AWDteaching

Emily is an inconsistent student. Sometimes she fully engages and works hard in lessons; other times, she switches off, forgets her homework, and completely disengages. Recently, while the class was practicing independently, she sat staring into space. Despite being reminded a couple of times by the teacher, she didn’t complete even the first question. She was held back at the end of the lesson for a conversation. During this conversation, she explained her behavior: “I can’t see the board. Maybe I need a printout of the lesson.” “I can’t read white paper; I need colored paper.” (There is nothing on her record about having eyesight issues or needing different paper.) The teacher could react in two ways: The Initial Response: “There is no reason why I should go out of my way to print different coloured sheets or a PowerPoint. Emily, you need to take responsibility for your learning and stop making excuses.” This is the initial intuitive response. If we want to encourage personal respons...

At the start of term, my colleague suggested that we implement "All Hands Up" in our sixth form lessons. Put simply, he proposed that we should expect every student's hand to go up for easy questions we might ask to check for listening during an explanation.  I was not on board. I immediately pushed back, suggesting it was authoritarian, false, and added nothing to the more popular “hands down” cold call. I was wrong. After observing it in action, I was sold. The energy in his classroom was something I had never seen before, and the participation ratio was through the roof. I set about implementing it in most of my classes. I also read Pritish Raichura’s incredible blog and his fantastic podcast with Craig Barton. The following are my thoughts on what "All Hands Up" has added to my classroom—and also its limitations. What It Can Do: Energy The first thing "All Hands Up" adds to your classroom is high energy. The lesson feels much more engaging if ever...