ISSUE 2

2016-17

VIRGINS…
Hello!
In this edition, we’ll be
focusing on VESPA,
growth mindsets,
behaviour and of course,
this year’s cross college
pod theme: assessment.
The newsletter comes
with the ‘Silver Bullets’
poster which has great
ideas for developing your
practice. You may want
to print it out and display
in your room as an aide-
memoire.

Contents
p. 3 Vespa Virgins
p. 4 Bad Behaviour, Positive Attitude
p. 6 Behaviour Tips and Approaches
p. 9 Kick ’em out vs keep ’em in
p. 10 Silencing the Class
p. 11 Encouragement Strategies
p. 12 The 5 Minute Behaviour Plan
p. 13 Marking: A Sensible Approach

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VESPA
VIRGINS
The A level Mindset programme is being Here’s a video from the inventors
of the approach which explains
delivered in all A level tutorials across
further:
college but are you still a
VESPA virgin? Find out more about
this approach below:
The VESPA mindset contains 5 elements. Each is as
important as the other and here they are:
V = Vision
How well do you know what you want to achieve?
E = Effort
How many hours of independent work do students
do per week?
A grade students do 20 hours!!! Note, the ATTITUDE aspect of
S = Systems
How do you organise your learning and time? VESPA owes a lot to the work of
P = Practice Carol Dweck’s growth mindset. If you
What kind of work do you do to practice your skills? want your students to become
A = Attitude
How do you respond to setbacks? resilient, motivated and successful,
this is an essential watch:

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Ian Harvey’s and Steve Maple’s behaviour
management INSET featured Caroline Sniders as a
lovely yet rather aggressive giant, Brian Glover in Kes
and some open-minded approaches to the tricky topic of
how to manage disruptive classroom behaviour. Some
say you had to be there but with this recap, we think you
didn’t!

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The session started
with the archetypal bullying teacher, Brian
Glover, insulting and assaulting his PE
class mercilessly. Obviously, in our
modern context, his behaviour
management is a little too draconian.
However, as the following task showed,
there is room in our college for a bit of
tough love.

Staff were next presented with a

Shakespeare quote all about the misuse
of power: “it is excellent to have a giant’s
strength, but it is tyrannous to use it like a The Game of Thrones Giant
giant”. To generate some self-reflection,
the group was asked the question: If
teachers are giants, what sort of giant
are you? When decided, staff stood
under the image of the giant that best
reflected their self-perception.

The BFGs

The fabulous Caroline Sniders was the only

member of staff brave (or self aware!?)
enough to admit that this was her teaching
persona. The ‘it’s my way or the highway’
approach works for her and it is no surprise
why. Students do what she tells them and
those that don’t, learn to. Quickly! Such a
Approximately, 50% of the group thought presence is another way to skin the teaching
of themselves like this; friendly, cat but a direct approach can escalate
approachable, supportive, caring, confrontation as we shall see.
nurturing. What’s not to like? Isn’t it what
we all want from our teachers? Well, yes The BF Game of Thrones Giant
and no. If this is your teaching persona,
some students won’t be able to appreciate
the subtleties and nuances of your
professional relationship. Perhaps they
won’t take your disciplinary measures very
seriously. You might be big bro’ or sis’
rather than a teacher they respect – this
can be a problem for younger teachers
especially. However, the natural rapport
and approachability that BFGs possess
can be teaching gold because - as Rita
The other half of the group saw themselves
Pierson once said – students don’t learn
as this monstrosity! They felt that they
from ‘people they don’t like’.
possessed all the tools of the teaching trade
https://youtu.be/SFnMTHhKdkw?t=12s

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and knew which students needed a carrot and those that needed the stick. But do they always get it
right? Are their mind reading faculties better than everyone else’s? Do they never get any grief?
Maybe these teachers are the ones that manage to
balance on the tightrope of behaviour management for the
longest before being inevitably knocked off. We deal with
challenging students everyday so we’re bound to get it
wrong sometimes no matter which ‘giant’ you are.
Nevertheless, here’s some tips to maintain your
equilibrium. They’ll fail as often as they work but the more
tricks up your sleeve, the better.

Tips
&
Approaches
The ‘Ignoring’ model below shows how doing so escalates bad behaviour…

However, in this clip, we see a teacher tactically ignore a student successfully:

https://youtu.be/XY_2nRsB6HU?t=6m40s

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This model shows how shouting at students can result in students’ misbehaviour increasing…

The video below is a great comic example of how things can escalate when a teacher lets their
emotions override their reason.

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✓ Positive relationships----- what makes the students tick
✓ Interactive lessons
✓ Consistent learning routines
✓ High expectations
✓ Enthusiasm
✓ Student centred learning
✓ Clear discipline rules
✓ Be consistent
✓ Positive reinforcement
✓ Always follow through sanctions
✓ Seating plan
✓ Students need to perceive you care
✓ Don’t get into a conflict, but give a consequence
✓ Changes in behaviour are long term and there is no short term fix. Learning is a
relatively permanent change in behaviour
✓ Believe in your students
✓ Explain the rules & sanctions
✓ Don’t move sanctions on too quickly

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How you could keep your students in class:
Kick ’em out Keep ’em in
Aggressive Assertive
Uses sanctions Uses praise and
sanctions
Tendency to shout Tendency to discuss
Escalates De-escalates
Passes issues on Sorts issues out
Focuses on ‘the Focuses on ‘the sin’
sinner’
Plays the ‘Blame We’re in this
Game’ together

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Silencing the Class made easy -
à la Dylan Williams
Tell your students
that when you put
your hand up, they
must raise theirs
and be silent.

There’s no need to
shout or even
speak. This is a
simple visual trick
which silences the
class quickly as
students can see
their peers’ hands
from anywhere in
the room.

• Combine this with behavioural narration

(https://youtu.be/LSDJ84jJ36M?t=4m47s) for an
even quicker response
• Raise your hand and praise/thank 3 students who
do it straight away. Instead of sounding negative
(eg ‘Shut up!’), students only hear positivity from
their teacher.

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12
Marking: A
Sensible
Approach
The Myths:
1. YOU MUST SPEND HOURS MARKING TO BE A GOOD TEACHER.
2. WRITING PAGES OF FEEDBACK MAKES YOU MORE EFFECTIVE.
3. THERE IS A LINK BETWEEN THE QUANTITY OF MARKING AND PUPIL PROGRESS.

Effective Marking
Marking should help to motivate pupils to progress. This does not mean always writing in-depth
comments or being universally positive: sometimes short, challenging comments or oral feedback are
more effective.

“If the teacher is doing more work than their pupils, this can become a disincentive for pupils to accept
challenges and take responsibility for improving their work”.

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 An important element of marking is to acknowledge the work a
pupil has done, value their efforts and achievement, and
celebrate progress.
Too much feedback can take away responsibility from the pupil, detract from the challenge of a piece of
work, and reduce long term retention and resilience-building.

Pupils should be taught and encouraged to check their own work by

understanding the success criteria, so that they complete work to the highest
standard.

Marking practice that does not have the desired impact

on pupil outcomes is a time-wasting burden for teachers
that has to stop.

Effective marking is an essential part of the

education process. At its heart, it is an interaction
between teacher and pupil: a way of acknowledging
pupils’ work, checking the outcomes and making
decisions about what teachers and pupils need to do
next. The primary aim of marking is to drive pupil
progress.
The quantity of feedback should not be confused
with the quality. The quality of the feedback, however
given, will be seen in how a pupil is able to tackle
subsequent work.
Marking is a vital element of teaching, but when it is ineffective, it can be demoralising and a waste
of time for teachers and pupils alike.
Providing extensive written comments on every piece of work when there is very little evidence that
this improves pupil outcomes in the long term is a waste of time.
All marking should be meaningful, manageable and motivating.

Ofsted recognises that marking and feedback to pupils, both written and oral, are important aspects of
assessment. However, Ofsted does not expect to see any specific frequency, type or volume of marking
and feedback.
While inspectors
Adapted andwill consider
taken from:how written and oral feedback is used to promote learning, Ofsted does not
expect to see any written record of oral feedback provided to pupils by teachers.

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