Sessions on planning, marking & feedback and SOLO taxonomy

1. How to teach the „perfect‟
English lesson
David Didau
27th March 2013

2. How to teach the „perfect‟
English lesson
David Didau
27th March 2013

3. The plan
• Session 1 Planning – 10 - 11.30
• Session 2 Marking & feedback – 11.50 -
1.20
• Session 3 SOLO taxonomy – 2.00 - 3.20
Disclaimer: there is no such thing as a perfect lesson

4. What should we
include in
an English
curriculum?

5. What is „progress‟?
• Performance vs learning
• Introducing „desirable difficulties‟
• Spacing & interleaving

6. Spacing

7. Spacing

8. Audience & purpose
Analysising
Paragraphing & structure
Spelling, punctuation &
Writing
grammar
Using evidence
Contextualising
Using evidence
Paragraphing & structure
Analysising
Contextualising
Reading
Audience & purpose
Spelling, punctuation &
grammar
Interleaving
Contextualising
Spelling, punctuation &
grammar
Analysising
Writing
Audience & purpose
Paragraphing & structure
Using evidence

9. Our KS3
programme of study

10. APP lite

11. The Learning Loop
Independent
construction
deliberate Joint
practice construction
modelling &
feedback
Setting the deconstruction
context
& building repeat
assessment of the field
reflection
prior knowledge

12. @Pekabelo

13. What might
make a
„perfect‟
lesson?

14. The bit that’s
observed
The bit that makes
it ‘perfect’

15. Planning Principles
• Time is precious
• Marking is planning
• 5 planning questions
• Focus on learning not activities
• „Break‟ your plan

16. 5 planning questions
1. How will last lesson relate to this lesson?
2. Which students do I need to consider
in this particular lesson? (pen portraits)
3. What will students do the moment they
arrive? (bell work)
4. What are they learning, and what
activities will they undertake in order to
learn it?
5. How will I (and they) know if they are
making progress?

17. Activities
http://www.newtools.org/showtxt.php?docid=737

18. During the lesson
1. Explain why to the observer
2. Observe the learning
3. Questioning
4. Take the temperature
5. Take risks

22. LEARNING: OUTCOME:
To be able to
So that we can Evaluate
analyse
Steinbeck’s
characterisation
intentions
ZOOM So that we can
ZOOM
IN OUT

23. Your questions (QFT)
• Which of your 3 best questions will allow you
to meet the learning outcome?
• Choose 1 which you will rewrite

24. Second
Question Is?/Doe Did? Can? Could? Will? Might?
Grid Past Possibility Probability Prediction Imagination
s?
Present
What?
Event
Where
?
First
Place
When?
Time
Who?
Person How deep
Why?
Reason
do you want your
How? questions to go?
Meaning

25. Your questions
• Choose a quotation about
your character
• Answer your question by
ZOOMING IN and OUT on
your quotations
• Take a risk – do something
surprising!

26. Review
LEARNING: OUTCOME:
To be able to
So that we can Evaluate
analyse
Steinbeck’s
characterisation
intentions
• Proofread your work
• Highlight where you’ve taken a risk
• Explain how well you’ve met the outcome
• Peer assess

27. moment?
• How might “the best laid plans
o’ mice and men” go wrong?
• Who might die?!

28. …try to read between the
lines and evaluate the
writer’s intention a bit
more…
The use of the word ‘poison’
likens Curley’s wife to
something that kills and
damages. Also it makes the
reader think of plotting and
secrets which could explain
why the men are wary of her
because she can get them
into trouble…

29. Show me
a teacher
who doesn‟t
fail every day
and I‟ll show you
a teacher with
low expectations
for his or her
students.
Dylan Wiliam

30. Break
Back at 11.50

32. What‟s the shortest word in
the English language which
contains each of the first 6
letters of the alphabet?

33. FEEDBACK

34. What % of feedback do
students receive from their
peers?

35. 80%

36. …and 80% of this is wrong!

37. Dylan Wiliam: one of the
most effective assessment for
learning strategies is to
„activate students as the
owners of their learning‟

40. 5
Use more
colour

41. 4
Trie to
improov the
spelling

42. 3
Make it
neater!

43. 2
Add more
detail

44. 1
Do it better
LOL!! 

45. Critique

46. Critique protocols
Kind (but Helpful Specific
honest) (so (be precise)
that…)
Hard on the content Step up -
Soft on the person Step back

48. •Gallery critique
•In depth critique
•Informal critique

50. Embedding
a culture of critique
• Would you ever put on a play without
rehearsals? Or play a gig without
practicing first?
• What could you possibly achieve of
quality in a single draft?
• If it‟s not proofread, it‟s not finished

51. Embedding
a culture of critique
• Should we cover content, or should we
insist on „beautiful work‟?
• Can we do both?

52. Key principles
1. Establish the right culture
2. Go over the rules… every single time
3. Aim for perfection and insist on quality
4. Critique a variety of media
5. Only critique work when it is ready

53. Critique in practice
• 5 minutes to plan a lesson which
introduces to a class
• Critique each others‟ plans
• Review your plans

55. Learning outcome: To improve the quality of
written feedback so that…
Students know Students have time Progress is made
how to improve to act on feedback visible
their work

56. Reviewing written feedback
• Importance of feedback
• What do you currently do?
• To grade or not to grade?
• Is praise important?
• How can we make sure feedback is
„received‟?

57. DIRT

58. Triple Impact Marking
1. Students reflect on their work
2. Teacher asks questions and sets
improvement tasks
3. Students answer the questions and
complete tasks

59. TIM in English
Step One – You will:
• Use the CSP Code to proofread
your work
• Highlight work you are proud of
• EXPLAIN how you have met the
SUCCESS CRITERIA

60. TIM in English
Step Two – Your teacher
will:
• Use the CSP Code to point out your
mistakes
• Use the SUCCESS CRITERIA to explain
how you can improve
• Set specific tasks for you to complete

61. TIM in English
Step Three – You will:
• Read the feedback written in
books
• Answer any questions the teacher
has asked
• Complete the tasks the teacher
has set

63. Learning outcome: To improve the quality of
written feedback so that…
Students know Students have time Progress is made
how to improve to act on feedback visible
their work

64. Feedback & next steps…

65. Lunch
Back at 2:00

66. Session 3
Using the SOLO
taxonomy to design
learning experiences
so that…?

67. What do you know?

68. Levels of understanding
• In pairs, arrange the five statements
about assessment for learning in order of
understanding
• You have 3 minutes

69. A problem with Bloom‟s…
Night Hawkesby Edward Hopper

70. What kinds of thinking
did you do?
How many
different
“Blooms” levels
were involved?

71. • Can we define analysis as
teachers?
• Can you separate thinking from
content?

72. SOLO
is better because:
• It‟s a formative tool – provides useful
feedback and makes next steps clear
• It‟s a useful assessment tool – clear links
with mark schemes
• It focuses on progress
• It describes the learning outcome

73. With SOLO we can…
• thoughtfully design learning intentions and
learning experiences
How does this apply to other situations?
How can you connect this
knowledge?
What do you know
about…?

74. With SOLO we can…
• identify and use success criteria which
enable students to make meaningful
progress
Learning objective: To understand how power
is presented in Macbeth
I know several I can explain the I can suggest reasons
things about links between the why Shakespeare
power in things I know might have made
Macbeth about power these choices

75. With SOLO we can…
• differentiate effectively by allowing
students to choose the point at which
they can access lessons
• SOLO stations

76. With SOLO we can…
• provide feedback and feed forward on
learning outcomes which is simple to
understand and straightforward to act
on
Feedback: “How have you demonstrated that your
knowledge is multistructural?”
Feed forward: “What do you need to do to make it
relational?”

77. With SOLO we can…
• reflect meaningfully on what to do next
“OK, so my work isn’t relational yet. How
can I connect what I know?”
Language of
learning
Deep &
Understanding surface
learning
success
Knowledge
criteria

78. What makes
you clever?

79. What happens when a
student “establishes a
relational construct which is
wrong”?

80. How much do
you know?

81. What do you
think?

82. Before After
Before Now After
Before After

83. Before After
Before Now After
Before After

84. Before After
Before Now After
Before After
Migingo Island on Lake Victoria is claimed by both Kenya and Uganda. The
population of 131 is made up of mostly fishermen and traders.

85. • Where was the now part?
• Where was the before part?
• Where was the after after part?

86. Implications…
• Task design is essential to allow
students to work with content
knowledge in increasingly complex
ways (progress)
• Task design could be as simple as
planning the questions being asked
(differentiation)

87. Comparison alley
1st thing
Dulce et
Decorum Est
What they
have in
common
In Flanders
2nd thing
Field

88. Shall I compare…
thee
…
to a

90. Why would you use SOLO?
How could you use SOLO?
What do you now
know about SOLO?

91. Using the SOLO
taxonomy to design
learning experiences
so that…?

92. Two pieces of advice
It‟s always better to ask for
forgiveness rather than
permission
Be brilliant and people will
forgive you anything

93. Sapere aude!
David Didau
@LearningSpy
learningspy.co.uk
ddidau@gmail.com