Page Comparison

only ever teach on firm learning foundations,

teach one layer (a small bite) per learner, per topic, per curriculum spiral (and usually return to teach several spirals per academic year),

use scaffolding and most importantly fade the scaffolding,

use retrieval practice to ensure that the teaching of the lesson becomes deeply embedded in long term memory,

the well timed retrieval practice also facilitates effective feedback when necessary.

target teaching. When teaching new skills - a specific layer from a topic - the teacher can use the assessment for learning data: which learners have which pre requisite skills and which learners need to learn each of the layers the teacher will teach during the lesson. This knowledge encourages teachers to explain how to add the new learning on to the existing learning. Rather than use a “random - no hands up questioning” the teacher can target specific learners with “no hands up questioning” and carefully observe these specific learners' mini-whiteboard answers. As the teacher moves on to teach another specific layer the focus of the teachers questioning will change. The teacher can still keep all learners “on their toes” and ask questions to encourage generalisation in learners who have already mastered the skill and make use of test potentiated learning in learners who have not yet mastered the skill.

a “think aloud” asks the teacher to share “why they do what they do” and “how they were primed to do this” along with teaching what to do. Our experience is that teaching a number of smaller discrete skills - a number of layers - to groups within the class rather than a larger lump of skills to the whole class, means the teacher feels less time pressure. The teacher needn’t worry if the higher attaining learners “already get it” (the teacher knows they will get their turn at learning the layer they need to in a few minutes time) nor that the low attaining learners “don’t get” a layer that they are not scheduled to learn this lesson (the teacher knows they will be much more likely to be able to embed the layer in a term or two because of the work they will do in the current lesson and in subsequent lessons through retrieval practice).

metacognitive strategies (learners thinking about their thinking). Having to identify which skills to apply to each retrieval practice question develops learners triggers to their chunks/schema in their long term memory. When the learner can’t answer a retrieval practice question independently and accurately, the teacher will engage in personalised feedback-dialogue (and has time to do so). These feedback-dialogue conversations are often unexpectedly sophisticated - especially given the level of attainment of the learner - and usually lead to embedded learning.