I saw this link posted on Twitter by @TeacherToolkit and just had to share it.
This is a video by David McQueen (@DavidMcQueen) inspiring pupils to be the best they can in their exams:
If you teach an exam class or are a form tutor to an exam year, you NEED to watch this!
Just a quick post today. If you don’t already use Manga High, it’s worth a look. There is no charge for schools to create accounts and can be quite addictive/competitive – I’ve found some of my most disengaged pupils arguing over who was going to get a bronze medal first.
If you need to collect a lot of data or want to encourage pupils to consider how data collection can be carried out then Survey Monkey is the website for you.
A basic membership is free: it allows you to create and carry out a 10 question survey online.
A paid for membership allows you to customise your survey and download the results. The survey can be longer than 10 questions.
I’ve introduced SurveyMonkey to the staff where I teach. We have used it to survey pupils on their opinions of feedback/marking in books, pupil experience of IT, staff implementation of IT, feedback from CPD sessions, data collection for Masters research and even collecting food orders for parents evening!
In class, you could also use it to start a discussion on bias, types of question, how appropriate different charts are and why companies use sites like SurveyMonkey to collect consumer data.
Here’s a quick activity to stop copying and get pupils moving onto more challenging work.
If you use worksheet banks such as 10ticks, you will sometimes find you have columns of questions which gradually get harder. Many pupils find long exercises like this a bit of a hard slog. The hard workers get on with it, the less motivated copy them. Do they even need to do all of them to make progress?
A simple solution is to vertically slice the worksheet into two or three pieces. Each piece has a selection of questions, with graduated difficulty. The pieces are easier to stick into books as they are smaller. There is less photocopying/printing cost and consequently it is more environmentally friendly.
Did I forget something?
Oh yes, if you are careful how you hand them out no two adjacent pupils have the same questions! To quote one of my class, who wanted to have a lazy lesson:
“Miss – You’ve done it to me again! I’ve got to do my own work!”
(And at least this time this particular pupil actually noticed, before they attempted to copy …)
I came across these free self assessment resources via Pinterest.
The Treasure Box
There are two themes: Self assessment and Traffic Lights.
There are posters and sets of flags to download for each theme. They are bright and eye-catching.
The posters alone could be a useful display tool. I’m already planning ahead for the next academic year!
The website also sells other teaching resources, such as stampers.
I’ve recently started using the Edexcel Past Papers revision app (Apple & Android compatible) with my GCSE and A-Level classes.
It is basically a database of past papers for all Edexcel subjects and qualifications, even iGCSE. You search by qualification, then subject, then exam session, then paper. The papers and mark schemes are already available on the internet, but the app is much quicker than googling them. It is not a complete revision resource, but it is fairly comprehensive app. Some of the PDFs are e-versions, some are scans. You can also share papers by email, which allows you to print.
The recent material is still only available through the secure teacher area of the Edexcel website, so your mock exams won’t be compromised.
My Y11 have downloaded it for personal use when they are on study leave. They suggested that even though they don’t use Edexcel for every subject, they could use it as a source of extra questions when they run out of revision materials. I’m actually impressed that they intend doing so much revision!
My Y12 have used this app in class for checking their work and also when they have forgotten the exam paper I have copied for them. It also saves me having to print out new papers and dashing to the printer. I find it rather handy having a selection of mark schemes in my pocket, especially when students are working on a variety of papers.
Note: This app has mixed reviews on both itunes and the Google Play store. I think it depends what your expectations are and what device you have.
This has to be seen to be believed.
Is it a square table?
Is it a triangular table?
It’s both!
If you browse the Museum of Maths website, you’ll find so many great ideas – many by George Hart (co-founder of MoMath & Vi Hart’s dad). The posts were originally part of a collaboration between the ‘Make’ magazine website and MoMaths. The archive of projects and new posts are now available from the MoMath site.
I’ll bet you’re thinking about how to get one …