Tag: planning

Maintaining Professional Distance as a High School Teacher: Ten Essential Guidelines

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.

As teachers, we often form strong connections with our students as we guide them on their learning journeys. This can be incredibly rewarding for us – we gain much joy from helping our students to improve. However, it’s essential to maintain a professional distance to ensure that our relationships with students remain appropriate and conducive to learning. The following ten guidelines, adapted from research by Willing and Haney (1994), provide a framework for maintaining this balance. Please note that William and Haney’s research was aimed at ABE (Adult Basic Education) teachers, so I have attempted to back-extrapolate the guidance to cover high-school teaching.

Before we begin

An important note on context before we start – the guidelines described in today’s blog post are exactly that – general principles to consider. ALWAYS follow your school’s official guidance regarding professional distance – and if you’re not sure about what the expectations are for a particular scenario, then seek advice from a member of your school’s senior leadership team.

Rule #1: Know Your Own Vulnerabilities

Understanding your own personal “shadows”; unmet needs, motivations, and expectations; is crucial. As teachers, we often enjoy the appreciation we receive from students, but it’s important to avoid crossing the line into a co-dependent relationship. Recognizing this helps ensure that your role remains that of an educator, not a confidant. Whilst our students may wish to divulge sensitive information to us, it’s important that this information is passed on to the appointed safeguarding individuals in your organization in a professional manner (more on this later).

Rule #2: Understand the Temporary Nature of the Relationship

Teaching is a temporary relationship. While it’s easy to feel close to students, allowing them to perceive you as a friend can imply a level of commitment that neither party is prepared to uphold. This understanding helps in setting clear boundaries from the outset. In addition to this, the teaching role requires there to be a level of authority present within the classroom – and that authority belongs in the hands of the teacher. It is difficult to exercise a level of authority when students perceive you as a ‘friend’. We are not our students’ friends – we are their educators, and that means our focus must be on maximizing our students’ attainment and progress, and not on anything else.

Rule #3: Know Professional Standards for Behaviour

Familiarize yourself with your institution’s guidelines for out-of-class interactions with students. These rules are in place to protect both you and your students, ensuring that all interactions remain professional.

If you are someone who is designing a child safeguarding policy for your school, or if you’re seeking extra guidance, then you should definitely familiarize yourself with national and international guidelines. Some useful documents are linked below:

Please note that these resources may be updated at any time, so make sure you are accessing the latest versions of the guidance.

Rule #4: Be Mindful of Your Communication

The way we communicate, through touch, language, or self-disclosure, sends messages to students. What might seem like a harmless gesture, or a casual conversation, can be misinterpreted, potentially blurring professional boundaries.

In the context of a high school teaching scenario, self-disclosure on the part of the teacher can be damaging – not least because it leads to excessive familiarity, which we should aim to avoid. Some forms of disclosure, such as describing the study habits and techniques we successfully implemented when we were students, may potentially be helpful to our learners – so, of course, there are levels to this! Revealing a personal story of pain and tragedy, however, may be not an appropriate activity for a lesson.

Seek official school guidance on the matter. In addition, when describing useful scenarios that involve a level of storytelling to students, you may wish to precede the description with….

  • Some people experience/find that…………………………..
  • In my experience, students who perform well do these things……………………..
  • I once knew someone who…………………………

Keeping stories in a kind of ‘third person’ context can help to maintain professional distance.

In terms of touch, it is essential that you adhere to your school’s Code of Conduct and guidance. In the majority of high-school scenarios, touch should NEVER be initiated by the teacher unless:

  1. There is an educational purpose to the physical contact, such as adjusting body posture in a physical activity (e.g. adjusting a student’s stance in a martial arts lesson), music lesson (e.g. holding a violin bow correctly), art activity (e.g. holding a paintbrush correctly) or other scenarios. ALWAYS ask the students’ permission before initiating the physical contact and double-check with your school’s senior leadership team before beginning the course.
  2. There’s an essential Health and Safety purpose, such as rescuing a child from drowning, administering first aid, preventing an accident (e.g. in science class) or other scenarios.

Rule #5: Express Clear Expectations

Clearly outline the time boundaries, the learning process, and what is expected from both you and your students. This helps in establishing a professional relationship where everyone knows their roles and responsibilities.

You may to consider giving your students some time to create a class list of expectations that everyone will agree to follow. In my experience, students will often approach this with maturity and will come up with sensible suggestions, such as….

  • We will raise our hands if we have questions, and we will not shout out.
  • We will not play on our phones in class, and we will ask for permission to use our phones if we need to.
  • We will complete our homework on time.
  • We will be punctual to class.

It may be useful to bring out this list from time to time during the academic year to remind the students of the rules and expectations they have come up with.

Rule #6: Consider Students’ Perceptions of Interaction

Recognize that students may interpret personal information sharing or familiar language as signs of a personal relationship. Understanding this helps you maintain a professional distance.

Rule #7: Be Aware of Cultural Differences

Cultural expectations regarding interactions between teachers and students can vary widely. What may seem normal in one culture could be inappropriate in another. Being culturally sensitive helps in maintaining professional relationships.

Rule #8: Use Names Appropriately

The use of first names or nicknames can unintentionally create a sense of intimacy, especially when it comes to how students are expected to address their teachers. Be mindful of how you address students too, as this can affect the professional nature of your relationship. Only use the students’ official names as recorded in the school register and double-check with a senior teacher if a student requests to be addressed by a different name. Check your school’s guidance on how students should address teachers, too.

Rule #9: Dress Professionally

Your attire sends messages about how seriously you take your role. Dressing too casually can give the impression that the educational process is not important, while overly provocative clothing can cause discomfort in diverse cultural settings.

Unfortunately, whilst the issue of teacher dress codes was pretty much cut-and-dry in the twentieth century and earlier, it has become quite a controversial topic to discuss in recent years. I think it is useful to remind ourselves that, as teachers, we are representing the process of education (not just our own personal fashion preferences) through the way that we choose to dress.

Case in Point: An Anchorage District teacher was put on administrative leave after posting a clip of herself in the classroom, on X. The clip was shared by the hugely popular Libs of Tik Tok account, and the teacher in question received much criticism online due to the way she was dressed at school. You can read the full story, here. You may also wish to read my blog post which contains guidance on how teachers should behave on social media, here.

Rule #10: Know Referral Resources

Familiarize yourself with resources available for student referral and how to guide students to them. This helps in addressing students’ issues without becoming personally involved in their problems. For example, you may be lucky enough to have a school counselor employed on-site that you can refer students to. If not, then look into official partnerships the school has with local agencies and professionals.

Conclusion

By following these guidelines, we can maintain a healthy balance between being approachable and upholding the professional standards necessary for effective teaching. It’s about fostering a positive learning environment while protecting both yourself and your students from unwanted issues.

Bibliography

Willing, D.C., & Haney, H. (1994). Maintaining “Professional Distance”: A Dilemma for the ABE Teacher. Developments, 10(4), 6-7. Available at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED372265.pdf (Accessed: 18 August 2024).

Alaska Daily News (2024) Anchorage teacher put on administrative leave after post by prominent right-wing social media account. Available at: https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/education/2024/03/07/anchorage-teacher-put-on-administrative-leave-after-post-by-prominent-right-wing-social-media-account/ (Accessed: 18 August 2024).

Three Ways to Boost Your Classroom Confidence as a Teacher

Posted on by richardjamesrogers

An article 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:

One of the biggest factors that will determine your effectiveness in the classroom as a teacher will be your confidence in front of your students. Your students can only have faith in you if you have faith in yourself.

In today’s blog post, I will go through the top three actions you can take to immediately boost your classroom confidence as a teacher. These tips will prove to be equally useful for both trainee teachers and more experienced educators. Let’s get started!

#1: Know the topic you are teaching REALLY well

By far the best way to boost your confidence in the classroom, or even in any public presentation you will give (e.g. at a talk, seminar or assembly) is to have excellent subject knowledge.

This does NOT mean that you must have a master’s degree or a PhD to be an excellent teacher (on the contrary, some research even indicates that gaining an advanced degree has no effect on a teacher’s overall effectiveness). What it does mean, however, is you must read ahead, you must understand all of the content you are delivering to your students, and you must thoroughly understand how you will use the resources you have selected. Consider enacting the following action steps:

  1. Read over the lesson material before you deliver the lesson. Do NOT assume that, just because you have a degree in this subject area or because you have taught the lesson a few times previously, that you will automatically understand all of the content. It can often be quite surprising just how much you may have forgotten when you read over the lesson materials again.
  2. Never provide resources that involve questioning (e.g. worksheets and live quizzes), if the model answers are not available. Also, make sure you have read over the model answers to such questions and that you understand those answers really well.
Check out my award-winning book on Amazon today!

Subject knowledge is the ultimate confidence booster because it allows you to walk into a lesson knowing the ins and outs of what you will teach. Knowing the topic really well also prepares you for any questions the students may have on the content, and also provides you with the skills you need to provide your students with exam-style practice (never neglect that, too).

#2: Plan EVERY lesson thoroughly

Even if you have been teaching full time for twenty years (as I have), you must still go through the process of planning each and every lesson. This does not mean that you need to write a full A4 lesson plan for every class, like you did when you were a trainee. What it does mean, however, is that you should know the ‘running order’ of activities for every lesson you deliver. A good lesson should include the following:

  • A quick starter activity (see this link for ideas)
  • Between 1 and 3 activities that make up the body of the lesson
  • A quick plenary that summarizes what was covered (see this link for ideas)

I recommend using EdTech where possible for any part of your lesson. Live quiz apps are really good, as are shared collaborative whiteboards like Miro and G Suite tools.

Research tells us that lessons that are planned are almost always more effective than those that are not. For me personally, I simply use a teacher’s planner (see this link for the planner I created that you can purchase) and I include a few bullet points of notes for each lesson. I also do a weekly review, so that I know where I am at and where I need to go next. You can read about my top lesson planning tips at this very popular blog post.

#3: Utilize Professional Intelligence

What is ‘Professional Intelligence’ you might ask? Well, put simply, it is professional knowledge that you have gathered about your students. The kind of information you should acquire includes, at a minimum:

  • Student names – these can take a while to remember, even for the most seasoned educators among us. Consider utilizing live quiz apps in your first few lessons – these will help you to quickly identify the students’ preferred names.
  • Which students work well together and which students should be kept apart – this information can be gathered by simply talking with colleagues and line managers about the students before you meet them, or you can gather this information firsthand by trying out a few group games and activities.
  • Any students with Additional Learning Needs/Special Educational Needs in the class – make sure you have read their Individual Education Plans (if available), spoken with the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (or the equivalent person in your school) and check out this blog post for tips on helping such students.

You may also want to gather non-confidential information about your students, such as hobbies and interests, as this may help you to create lessons that are tailored to student preferences. Also, don’t forget to check on the running order of school events – some students may need to leave class early, for example, to attend some kind of school event (e.g., orchestra practice) – have you planned for that?

Conclusion

Every teacher must exhibit confidence in the classroom in order to deliver an effective lesson. Much of this will come from experience, but even the most seasoned educators must enact three main action items before any lesson begins:

  • Read ahead and understand the topic you will be teaching
  • Plan every lesson, even if that just involves writing a few bullet points that go through the running order of activities
  • Gathered (and thought about how to utilize) professional intelligence

The Top Five Mistakes That Trainee High School Teachers Are Making

Posted on by richardjamesrogers

An article 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:

Anyone who is new to the teaching profession is bound to make mistakes. There’s so much to learn and so much is at stake: the future careers of young people are literally in your hands. The pressure can be overwhelming at times, and this can cause trainees to panic.

Relax! This blog post was made for you!

I will go through the top five mistakes that trainee high school teachers are making all over the world as I write this – and please do not be embarrassed if this article reads like a self-summary of what you are doing wrong at the moment. We’ve ALL been there. We’ve ALL made mistakes, and I’ve personally made every mistake in this list too (so I’m a real expert on this subject matter).

Let’s get started!

#1: Getting the marking balance wrong

We are eager to impress when we are trainees, but there’s no need for that eagerness to translate into late evenings, busy weekends and overloaded school holidays in which we are covering every piece of student work with lengthy written feedback. I’ve been there, and I can tell you from first-hand experience – it’s not worth it!

Grading every single piece of student work by hand is not the most effective, or efficient, means to provide feedback anyway. Consider utilising the following techniques:

  • ‘Live’ Marking: This is a personal favorite of mine, as ardent followers of this blog and my podcast will know. The reason I love ‘live’ marking so much is because it is the ultimate feedback strategy – it’s efficient, personal and effective. It’s also simple to do – either walk around the class with a marking pen in your hand and mark student work in real-time, as they are doing a task, or call each student to your desk one at a time. Make sure you have a short conversation with each student as you write feedback on their work.
  • Verbal Feedback: This needs to be done properly, but it can be just as efficient and effective as ‘live’ marking. Have conversations with your students and either write/stamp ‘VF’ or ‘Verbal Feedback Given’ on the students’ work or (even better) ask the student to write down what you said in a different colour (e.g. “Mr Rogers said that I should label my diagrams using a ruler”). Since the students must process what you said in order to write down the feedback you have given, it acts as a great tool for building long-term memory.
  • Peer and self-assessment: Get your students to swap their work and mark each other’s or allow them the opportunity to assess their own work. Just make sure that the students have the official mark scheme/set of answers (otherwise this whole technique won’t work as efficiently as it should – and, before someone says it, no – I don’t think students should be spending time thinking about what the answer ‘should be’ and trying to upgrade answers without a mark scheme – unless you have a surplus of time in which to carry out this very exhaustive activity). Students should be encouraged to make corrections to wrong questions rather than just putting a cross or a zero next to answers, and they should be using a different coloured pen/text than the original answer was written in.
  • Automated assessment: There’s so much software available today that will set student work and grade it all for you. If your school has such systems available, then use them! Live quiz apps, such as Blooket, Kahoot!, Rolljak and others can be used for this purpose (set them in ‘assignment’ mode) as well as bespoke software such as MyMaths (for maths), Educake (for various subjects), Lexia Learning (for English) and others.
  • Learning Journals – as a recurring method of reflection, summarizing and revision, it really doesn’t get better than this. Used digitally (e.g., through Google Docs) or manually (e.g. through physical notebooks) learning journals offer stduents a creative and personal way to record their learning journeys. Make sure that you collect them in on the same day every week (or two weeks) and return them as per an agreed schedule too. In terms of satisfying a homework timetable, learning journals offer an interesting and feasible solution too – students are very unlikely to forget this ‘recurring’ homework due to its regularity and, due to their personable nature, learning journals can be really fun tools to work with. The students can fill them with whatever they like – mind maps, flash cards, past-paper questions, lists, etc.

The essential message here is to increase the range of assessment methods you are using – focusing heavily on efficiency and quality rather than how many scribbles you are able to pen onto student assignments during your weekends (which, by the way, is time that you should be spending relaxing).

I’ve written at length about efficient and effective marking strategies in the past. If you are interested in learning more about the various techniques available (and how to implement them), then check out these blog posts of mine:

My second book, entitled The Power of Praise: Empowering Students Through Positive Feedback, is also a great read if you are serious about exploring a range of feedback methods that that have a positive impact on your students’ learning experiences. Click on the image below to be taken to its Amazon page:

#2: Trying to be friends with the students

There’s a concept in education that has, unfortunately, become somewhat forgotten these days: Professional Distance.

The best description I could find on the concept of Professional Distance comes from an article by James Barron at start-teaching.com:

In the context of education, the concept of “professional distance” plays a vital role in maintaining clear boundaries between teachers and students. As emphasised by Gould and Roffey-Barentsen (2014), teachers must be mindful of preserving a degree of professional distance to prevent any blurring of lines between their personal lives and their roles as educators.

James Barron (2023), The Relationships and Boundaries Between the Teaching Role and Other Professional Roles’ [Online]. Available at https://start-teaching.com/the-relationships-and-boundaries-between-the-teaching-role-and-other-professional-roles/

In today’s world of social media, IG influencers and digital side-hustles, maintaining Professional Distance between us and the students we teach has become more challenging than ever before. In essence, however, the fundamental concept is the same as it always was: whether you are a 22-year-old trainee or a 52-year-old seasoned educator, you are seen as an authority figure in the classroom. The students are NOT your friends. They are young people that we help, support and educate, and that’s where our professional relationship with them ends. We do not add them as friends on social media. We do not accept their follow requests. We do not chat with them on any non-school approved channel.

I’ve written a separate blog post on the issue of Professional Distance in the digital realm, which you can read here: How Should Teachers Behave on Social Media? – Richard James Rogers

#3: Failing to consult with colleagues or line-managers

As a trainee teacher, or even a seasoned educator with twenty years under your belt, you are not expected to know everything. No question is too stupid to ask, so please ask!

I remember feeling really anxious one day as a relatively new 29-year-old teacher at an international school in Thailand. I had a question about the next topic to teach in a program of study, and I THOUGHT THAT MY HEAD OF DEPARTMENT WOULD THINK I WAS INCOMPETENT IF I ASKED ABOUT IT. Sure enough, after fretting over the issue for a day or two, I had to go and see him and ask about this – I needed the information.

I’ll never forget what he said at the end of the conversation: “Richard, I just want to say thank you for asking about this. Because when people don’t ask, they mess things up.”

Wow! That wasn’t what I had expected. My nervousness over asking questions, no matter how silly I thought they were, vanished that instant.

Your colleagues and line-managers will ALWAYS be your best resources at school. They will know how you should deal with certain students, back stories to issues, which printer to use and for what purpose, and who the key people are in school who can help you with other issues. This is why it is SO IMPORTANT for teachers to be cordial and collegiate with all staff at school.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to utilize the ‘colleague domain’ to work productively with your coworkers at school, then this blog post of mine that I wrote some time ago is a great place to start: Seeking Help from Colleagues: Tips for Teachers (Secret no. 11) – Richard James Rogers

#4: Engaging in gossip or inappropriate staffroom talk

Gossip is ALWAYS toxic. It generates distrust, adds to an overall atmosphere of negativity in a school and, worse: it can even get you fired. Gossip has this juicy allure to it that is very attractive – it reels people in and can often make one lower their normal professional defenses – causing people to add their ‘two cents’ worth without seriously considering their words beforehand.

Do not engage in gossip and stay away from people who gossip (if you can). Just your physical association with known gossipers can be a red flag for senior management – and, as a trainee teacher, you don’t want that!

I once remember sitting in the staffroom at a North Wales school during my PGCE (teacher training year) back in 2005. Two colleagues in my department had an altercation over something curriculum based and one teacher told the other to “F…. off”, in front of everyone!

The gossip soon followed the next day. Even the science technicians were in on it: “He should have received a slap for saying that” chirped one individual in the prep room that day. My Head of Department was there too, and I was being quiet and minding my own business (i.e. doing what you should do in this situation). Finally, he asked me, “What do you think about this whole thing, Richard”.

I replied with “I’m staying out of it. I have enough to focus on with my day-to-day work as it is.” (or something like that). My Head of Department was clearly impressed and responded with “That’s the best way to be, Richard”.

I later found out that he wrote a glowing review of my performance to my university.

In line with the subject of gossip is that of inappropriate information. You DO NOT need to share all of the details regarding your personal life with your colleagues – in fact, the less you share, the better!

One of my favourite quotes regarding this subject matter is as follows:

Never talk about your salary, your love life or your next move”

Unknown

If anyone can help me cite that quote (or its derivative), then please let me know. Whilst it is a little tongue-in-cheek, it does point to a very important concept in the workplace: your colleagues are not your friends – they are the people you work with. Whilst you can, of course, have very positive professional relationships with your colleagues (and they should be willing to help you out when you need it too, and you should help them when they need it), you must remember that egos are involved at the workplace, competition anxiety is real thing and that your colleagues are always capable of reporting you to senior management at any time.

In short – keep every interaction with your colleagues professional. Keep personal information to yourself.

#5: Planning day-by-day and not taking a long-term view

This is a common mistake that trainee teachers make but, thankfully, it’s usually an easy one to solve.

As trainees, we are often very new to the lesson planning process, and it can be difficult to think in the long and medium term as we are often so fixated with just planning lesson-by-lesson, or week-by-week.

It is crucial, however, that you know what the overall plans are for the academic year as a whole. This is called ‘curriculum mapping’, and the best teachers are also the best curriculum mappers.

In essence, it means that you must know when topics are supposed to be taught and what the key milestones are during the academic year, such as:

  • End of unit tests
  • Half-termly/mid-semester tests
  • End of term/semester tests
  • End of year exams
  • Coursework deadlines for students

Having a long-term view like this will allow you maintain an appropriate pace and will also ensure that you maintain consistency of instruction with some of your more experienced colleagues in the department – you certainly don’t want to be behind them in the teaching schedule, unless there’s a good reason (e.g. you are teaching a bottom set at a slower pace).

Summary

These are the top five mistakes that I have witnessed trainee teachers making over the past 17 years of my career, and I have also been guilty of all of these on occasion:

  • Marking inefficiently
  • Trying to be ‘friends’ with the students
  • Failing to seek help from colleagues when in doubt (remember, no question is too stupid to ask)
  • Engaging in gossip and/or revealing too much personal information about yourself to your colleagues
  • Planning in the short-term rather than the long-term

Review your own practices and daily behavior against the five points above to see if there are things that you could do differently.

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Five Strategies for Engaging Quiet, Shy and Withdrawn Students

Posted on by richardjamesrogers

An article 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.

Students who are quiet in class are often the ones who are most overlooked by educators. They tend to be compliant; they rarely (if ever) ask questions; they turn in their homework on time and generally just get on with things.

One could be forgiven for thinking of such learners as the ‘perfect’ students.

This is, however, quite a narrowly focused viewpoint and stance to take. Such students may be well behaved, but how can we be sure that they have understood the content we have delivered in a lesson (aside from formally assessing them)? Additionally, how are we, as educators, helping our quiet and withdrawn students to develop their self-confidence and key skills, such as public speaking, teamwork and problem-solving?

It is my conviction that such students can be reached, as I have successfully engaged hundreds of such learners over the past 17 years in my role as a secondary school mathematics and science teacher. The process requires patience and long-term planning, but the results one can achieve are well worth this investment in time and energy.

So, let’s explore some practical strategies to engage these quiet and withdrawn students.

Strategy #1: Use more spatial response tasks in class

The concept here is quite simple: a ‘spatial response’ task allows students to answer questions without verbalizing anything.

“How is that possible?” you might ask.

Well, instead of the traditional ‘hands up’ for answering a question, students use movement and their physical bodies to signal their responses. This is a good first step in any long-term ‘engagement development’ plan you may have for a shy student, as they can interact with the lesson content without having to say anything. That. at least, is better than no engagement at all.

Two of my favourite such spatial response tasks are….

A ‘Human Graph’ and ‘True or False’ Walls

Do you want to know the opinions of your students on a subject matter? Maybe you’re taking a survey (e.g. Which day is the best for canteen food?). Maybe you have a list of multiple-choice questions and you want a fun way to get the kids through them.

A human graph might be the right tool for you!

What if you just want to quickly check your students’ conceptual understandings (e.g. as a plenary)? You could ask some true/false questions and get the kids to raise their hands, or you could use a way cooler (and more fun) method! 

Choose one wall to be the ‘True’ wall and one to be the ‘False’ wall.  Once you’ve asked the question, get the kids to walk to the correct wall. It’s that simple! Just make sure that the kids walk back to the middle of the classroom before each question. 

This great illustration from Pop shows you the steps to take for each of these activities:

I’ve written a separate blog post that covers spatial learning activities in more detail, here. Please do check it out – all of the activities I write about have been field tested by me in the classroom, and they work!

Strategy #2: Do more ‘live marking’

Live marking means that you have more one-to-one conversations with students about their work, in real time. Here’s another great thing about it too: Live marking is not only a highly efficient formative assessment tool, but it also provides a comfortable space in which most of your shy and quiet students will be willing to open up and talk. There are two main methods to implement live marking: ‘diffusively’ and ‘absorptively’. Let’s explore these in more detail.

Diffusive Live-Marking

This is really simple:

  1. Set a task for your students to complete (it could be a Google Slides presentation, a worksheet to complete, some questions from their textbook to do, etc.).
  2. When a few minutes have passed, ‘diffuse’ through the classroom by walking around with a marking pen in hand (I use a red pen). 
  3. Mark student work in real time, as they are doing it. Of course – reinforce your written comments with verbal feedback (and you can even write ‘verbal feedback give’ or ‘VF’ on the work).

Hey presto – you just saved yourself an hour or so of after-school marking time, and you’ve engaged some quiet students in some short conversations.

Check out my award-winning book for high-school teachers on Amazon.

Absorptive Live-Marking

In this scenario, one can imagine the teacher being like a ‘sponge’ that ‘absorbs’ the students: instead of walking around the classroom to mark work in ‘real-time’, you sit at your desk (or at a designated ‘consultation point’ in the room) and call the students to your desk one-at-a-time. 

Which is better – absorptive or diffusive live-marking?

In my personal opinion, both forms of marking can have a role to play in engaging our shy learners.

I tend to use absorptive live-marking more than diffusive as I am lucky enough to work in a school where the overwhelming majority of the students are very well-behaved. This means that I can call them to my desk one-at-a-time and the class will still stay on-task. A big advantage of the absorptive method is that I can give more detailed and personal feedback to each student and I have my whole desk-space to neatly mark the work on. 

Strategy 3: Utilise Live-Quiz Apps

These have been around for quite a while now. Most educators have heard about Kahoot!, but did you know that are a wide-range of live quiz apps, similar in style to Kahoot!, that utilise multiple-choice questioning?

When it comes to engaging shy, withdrawn and quiet students, Quizlet Live and Blooket are my two most favourite apps as they encourage peer-to-peer communication. Let’s find out a little more about them.

Blooket

Blooket distinguishes itself from other quiz-based apps in that there are actually multiple types of games that you can play with the students, all based on the much-loved multiple-choice quiz format. My personal favorites are:

  • Crypto Hack: With a dark theme and Bitcoin-centric atmosphere, Crypto Hack is one of the students’ favorites. After answering a series of questions correctly the students are then able to guess fellow students’ passwords (passwords are chosen from a pre-determined list that the game provides). A correct guess allows the player to hack the other player and steal imaginary crypto currency from them.
  • Fishing Frenzy: This one’s a bit crazy – hilariously so! Students, again, answer multiple choice questions but this time they cast a virtual fishing line into the water after answering correctly. What they pull out are usually different types of fish, but they can pull out junk and other crazy objects too. Players are ranked by the weight of fish they pull out of the water. Players can also ‘plunder’ other players’ fish and steal their poundage. It gets very competitive and you can expect to hear a lot of laughter in the classroom as this gets going!
  • Tower Defense: According to Blooket themselves, this is their most popular game. In this mode, the students answer multiple choice questions and are then presented with a map. On this map, the students must place towers in strategic positions to shoot enemies that appear on-screen. In this sense, Tower Defense is more similar to the kind of computer games that children are playing in their free time than all of the other game modes provided.

Quizlet Live

Hidden within Quizlet‘s excellent flash card system is a little-known activity called Quizlet Live. When the teacher selects this, the students in your classroom join the game (by entering a code on their devices) and are then placed into random teams. Once the game begins, all of the players in each team are given different questions to answer, so they MUST help each other if they want to win. The first team to pass twelve rounds of questions is the winner, and the teacher’s screen shows the real-time position of each team (1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place and so on).

Quizlet Live has two features which I believe make it a very unique learning tool:

  1. Students can read through the flash cards for the game as they’re waiting for other students to join. This, I believe, gives Quizlet Live a big advantage over many other quiz-based systems as students are not sitting around doing nothing as they’re waiting.
  2. Quizlet Live provides each team member with a different question, making the game more thorough/rigorous than some other quiz-based systems. Every member of the team has to answer their question correctly before the team can move to the next round.

Quizlet has an immense database of flash cards created by other educators from all over the world, so it’s highly likely that you’ll find a question set that is suitable for your topic. If not, then you can make a set yourself.

Strategy 4: Try ‘Flipped Learning’

Flipped Learning allows students the opportunity to research a topic before it is explored in class. This may provide your quieter students with more confidence to speak up as they will have had a chance to acquire some knowledge before the lesson begins.

The following extract comes from a great guest blog post on Flipped Learning that Kiara Miller from The Speakingnerd wrote for me back in March 2023:

“A flipped classroom is a form of blended learning model where students learn about new concepts at home. They then discuss their findings with their teachers and the rest of the students in a classroom. With this teaching approach, students interact with the course material beforehand and while inside the classroom, they engage in interactive group learning activities.

Students aren’t bombarded with new material, but rather, they come with their own understanding of the concepts. That is through online videos and any other supporting content that can be text-based. It can also be provided by a teacher or students can do their own research.“

You can read the full blog post, here: https://richardjamesrogers.com/2023/03/14/5-reasons-for-teachers-to-try-out-flipped-classrooms/

Strategy 5: Seek professional help for the student if no improvement is observed

All students who exhibit shy and withdrawn behaviors have underlying reasons for their lack of confidence, or lack of engagement. In some cases, it’s worth referring such students to trusted professionals, such as school counselors, who will be able to work with them on a one-to-one basis.

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What is ‘Scrum’ and How Can it be Used in High Schools?

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An article 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 a recently designated Certified ScrumMaster®, I thought it would be appropriate for me to share my newly acquired knowledge with my readers – with a particular emphasis on how Scrum can be utilised in the high school classroom, and when managing teams of high school teachers. Scrum is a hugely popular Agile Project Management technique that is most commonly associated with boardrooms, not classrooms! Today I aim to explain why Scrum is an excellent framework for use with any school project, and how the logistics of the system work.

The Student Experience

For students, adopting Scrum is like discovering a secret potion that turbocharges their project work. Here’s how it unfolds:

Project proposal: Picture a brainstorming session where students pitch their project ideas – from building a mini-robot to organizing a charity event. With Scrum, they can form self-organized teams around these ideas, each team with its unique blend of skills and passions.

There are three ‘roles’ that students can choose to play in Scrum:

  • Product Owner: Decides which tasks need to be completed as part of the project and clarifies requirements. The Product Owner manages the Product Backlog – prioritizing tasks that require the most attention and keeping track of team progress.
  • Scrum Master: Understands Scrum philosophy and facilitates and coordinates the entire process of Scrum.
  • Developer: These are the team members who carry out the daily work of creating the parts of the project that the Product Owner decides are the highest priority. Developers are the only team members who MUST attend the Daily Scrum, but the Product Owner and Scrum Master can join too.

Sprints and ‘Increments’: In Scrum, projects are broken down into manageable chunks called sprints – think of them as short, focused bursts of activity. For our high school heroes, this means setting clear goals for each sprint – whether it’s designing a prototype or conducting research – and diving headfirst into action. A sprint should last between 7 – 10 days, ideally (although, officially, a Sprint can last up to four weeks but I don’t recommend this). The objective of the sprint is to produce a useable part of the project, called an ‘increment’. This increment could be a data analysis on Google Sheets, a working model of particular concept, a series of slides, a short video with text, a summary of research conducted, etc.

Daily Scrum (or ‘Standup’): Every day, students gather for quick (no longer than 15 minute) meetings, sharing progress updates, discussing roadblocks (or ‘impediments’), and tweaking their plans accordingly. It’s like having a daily pow-wow to keep everyone on the same page and ensure that nobody gets lost in the shuffle. Of course, you may not teach the students every single day, which is why Scrum teaches them how to collaborate and agree upon a daily meeting place (e.g. the school library).

Feedback and Adaptation: Scrum thrives on feedback loops, and our students are no exception. Whether it’s peer reviews, teacher feedback, or reflections on their own progress, students constantly iterate and refine their work, learning the invaluable art of adaptation along the way. The review part of the Scrum cycle is called the ‘Sprint Review’ and should be conducted at the end of every Sprint. It is a process designed for the team’s benefit, so it may not need to be run as a whole class presentation but rather a group meeting of around 30 minutes.

Showcase and Celebrate: As each sprint concludes, students showcase their achievements – whether it’s a working prototype, a compelling presentation, or a tangible outcome (once again, the outcome is called an ‘increment’). It’s a moment of pride and celebration, reminding them of how far they’ve come and fueling their drive for the next sprint.

Utilising Scrum with teams of teachers

Now, let’s shift gears and zoom in on the teachers – the unsung heroes behind the scenes. The very same Scrum cycle that we use with students can be used with teachers too – the framework doesn’t change. Here’s how Scrum empowers them to lead by example:

Facilitation: As senior teachers lead their teams of educators, they wear the hat of facilitators rather than dictators. They create a safe space for collaboration, encourage open dialogue, and empower their peers to take ownership of their professional development.

Coaching and Support: Just like coaches on the sidelines, senior teachers provide guidance, mentorship, and support to their fellow educators. They help them navigate challenges, sharpen their skills, and unleash their full potential – all while fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

Alignment and Coordination: With multiple projects and initiatives in play, senior teachers use Scrum to align their team’s efforts, coordinate schedules, and maximize productivity. It’s like conducting a symphony orchestra, where every teacher plays their part in perfect harmony.

Adaptability and Innovation: In today’s fast-paced educational landscape, adaptability is key, and Scrum equips senior teachers with the tools to embrace change and drive innovation. They experiment with new teaching methods, incorporate feedback loops, and stay ahead of the curve – all while inspiring their colleagues to do the same.

Celebrating Success: Last but not least, senior teachers celebrate the wins – big and small. Whether it’s a breakthrough in teaching pedagogy or a collaborative project that captivates students, they shine a spotlight on achievements and foster a culture of appreciation and camaraderie.

So there you have it – a glimpse into the magical world where Scrum meets high school, where students become agile innovators and teachers become champions of collaboration. As we continue to explore new frontiers in education, let’s remember that with Scrum, the possibilities are endless – so let’s roll up our sleeves, rally our teams, and embark on this exhilarating adventure together!

How to Handle Frustration as a Teacher

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An article 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.

Teaching is one of the most stressful professions on Earth. From behaviour management issues, to meeting deadlines and working on projects in small teams: teaching, as a job, requires very high levels of competency, lots of patience and bucket loads of resilience. Take these recent, shocking revelations, for example:

In such a complex and dynamic environment as a school, in which in our ‘product’ is the gradual and positive development of children (i.e. the most complex beings in existence), it is only natural that we will make mistakes along the way and be involved in a wide variety of professional ‘incidents’ that may cause us some frustration.

It is at these times that we MUST remember the ‘Four S’s’:

  • Stop
  • Smile
  • Sleep
  • Send

Here’s a handy graphic to remember the process (feel free to share this with colleagues):

Let’s go through these steps one-by-one:

#1: Stop

I once witnessed a former colleague shout at a fellow language teacher in the staff room, calling him ‘unprofessional’ and saying that his actions were ‘unacceptable’. Of course, the issue causing the altercation was a trivial matter, but by her getting emotional and berating him in front of everyone she achieved nothing, and actually did a lot of harm to her reputation. Everyone was talking about that exchange afterwards, and guess who came out as the ‘good guy’ in people’s minds? – The polite language teacher who just stood there and listened and didn’t respond or get emotional, of course.

It’s so tempting to respond by reflex-action in a moment of frustration, venting our anger in an email, a verbal exchange or other action. It’s so crucial to be mindful of our emotions when we feel frustration bubbling up inside of us and remember to STOP!

#2: Smile

Numerous studies have shown that a simple smile can immediately improve our mood. Take a moment to reflect upon what you are grateful for in life. If nothing comes up, then ask yourself “What COULD I be grateful for right now?”. This act of ‘reframing’ the moment will act to alleviate any feelings of dread, anxiety or frustration – even if it’s only by a small amount.

#3: ‘Sleep on it’

If you find yourself becoming angry, anxious, enraged or frustrated by any situation at school, then pause for a while and calm down before you respond. If possible, respond to the issue the next day after a good night’s sleep – you’ll be in a better mood and will be more emotionally balanced to handle the issue rationally.

In my experience, almost every incident that causes a teacher frustration can be dealt with the next day, when we are in a better mood. If this is not the case for whatever you happen to be dealing with right now, then at least Stop and Smile, and wait a while before responding.

#4: Send

Have you been guilty of sending a quick response email out of frustration? I know I have. For one former coworker of mine, this had catastrophic consequences.

The head of our secondary school had emailed a colleague of mine in a former school I worked at to discuss some behaviour management issues that some children in his classes were having. This colleague then replied out of anger and frustration, justifying himself in every which way possible, but he inadvertently cc’d the entire secondary school in his response!

My award-winning book for high-school teachers.

He didn’t last long at that school. His reputation in the eyes of his colleagues had soured, and his position became somewhat untenable. He was let go at the end of that academic year.

Please – be the person who responds when your emotions are stable. We ALL get frustrated at times. We ALL get angry a times. We ALL panic at times. Please – Stop, Smile. Sleep THEN Send/Respond.

Extra advice for dealing with frustration at school

Speak to someone

Speak up about any issues you are having, in a positive and non-complaining way. The trick to executing this is to be ‘solution focussed’. When talking with your line manager about the issue, or whomever the other parties are, adopt the mindset of ‘This is the problem, so how can we work together to find the solution?’.

Only click ‘send’ when you are in an emotionally positive state

E-mails last forever, and once they are sent, they can be fully utilised in any litigation that may follow. Silence is always the best option at first, if possible, then only send a written response/summary of the issue after very careful consideration. In some extreme situations you may wish to speak with a lawyer before responding.

Learn new skills

If behavior management is causing frustration, then seek to learn new strategies or ask colleagues for help. Resources like this blog can be very useful for acquiring new tips, as can professional development courses. If your issue is skills-related, then you may find that a professional development course, such as my Powerful Public Speaker Certificate Course, may be of use to you.

Find a good lawyer, and build a good relationship with them, regardless of your situation

It has been my experience via the many hundreds of online coaching calls I have done with teachers over the years that extremely few educators understand their legal rights. Employers can sometimes pray on this naivety – few teachers will approach a lawyer when their employment is terminated, or when contractual changes arise, or when they are asked to sign a sudden ‘official school document’, for example. Get used to consulting with lawyers. Yes, they’re expensive, but the investment is worth it in the long run. If you are lucky enough to teach in a country where teacher unions exist, then make sure you are an active member – they will be able to offer legal advice when the need arises, too.

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How to Maintain High Energy Levels as a Teacher

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An article 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:

In the classroom, we are expected to be entertainers, facilitators and imparters of knowledge. This requires high amounts of energy on our part, every single day. Maintaining energy levels is no easy task for a teacher – it involves dealing with challenges outside of school, along with facing the obstacles that present themselves to us inside the classroom. Being a high-energy teacher requires a whole-life overhaul, and in this blog post I’ll tell you exactly how to make it happen!

Deal with what’s outside the classroom first

I think I owe it to my readers to be as brutally honest as possible – you deserve to know the truth. And the truth about what makes a teacher have high enough energy to cope with a day of teaching is often not presented in teacher-training courses, books or even through the official social media accounts of top influencers in this space.

The top voices in this space will often not discuss the personal stuff outside of school that affects teachers’ energy levels.

The truth is that if you have dilemmas going on outside of school, then that is going to cause you to bring your worries, anxieties, stress and negative thoughts into the classroom. Whilst so many teachers are covering up their personal woes with a cheerful face and the facade of fake enthusiasm, that act can only go on for so long before burnout happens. We MUST deal with our external issues first, and they typically include:

  1. Money: credit card debt, poor finances, the cost-of-living crisis and a general feeling of living ‘paycheck to paycheck’ can be one of the biggest energy drainers out there. Everyone’s financial situation is different, but we all share one common challenge – we must deal with our money issues, and we all CAN deal with our money issues. Newsflash – your school is not going to bail you out of this, and throwing more money at a problem (especially in the form of loans) is only a way of temporarily holding back the waters of catastrophe before the damn bursts! Seek help. Learn money management. Cut down on luxuries. Keep track of what you’re spending. We should all aim to have at least ONE YEAR’S salary in the bank – imagine how energized you would feel in that situation! A good book I recommend for starting on this journey is The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason.
  2. Relationships – toxic people lead to toxic emotions. Toxic emotions lead to poor teaching. It really is that simple, unfortunately. Where possible, avoid people who deflate you, and surround yourself with people who uplift you. A good place to start if you’re navigating a challenging relationship is this great article by HelpGuide.org.
  3. Health – the inevitable burden of ageing is that it becomes more difficult to maintain a healthy body and mind as we get older- yet the state of your physiology is a CRUCIAL factor in determining your energy levels for the day. Monitor the food you eat – what energizes you? What tires you? These days I unfortunately have to skip lunch – lunch makes me drowsy in the afternoon, and skipping lunch also acts as good way to help me maintain a healthy weight. Only you know your own personal health issues, and only you are responsible for your body. In short – take care of yourself. Seek medical advice and help if you’re unsure about any health issue you are noticing within yourself. SLEEP PROPERLY – the best preparation for a day of a teaching will always be a good night’s sleep.
  4. Logistics: Are you travelling for an hour every day in dense traffic to get to school? That’s going to affect your mood. Are you waking up, ironing your clothes that morning and rushing out of the house, only to arrive at school in the nick of time? Maybe you need to set up a morning ritual that lets you get everything done. Look at all of the ‘systems’ you’ve got going on in life and see if you can streamline things.
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Then….deal with what’s happening at school

When life outside of school is good, and you have a significant financial cushion should things go wrong, that’s going to be the best energizer you can have. Beyond that, however, there are things inside school that we can control to some extent:

  1. Plan every lesson really well: Time invested in planning ALWAYS pays dividends in terms of your energy and enthusiasm when teaching. Read more, here.
  2. Learn strategies for managing student behavior, if that’s an issue. This blog post is a great place to start.
  3. Stressed out due to marking load, lesson issues, conflicts with your boss or other things? Deal with it all professionally. This blog post outlines some strategies.
  4. Ask for help from your colleagues – they are often the best experts on whatever issue you are facing. Learn how to do this, here.
  5. Consider utilizing more live marking, peer-assessment, self-assessment and automated assessment strategies. You find that this drastically reduces your marking load, which will naturally lead to a boost in energy levels.
Don’t be afraid to seek help from your colleagues.

Conclusion

Teaching is such a people-centered profession that our entire holistic state – mental, emotional, physical and personal – all feed into our energy levels. Most teacher-training providers do not discuss the personal stuff – i.e. what’s going on in your life outside of school. However, this ‘domain’ of existence must be expertly managed if you want to be a highly energetic teacher. Deal with what’s going on at home first, then focus more on what’s going on at school. You’ll be amazed at the transformation that ensues!

What Is Design Thinking, and How Can It Be Used in Classroom Teaching?

Posted on by richardjamesrogers

An article 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.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of education, traditional teaching methods are being reshaped by innovative approaches that prioritize creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration. One such methodology gaining traction is Design Thinking. Originally conceived in the realm of product design, Design Thinking has found its way into education, offering a dynamic framework for educators to foster critical thinking and innovation among students. In this blog post, we will explore what Design Thinking is and how it can be effectively applied in classroom teaching.

What is Design Thinking?

Design Thinking is a human-centered problem-solving approach that places empathy for the end-user at the core of the creative process. Coined by David Kelley and Tim Brown of IDEO, this methodology has since transcended its origins in design and has been embraced across various fields, including education. The key stages of Design Thinking typically involve empathizing, defining the problem, ideating, prototyping, and testing.

How can Design Thinking be used in classroom teaching?

Here’s a handy acronym to help remember the stages of Design Thinking:

E.D.I.P.T.

  • Empathize
  • Define
  • Ideate
  • Prototype
  • Test

Let’s go through each stage one-by-one:

Empathize

Design Thinking encourages educators to understand their students on a deeper level by empathizing with their needs, challenges, and perspectives. By gaining insights into students’ lives, educators can tailor their teaching methods to address individual learning styles and needs.

Define

The second stage of Design Thinking involves clearly defining the problem at hand. In a classroom setting, this translates to identifying the learning objectives and challenges faced by students. This step sets the foundation for targeted and effective teaching strategies.

Ideate

Design Thinking encourages a culture of brainstorming and creative thinking. In the classroom, this means fostering an environment where students feel free to express their ideas without fear of judgment. Educators can facilitate brainstorming sessions to generate diverse solutions to educational challenges.

Prototype

Just as designers create prototypes to test their ideas, students can develop prototypes of their learning solutions. This might involve creating projects, presentations, or interactive activities that demonstrate their understanding of a concept. Prototyping allows for hands-on learning and experimentation.

Testing

Design Thinking emphasizes an iterative process. In education, this means encouraging students to gracefully receive feedback on their work, reflect on their learning experiences, and make improvements. The iterative cycle fosters a growth mindset and resilience in the face of challenges.

A real classroom example of E.D.I.P.T.

Let’s see how E.D.I.PT. can be used in the planning and execution of a real high-school lesson.

Subject: High School Biology

Lesson Title: “Adapting to a Changing Environment: A Design Thinking Exploration”

Objective: Students will use the Design Thinking process (E.D.I.P.T.) to propose and prototype innovative solutions for an organism’s adaptation to a changing environment.

1. Empathize (E):

Activity: Begin the lesson with a short video or reading about a species facing environmental challenges (e.g., climate change, habitat loss). Engage students in a discussion about the impact on the species, their ecosystem, and the challenges they might face.

Outcome: Students develop empathy for the organisms and understand the need for adaptations in response to environmental changes.

2. Define (D):

Activity: Guide students in identifying specific challenges faced by the chosen species due to the changing environment. Encourage them to narrow down their focus to one key problem that they want to address.

Outcome: Students articulate a clear definition of the problem, such as the impact of temperature changes on the species’ reproduction or food sources.

3. Ideate (I):

Activity: Conduct a brainstorming session where students generate various ideas for how the species could adapt to the identified challenge. Encourage creative thinking and diverse solutions.

Outcome: Students compile a list of potential adaptations, considering biological, behavioral, or physiological changes the species might undergo.

4. Prototype (P):

Activity: In small groups, students choose one of the adaptation ideas and create a prototype or model showcasing how the species might implement this adaptation. This could include drawings, diagrams, or even physical representations.

Outcome: Each group produces a prototype that visually represents their chosen adaptation solution.

5. Test (T):

Activity: Groups present their prototypes to the class, explaining the rationale behind their chosen adaptations. Facilitate a class discussion where students provide constructive feedback and ask questions.

Outcome: Students refine their prototypes based on feedback, considering the practicality and effectiveness of their proposed adaptations.

Can you think of a suitable topic that would lend itself well to an E.D.I.P.T. lesson in your subject area?

Conclusion

Design Thinking in classroom teaching is a powerful tool for cultivating a generation of creative, adaptable, and empathetic individuals. By integrating this methodology, we can transform traditional classrooms into dynamic spaces where students are not just recipients of knowledge but active participants in their own learning journey. Embracing Design Thinking in education is not just about preparing students for the future; it’s about empowering them to shape it!

Recommended further reading

  • Lee, D. (2018). Design thinking in the classroom: easy-to-use teaching tools to foster creativity, encourage innovation and unleash potential in every student. Berkeley, California: Ulysses Press.
  • Jakes, D. (2022). The Design Thinking Classroom.
  • D.M. Arvind Mallik (2019). Design Thinking for Educators. Notion Press.

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5 Mistakes Teachers Are Making With Slide Presentations

Posted on by richardjamesrogers

An article 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:

Slides are a staple of effective teaching, corporate presentations and workshops. They’re so ubiquitous, in fact, that many of us don’t realize just how much of a legendary, legacy technology they are. I was surprised to learn during my research for this blog post, for example, that MS PowerPoint was released way back in 1987! PowerPoint and other slide-based information delivery systems have stood the test of time because they are, essentially, extremely effective content presentation tools.

Slides are here to stay – that’s undeniable, so let’s discover the common mistakes teachers are making when utilizing them (note to reader – I have made ALL of the mistakes I’m about to mention at some point or another in my career, so I’m a real expert on this topic!).

#1: Putting too much text on each slide

The content needs to be readable, and not overwhelming. When we fill our slides with text, we tend to not only make our sentences too small for learners at the back of the class to read, but we also present too much information at once.

Whilst we often have a lot of stuff to get through in a lesson (especially if you are teaching exam-level students), consider spreading the information out over more slides. 3 sentences per slide on 3 slides, for example, is better than 9 sentences all crammed together on one slide.

#2: Making students copy from slides

Here are the problems this causes:

  • Children have different writing speeds, and you’ll always find that the majority of the class are sat around waiting for the slow students to finish copying.
  • It dramatically slows down the pace of your lessons, making it difficult to keep to a curriculum map schedule (if done repeatedly).
  • Copying notes from slides is one of the most ineffective ways to learn new content. According to Make It Stick (a book I highly recommend) when no effort is required in the learning process, learning doesn’t last very long. The book’s authors cited one study where students were allowed to copy notes word-for-word on some material but were made to rephrase other material in their own words. When tested afterwards, students did a much better job of recalling the material they had to put into their own words.

So, how do we solve this problem, especially when we have so much content to get through?:

  • Consider providing printouts of slides with blank spaces for the children to fill in along the way. I remember one of my Biochemistry lecturers doing this at Bangor University when I was an undergrad there and I loved it – not least because I was getting accurate notes to take home, but also because I had to focus on the lesson in order to fill in the blanks correctly. Whilst this is perhaps not the most effective way to learn content out of all the methods available, it does solve the problem of pace (i.e., you won’t go too slow using this method).
  • Consider differentiating texts by using the methods outlined in this blog post, in order to make large paragraphs more digestible for your learners.

#3: Not making slides interactive

Include some exam-style questions along the way during your slide presentation to break up the lesson a bit. Consider word-matching activities, fill-in-the-blanks, or even just questions with allotted time for the students to answer. Perhaps you could embed a link to a live-quiz app (such as Blooket, Quizlet Live or Kahoot!) into your slides to get your students competing in a healthy way.

#4: Not sharing the slides with the students

It’s so important to make the slides available to your students once the lesson is over, and for some classes it may even be appropriate to share them before the lesson begins.

VLE and LMS platforms, such as Google Classroom, Moodle, Firefly and others are perfect for this.

With pre-university students, such as IBDP or ‘A’ – Level learners, I often find that it’s helpful to share the slides ahead of time, as the students can then read ahead before the lesson begins.

Whichever method you choose, just make sure the materials are available to your students. That way you cannot be criticized for not providing the resources that your students need to revise for their tests and assessments.

#5: Reading the slides to the class

This is an absolute no-no for teachers and is an obvious behavior to avoid to those who are more experienced in the profession. For new and trainee teachers, however, it can be a challenge to present slides without reading from them.

Teachers tend to read from slides for two main reasons:

  • Lack of subject knowledge/lack of reading ahead
  • Nervousness

Consider the following solutions:

  • Freeze your slide and move to the next slide on your computer. Quickly glance at, and read, the slide on your computer screen before presenting it to your class. This will help you to re-phrase the content into your own words.
  • Print out a copy of the slides for yourself and have it in your hand during the presentation. Again, this will allow you to read-ahead in ‘real-time’.
  • This sounds obvious but READ AHEAD. Never present a slideshow without reading over it first (avoid sourcing a slideshow from a third party on the internet immediately before a lesson begins).
  • Practice pronouncing key vocabulary and technical language before the lesson begins.
My Award-Winning book for high-school teachers.

Other mistakes teachers are making with slide presentations

  • Getting the visuals wrong – include nice pictures, charts and graphics where possible, and make them big enough for the class to read. If you’re stuck for time, then SlidesGPT can use AI to make a visually appealing slide presentation for you with just a few prompts (FYI – always CHECK the slides once generated). In addition to this, MS PowerPoint now comes with visual suggestions and can make slides visually appealing by using its AI Copilot feature.
  • Not annotating slides – if you have the technology (e.g., a smartboard), then annotate your slides as you present them. Circle key words, underline key phrases, add extra information and even re-phrase things. This will serve to make the content clearer for your students.
  • Conflicting colors – Are your slides readable? Always check the color balance before you present (red text on a black background, for example, is notoriously difficult to read!)
  • Unclear fonts – avoid Brushscript! Calibri, Comic Sans and Arial tend to work really well for presentations.

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Spooktacular Fun: 10 Halloween Activity Ideas for High School Teachers

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An article 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.

Updated: October 2025

Accompanying podcast episode:

Boo! Halloween is right around the corner, and it’s time to bring some spooktacular fun into your high school classroom. Whether you’re a seasoned educator or a fresh-faced teacher, these ten Halloween activity ideas will help you create memorable, engaging, and educational experiences for your students. So, put on your witch’s hat, grab a handful of candy corn, and let’s get started!

#1: Costume Day

Let your students come to school dressed in their favorite Halloween costumes. You can even turn it into a creative writing exercise by having them explain why they chose their costumes. It’s a fun way to break the ice and get everyone into the Halloween spirit.

Consider hosting a sustainable Halloween-themed fashion show, by awarding prizes to students who make the best costumes out of everyday, recyclable materials. Consider making this a group-project, with the Design Technology, Textiles, Art and Science departments all getting involved. What a great way to build collaborative skills!

#2: Spooky Storytelling

Organize a spooky storytelling session in your classroom, or in the school library!. Encourage your students to share their favorite ghost stories or urban legends, and even get those creative juices flowing by making subject-specific references a part of the task brief. Here are some examples:

  • Chemistry: The reactions involved in photography, and how objects can sometimes appear as ghosts when they’re not
  • Geography: World locations that are famous for ghost sightings, and their history
  • English Literature: An easy one! Students analyse chosen texts that deal with the supernatural (my favourite is Bram Stoker’s Dracula)

By creating subject specific briefs like this, which require some kind of presentation as the task output, you’ll be providing a fantastic opportunity for your students to work on their public speaking skills while indulging in the eerie side of literature.

#3: Halloween-Themed Quizzes

Create a set of Halloween-themed quizzes or trivia games. Topics could range from famous horror movies to historical facts about Halloween, or even subject-specific Halloween-linked content. It’s a great way to infuse some educational content into the holiday. See my blog post on live-quiz apps for some great systems that can help you deliver this.

#4: Pumpkin Decorating

Bring a little creativity into your classroom by having a pumpkin decorating contest. Provide pumpkins and art supplies, and let your students’ artistic talents shine. You can even incorporate some team-building by having them work in pairs or groups. This could be great for a tutor-time or PSHE activity.

#5: Halloween Art Projects

Give your students the chance to express themselves through art. Encourage them to create Halloween-themed drawings, paintings, or even 3D sculptures. You can display their masterpieces around the classroom to add to the spooky atmosphere.

#6: Halloween History

Explore the history of Halloween with your students. Discuss its origins and evolution over the years. You can even tie it into a broader lesson about cultural traditions and holidays. This page by History.com is great resource that can be used to facilitate such a lesson.

#7: Halloween Science Experiments

Turn Halloween into an opportunity for hands-on learning. Conduct fun and safe science experiments that align with the holiday. For example, you can create “boo bubbles” with dry ice or explore the chemistry of candy. We Are Teachers has a great page that contains lots of ideas for this.

#8: Halloween Movie Day

Let your students unwind by watching a classic Halloween movie. Pick a film that is both age-appropriate and has a good blend of spookiness and humor. Afterward, you can have a discussion about the themes and elements of the movie. You can find a list of Halloween movies for kids here, with some being available via Netflix Kids (i.e. easy to login and show via your smartboard or projector).

#9: Costume Parade

Organize a costume parade in your school. Invite students and teachers to participate, and even have a costume contest with prizes for the most creative, scariest, or funniest costumes. It’s a great way to build a sense of community and excitement.

#10: Halloween-Themed Writing Prompts

Encourage your students to embrace their inner authors by giving them Halloween-themed writing prompts. Have them write spooky stories, poems, or creative essays. This activity can foster imagination and improve their writing skills. Sarah Gribble lists 20 such prompts at her excellent site, here.

Final thoughts

Remember, Halloween in the classroom should be a balance between fun and learning. These activities not only create a spooktacular atmosphere but also provide valuable educational experiences for your high school students. Plus, it’s a great way to build a sense of community and camaraderie among your class.

So, get ready for some ghoulishly good times this Halloween season. Your high school classroom is about to become the coolest and creepiest place in town! Happy Halloween, teachers, and may your students have a wickedly wonderful time!

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