have one-to-one discussions.
Students being too generous:This is a common problem, especially for exam-level students who are new to past-papers and the peer/self-assessment process. At first, you might want to project the answers on the whiteboard and go through each question one at a time, but you’ll find that this takes ages (unless it’s an MCQ test) as students will have lots of questions to ask along the way, and you’ll have to answer verbally to the whole audience (which isn’t ideal in every case). Even better – you could collect in the assignments afterwards and double-check them. Speak to students who have lost marks after you’ve double-checked the papers and really make sure they understand the mark scheme and where they went wrong.
Poor handwriting:This can be an issue for some students. It’s really important that examiners can actually read a student’s work. Students with poor handwriting need to be identified quickly and intervention measures put in place (e.g. special classes). You don’t want anyone to lose marks just because the examiner couldn’t read what the student wrote!
Conclusion
The benefits of peer and self-assessment are numerous and incontrovertible. However, students must have access to official mark schemes and model answers for the process to work properly, and they must be involved in actually correcting their work (not just ‘ticking’ and ‘crossing’ and working out a score/percentage).
Students need to be trained in proper peer-assessment. Do not tolerate over-generosity: collect the work in afterwards and double-check that it was marked properly.
Watch out for common misconceptions – these crop up a lot in a peer-assessment. See this as a good thing: you can use this information to inform your teaching.
Use a wide-variety of technological means in the peer and self-assessment process. This will keep students on task and provide exposure to vital Information and Communication Technology: building skills that will be essential in the future.
Be on the lookout for students who refuse to swap their work (or accept another student’s work to mark) and address this issue promptly. No student should feel excluded by a peer group at school – this is tantamount to bullying and must be addressed appropriately.
Be aware that some students will not have the ability to peer and self-assess effectively, even when they have access to the model answers. Provide one-to-one assistance in these cases, either by walking around the room and helping out or having students walk to you for help.
Recommended further reading
Click on the images to go to the Amazon page for the book.
Peer Feedback in the Classroomby Starr Sackstein.Great for gaining a deep understanding of what meaningful feedback looks like. Highly recommended!
The Perfect Assessment SystembyRick Stiggins. Great for all educators and those involved in education management. Really puts assessment into a whole-school context and is a great read for anyone who wants to up their game and empower their students through effective feedback.
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This article follows on from last week’s popular ‘Marking: Why, What and How?‘ blog post: A highly recommended read!
Week 2: What and How?
The long, dark journey of my PGCE was long over. Gone were the constant lesson observations, full-page lesson plans and intense work-scrutiny from my university tutors and in-school mentors. Now I had autonomy. Now I was trusted.
With the onset of my first year as a qualified teacher came the intense sense of duty that one acquires when realizing that this is your chance to ‘sink or swim’.
And swim I did: as hard as I could with the tools I had at the time. But it wasn’t enough.
At about this time of the year in 2006 I was entering my February half-term holiday with an absolute ton of marking to complete. I took inventory of my week’s stock of coffee-inducing baggage and found that it contained:
Classwork
Homework
Tests
Online work
Journals (which I’d just started after receiving the idea from a friend)
Classwork/homework in the form of loose bits of paper and worksheets
Coursework for GCSE Science
The data entry that would come with recording all of this stuff
It was quite a sight to see and I remember Friday drinks with my colleagues that week in which I brought a huge sports bag into the pub. “What’s in the bag, Richard” some said; to which I replied “Marking”. The place erupted with laughter as my friends saw the gritty and not-so-pleased look on my face!
I’m sure they sympathized with me deep-down inside as they were merrily propping-up the bar.
Get a Marking Timetable in Place!
Back then I didn’t have a marking schedule in place and that was a bad idea! Work would just come to me as and when I set the deadlines and I would let it accumulate until I had some semblance of free time in which I would mark, say; four notebooks!
It just wasn’t sustainable.
Nowadays, I follow a very strict marking timetable so that I spread out my marking evenly across a recurring two-week period. I’m happy because I’m getting things done, my students are happy because they are receiving acknowledgement and feedback and parents are happy because they can see measurable steps of improvement due to the way that I mark (more on that later).
I know, for example, that on Tuesday Week 2 I am marking Year 10 IGCSE books. I see them that day so I can easily collect their books. I also know that I’m marking Year 13 IB Diploma books on Friday Week 1; so I’d best get those done on Friday otherwise I’ll have two loads to do the following Monday.
Get a marking timetable in place if you don’t already have one. It’s a self-discipline tool that will set you apart as an organized teacher who actually cares about the everyday work that your students do.
Prioritizing
Some types of marking must take priority over others.
Take Year 11 GCSE coursework, for example. Now if you had a choice between marking that on-time or marking Year 7 notebooks, then you’re definitely going to go for the coursework. It’s a greater priority.
As teachers we are messing up our schedules and creating added stress because we do not ruthlessly prioritize enough. It’s absolutely essential.
All marking is important: every student must receive feedback and acknowledgement for their efforts. However, you may have to give your exam-preparation classes more detailed feedback than your younger classes at certain points in the year. You may also have to give it back in a more swift and timely manner too (e.g. when you’ve just finished the mock exams, or when you’ve had an end-of-unit test).
Learn to prioritize. I’ve known some teachers in their first year who were desperately trying to cover every single scrap of work with ‘two stars and wish’, ‘targets’ and literacy/numeracy feedback. This level of dedication is admirable, but it does not accurately reflect the differing needs of different classes. It may also cause long-term health problems for the teacher!
The Students Should be Doing More Work Than The Teachers!
Lazy teachers are the best teachers because they get the students to do all of the work
These words spoken to me in 2008 by a former colleague got me wondering about my workload as a teacher. Was I spoon-feeding my students too much? Was I giving them too much guidance without giving them the chance to think for themselves?
After a difficult self-appraisal, I took a rough-guess that I was somewhere in the middle.
It was at this point that I started to write questions on students’ work. “What is this part called” on a diagram, for example, or simply a “?” next to something that wasn’t clear.
Have you spotted the question I wrote in this IBDP Biology homework?
Make sure to check that students have actually improved their work! You can set ‘work-improvement’ as a short homework or classwork task.
Use Marking as a Means of Encouragement and Motivation!
We all love positive feedback: especially when it’s sincere.
Make your feedback useful and sincere by writing (or saying) “Well done for….” from time to time. It will help the student to store the concept in their long-term memory and will prop-up their confidence so that they enjoy your subject more and more in the future.
Be aware that this must be constantly reinforced. Once or twice won’t be enough – we should be praising the positive attributes of our students’ work on a regular basis for maximum effect.
You should definitely use your school’s reward system for this. If your school doesn’t have one, then create one (stickers, class points, the chance to win chocolate at the end of the month, etc.)
Showcasing
Placing students’ work on display is an excellent way to take the motivation and inspiration element a step-further.
In my current school we have a weekly ‘Science Stars’ noticeboard where every teacher pins up an excellent piece of work for that week. Students regularly stop by to see their friends’ work, and it offers a great sense of achievement for those students who have been selected to be ‘Stars’.
Showcasing provides a benchmark for other students to aspire too. It shows examples of work considered to be detailed, presentable and accurate, and should aim to teach about the importance ofeffort in achieving the desired outcome.
Showcasing doesn’t have to be done on a weekly noticeboard. It can be done electronically on a VLE or school website or blog, and can even be as simple a task as standing in the middle of the class and showing the students an excellent notebook.
Showcasing also adds an extra level of effectiveness that day-to-day marking doesn’t always reach – it shows that the teacher is noticing things! It makes it really clear what stands out and what does not, and raises the bar for all students to aspire too (when done regularly).
Recurring Work (Very Powerful)
I use journals a lot in my teaching. It’s a shame they are not used more in the profession as a whole (I write about the amazing effectiveness of student journaling in an earlier blog post here)
Every Monday my Year 11, 12 and 13 Chemists bring me a journal filled with:
Revision notes
Answers to exam style questions and test corrections done in class
Mind maps and memory joggers, such as acronyms and mnemonics
A summary of what they’ve learnt that week
Journals used in this way are designed to instill self-discipline in students as they require one to regularly review work done in class. They are also a very excellent way for me to see and address weaknesses quickly, and I can provide feedback on a weekly basis, which helps a lot with focus and improvement.
The students bring their journals to class on Monday and sign their names on the big sheet on the wall. I then read through every book and write one sticky note of feedback in each (this keeps my feedback focused on the essentials, reduces my marking time and ensures that students get a rapid response).
Every Tuesday my students collect their journals from my room, read my feedback and hand them in again the following Monday.
The kind of regular, recurring feedback is great for me and my students. Common misconceptions become clear very quickly (allowing me to address those issues) and my students feel that their teacher cares deeply about their learning (which he does).
Conclusion
I’ve found that consistency is key; no matter what methods of marking I use. My students need to know that I care about the work they produce. Often, this sense of ‘someone actually gives two hoots about the work I do’ is the majorfactor in a student’s success at school.
I think John Hattie summarizes the importance of feedback as a tool for improving performance much better than I can:
The aim is to get the students actively involved in seeking this evidence: their role is not simply to do tasks as decided by teachers, but to actively manage and understand their learning gains. This includes evaluating their own progress, being more responsible for their learning, and being involved with peers in learning together about gains in learning. If students are to become active evaluators of their own progress, teachers must provide the students with appropriate feedback so that they can engage in this task.
Recommended books for further reading (click on the book images to go to their Amazon pages):
Visible Learning for Teachersby John Hattie. Includes excellent strategies for using feedback to dramatically enhance learning.
Formative Assessment by Margaret Heritage. Great for new and experienced teachers alike as it really shows how assessment can be used inform teaching in a practical and easy-to-understand way.
NEXT WEEK:Peer-assessment vs. Self-assessment – The Best Methods to Use
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As a PGCE Student going through two school placements in North Wales back in 2005, I found it hard to keep up with daily admin. Just planning lessons and trying to deliver stimulating content and keeping the students engaged throughout, was challenging enough. Marking: I dreaded it, and found it almost impossible to fit it into my weekly regimen of teaching, planning and completing assignments for university.
Fast forward to today, and marking has become an enjoyable part of my job. I find it relaxing and I enjoy the thought of the motivational effect it will have when I write “Excellent effort. Well done for…..” on a student’s assignment.
Marking is an essential part of a teacher’s job. Get it right, and you’ll have a massive impact on the success and emotional well being of your students. Neglect to do it, and students will become lethargic and lack-luster, and may even resent you personally (or, at the very least, dislike the subject).
Why should we mark our students’ work?
#1. Acknowledgement
“An AMAZING book! 5 stars!”
First and foremost: marking provides acknowledgement for work completed. This is essential, as all students need to know that their time and effort has been noticed, is being monitored and has been recognised.
Whilst working in a previous school some years back I was immediately hit with the reality of this truth.
At the start of the academic year, students handed in reams and reams of homework that they had been assigned over the summer. Thankfully, none of it fell on my shoulders, as it was my first year there.
Stacks and stacks of Physics booklets, Maths past-paper questions and English assignments were handed in and piled on a large table in a special room. It was quite a sight to see. Lots of marking for many teachers and they hadn’t even taught their first lessons of the year yet!
Three months later and I remember walking in to that room just out of curiosity. I was shocked to see that many (but not all) of the student work was still there and hadn’t been marked at all. One student confided to the Head of Department that she would “Never do summer homework again. Teachers don’t even look at it!”. This was then passed on to us in a departmental meeting. Needless to say, there were some very sad-looking faces sat around the table that day.
Students have to know that their teachers care about the work that they do. They need to know that it matters, and that their time and effort is appreciated.
If you’re finding it hard to get your marking done quickly because of other commitments, then at least give your students some specific verbal acknowledgement before they get their work back. “I was looking through your Chemistry homework on Acids and Bases, Jonathan, and I have to say that I was very impressed with your Kc calculations. Well done for learning the correct formulae. I appreciate your time and effort in doing this work. You’ll get it back at some point next week.”
#2. Praise
Every human being responds positively to sincere praise. It motivates us, keeps us working hard and provides us with a sense of validation.
A nice personal story I experienced some years back illustrates this point.
I had just started as a Science teacher at a school in the U.K. and I was given a Year 9 bottom set class to teach, and they were quite a challenge both behaviorally and academically.
Conversations about this class, and individuals in it, were overwhelmingly negative whenever it was raised in the staff-room coffee break. This negativity became quite infectious, and many teachers saw little hope for many of the kids in this class.
I decided on a different tactic. I had learnt on my PGCE that praise always works better than sanctions (NB. Excellent article from Trinity College Londonhere.). I decided to find anything I could to praise these students for. I decided that for two weeks I would not reprimand them for anything unless it was serious. I would ignore low level disruption and just focus on praise.
Quite a bold move some would say, but the effect was dramatic.
If a student drew a half-neat diagram, I would notice the straight lines and colors. If a kid underlined the date I would acknowledge that and say “Brilliant! I’m so pleased that you’re taking great care to present your notes properly”. Handing in homework – instant praise for being organised and responsible.
The result was that by the end of two weeks my students were literally running down the corridor to get to Science class (a little too excited!). They all worked well and behavior management became rather easy. There were marked changes in student attitude, and many confided in me to say that Science was their favorite subject.
This was a good start, but it wasn’t enough to be sustainable.
#3. Correction
Overwhelming praise is great in the initial stages of getting to know a class, but eventually errors in work must be addressed.
So how do you do this in a way that isn’t confrontational or demotivating?
The best way I’ve found is to mention one improvement area first, before addressing a number of praiseworthy acts. This improvement area can be phrased as a ‘target’. This can be done verbally, one-to-one or can be written as a comment:
“Target: Your handwriting a little unclear. Try to make this neater next time. I love your description of solids, liquids and gases. Well done for making your particle diagrams so neat and clear!”
#4. Practice
Assessment for Learningpedagogy, which has been active for around 15 years now, identifies student self-reflection and a mindset of “taking responsibility for my own learning” as key impact areas for marking to be successful.
In short, it means that students should beencouraged to go back over their work, correct it, and formulate targets for improvement and growth.
It can be time-consuming to get the kids used to this and trained up, but once embedded it can be used throughout a child’s schooling as a very powerful way to catalyse improvement and encourage a ‘growth mindset’.
Try writing questions on pieces of student work (see below). “Whats the name of this part”. “How did the Montague’s react to this?”, “Well done for mentioning the word “deforestation’. How could this be a contributing factor in localised flooding”
Especially important for exam-level classes isrepeated past-paper practice.Get your students familiar with the language of official mark schemes. Encourage them to correct the papers they’ve done by being very strict with themselves when following the mark scheme.
Recommended Book: Mark, Plan, Teach
This is a great book that puts the importance of marking in it’s full context as a means to enhance teaching and learning. Full of great examples and practical advice. Highly recommended. By Ross Morrison McGill (Twitter: @teachertoolkit).
For many of us the next few weeks will be very eventful. Christmas is just around the corner and we’re all looking forward to spending time with our families and enjoying the festivities.
For our final year students, however, the festive period will be very busy. They’ll be preparing for mock examinations in IGCSE’s, GCSE’s, ‘A’ – Levels, IBDP subjects and others. Many, unbeknownst to us, will also be topping up their revision time with private tuition and extra classes.
The pressure is on: as it should be.
My view point has always been that if students are going to give up a whole Christmas break revising and studying in this way, then they need to be doing it properly.
As teachers, I feel we have a duty to train and monitor our students thoroughly as they get ready for the most difficult exams they’ve ever taken.
In many schools, students are simply told that they have mock exams coming up in January and that they’d better revise or else! But is this really fair?
We sometimes assume that our students are old enough to take responsibility for their own learning. Sometimes we are content to take a back seat and let the students take ownership of their own revision.
I believe that standpoint neglects the true needs of our learners in terms of guidance and assurance. By adopting the idea that we can leave these kids to their own devices over the Christmas vacation, we are essentially being negligent in our duties.
So how do we make sure that our students are really making the best use of their time? What can we do to truly help them achieve success in the mock exams?
#1: Provide Past-Papers
We must not assume that our students can, or will, find past-papers online.
We must not assume that our students can, or will, find mark schemes and model answers online.
Consider doing the following:
Print out booklets filled with past papers and mark schemes. Give these to your students just before they set off for the Christmas vacation. Perhaps set the papers as a homework? Between 10 and 15 past-papers usually suffices.
If you’re conscious of the cost and/or environmental impact of printing so many past-paper booklets, then simply share the pdfs with your students. You can publish these online via your school’s VLE or even set up a padlet or bulk e-mail.
Encourage your students to complete the past-papers under timed conditions: this will train them to answer efficiently without leaving blank spaces.
Provide the examiner’s reports for each exam paper: these offer rich information which the official mark schemes don’t offer. Show your students how to use these.
Just prior to the mock exams (i.e. just after or just before the Christmas break), consider holding some past-paper ‘clinics’. These can be run after-school if class time is taken up with whole-school exams. Use these clinics to go through the mark schemes to specific papers. Whilst you’ll be sacrificing some of your time, the pay off is that you’ll be helping your students immeasurably and at exactly the right moment for maximum impact.
#2: Teach your students how to revise
Just recently I held a very active Year 11 revision class. It was a summary session on polymers and plastics.
Providing material for revision: such as websites and printed summaries, I gave the students a menu of options from which to complete their topic overviews:
Mind-mapping
Flash cards/revision cards
Writing bullet points
Recording notes on their phone (spoken verbally)
Creating a website summary
A Google slides presentation
Build a game or quiz
Past-paper question hunt
Anything else they could think of
Sessions like this encourage the students to find out what their preferred methods of revision are. They also show students new methods they may never have thought of before.
Try to increase the frequency of revision sessions like this as the terminal exams approach. Use tried-and-tested methods you already know about, and draw upon the ideas of your students for new creative inspiration.
#3: Do your students know when to revise?
Have you done the research yourself? How many hours per night should students be revising? Are morning sessions better than afternoon sessions? How many breaks should they have? When should they have breaks? What should they eat? When should they eat? When should they sleep, and for how long?
Surprisingly, the vast majority of educators do not know the answers to these questions. As a consequence, our students are often misguided and left to figure all this out by themselves.
Whilst research in the area of effective revision and knowledge retention can be conflicting, there are many startling consistencies. I’ve summarised this research in my ‘Mock Exams Preparation!’ infographic below. Please feel free to share this with your students, colleagues and parents. They need to know this information!
#4: Monitor their revision over the school vacation
Yes, I know that we’re on holiday too.
Yes, I know that we deserve a break too.
What I’m suggesting is not massively time-consuming, but it will have a MASSIVE impact on the success of your students.
Set up some kind of online journal, where the students can record a few sentences each day describing what they revised. Consider the following ideas:
Make the journal open for all students to see, maybe by creating a Google doc that every student has access to. This will provide other students with ideas as the vacation progresses and they see what their peers are revising. It also adds a thin layer of accountability, as it’s easy to see who hasn’t added to the class journal. Use your judgement of your students to see if this is appropriate. Maybe ask them for their opinion about it before you set it up.
Make the journal closed, perhaps by setting up a Google doc for each student that you can check each day. Maybe an e-mail system works better for you: where students e-mail you a few sentences each day.
Market the idea as a ‘help tool’: an online journal where students can record what revision techniques worked well for them that day, and ask any questions they have. The other students in the group can then answer those questions, comment on the suggestions and the teacher can even offer written guidance too. This ‘collaborative’ form of journaling can have an amazing motivational effect, and can even raise students’ enjoyment of your subject.
There’s one experience in my sixth-form schooling that I’ll never forget as long as I live. It shows the impact that a dedicated teacher can have on his or her students.
It was Christmas 2001. I was 17 and getting ready for my mock exams, but I was slacking off. One week into the holiday and I hadn’t done any ‘AS’ – Level Physics revision.
Then, the telephone rang. I picked it up and to my shock and embarrassment it was my Physics teacher.
“How’s the revision going, Richard?”
“Err, err, it’s going okay, sir”
“Do you have any questions so far?”
“Err, no I think I’m good”
“Okay then. Don’t forget that the exam is only 10 days away”
“Okay. Thank you, sir, bye”
“Bye Richard”
If ever there was a wake-up call in my life, that was it. I was embarrassed to have to lie to my teacher. The revision wasn’t going well – I hadn’t done any.
That day I pulled up my socks and went at my studies like a steam train. It was the phone call that did it – a call from someone who cared. Someone I respected.
Sometimes a little bit of pain does a lot of good. Left to my own devices I would have crammed my Physics revision into the last few days of the holiday.
Summary
Provide plenty of past-papers, mark schemes and examiner’s reports. Crucially: go through the papers when the students have completed them.
Teach your students the science of good revision. Feel free to share my infographic with them!
Monitor revision over the Christmas vacation (very powerful!). Set up some kind of online journaling system that suits your students. Ask for their input on it before you set it up.
Don’t miss the Christmas Giveaway for 2017!From 25th – 29th December,Richard’s book will be free to download on the Amazon Kindle store globally.Merry Christmas and enjoy (and tell your friends)!
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