My Diminishing Returns

 A topic in Micro I have always struggled to teach is the price mechanism. It's a bit embarrassing to admit this given it is the foundation of all market economics but I often find that whilst pupils can understand the concept of an equilibrium and how an equilibrium can change, exactly why the price mechanism leads to an efficient allocation of resources can appear quite nebulous. This year, I have tried to break down what the component parts of this to sequence it more effectively and what I have got to is: 1. What is the economic problem 2. What is the impact of a change in prices on Demand/ what causes a shift in Demand 3. How do prices respond to excess demand or supply? 4. How does this lead to a new equilibrium? 5. What are the functions of the price mechanism that cause a new equilibrium? 6. How does this lead to an efficient allocation of resources? 7. How does this link back to the economic problem? The first 4 question are relatively easy to understand when explained exp...

 I read a blog about how a visualiser is used in RE by  Miss Cox and I’ve been reflecting on how I use my visualiser. A few of the main ways that I use it are: 1.        When explaining a new concept When I explain a new concept, I have all eyes on the board (using SLANT) and not taking notes as pupils listen to my explanation. I have been reading about the modality impact in cognitive load theory and the benefits of optimising intrinsic load with both visual and auditory working memory. What I try to do is slowly build a diagram under the visualiser whilst I am talking. So before half term I was going through the impact of a progressive tax and after I explained what the term is (more on definitions later) I will gradually start to explain how it will reduce inequality by first drawing a quick diagram showing the gap between rich and poor pre-tax and then a second diagram highlighting the difference after-tax. I try to avoid the split...