Observations at Michaela APRIL 10, 2018 / BUNSENBLUE The culture of observations at Michaela is truly phenomenal. It provides a structure conducive to genuine improvement and honest reflection. Observations at Michaela are frequent, low-stakes and random. Since starting in September (around 24 teaching weeks), I…
Retrieval Cues: Do Your Questions Help or Hinder? MARCH 19, 2018 / BUNSENBLUE It’s so easy, when we really want our pupils to answer a question correctly, that we give them cues to help them reach the answer. Sometimes we see our pupils still struggling and…
History at Michaela MARCH 6, 2018 / MIKE TAYLOR The weekend before last, I spoke at the West London Free School History Conference. The event was a superb gathering of history teachers and it was a real privilege to be able to share some of…
The Influence of Michaela FEBRUARY 26, 2018 / BUNSENBLUE I started teaching at Michaela Community School in September 2017. Learning about, applying to and joining Michaela has permanently transformed my view of education forever. Learning about Michaela has been like constantly learning new threshold concepts:…
We’re squeamish about scripture FEBRUARY 10, 2018 / JHCPORTER Every teacher should look at Eton’s ‘King’s Scholarship’ exam. It reminds you what is possible. It’s the exam that boys take at the age of 13 if they want to stand a chance of becoming a…
Explanation, Feedback & Practice FEBRUARY 9, 2018 / BUNSENBLUE Recently, I was observed by a member of my SLT (the wonderful @BrettWYale), and he gave me some feedback that sparked a brilliantly clarifying conversation. In this post, I want to share my reflections on this…
Precise Practice Posted on February 3, 2018 by Katie Ashford As I explained in my last post, practising the final skill over and over again does little to develop the final skill. Experts in any field won’t simply have practised the final skill in isolation:…
What I Remember Doing in (Private) Primary School Posted onJanuary 20, 2018 by John Ashton Current discussion of learning through play/sitting down at a desk in Reception/Year 1 made me realise I have absolutely no idea what a normal primary school/EYFS experience is like. I only…
Is all practice effective? Posted on January 20, 2018 by Katie Ashford Back in my early years of teaching- in the high-pressure ‘Special Measures’ school where I cut my teeth- I spent hours planning lessons that aimed to get kids through the GCSE as quickly as…
First term at Michaela In September, I started teaching at Michaela Community School. This last term has been a brilliant introduction to a warm and happy school that has learning at its very core. I started at Michaela after completing the Teach First LDP, where…
Practicals in Science Now that I’ve been at Michaela for over a year, I have come to see that one of the most enjoyable aspects of teaching science are our practical lessons. Whilst in the past this might have filled me with dread, the systems…
Teach French à Michaela We’re looking for an amazing French teacher. Here’s some of what we do: The highest expectations of what pupils can – and do – achieve. The highest expectations of ourselves as teachers. Beautiful accents, exceptional pronunciation, fantastic range of knowledge. Lots…
Is this the best we can do? Part 7: the spacing effect JULY 29, 2017 This is part of a series offering my views on some problems with and solutions for UK maths education. The first part looked at the state of affairs with regards to GCSE…
Is this the best we can do? Part 6: the problem of forgetting JULY 26, 2017 “If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered.” – Edgar Allen Poe “The palest ink is better than…
Yes he can! In my career as SENCO so far, I’ve often found myself at loggerheads with people who tell me that pupils with Special Needs can’t do things. Whether we’re talking about learning to read, writing for extended periods, or retaining focus in class,…
What Makes Us Happy At Michaela, we aren’t only focused on our kids working hard, learning loads and achieving great grades. We also want them to be happy. We think long and hard about how we can foster our kids’ happiness, and, having read wisdom literature,…
Maths Muddle: alternate segment, same segment, alternate angles I had an insight into Y9 minds this week, realising that two (maybe three) things I thought were obviously different look really similar to them. It came about with similarity proofs, and realising that, to them, it is…
#Mathsconf10: Worksheet-Making Extravaganza JUNE 25, 2017 / ADMIN / 0 COMMENTS On Saturday, I spoke at #mathconf10 in Dagenham. The workshop was titled “Worksheet-making Extravaganza!” Indeed it was that. When I started teaching I regularly went onto TES to download resources for my pupils. Usually,…
UK Maths Challenge JUNE 21, 2017 On Friday, I spent a couple of hours with a pupil in Y8 who has been selected to go through to the Junior Kangaroo challenge. Over half term, he was given past papers to attempt. We went through his…
Never Let Me Go At which stage in a topic do you stop modelling examples? I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest the answer is probably….too soon. I’m going to go further and suggest that the rationale you have for doing so is probably wrong….
Year 7 History at Michaela MAY 14, 2017 / MIKE TAYLOR One of the great things about working at Michaela is watching the rapid transformation of our Year 7 pupils. From their baptism of fire induction in the first week, through to the end of the…
Arithmetic Average: Reflecting on Property 5 In my last post, I discussed whether an instructional programme could be created to teach a deeper concept of mean. I mentioned five different properties. After a conversation with Kris Boulton about the blog post, he spotted something interesting…
Arithmetic Average: developing conceptual understanding Many pupils are taught how to calculate the arithmetic average (the mean.) They are also taught a shallow understanding of the concept: it goes along the lines of “the mean is a calculated ‘central’ value of a set of numbers.”…
Warm – strict I have written previously about Teach Like a Champion, a book I feel to be the most important contribution to pedagogy advice I have read. Although it is nearly impossible to pick which of the important techniques are the most vital,…
Lesson Observations at Michaela At Michaela, lessons are not graded. Like many schools, we have moved away from the old paradigm of observing teachers once per half term in a high stakes, pre-planned, pay-determining observation, towards a new one. We have a truly open door policy…
The Summer Project (#French) may 3, 2017 jlmfl In the past, my hands-down-favourite thing about teaching was being in the classroom, with the kids, bouncing off their energy and enthusiasm and teaching them French, and seeing them grow in knowledge and confidence and ability. That feeling…
Staying stoical in school Some two thousand years ago, a teacher, a playwright and an emperor asked: What is the best way to live? How can we deal with the difficult situations we face? What does it take to improve our minds? Their answers are the…
Changing my mind on grammar schools When I was 16, after having completed my GCSE examinations, myself and a few friends travelled to London for a few days of sightseeing. We visited the Palace of Westminster on our last day and out of the corner…
Drill and Thrill This is a summary of the presentation from Maths Conf 9, held in Bristol on 11/3/2017. Thanks to everyone who came and who asked questions! What is a drill? A drill is narrow. It should be focused on a single thing, such…
Mathsconf9 – Automatising Procedural Knowledge for A Level study On Saturday, I delivered a workshop which looked at seven specific high-leverage procedures that should be automatised for pupils to successfully learn certain concepts taught in AS Mathematics. The purpose was to raise awareness of the…
Holier than thou I try to avoid polemics, or being divisive. The topic below is one where, I suspect, opinion is already sharply divided and each side views the other with suspicion and some incredulity. 1) It really gets my goat when a teacher reserves…
Mastery in Art At Michaela, we receive hundreds of visitors each year. As Head of Art, I find that the most common questions visitors ask me fall into two camps: first, people often ask something along the lines of “when are the pupils allowed to…
Teaching mathematical grammar Consider these questions: 3361 × 100 = 336100 3.361 × 100 = 336.1 33.61 × 100 = 3361 0.3361 × 100 = 33.61 336.1 × 100 = 33610 To a maths teacher, or a pupil who achieved old-money KS2 level 5 in…
Six Months In Six months ago, I started working at Michaela. As a Wembley native, growing up just around the corner and attending a local state school, it has been an experience and a pleasure to teach pupils in the community and to see them…
Netflix Posted on March 4, 2017by Joe Kirby Imagine working for an organisation where there are no annual performance meetings, no bureaucracy, where you do not need permission to take time off, and where the expense policy is just five words long: ‘act in our…
Deciding the first step – Different decisions for different problem types MARCH 4, 2017 Deciding the first step is a type of question where pupils are only asked to decide explicitly which step to perform. A pupil reviews the problem type and identifies what steps…
Creativity? Just footsteps in the snow learn (v.) – Old English ‘leornian’, ‘to get knowledge, to be cultivated’. From the Proto-Germanic, ‘liznojan’, ‘to follow a track’. Robert Macfarlane seems to be the closest we have in Britain to an Innuit: not only does he actively…
Fifth year (or: how university should be) Posted on February 4, 2017 Of all the years at university, the fifth year was the best. Why did I decide to do a Masters when I had found my undergraduate so difficult? And why in History, a subject…
Fourth Year (or: I had to pass) Posted on January 28, 2017 by Jo Facer Fourth year started. I was feeling happy. I had good hours working a job I loved that paid well and also enabled me to study while working. I worked on the newspaper…
Third Year (or: I stopped going to lectures) Posted on January 21, 2017 After the blow of not winning a scholarship, I felt resentment building up about English Literature. I had read everything, and worked so hard, but it had not been enough. Not knowing anything…
Algebraic Circle Theorems – Pt 2 JANUARY 14, 2017 Last week, I explored different number based circle theorem problems that can test (a) a pupil’s ability to identify the circle theorem being tested and (b) problem types where a pupil has to find multiple unknown…
Creating Problem Types – Circle Theorems Part 1 JANUARY 7, 2017 Last summer, I made as many different problem types for the topic of Circle Theorems. I looked through different textbooks and online resources (MEP, TES, past papers). I did this because when I last…
Making the Most of Every Minute January 15, 2017 by chengreaction Since starting at Michaela in September, I’ve learnt that every second counts. I’m still shocked at the speed of routines, and how they enable us to squeeze every last second of learning in every lesson….
Under Pressure Posted by Dani Quinn I’ve had two interesting conversations this year with some of our weakest pupils. Fadekah is in Year 8. For all of Year 7 we despaired if she would even be able to pick and microwave her own meals, or…
Scaling Mount Improbable: King’s Wimbledon Posted on January 14, 2017 by Joe Kirby What can we learn from a top private school? King’s College School Wimbledon is one of the most academically successful schools in the world. 96% of pupils achieve A*-A at GCSE, and 41 pupils…
Posted on January 14, 2017 by Jo Facer Second Year (or: desperate for a scholarship) The summer after first year was filled with work – paid work, and library work. I was surviving on five or six hours of sleep a night and spending the day in…
Vertical vocabulary January 8, 2017 / jhcporter One of the great things about working at Michaela is the symbiosis that happens between colleagues. Inevitably for me, this exchange of ideas is most keenly felt between the Humanities and English Departments and, specifically, between the essays…
Posted on January 8, 2017 by Jo Facer Visiting Michaela: an update Michaela had always been open to anyone who wanted to visit, and we would actively encourage all kinds of people to visit us. We were so proud of what we did, and we naively…
First Year (or: why I didn’t drop out in the end) Posted on January 7, 2017 by Jo Facer In a recent conversation about university, I remarked off-hand that ‘I hated university.’ Given that I spent five years there, this is, one would hope, a melodramatic…
The Blogosphere in 2016: Roaring Tigers, Hidden Dragons Posted on December 31, 2016 by Joe Kirby The Signal Sharpens If felt like in 2016 the signal sharpened. The education blogosphere improved its curation of quality posts. This is mainly thanks to Andrew Old’s work on the…
Top reads of 2016 Posted on December 31, 2016 by Jo Facer Education reads: Doug Lemov: Reading Reconsidered I wrote at length about Lemov’s book – safe to say, it will revolutionise your teaching. Everyone should read this – not just English teachers. Lemov deeply considers…
Visiting Michaela Posted on December 14, 2016 by Jo Facer When I first visited Michaela, it was in July of 2015. What I saw on that day changed my view of education forever. I left the school in a daze, both dazzled by what was…
You Turn Me Right Round This is just about some ideas for angles we’ve been using in the department. Polygons: angles as turn We’ve been trying to demonstrate to the pupils what it actually means to say the sum of the angles in a triangle is…
No Excuses: High Standards, High Support Posted on December 10, 2016 by Joe Kirby Our school, Michaela, has very, very high standards. We expect every pupil to arrive at school on time every day, and we expect 100% attendance. We expect every pupil to arrive…
