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- [[Topics/Assessment|Assessment]]
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- [[Topics/Effective Learning|Effective Learning]]
- [[Topics/Environment|Environment]]
- [[Topics/Explaining|Explaining]]
- [[Topics/Force|Force]]
- [[Topics/Games|Games]]
- [[Topics/Geography in Education|Geography in Education]]
- [[Topics/Global education|Global education]]
- [[Topics/Group talk|Group talk]]
- [[Topics/Group work|Group work]]
- [[Topics/ICT|ICT]]
- [[Topics/Inclusion|Inclusion]]
- [[Topics/Interactive pedagogy|Interactive pedagogy]]
- [[Topics/Maps|Maps]]
- [[Topics/Materials|Materials]]
- [[Topics/Measuring|Measuring]]
- [[Topics/Study skills|Study skills]]
- [[Topics/Modelling|Modelling]]
- [[Topics/Models|Models]]
- [[Topics/Multimedia|Multimedia]]
- [[Topics/Problem Solving|Problem Solving]]
- [[Topics/Questioning|Questioning]]
- [[Topics/Reading skills|Reading skills]]
- [[Topics/Visualisation|Visualisation]]
- [[Topics/Wikis|Wikis]]
- [[Topics/Writing|Writing]]
- [[Topics/Writing|Writing]]

Relevant resources

Assessment	Using Assessment to Raise Achievement in Maths
	Learning goals; self & peer assessment; effecting questioning; marking and case studies This resource explores approaches to assessment^(ta) in maths, including the sharing of learning objectives^(ta), group work^(ta), whole class^(ta) assessment, questioning^(ta) and more. Four case studies serve as useful discussion prompts to share practice^(ta). This .doc version of the QCA's 'Using assessment^(ta) to Raise Achievement in Maths' allows schools to select parts of the document that are most relevant to them.
Assessment	Diagnostic Questions in Maths Teaching
	Using questions to probe what pupils do, and do not, understand These questions provide a useful starting point from which to think about the use of diagnostic questions^(ta) for assessment^(ta) for learning and whole class^(ta) dialogic teaching^(ta). They may be useful for teachers in their own right as sample questions, or to think about the best way to deliver feedback, use ICT tools effectively, and support learners through assessment. In this context the questions should be considered with a critical eye. Teachers might like to think about: The interface, and the way the questions are presented (could the questions be labelled better, appear better, what is the functionality like, etc.?) The style of questions asked The sort of feedback given, both on individual questions, and overall on the completion of the quizzes Teachers might take this as an opportunity to engage in sharing practice^(ta) to think about how to use such questions in the classroom - perhaps using mini-whiteboards^(tool) or ICT tools - and outside of them, perhaps using quiz^(tool) or voting^(tool) software.
Assessment	Assessment for Learning
	Research shows that good practice in assessment for learning can bring about significant gains in pupil attainment Assessment for learning has been defined as the process of interpreting evidence to decide where learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there. When assessment^(ta) for learning is well established in a classroom, pupils are actively involved in their learning; able to judge the success of their work and to take responsibility for their own progress. For some shorter more focused documents drawn from this DfES document see Giving Oral Feedback, Giving Written Feedback, Sharing Learning Objectives and Outcomes.
Blogs	Getting a buzz out of blogging
	Starting with the basic principles of blogs^(tool) and blogging, this primary course looks at their use within education and how they can be used to improve teaching and learning. The focus is particularly on blogs as an ICT⁽ⁱ⁾ tool for collaboration^(ta) which encourages the effective use of reasoning^(ta) and language^(ta). The unit also discusses practical elements such as e-skills^(topic) and copyright^(topic) issues you might encounter in blogging.
Blogs	Creating and Using OER to Promote Best Practice
	One school's approach to sharing and promoting best practice using a blog This lesson idea encourages collaboration^(ta) between teachers in order to develop and share practice⁽ⁱ⁾ across a school. Blogs provide excellent opportunities for children and adults to share ideas and work together. They encourage and enable dialogue^(ta) between a writer - or group of writers - and an audience, allowing for quick and easy feedback. They enable questions^(ta) to be asked and answered quickly. This example shows a blog being used to encourage discussion^(ta) to enable curriculum planning^(topic) and curriculum development^(topic).
CPD	Sharing Learning Objectives and Outcomes
	What will they achieve - outcomes, objectives, and their importance This resource highlights the link between learning objectives^(ta) and assessment^(ta) for learning, and explores ways to engage in planning^(ta) for, and write good learning objectives - which identify the learning to take place, as opposed to just the activity with which the pupils will engage.
CPD	Encouraging Pupils to Ask Effective Questions
	Getting pupils to do the questioning This resource describes some methods to encourage pupils themselves to engage in effective questioning^(ta) - an active learning^(ta) approach which may be useful in whole class^(ta) or group work^(ta) discussion^(ta).
CPD	Questioning - Bloom's Taxonomy
	Developing questioning through Bloom's taxonomy This resource discusses questioning^(ta) and Bloom's taxonomy - which, at the higher levels, can be linked to higher order^(ta) thinking skills and reasoning^(ta).
CPD	Questioning Techniques
	How do I question? Thinking about questioning techniques in the classroom This resource explores some alternative strategies to direct questioning^(ta) including some advice and activities for supporting teachers in classroom practice.
CPD	Planning for Inclusion
	Planning for inclusion in your classroom This resource discusses planning^(ta) for inclusion^(ta), in particular as related to active learning^(ta), group talk^(ta) and more generally interactive pedagogy.
CPD	Common Pitfalls in Questioning
	Exploring problematic questions and ways to avoid them Questioning^(ta) is a key classroom practice, and skill, and can sometimes fall into the trap of focusing on lower levels, as opposed to higher order^(ta) reasoning^(ta) and discussion^(ta) skills. This resource covers some reasons why this - and other pitfalls - occur, with some practical advice for ensuring high quality questioning in your classroom.
CPD	Structuring Learning
	Thinking about sequencing and planning for high quality pedagogy The resource includes relevant information regarding lesson and curriculum planning^(ta) for high quality pedagogy.
CPD	Subject Specific Vocabulary
	What's that word? Thinking about the language used in your subject This resource highlights the importance of subject-specific vocabulary^(ta) and its consideration in teaching as well as offering some practical tips for encouraging its effective use, and remembering in classroom contexts.
CPD	Teaching for Metacognition
	Thinking about Thinking, in the classroom context This resource describes some strategies to engage metacognitive reasoning^(ta) - thinking about thinking, for example, asking pupils to think about their own learning techniques. It includes activities to assist teachers in planning^(ta) for their own teaching.
CPD	Using Drama Activities in your Teaching
	A lesson by any other name...Using Drama across the curriculum to enhance teaching This resource highlights some strategies to use drama^(ta) activities in the teaching of other subjects. Drama^(ta) can provide a useful cross curricula⁽ⁱ⁾ way to prompt active learning^(ta) and subsequent discussion^(ta) and group talk^(ta).
CPD	Using Thinking Skills
	What do you think? Exploring thinking skills for the classroom This resource highlights higher order^(ta) reasoning^(ta) skills and activities to prompt their use in classroom contexts.
CPD	Teaching Models
	Concrete preparation – Action – Metacognition – Bridging - Mediation This resource offers advice on planning^(ta) for interactive pedagogy. Three sub-sections have been drawn from it (see related DfE resources).
CPD	Choosing and Selecting Groups
	What group am I in? Thinking about choosing and selecting groups This resource discusses various options for choosing groupings for group work^(ta) activities, and their benefits and limitations.
CPD	Establishing Purpose for Writing
	Why do we have to write it down? Thinking about why we write... This resource highlights some key types of text, and asks teachers to think about the key texts and language^(ta) in their own subjects, and how tasks can be well designed to illicit purposeful writing in their classroom practice. Teachers should consider learning objectives^(ta) for purposeful writing.
CPD	Guide to the DfES Resource
	Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools: Leadership guide This resource provides a general overview of the DfES Pedagogy resources (see related resources/below).
CPD	Developing Good Explanations
	Say that again? Developing good explanations for classroom teaching This resource explores some characteristics of good explanations (including linking to questioning^(ta)), explaining these thoroughly and linking them to pupils' ability to engage in active learning^(ta)
CPD	Giving Written Feedback
	Effective methods for written feedback This resource discusses written feedback in the context of assessment^(ta) and giving clear learning objectives^(ta) from any feedback given. While such feedback is often on homework^(ta), the resource is intended more broadly than that.
CPD	Giving Oral Feedback
	Developing good practice in giving oral feedback This resource discusses giving oral feedback, particularly in the context of assessment^(ta), which could include whole class^(ta) discussion^(ta) or group talk^(ta), as well as questioning^(ta) contexts.
CPD	Group Work - Group Size
	What size group are we in today? Thinking about group size This resource discusses group work^(ta) sizes, and the practical benefits and limitations of various group sizes - from individual work to whole class^(ta) work.
CPD	Group Work - Maintaining Momentum
	Keep going! Maintaining momentum in group work activities This resource discusses some practical classroom management^(ta) strategies for maintaining momentum in group work^(ta) activities.
Contemporary issues	Teaching the Science of Contemporary Issues
	Find lesson inspiration aplenty from news clips and stories. This longer (32 page) resource provides useful guidance, examples, and CPD activities for exploring contemporary issues in science, particularly to stimulate effective group talk^(ta) and discussion^(ta), and provoke pupil's interest in science.
Creativity	Exploring the intersections of digital literacy and creativity
	A DEFT case study with Mundella Primary School, Sheffield This cross curricula⁽ⁱ⁾ case study focusses on Digital Literacy, in particular using E-skills^(topic) to: extend/update teaching skills and support CPD and explore the creative potential of digital technologies. The case study examines the potential of using mobile technologies to enhance creative aspects of learning. One of the lesson ideas from the case study is available as a separate resource at Creating Digital Paintings using iPads
Discussion	The Environment for Group Talk in Science
	"Ask questions rather than provide answers: ‘What’s the strength of his or her point?’ ‘How you could check that out?’ " This resource contains a set of activities and examples to discuss and work through based around maintaining group talk^(ta) in whole class^(ta) and group work^(ta) settings, including setting up Ground Rules, and creating appropriate environments (physical and 'class rule' based) for argumentation^(ta) and discussion^(ta)
Effective Learning	Developing Effective Learning
	A unit exploring 'effective learning' in the classroom This document takes a longer look at effective learning, study skills^(topic), and the attributes of effective learners.
Environment	Our Living Environment
	Wise up on ecology This study module, an online booklet, deals with the particular ways of thinking about and studying of the environment. It is a useful homework^(ta) resource to encourage pupils to engage with key scientific vocabulary^(ta) and use their knowledge of the scientific method^(ta) to engage with inquiry^(ta) learning.
Explaining	Explaining
	How's that work? Thinking about explanation This is a longer DfES resource discussing explanation, from which the shorter and more focused resources Developing Good Explanations, Purposes of Explanations are drawn.
Force	Force
	Thinking about 'force' in the national curriculum This sessions engaged pupils in inquiry^(ta) using the scientific method^(ta) to explore force. It offers opportunity for teachers to use higher order questioning^(ta), whole class assessment^(ta) and to engage pupils in effective group work^(ta) for investigation.
Games	Introduction to games
	This courses provides an introduction to games^(tool) in the classroom. The course will focus on freely available online games, which can provide a starting point for exploring their use in the classroom without investment in hardware and software. At the conclusion of this course you will have engaged in lesson planning^(ta), ready for implementation in your classroom.
Geography in Education	Geography in Education
	Where is it? Exploring the place of geography in the curriculum This unit looks at the contribution that geography can make in the education of young people and the characteristics and purpose of geography as a subject.
Global education	A global dimension to science education in schools
	Science and technology beyond the Western world This study unit is aimed at teachers who would like to give a more global feeling to their teaching. It shows how to source articles with an emphasis on science and technology beyond the Western world and how to incorporate them into teaching the curriculum.
Group talk	Organising Group Talk in Science
	The group in which students are expected to work has a huge bearing on their willingness to speak openly. Can we better manage group talk? This resource contains activities and examples relating to group talk^(ta) in science lessons in whole class^(ta) and group work^(ta) settings.
Group work	Active Engagement
	This resource is a longer DfES document on active engagement/active learning^(ta) from which some other shorter, more focused, resources are drawn including Using Drama Activities and Using Thinking Skills.
Group work	Group Work
	A unit exploring Group Work in context This resource is a longer document on group work^(ta) from which a number of other more focused resources have been drawn (including Group Work - Choosing and Selecting Groups, Group Work - Group Size, Group Work - Maintaining Momentum).
ICT	Creativity and ICT
	Building communities and exploring creativity This unit engages with the debates surrounding the term ‘creativity^(tool)' and explores ways in which ICT⁽ⁱ⁾ creates new opportunities for creativity and collaboration^(ta)
ICT	The use of mobile apps for digital story-telling by nursery pupils
	A DEFT case study This cross curricula⁽ⁱ⁾ case study focusses on Digital Literacy, in particular using E-skills^(topic) to: explore the creative potential of digital technologies for storytelling and to improve language skills. The case study explores the educational potential of mobile devices to support children's creative involvement with digital literacy. It also explores issues related to pupils using Web2.0 applications to share resources openly. One of the lesson ideas from the case study is available as a separate resource at Telling Stories about Farm Animals
Inclusion	Inclusion
	Thinking about inclusion in your classroom This resource provides a longer look at inclusion^(ta), the resource Planning for Inclusion is a more focused document looking at inclusion^(ta) in the context of interactive pedagogy.
Interactive pedagogy	The OER4Schools Professional Learning Resource for sub-Saharan Africa
	Interactive teaching with and without ICT The resource introduces and illustrates interactive teaching – using interactive teaching techniques itself! These include asking users to brainstorm, reflect, collaborate, discuss, make personal sense of new ideas and try out new classroom practices. "Interactive" in this context does not mean technically interactive (in the sense of interacting with a computer), but pedagogically interactive: learners are interacting with each other and the teacher rather than being passive consumers of content.
Maps	Restless Earth
	How would you respond? Using maps to model disaster support and recover exercises. This is a free workshop offered by the British Cartographic Society (BCS). Students are assigned roles for group work^(ta) tasks to represent various disaster recovery agencies. Learning and teaching focuses around small group work, co-inquiry^(ta), exploring ideas alongside negotiation, enquiry-based learning as well as a final whole class^(ta) dialogue^(ta). The overall aim of the workshop is for each group to produce a map suitable to meet the needs of the various disaster recovery agencies. BCS organise and supervise the event on the day. They run the workshops throughout the year at a variety of locations. Schools can host their own event or attend an organised one elsewhere. The only proviso is that BCS have access to a large hall with Internet available. If you would like to host or attend a Restless Earth workshop please contact the British Cartographic Society via the following link: http://www.cartography.org.uk/default.asp?contentID=982
Materials	The Material World
	Exploring the properties of materials around us. Designed to encourage active learning^(ta), this study module explores the properties of materials from everyday life. It also involves some simple inquiry^(ta) and practical activities using household items.
Measuring	Thinking about measurement
	How big is it? Thinking about measurement This module introduces the uses and limitations of measuring size, as well as giving a taste of using distance learning⁽ⁱ⁾ materials for higher education. This resource can serve as a useful revision of various measures, while providing helpful insight into active learning techniques, use of real life examples, the importance of technical language, and the importance of study skills^(topic) (such as use of dictionaries, indexes, representation of information, etc.).
Modelling	Models in Science
	Teachers use models to help pupils make sense of their observations An opportunity for teachers to discuss the use of modelling^(ta) and visualisation^(ta) in Key stage 3 science
Modelling	Modelling Scientific Writing
	How do we help pupils to express themselves adequately when they write? This resource discusses methods for modelling^(ta) scientific writing, and the structure and kinds of language^(ta) used in such writing. It provides exemplars and suggests activities to assist teachers to apply these methods to their own practice.
Models	Different types of model in science
	"When you use a model, you should make it clear to pupils that it is a model that you are using." This resource provides some examples of the types of models^(tool) used in science teaching, their roles, and importance for teaching.
Models	Using Models & Modelling in Science
	Teachers use models to help pupils make sense of their observations This resource describes the types of models^(tool) that are useful in science teaching, distinguishing between scientific models and teaching models. Using numerous examples, it highlights each model's strengths and limitations.
Multimedia	Working with multimedia
	In this unit, learners develop an understanding of contemporary digital media and how it applies to communication and entertainment ICT⁽ⁱ⁾s. This secondary course will show teachers how to use the e-skills^(topic) teaching and learning resources for this course to deliver the module in 60 teaching hours.