Relationships are the Heart of Great Teaching

If I were to sum up teaching in one word it would be relationships. They are at the centre of all learning for both children and adults. This is a heartwarming TED talk by Rita Pierson who shares her passion for teaching and the important role we have as educators.

When thinking about modern, innovative learning we need to consider relationships and how can what we are doing enhance the relationships were are building.

• Why are we changing groups every three weeks?
• How can flexible groupings be used to strengthen relationships?
• Will some children work better with a particular teacher?
• Does the child need to see things from a different perspective to make the learning clearer?
• Would the child be best with their 'home room' teacher and not move elsewhere?

Research to Support Modern, Innovative Learning Spaces

When our school started the master planning process over a year ago we were on the hunt for research to support the move to modern, collaborative spaces. This link provides a great synopsis of research published in 2006 and whilst nearly 10 years old is still very relevant. It is well worth a read but in a nutshell discusses;

• Impact on learning
• Spaces due for an overhaul
• Power of active learning
• Facilitating focus
• Flexibility
• Comfort
• Decenteredness
• Community

The Key to Effective Teams in Schools: Emotional Intelligence | Edutopia

The Key to Effective Teams in Schools: Emotional Intelligence | Edutopia



I have always had a lot of time for the theories of emotional intelligence and enjoyed reading and reflecting on this article. I love the practical examples and I am sure the emotional intelligence of a group of teachers working in a collaborative way will influence the success of the group. Definitely worth thinking about and following what else Elena Aguilar has to say on this topic.

Early Intervention is the Key

A few years ago I had the absolute pleasure of listening to Nathan Mikaere-Wallis for the Brainwave Trust as he share work and research and findings very similar to what is indicated in this article. Young parents need help and intervention at the earliest time possible will hugely impact the future lives of young people born into low socio-economic, unemployed, drug dependent families.

The following image links to a Telgraph article highlighting this research in the United Kingdom.

Learning was Never Meant to be too Easy

In this Education Review article Karen Tui Boyes reflects differences between Gen X and Gen Y children and their respective attitudes to life and learning. We need to create children that see the thrill in learning something new. It is a short but worthwhile read.

Mathematics: Criticism and Clarity

Teachers are now wearing the brunt of the revelations in the report recently commented on by Hekia Parata and released by the NZ Initiative. Once again it is the teachers' practice that is in the spotlight. Having been involved in ALiM and currently working with the Maths team at UCPlus as a lead teacher in mathematics the comments of Kelvin Smythe ring true. You can read his report here.

Things that resonate with me from both the article and the report are these:

• The need to include rich mathematical tasks in our teaching on a regular basis so children can be actively involved in problem solving.
• These tasks need to be challenging and supported by a range of hands on materials.
• Groups working should be mixed so those involved can learn from each other.
• More credence should be given to basic facts when moving children through the maths stages as the knowledge is needed to work effectively at the next mathematical stage.
• Basic facts need to be taught with the stages so understanding forms the basis of the learning.
• When the knowledge is learned it needs to recalled quickly.
• Teachers trusting their ability to teach maths and not being fully reliant on a 'programme' that delivers a daily scripted dose of learning.

The Importance of Feedback and Other Interventions

I have always believed that effective feedback is the teaching strategy that makes the most difference to learners. When asking for feedback about my teaching from my past students they often commented on this being a strength of my teaching, stately simply, "you let us know our next step or what we need to do to make it better."

There is often debate as to whether this should be written or verbal. The age of the learner and their ability to read written feedback certainly impacts this decision. The quality of the feedback is important and I reflect on this considering the work of Dweck et al when working with students. Praising effort and hard work is critical whilst given the student an indication of next steps is also crucial.

Feedback is central focus of the original article. It outlines ways of giving feedback and the writer shares their school's policy. Links to other readings related to feedback are also given. What is of interest is the graph that is also provided and the information that is linked to evidenced based interventions.

The graph from the site simply illustrates the effect of a number of interventions. It plots them on a graph considering their cost and the impact they have on student achievement. What I particularly like is that you can click on a strategy and go to a synopsis of the research that led to the placement of that strategy on the graph. For example, I had always believed that homework isn't very effective for improving student outcomes of students. When you look at the research you see that this is indeed the case and it summarises where and when homework is effective. The website where you find this information is found here.

You can visit the source used to place these interventions on the graph at the Education Endowment Foundation. It is very useful to select an intervention and then be able to connect to the research that led the author to place it on the graph. Great access to a wealth of information about solid interventions you can try in the classroom.