Teacher tweaks #tlt14 presentation

Debbie and Mel @TeacherTweaks
#TLT14
Tweaking your differentiation to
ensure all learners are challenged.

Books that have changed the way we think
Reading without
reflecting is like eating
without digesting.
Edmund Burke
No matter how busy you may
think you are, you must find time
for reading, or surrender yourself
to self-chosen ignorance.
Confucius

Key ideas about ensuring all learners are
challenged in An Ethic of Excellence
 Producing a piece of excellent work changes the way
students feel about what they can do.
 Having a detailed understanding of what constitutes an
excellent piece of work helps students to do it
themselves.
 Creating a culture of critique where students actively
seek out kind, specific and helpful feedback from their
peers increases students’ chances of producing
excellent work.
 Raising expectations of what students are able to
achieve enables students to develop an internal model
of quality that they carry around with them around
school.

challenged in Mindset
 Ability is not fixed and students will achieve more
if they have a growth mindset, making the
connection between effort and outcome.
 If you believe you can improve through sustained
effort, you will be more open to engaging in
deliberate practice and will place great value on
feedback.
Students should be taught to embrace challenging
work and persist when they find it tough because
only doing work that they find easy means they
will not become better learners.

challenged in The Hidden Lives of Learners
 The underlying process of learning is essentially the same for all
students, meaning low ability students can learn in the same way as high
ability students; the differences creep in because of students’ prior
knowledge, motivation and individual experiences.
 Learning is multilayered; a student experiences new learning through
the public world where tasks are managed by the teacher, the semi-private
interactions between peers and the private world of the
individual student. How they make sense of these three worlds impacts
on how much they learn. Low ability students are just as capable of
learning new ideas/concepts.
 Students need to experience at least three different sets of complete
information about a new idea/concept before it becomes embedded in
their memory so we need to give them opportunities to revisit these
ideas/concepts.
 Students remember how they learnt something just as much as the
content of what they learnt so task design is crucial and should
encourage students to think about what helps them learn.

challenged in Make It Stick
 Learning that is difficult and requires more effort will last
longer than learning that is easy and quick to grasp because
our memories are having to work harder in the former.
 Repeated retrieval practice (through quizzes and testing) is a
better strategy than rereading or cramming because it
strengthens students’ ability to retrieve what is in our stored
memory.
 Trying to solve a problem before being taught properly how to
do it leads to better learning, even when mistakes are made in
the attempt (as long as they are corrected).
 The more a student can explain in detail what they have learnt
and how this connects to what they already know, the better
chance they have of remembering it much later on.

Differentiation Dweck style: We can all
improve, so embrace challenges

PANIC ZONE
Exhausted
STRETCH ZONE
Disinclined
Willing to risk
COMFORT ZONE
• Which
zone do
you spend
most time
in during
lessons?
• In which
zone
would you
learn the
most?
(Adapted from Senninger
http://social-pedagogy.
co.uk/concepts_lz
Debbie and Mel @TeacherTweaks m.htm)

Comfort Zone:
• ‘How do you know your work is excellent?’
• Silent feedback (Post it from @fullonlearning)
• Replace the words that have been circled with
better ones
• ABC peer assess with a partner (Alex Quigley
@HuntingEnglish)
• New challenge (plenary prefect –
@shaun_allison)
• Do the hot or scorching task
• Rewrite this for a different audience

Panic Zone:
• ‘This is a challenging task, I’m going to leave
you to it and come back in 5 minutes’
• Ask your group or visit an expert in the class
• Read the exemplar answer on a similar area
• Read what someone else has written so far
• Use the sentence starters/question prompt
sheet

I’m doing fine/I’m stuck silent work cards
Double-sided
laminated cards. We
use them during silent
individual work so it’s
a quiet way for
students to show us
they’re ok and want to
get on with the task
(green) or they need a
bit of help to make
progress with the task
(red).

Changing my language:
• ‘Yet’
• You’re finding this particular part tricky, so
you have to work hard and practise
• First Attempt in Learning (FAIL)
• Difficulties opportunities
• Effort praised
(More excellent advice on building a Growth
Mindset culture at johntomsett.com)

Questioning
No opt out
Right is right
Stretch it

‘All of old. Nothing else ever.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No
matter. Try again. Fail again.
Fail better.’ (Samuel Beckett) ‘I’ve missed over 9000 shots in
‘Once you learn to quit, it
becomes a habit.’ (Vince
Lombardi Jr.)
‘It always seems impossible until
it’s done.’ (Nelson Mandela)
my career. I’ve lost almost 300
games. Twenty-six times I’ve
been trusted to take the game-winning
shot ……and missed.
I’ve failed over and over and
over again in my life. And that
is why I succeed.’ (Michael
Jordan)
‘Never confuse a single defeat as
a final defeat.’ (F. Scot
Fitzgerald)
‘Only those who dare to fail
greatly can ever achieve greatly’.
(Robert F Kennedy)
‘Bad times have a scientific
value. These are occasions a
good learner would not miss’.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Differentiation Berger style: everyone can
achieve excellence

The bigger picture: planning a learning
sequence
http://www.learningspy.co.uk/featured/great-teaching-happens-in-cycles/
Depending on where you are in the sequence, you will need to
change the level of input and differentiation for students.

Examples of Excellence
– Students need to see what the best pieces of work look like
so they have something to aim for.
– You can write your own or take pictures of previous student
work to share with your students.
– If you have an iPad, you can use AirDrop to mirror what’s on
your iPad onto the IWB. Hover your iPad over a students’
work during the lesson and ask students to look at it – no
moving around required!
– Annotating the excellent pieces of work helps students to
know why something is deemed excellent.

Using teacher modelling
– Modelling is one of the most underrated
skills a teacher has at their disposal to
help a student understand how to work
through a task.
– You can model in three ways: in class at
the board, alongside the students as
they write or a pre-made ‘flipped
learning’ style video.
Discussion Questions
– What are the pros and cons of the three
approaches?
– When might you use these different
approaches?
http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=xGyG7X7Crkc

Importance of success criteria
– Students need clear success criteria; otherwise,
they won’t know how to create an excellent piece
of work.
– Breaking down criteria into a ‘Steps For Success’
checklist can help students see the bigger picture
of what they need to do and tick off as they reach
each step.
– You can also colour code (Warm/Hot/Scorching)
criteria so students are aware of how the challenge
is increasing.

Warm Task
• A speech from
the young man
about who he is
and what he
believes.
• 10-12 lines
• 3 language
techniques
• Accurate
punctuation
. , ? ! ’ ;
• 3 Scorching
Sentences
Hot Task
• A speech from a
teacher who
knew the young
man when he
was child.
• 10-12 lines
• 3 language
techniques
• Accurate
punctuation
. , ? ! ’ ; –
• 4 Scorching
Sentences
Scorching Task
• A script of the
conversation at
dinner between the
young man and the
speaker (male or
female) .
• 10-12 lines
• 4 language
techniques.
• Accurate
punctuation
. , ? ! ’ ; – :
• 4 Scorching
sentences

Investigation Plan Success Criteria or 
Write an equipment list and instructions of what you
will do.
Explain what you will use the equipment for and write a
method that someone else could follow.
Justify your equipment choices by discussing precision,
accuracy and possible alternative equipment.
State the factor you will change and the factor you will
measure.
State the factors that need to be kept constant.
Explain how the control variables will be kept constant.

Appropriate scaffolding
– What type of scaffolding do
you draw upon time and again
in your classes?
– What would be a high
challenge, mid challenge or low
challenge scaffold?
– How do you introduce these
scaffolds to your students – do
you have them ready or do
they decide what is needed?

Adapted from Learning Spy’s Reading Ladder

Courtesy of Andy Day
@Andyphilipday

Discussion
sentence stems
If you are unsure about what you heard
•I found it a bit confusing when…..
•I’m not sure what I think yet but….
•I hear what you’re saying but what
about……
•Am I right in thinking….?
Developing your ideas after hearing
other points of view
•I agree/disagree with you because……
•If it was up to me, I would…….
•I’d like to add……..
•Some people might think that but……..
•After listening to what you said, I
think………
When expressing your ideas
•I feel……..
•I believe…….
•In my opinion……
•After talking about it with the
group, we decided…….

Prediction thinking map
Possible
outcome
Possible evidence for
this outcome
Possible evidence
against this outcome
Actual evidence for
this outcome
Actual evidence
against this outcome
Judge
likeliness of
possible
outcome
Make a
prediction
Imagine
Imagine
Find
Find
Adapted from Pam Hook
(http://pamhook.com/sol
o-taxonomy/)

Differentiation Nuthall style: the learning process is the
same regardless of ability but it’s more difficult for low
ability students because they have less prior knowledge,
language and experiences to draw upon.

Taking time to build up a strong foundation of
knowledge
– Low ability students have a
limited amount of prior
knowledge in comparison to
higher ability students.
– Consequently, it’s more difficult
for students to make sense of a
new concept/idea because there
is less prior knowledge for them
to link it to.
– So how can we help students
build a stronger foundation of
knowledge and begin to make
connections?

Using SOLO taxonomy to build a strong
foundation
• SOLO taxonomy is about
learning different bits of
knowledge (multi
structural) then making
connections between the
knowledge (relational) and
finishing by understanding
the knowledge so well, it
can be applied in a different
way/context (extended
abstract).
• For low ability students, it’s
important not to rush
through the multi structural
stage; otherwise, the
relational stage will be
weak/general.
• You can create a task with the
different stages of SOLO
taxonomy. Alternatively, you
can set up workstations
around the room for each
different stage. Students can
start at the stage they think it
most appropriate for them,
depending on what they
know.

Today’s key question: How does the writer highlight the increasing
conflict between Sir William and Alexander?
Identify and list
three of Sir
William’s actions
and how they
hurt Alexander.
Find quotations.
Identify and two
moments where
Alexander tries
to defy his father.
Find quotations.
Write a
paragraph
exploring how
the writer
makes us feel
sympathy for
Alexander.
Write a paragraph
exploring what
point the writer
may be making
about parenting in
the 18th century
compared to the
21st century.

Year 7 Nutrition Task Student Tick
Off
If Met
Teacher Tick
Off
If Evidenced
Identify and list three nutrients in
a meal.
Identify and list nutrients in two
meals.
Explain the function of each
nutrient found in the two meals.
Create your own example of a
nutritionally balanced meal based
on what you have learnt about
the other two meals.
An example adapted from Stephen Tierney.
@LeadingLearner
www.leadinglearner.me Debbie and Mel @TeacherTweaks

Students need to experience a new idea/concept at least
three times to remember it and their experience of learning
is influenced significantly by the peer culture.
– How could you design a
learning sequence so that
students will experience an
idea/concept at least three
times?
– How could you design your
seating plan so that there is a
positive learning culture in the
classroom where students are a
support to each other and not a
hindrance?!

Students’ misconceptions: language needs to be precise and
formal if we are to help all students understand accurately a
challenging new concept/idea.
• Display list of informal words before
you begin talking.
• Ask students to listen out for 5
academic words.
• Students identify these words and
match them to the informal words
on display.
• Finish off by colour coding them
depending on their difficulty. Warm
Hot Scorching
• Use them in a later piece of writing
to help students build their
academic vocabulary.
• Have students write key words in
the margins rather in a glossary so
the words are next to the new
learning; it will give the words a
context for students.
Displayed on the board
Story
Important idea
Writer’s message
Leaves a clue
Signs
Used during the explanation
Narrative
Theme
Writer’s intention
Foreshadows
Symbolism

Keeping track of learning across a topic
– Make explicit to
students, especially
those who have less
prior knowledge and
struggle to remember
new ideas, how all the
learning pieces together.
– How could you create a
visual representation for
students who may to
keep track of their
learning?

Differentiation Sticking style:
Repeated effortful retrieval

Setting the problem first
‘You learn better when you wrestle with new
problems before being shown the solution, rather
than the other way around.’ (Make it Stick P226)
What we would have
done previously
What we do now
Teach the content and then
give out exam questions
Give out the questions first for
students to try
Give students an overview
page for a topic that shows the
key learning questions
Start a topic with a short test
to find out what they already
know

Progress tests
• Practising retrieving new learning from memory:
Classes have a ‘recap test’ each week and their
answers are monitored through written and verbal
feedback. Students are given actions that they are
responsible for carrying out before the next test.
• Spaced retrieval practice: Tests regularly revisit
material we covered earlier in the course. There is
an expectation that students can recall prior
learning and connect it to the new things they are
learning (students really struggle with this!)

Exit cards ‘Generation’
Engage the mind in trying to make
sense of something new by
making the effort to explain in
your own words and relating it to
what you already know.

#TLT14
Thanks for listening
TeacherTweaks #TLT14 presentation by @TeacherTweaks is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Teacher tweaks #tlt14 presentation

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