Over summer (and the March lockdown) I read blogs from BenNewmark and Adam Boxer on how to create and use booklets of practice questions as
opposed to power points.
It has been a real game-changer for me in terms of the amount
my pupils are now practising content, the mental capacity I have during a
lesson to focus on how pupils and it massively reduces workload which gives
teachers time to plan for their explanations and questioning.
The blogs linked above explain the advantages of using them
far better than me, but I wanted to speak about the process of creating and
using them for me. It has been a process of trial and error for me this year
and some of the key lessons learned are:
1.
It is incredible CPD for your subject
knowledge
I underestimated how much creating booklets enhanced my
subject knowledge. I thought I understood by subject well but when you create
these booklets, you specify exactly the knowledge you want pupils to know to
write questions about them and so you need to really understand every inch of
the specification. I’ve often had to stop halfway through writing some
questions to refer to old university textbooks or read up further to work out
exactly how to explain every element of a topic.
2.
I’ve thought more about how hard pupils
are thinking
For GCSE economics I have recently written a booklet about
fiscal policy. I thought it would be relatively simple (given I already teach fiscal
policy in far greater detail at A level already) but when I broke down the
topic, there were over 300 questions going through everything I want pupils to
know about the topic.
I’ve had to consider what the likely misconceptions are,
what the similarities are between topics that I want pupils to pick out and the
key differences. I need pupils to understand how topics link together and what
variables different factors depend on. I’ve gone on a journey considering what
the subject-specific challenge should be and it definitely means that my pupils
think a lot more than they did in the past.
3.
Going beyond the spec
Linked to this, it has really helped me consider the curriculum.
When you consider every aspect of a topic when writing a booklet, it makes it
easier to include areas that go beyond the specification to have a broad
knowledge base. Teaching a subject which is focussed around exams, it’s made it
much easier for me to get away from ‘teaching to the exam.’
4.
Routines need to be established
When I first started using booklets, I found some pupils
would try and race ahead and complete more questions whilst I was going through
explanations. There was a danger that some pupils saw me as being redundant and
the booklets being the lesson. I found using SLANT from Teach Like a Champion
very useful here with a clear routing that pupils must have ‘nothing in their
hands’ when I am speaking. Like any routine, it does not take long to establish
if consistently applied but I wish I’d thought about it more at the start of
the year.
5.
Pupils reactions
One thing I have found interesting is how much pupils like
working with booklets. I think this is because they feel they are mastering
content given how much practice they are doing. I never realised just how much
I was constrained by how many questions I could fit onto a slide. Now, pupils
are practicing and thinking so much more and, in my experience, they have
genuinely enjoyed it.
I think this is partly because lesson time is so much more
productive. There is no wasted time handing out resources or gluing things in.
Instead, every minute is focussed on listening to explanations, responding to
my questions or independent practice. It has definitely helped create a
classroom culture of a place where pupils can be successful.
6.
My explanations have improved
The time that we now save as a department on planning
individual lessons has not reduced overall workload but instead has meant
planning time is spent considering explanations. We now discuss how to explain
certain concepts, what examples and non-examples to use, when diagrams are
useful to explain cause and effect etc
Both in departmental meetings and individually, the renewed
focus on explanations will I am sure lead to an improvement in pupil outcomes
over time. It is still early days for us using booklets, but it feels like we
are prioritising our time on the things that really matter, and the work feels
so much more rewarding when we all believe it has value.
7.
How detailed should notes be?
When starting out, I wrote quite extensive notes before each
set of questions. However, I think that pupils overly relied on these when
answering questions and this has meant that pupils were not thinking as much as
they could be. Now I think of the notes as a bit of scaffolding for those who
are struggling but keep this fairly minimal
8.
Sharing is caring!
Writing a booklet takes me a very long time. I tried to take
a lot of this on myself initially but there is merit in sharing this out and
making their creation a collaborative process. Similarly, they can be a live,
working document. After I teach a topic I go back and edit booklets considering
what went well and how they could be improved so they get better over time.
A lot of thanks go to those who have blogged on these
before, they have had a big impact on me and my department. If anyone is
teaching GCSE Economics (OCR), A Level Economics (AQA) or BTEC Business (Unit
3) then please let me know as I have booklets for these, I am happy to share.