Tag: Education

“But Miss it’s the end of the lesson!”: Perfect Plenaries

On By Aimee HorsleyIn Teaching, Learning and AssessmentLeave a comment

The end of a lesson can creep up on you like the rain in Scarborough (those of you familiar with the sunny seaside town will know that however well prepared you are the rain always catches you off guard.) I find plenaries exactly the same. However well I plan, however much I closely monitor the length of tasks, I just never seem to get round to my plenary (probably why I have so many starters – as my plenaries often become my starter activity for the next lesson. See post: Starters that Never Fail!)

But on those occasions when your lesson is rounding off nicely, you have five minutes left  to fill (while you desperately wait for your next caffeine fix) these plenaries I have found work a treat (by ‘treat’ I mean put students on the spot to test their learning from that lesson):

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Give them a try!

For further ideas why not try:

 

Starters that Never Fail!

On By Aimee HorsleyIn Teaching, Learning and AssessmentLeave a comment

Starting your lesson in the right way is crucial. You must capture your students attention, settle them into their learning , engage their interest and motivate them to want to continue. In a five minute starter that is not an easy task to accomplish.

Here are some well known starter activities. Why are they well known? Answer: Because they work.

Minimal preparation + maximum impact= a great start to your lesson.

The first two activities are ideal for new topics – exploring what your students know in order for their learning to progress more efficiently. With Anticipation (each of these images links to the topic of conscience) I would only use one as these as a starter activity – not all three.

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Festival of Education 2015: the inspirational, the questionable and the controversial.

On By Aimee HorsleyIn Festival of EducationLeave a comment

The Festival of Education, hosted at the spectacular Wellington College, has been running since 2011.  It is building a reputation for being the stomping ground for some of the top educational researchers, prominent writers, influential figures and this year even rap stars. But whilst it advertises itself proudly as a ‘festival’ the undertones are very clear – Education is very important and must be recognised as such.

Continue reading “Festival of Education 2015: the inspirational, the questionable and the controversial.” →