Through a SOLO lens.

For me SOLO taxonomy is an integrated part of my Teaching and Learning repertoire. It serves many purposes, very well as I learn more. It HELPS in many ways, I 'm using the help here pejoratively as the content of the learning (whether it be factual, conceptual, procedural or metacognitive knowledge) will determine the appropriate pedagogy. SOLO gives this process more clarity.

It helps breakdown overarching Learning Intentions into manageable, progressive chunks. The quantitative sections (Uni and Multistructural) sections are the foundations on which the rest of the learning will be built, often but not exclusively "essential learnings". Progress between the Unistructural and Multistructural sections are relatively simple to plan for, providing information is "hit" between three and four different ways, ensuring retention and relevance of student responses. Relational learning often brings about those activities that allow students to see the information in different ways.

SOLO also helps focus on what kind of thinking is helpful given the knowledge being studied. Radically I don't believe we can teach people to think.It's something we do as we are human. It's natural. People think. However, we can teach the importance of thinking in different ways to gain different perspectives. SOLO  helps focus on what kind of thinking is currently useful.

SOLO taxonomy is not a start point for planning learning, no tool or activity is, who would wander the aisles of Homebase picking out the best high revolution precision cutter, and then decide what to make (although I'd love one). However, it does help ensure clarity and progression within the content knowledge.When planning lessons or schemes of learning I tend to write down all the big content and skill ideas that the students need to know, then group them by concept, and only then do I view them with a SOLO lens. 

Looking at the learning intentions through a SOLO lens helps first plot any progressions that have already arisen, but most important makes me consider what are the essential learnings that students need to have before they understand or do what I want them to learn. In a way I back fill the building blocks of a concept. Sometimes, this is not possible and therefore I get to see clearly where the "leaps of faith" are needed. I never worry about this I'm "Nuthallian". I witnessed a student learn something a French lesson today, brilliantly the teacher had posed a question that required the distilling of a grammar rule, as well as seeking multiple responses from students. He started his response with " I was thinking that the answers was...." and then used one of the best thinking words "but" and continued to ascribe his learning to the responses the other students he had just heard, He concluded beautifully with "So they were right and the rule is this....it makes sense" As I said a leap of faith, but one where SOLO could make me aware of where I might need to  scaffold more, or target my formative assessment. This example is probably the commonest "leap of faith" for SOLO and for me the most difficult to plan for, getting to Extended Abstract. Sometimes, this is solved by a single question. "Would the student learning of THIS content  benefit from spending time contemplating a Extended Abstract activity?" If the answer is NO, then I don't crowbar it in. The SOLO levels are a tool, not a destination.

Its not uncommon for my Learning intentions of gaps. Keep it relevant to the content

If the answer is YES, then SOLO provides a structure to visualise potential next steps. I really like the logical nature and it fits beautifully with Science .I know colleagues have found this to be true across all "subjects", but in all cases it content knowledge view with the SOLO lens. The simplified way it represents content knowledge and how increasing complexity can be achieved. This probably  explains why it's transferable.
For me the first appeal was the to assess the quality of student work and in doing so naturally fell in to using it  to provide feedback. It was not until much later that I understood its full potential in developing progression in Learning Intentions that can be tracked, and this for me turns the "leaps of faith" into manageable, "plan-able"  and visible learning steps.

SOLO lesson outcomes and formative assessmnet

On Twitter, I recently received sort of valid point about the ability of SOLO taxonomy to provide useful "feed forward".

I sort of agree with this, a bit. And, only if you don't plan out the content that is to be learned.

One of the inherently beautiful things about SOLO Taxonomy is the incorporation of content knowledge. Unlike the pillars of baroque villas, the columns that give SOLO its recognisable facade have structural integrity. The taxonomy is not a bolt accessory to learning, it structures it in a clear and purposeful way.

However, the linear route learning takes appears to be considered axiomatic. Learning is messy, and therefore sometimes takes a linear path, some time not. Hoorah!. That said planning learning and being able to see ( or measure) learning in a linear way certainly helps teachers.  This is why SOLO taxonomy is such a useful tool in the design of lessons. I hope this simple example will allow me to illustrate this.

Take these examples from the new year 8 Science module currently being planned.

1. define an element
2. define a compound
3. define a mixture

Each one appears to be unistructural until each definition is dissected. 

1. An element is  made from one type of atom. 

can and should be considered unistructural but 

2. A compound is made from two types of atoms that are joined together.

is clearly multistructural, and now has a clear progression for students to follow. The feedback is already in place for those that give only one part to this answer. 

The final one is probably best considered multistructual too, but again their is scope for the development of knowledge here this time to a relational level. 

3. A mixture is made from two or more elements or compounds that are easily separated.

Since, you need to know what the previous two outcomes, the linear nature of this content becomes apparent. Although, the response above is clearly multistructural their is potential for relational. The situation bellows for the use of a hinge question, to explore the relational links at hand.

Something along the lines of "How are the atoms arranged in a mixture? " , could give the ideas that

"mixtures have atoms that may be on their own in elements while in compounds they are joined. The atoms in the compounds of a mixture are separate to each other."

This response gives a contrast and a chance to apply previous learning and is potentially relational.. Most importantly it gives a knowledge base on which to decide the order of introducing these concepts. Mixtures are on some levels the easiest to get your head around, but to have a real understanding of them requires knowledge of elements and compounds and their atoms first. 

SOLO taxonomy reveals that to truly to understand these outcomes, relational thinking is necessary. The linear nature of a taxonomy and the centrality of content knowledge in SOLO allows the hidden concepts in what is to be taught. The analysis of these outcomes has already improved these as yet unwritten lessons, with clearer more reasonable outcomes. Simply by  aiming for

Distinguish between compounds and mixtures

will lead the learner to consider the nature of atoms in both.

It appears that we have reached the end of the linear progression through SOLO without reaching Extended Abstract.  I'm sure some content will end here quite contentedly, although, there is more to this particular content.

To get to extend abstract, on this occasion will allow students to deepen their understanding of not only these outcomes but also in future study.It is therefore worthwhile doing. To get there a parallel bit of content knowledge is required, again reinforcing the usefulness of the SOLO visuals. At first the new knowledge appears excessive and bolted on. It being

4. define a molecule. 




On the surface, this is benign but this is the start of what Victorian Essential Learnings (VELS) website  called Critical Teaching Ideas. The concepts that allow a deeper understanding to be developed.

Again, an unistructural  response could be " two or more atoms joined together." Although this is a difficult concept to grasp , as it hinges on the importance of an omission. It does not say two types of atoms as used in defining compounds, but simply two atoms.a vital distinction. It is now relational, as it requires distinctions to be made. Again, this leads to a hinge question.

"Which of the following form one kind of molecule: elements, compounds or mixtures?"

Since molecules can be made from two (or more) atoms joined together, they may be the same type and therefore an element, they may also  be made from two (or more) different atoms joined together and therefore a compound. However a mixture may have different  molecules (as either elements and/or compounds) but the different ones remain separate,

The underline parts are generalisations and therefore Extended Abstract. The parallel content has now converged to lead to a greater understanding. The VELS website also has some excellent concept maps showing the messiness of these concepts and also some logical routes through it for teacher planning.

Finally this is where I see the point originally made , that the jumps made in this final jump appear large, albeit they are now visible, and planned for. Firstly by changing the outcome to

4. Distinguish between the molecules in  elements, compounds and  mixtures

and secondly by now planning the lesson that will allow the development of these concepts, letting the content determine the task.  

The structure of SOLO taxonomy allows for meaningful and coordinated  lesson outcomes, with planned formative assessment points. Some of the leaps may be big, but are clear and the critical teaching ideas made distinct. Imagine trying to do this with SOLO taxonomy.

Now to plan the lessons.....

A Simple task with big Impact.

The activities I would like to highlight here all take place within the first 10 minutes of a lesson commencing. Two of them have long been hard wired into my practice and I some what take them for granted. So the one I want to highlight is something that I picked up in Geoff Pettys inspiring "Evidence based teaching." It's not something new, in fact it is standard practice on any TEEP course I run, but, it has not made it into my classroom on a regular basis until this year. The beauty of Geoff Pettys book is that it gives activities a pedagogical purpose and backs up if effectiveness with evidence from either Hattie or Marzano.





The strategy is very simple, the simplest of the three by some way. All that is required is a visual representation of the learning that is about to happen.My interpretation of this can be seen in the examples I have used in the last two days. Anecdotaly the impact of this is profound. during one course a teacher complained that (since she had been late and missed the overview of the day) she could not see the overview as it had been obscured by another display and that she felts disorientated, as she not know what was going on. I have noticed my students increasingly asking me "are we now onto X ?", and I regularly see their eyes glancing up and down it.I feel it is well used, no less by me who uses it to clarify lesson plans in the morning, so that I have a very clear purpose and direction to the task chosen and in planning for managing transitions during the lesson. The effect size of this strategy is 1.27 . Needless to say this is a positive result. If you need more information on effect sizes you need to buy either Geoff Pettys book or John Hatties "Visible learning". In fact I would say every teacher needs these inspiring books.



The other two strategies are on the surface just as simple but in reality some of the most difficult tasks a teacher must do. Firstly is setting goals, or learning intentions or learning objectives. This is so hard, research shows tht teachers tend to write these as tasks rather than what will be learned. The effect size for this is 0.51. Again a worthwhile pursuit at the beginning of a lesson.





Finally a task issued at the start at the beginning of recalls prior learning. Petty recommends using questions here but any cognitive task will help, for example rank in order the most important facts from last lesson, as opposed to a word search of keywords. It is the connection and the search for meaning that is important not the simple recall. The effect size for this is 0.91.



When I read Petty the word "Wow!" stumbled from list as he points out the doing all three has a total effect size of 2.66. All in the first five minutes! Since reading this at least 90% of my (non enquiry) lessons begin in this way.

I believe it is the combination of these help students throughout the lesson: Where have they been, where are they going to and how are they going to get there. It's the foundation of comment only marking on a whole class basis. If I now ask my students what are they learning about then most of them will look to the graphical representation of the lesson first and then look at the outcomes displayed. It's very presence is giving them a pedagogical (albeit content based) purpose to each activity. Again consider an anecdote, if you want the students to do a presentation or a test, they know from the beginning and it' not just sprang upon them, they know from the start and in the context of their learning. It's all there for them in Technicolor!

Classroom display to support a learning agenda

I have posted this brief clip to attempt to illustrate how I am setting about supporting my learning agenda in my classroom.

The first thing shown is a few of the thinking words that circle my room. I use these when debriefing activities and to assist students in meta cognition. It gives the class a shared language for learning. It is also hugely motivating for students when they describe themselves juxtaposing!

Next is my biggest ever display, I think this shows the importance I have in Biggs SOLO taxonomy. I have it displayed so that the steps to improve their work are visible and easily referred to. My intention of training the students to use this is a major theme in my learning agenda. You will note the space next to it, this will be where exemplar work will be displayed..

Next are the tools that have been used in my lessons, that are labelled with their function. Again I want these to be visible to encourage students making decisions about how they learn. These include student examples of how to use them.

The most frequent used part of the display at this time of year is the "What good learners do" and "What good learners do when they get stuck". These are tantamount to class rules. But since the students have offered them, and then agreed to their use ,each class owns them. This makes them immensely powerful for giving feedback about behaviour, effort and attitude, all those management issues that can sometimes clog up good learning. Having the title what good learners do, makes their use a positive and assertive thing to do. I believe this is why my students respond well to praise when I catch them doing one of them and even better when they catch themselves ( often through my feedback) not doing one or two. students are a lot harsher on themselves than I am! I find it changes the negative behaviour quickly.

Likewise the phrase what good learners do when they are stuck is a positive motivational tool. I am often surprised how quickly the "I'm stuck therefore i won't try" attitude changes into "Great, I'm about to learn something new". Students take this with them, as I have seen other teachers who use this strategy with students I have taught previously , with phrases like "Enjoy getting stuck under the "what good learners do"! Ah transfer! most satisfying.

Next is the list of PEEL good learner behaviours, which is where I want my students to be. One day .....one day.

The stripy thing, was an attempt to get the students to choose a no hands up policy and discuss the merits of different teaching strategies. This has not gone to my thinking. I think I have already decided that I will ask who who I choose during lessons and train the students with things like, giving each other wait time etc. I wanted them to have as much ownership of our classroom, I have not used this consistently, with too many things taking precedent. I will return but I'm not now convinced of its merit.

And finally the board titled "Our Learning Journey" is an attempt to provide a visual overview of what is going to happen and when specific learning outcomes will be learned. The students have responded well and research backs up this strategy, along with a starter activity and clear shared learning outcomes having a big influence on student attainment. Thanks again Geoff Petty! (Although I do confess colleagues are beginning to take the Michael as I wheel this board between lessons. Teachers are great.)

Comparing a (more) Tradional approach to marking to SOLO taxonomy

Following on from my last post, I have just marked the same class set of books. This time how ever was much more content focused, I'm trying to find out what if anything my students have learned. So my feedback this time is purely around Science content.

I am pleased to report that I only spent the same length of time as my previous marking effort, and I have managed using my level ladders gathered a small quantity of information about my students. Namely can they distinuguish between an Element, Mixture and Compound. I also feel more able to attach a SAT level to their knowledge. So not that useful really. I feel I have learned nothing about them as students (except two) and my feedback is limited.

A note on my codes. BM is Book marked, OBS is observed during lesson and DQ is when I have directly questioned a student around this concept.

I know patience is the key with this kind of marking and that over the course of a module a level ladder will allow me to collect a lot of valid information about where academically my students are. It's just going to take hours and hours. I will point out that I'm not intending on collecting all the evidence by marking books and have planned activities that will allow me to observe this learning. I also have planned questions to ask during lessons that will reveal who understands and who doesn't. All will be recorded , valued. and reflected upon.
The two students who are a bit different are a difficult boy who I now know understands alot more than he will let me know and a girl who knows abit but has no eye for detail so that despite understanding the lesson her work misses the point. For the boy, It has allowed me to praise genuinely for once.
I do feel better about this marking than I would normally as i have been marking against learning intentions. A proven effective strategy. I was also able to set each student individual tasks to clarify, consolidate and extend their ideas. Set at the begining of my lesson, they students responded well, question themselves and each other about what they learned last lesson. It's this connection that is the real value of my effort marking books. It is also useful to compile these findings for the whole class to provide real evidence to base "moving on" decisions.

But, I must confess that in terms of real ( not fact or content based) learning, the feedback focused on one thing, and is not transferable, nor progressive, whereas the feedback I gave them using SOLO taxonomy is. I have already planned their next assessment task and it is based around SOLO. I'm looking forward to putting this "transferability" and of course my students to the test.

Getting to grips with Solo taxonomy.

I have just created my first specific assessment tool based around the Solo Taxonomy, and I'm rather pleased.

I have spent quite a lot of time getting my head around this , adapting for my own use, making a wall display (see earlier post) and deciding that the best way to use this would be through targeted activities with specific assessment sheets. Here it is, the topic is the rock cycle. Please not that this is not a traditional SOLO taxonomy as I have attempted to subdivide some of the categories.

So in planning for the first week back, I have seen a before, before after after ( See PEELWEB.ORG) activity that will elucidate the understanding of the students from the lesson. I have planned to do this as a group assessment. This will allow the students to discuss the SOLO taxonomy too, as it is there first exposure to it. I am intending to make the use of the SOLO taxonomy as key item of my learning agenda this year.

What has pleasantly surprised me was the speed at which I was able to write quality success criteria with built in progression. I hope it is as "clarifying" to my students thinking as it has been to mine. The criteria for the SOLO taxonomy really make it easy to do this. I have saved so much time it is easy for me to share it and write one for next weeks lesson!

Some Teacher Benefits.

The Purpose of a "purpose" is that it will lead you some where, something must change, something must improve. So, if you don't set an agenda, how do you and more importantly, your students know what they trying to get better at. This is also true for teachers to develop their own skills and knowledge. So, part of the reason I want to establish pedagogical purposes in my lessons is entirely selfish. Geoff Petty in Evidence Based Learning summarises these teacher benefits succinctly as..

A. If you understand why a teaching strategy works well.

B. We can then adapt the strategy if we know why it works

C. If we understand the general principles we can use these to evaluate our own teaching methods and to design new ones.

My priorities for my students in the last three weeks of term have been:-



1. Appropraite use of IT in lessons, tail and dog stories
2. Increase independance and decision making
3. Increase the amount of higher order thinking.

4. Developing a specific Science thinking skills.



These are based pretty much on gut feeling and several formal reflections about my teaching, my students learning and the curriculum that I am teaching too. (Which can be seen above in an enquiry cycle.) Some of these ideas I have already blogged about. So what benefits will I get by challenging my students to these targets? I will scrutinise the first two to highlight how and why I am attempting to do this.


1. Appropriate use of IT.
This big irritant to me, I too often find that students will spend hours being totally distracted by the use of IT in my lessons. I am not talking misuse of the IT, like gaming, as this is less irritating, as it is a behaviour issue and I will deal with it as I would any behaviour issue. The two biggest worries I have are firstly, that most stuudents think that being on Google is actually researching, and that it is a thinking tool to help them research and learn. What a ridiculous proposition. Consider this all too real dialogue.

Mead: What are you doing?

Student: I'm researching about fair trade food.

Mead: and what thinking tool are you using?

Student: I'm googling, sir!

Mead: (In head. B*#lls another one!) Would you mind me having a look at your search criteria.


The student clicks back to reveal a not unreasonable input.

Mead; I agree with what you've typed in, but how does 69.5 million hits help you?

Students: ( Silence)

Mead: ( Good use of wait time, so, even more silence)

Student: So shall I use the webpages you have recommended?

Mead: What will that allow you to do?

Student: Find out what I want to know?

Mead: (raises eyebrows) Why were you on Google then?

Student: Errrrr.. I just was.


This is not what I imagined when I planned this lesson. Where are the conversations like this..


Mead: what are you upto?

Student: I'm researching about fair trade food.

Mead: how are you doing that?

Student: I'm using a PMI at the moment, I'm reading about a Ugandan Coffee farmer and what his daily life is like?

Mead: Learned anything new?

Students: I've decided that Fair trade is definately worth a few extra pence, and what Organic food is.

Mead: What helped you decide?......



The second problem is more insiduous, despite the instruction that "we are researching2 and a clear overview of the lesson plotted out on the board. Inevitably,I find half my class are on PowerPoint , while another quarter are choosing fonts for their wordart titles. Modern day colouring in. I'm not having this.

Strategies to help.

I have a few ideas that may help me out. Firstly, it is the relationship I have built with my students, so that I can give them honest feedback. I know that some students will actually follow my instructions, so I make a point of stopping the class to see "good practice". I also know that large numbers will head of into Google land and Font world, so I am planning a ten minute blitz at the beginning of the lesson. Again stopping everyone with yells of "Wow! everyone gather around to see what Giles has done!" Before then actually being more helpful but encouraging the class to give constructive feedback. After this ten minute spell I will return to the analogy of the tail wagging the dog. Other strategies include making clear the process of research with a over view of

Read/watch -------> Thinking Tool--------> Research.

and having explicit success criteria of "use a Thinking Tool of your choosing".

Finally and probably most important is to build in this problem and solution into the reflection. I will blog about this when I have compiled their responses.

So what are the benefits to me in overcoming these IT barriers to learning?

Well, I have spent an inordinate amount of time planning this lesson/ experience. I want to know if it works, have I structured it in a useful way? are the resources good enough? what tools do I need to reinforce in class? am I teaching the students the way I want them to do enquiries? is the content coming across? In a way I'm in the process of doing what Geoff Petty describes at the start of this blog.
Secondly, I much prefer to be useful during lessons, guiding prompting, questioning and providing mirrors for students to reflect about all of the above. I don't want to be solely responsible for keeping the students on task and not just busy. Ambitious I know but its a journey worth taking and its a lot more fun than being solely responsible for 25-30 peoples learning.

Which leads directly into the second item on my learning agenda.

2.Increase the students independence and decision making

I hope it is obvious that these things are connected and in fact entwined. So part of the problems I have been dealing with IT, are actually part of this. I can now ask the questions what decisions have you made today that has helped you learned, and seriously expect to get a considered answer. And decisively I can give praise for doing so. If a student has acted independently and avoided a distraction they will feel like the success is theirs, and that I have just caught them doing it. I feel they will be more likely to continue this positive learning behaviour than if I had of DEMANDED they do it my way. I also feel that these methods speed up and strengthen the trust between student and teacher. A worthwhile pursuit.

Although this is not my biggest tool in achieving the above, which is to teach my students how to enquire. I know this is not a quick thing, and have plotted two years worth of stepping stones to help them do so. But, the small things will add up over this time.Here's hoping!

Abbie is never interested.

Having returned home after (what appeared to be) a great lesson with 8S2a on a Friday afternoon, I have decided to see exactly how successful I have been, if indeed I have. My gut feeling about this is that the students had done well, engaging in quite technically and cognitively difficult conversations; planning and setting up a scientific experiment.

They have been testing the 5 second rule, that food dropped on the floor is safe to eat if picked up within 5 seconds. The students have been challenged to think like scientists as I decided this was the day to try out the scientific thinking skills I have been developing over the course of this year. the specific one for today were: Clarity, Significance, Fairness and Relevance.


After an hour discussing, planning redrafting the students were tired but really getting into this kind of thinking. On return from a welcome lunch break the students set of to make decisions about the exact method they would use, and then set it up. The thing that struck me was the quality of they were having between themselves and with me were fantastically detailed and show remarkable reflection from the students.

At the end of the session I directed them to a wallwisher site, to answer the question "how have you thought like a scientist?" I was hoping to extract the kind of language I had introduced them to earlier, and from this be able to reflect upon their successes and then decide the next steps. They had around about 5 minutes to do this. A simple quick model of efficient assessment for learning if I do say so myself! Let see if it works and does it back up my gut feeling. I am getting quite into evidence based teaching at the moment. I am writing as I analyse so this could turn out to be a damp squid of a post. The important thing for me is that the process is making me thinking about what my students said or did.


So the outcomes for this and the next lesson are:-

And here are their end of lesson reflections

So here goes....

The first thing I notice is that the word bacteria is used frequently, which indicates that outcome A is sorting it self out. I was very conscious in planning this lesson that the content part, as small and would receive no directed teaching activities, as students should begin to pick these up through the activity. It seems that the research is right. I can safely assume that I will not need to do anything extra about this outcome. The reflective question asked is intentionally not content based, but still this learning comes to the surface.

Outcome B is also represent in this brief review, with "Wolfy" referring directly to their growth, and Liam describing bacteria multiplying. I'm loving this so far. Even the conceptual knowledge, albeit a simple one,is being learned with a targeted activity.

The numerous mention of the five second rule is suggesting that the link between bacteria and risk to health is being made. Kaylie and Brandon also start developing this a little talking about even clean surfaces have bacteria on them. Despite this, I think this will be a valid place to start next lesson with a question like " Does the Five section rule keep you safe?" just to make the link explicit to all and it will lead to a discussion about evidence, which is where I want the lesson to head next.

One thing is beginning to emerge, and that is the confidence and the enjoyment the students have had from their learning. This is not an outcome but does suggest that learning has taken place. Despite me phrasing the review question as "How have you thought like a scientist?" a large number of students have started their comment with I have learned. Abbie even goes as far as "I was very interested". Abbie is never interested. Emily is proud and "Baxter" is obviously pleased with the praise I gave "so na na na na :)" She even knows what she was praised for.


I am also able to identify the students who have just focused on the content and not mentioned the process. So, when the class begins the end of activity debrief I will focus on these students. I will also have a chat with max to get him to explain his comment, I'm not sure what he means and I'm not sure he does either.


The area that I'm not sure these brief comments will give me is the procedural knowledge and the meta cognitive outcomes. Are they using the scientific thinking language introduced today. Tom's comment about how to test for bacteria, although not clear hints that the idea of a scientific test has come through. A few students comment upon their thinking one even describes it as deep (and I would agree with her, a marvelous student) and one other describes creating a fair test. I think there is a some awareness of their thinking.



"Baxter" has genuinely surprised me with her comments, normally a distracted and distracting student she shows a great understanding of the concepts in the lesson. Impressively she identifies the need to collect evidence to the question being ask.This means that she is at least aware of the need for clear questions and relevant data. She has picked up on two of the big themes in the lesson. This being outcomes F and G. This is pleasing, now does anyone else. Lewis talks about fare (sic) test and Clare talks about "developing" question. We did draft the questions and then I model my thinking on deciding which was a good one. The process is apparent. "JoRDAn" seems to be suggesting to be looking for proof, so this may indicate he is aware of the need to produce evidence again outcome G.



This is obviously a tricky decision, I think some students have grasped these concepts where others have missed the boat. This is a little at odds with some of the conversationa with the students. This is the great thing about formally reflecting upon lessons, I'm trawling my brain to look for evidence that my students were successful. "JoRDAn" was very perceptive about fair tests and identifying problems this does not come across in his comment. Putting it all in perspective, the fact that this is the students first introduction to the new thinking language and the reflection only took 5 minutes today. The signs are positive some students clearly understand. So my next step will be to recap the language and to keep modelling it, the final task in this enquiry is for the students to self assess themselves. I will introduce this material earlier in the lesson than I originally planned.


So, I've learned a lot about my students again not by marking books but by considering in detail the evidence the students presented. I have students to target for help, to praise. I have a lesson starter that is needed by the students, and have been able to amend my next lesson plan to support my students. A worthwhile hour spent not marking books.