XFacebookYouTubeLinkedInEmail

deliberate practice

Practice vs. talent: Five principles for effective teaching

2017-05-07T17:06:30+01:00May 6th, 2017|Featured|

Are we the way we are because of our natures or is talent just the product of hard work? Which matters more natural ability of practice? A few years ago my mother reminded me of my struggles with learning to read. Apparently, one of my primary teachers had written home with the bad news that I was mentally subnormal and would probably never learn to read. My mum wasn’t having any of that. She took me out of school and spent all day every day forcing me to read the entire Janet and John reading scheme. My memories of this are [...]

Teaching sequence for developing independence Stage 4: Practise

2013-07-19T14:12:46+01:00July 4th, 2013|Featured, learning, Teaching sequence|

What does practice make? Well, it turns out that my mum was wrong. Doug Lemov points out in Practice Perfect that practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent. What we practise we get good at. And sometimes we get very good at doing things badly. Take writing for instance. When I scribble notes I always use capital letters correctly. This isn't a boast: I just do. It would never occur to me not to, I don't even think about it. When I read students' work they invariably omit capital letters for proper nouns. Now, I rarely meet a secondary student who [...]

The Grand Unified Theory of Mastery

2013-07-19T22:30:51+01:00March 10th, 2013|Featured, learning|

Is this all you need to know about motivation, learning and professional development? No, probably not. But, it is a beguilingly complete way of tying together many of the theories which have baffled and bedevilled me over the past few years. Here they all are, neatly and beautifully packaged for your convenience. I love the fact that Pete Jones (@Pekabelo) has designed this as a tube map as it resonates with an idea I read about recently about 'staying on the bus'. All too often in life we 'get off the bus' as soon as we get to some sort of destination. Rarely [...]

Deliberating about practice

2013-08-22T12:54:21+01:00April 22nd, 2012|learning|

Should learning be fun? A few years ago I remember saying that was all learning should be. If you weren't enjoying it, why on earth would you do it? But now I'm not so sure. One of the most frequently used (and abused) buzz words in education over recent years is 'engagement'. Now, I'm not suggesting that students shouldn't be engaged in their lessons but I would urge you to check the definition of the word. To engage means either "to occupy the attention or efforts of a person" or, "to attract and hold fast". For a dissenting view on engagement [...]

Toggle Sliding Bar Area
Go to Top