Cameron Setter

This week I listened to a really good podcast episode from Greg McKeown called Where am I wrong? In it he talks about a really effective method to have deeper discussions on what is important.  Write down/say the 3-5 issues/priorities you think there are as well as the cost/consequence of them. Then just simply ask where am I wrong? It starts the conversation off with the other person talking and getting their points across. You can then get that shared understanding about what needs to be done and why.  It got me thinking about other areas this could be useful for e.g. dealing with conflicts, leading departments/teams, pitching a new initiative. I am going to start doing this in some of these scenarios as I think we can have more productive conversations from it.  Have a listen to the episode here .  🔊 Listen: Alan Stein Jr on the Modern Wisdom podcast discussing high performance and overcoming stress. He talks about thinking like an athlete with your work and impr...

I've been thinking this week about CPD and more specifically how we deliver it to teachers. As teachers, we are trained on the best ways of explicitly teaching new knowledge to students however quite often we don't use the same techniques when teaching teachers. Why? Most, if not all of the techniques we use with students should also be used with teachers: retrieval of knowledge, teacher led instruction, opportunities for formative assessment. The difficulty with delivering CPD to teachers though is that there group you are delivering to is often very diverse in their understanding but will also be using the knowledge in different subjects and in different ways. It is a difficult task for anyone delivering CPD.  As part of my PD Lead course, I am being trained up to deliver effective CPD to teachers. Within the course we have spoken about having a common starting point, e.g. it could be a Maths question based on the topic I want to deliver to the Maths team, it could be asking ...

It's been a bit of a mad first week back this term. Stress levels are high with the year 11s and 13s very close to their exams. For them lessons have been revising the advance information topics.  One of the issues I've found with the A level Maths is that students are often unsure what the questions are actually asking them to do.  A strategy I have been using is goal free problems. If you're unsure what they are take a look at the following website . The basic idea is that I'm giving students just the description and perhaps a diagram and ask them to just work stuff out. I find it particularly effective for topics within Mechanics especially.  Initially students struggled with what to do as to they wanted a target to aim for. After doing it for a little while now they are finding it really useful and are often calculating values to hat is beyond what the question actually was. They are making generalities with topics and styles of questions and have massively improved...

I've been spending the first week of Easter holidays completely switching off from work and focusing on the time I spend with my family. A highlight has been visiting the different museums nearby. My 2 year old son has loved seeing all of the dinosaurs, animals, ships, cars and even the Egyptian mummy!  He's telling me all about them and, even though he says he's seen lots of mouses, he understands so much and is constantly amazing me with his communication! Next week I'm already planning more adventures and don't intend to look at any work until Sunday night at the earliest. I want a complete switch off and to be present with my family.    📚 Read: James Clears blog post about how measurement can help to raise our awareness of things that can be improved. Read it here . 📚 Read: Colin Fosters first post as MA president about 'introducing and outroducing'. We need to get students over the hump of learning the new skill so they can reap the benefits in the lo...

Finally at the end of what seems like the longest term so far! With staff absence, job interviews, mock exams it just seems like things have been non-stop!  I will definitely be using the 2 weeks off at Easter to rest up, not think about work at all and put myself in the right frame of mind ready for another tough term with GCSE exams right around the corner. In the build up to the GCSE's we have provided students with lots of resources to help them to revise e.g. past papers, websites etc but one thing struck me that I hadn't thought about. A number of students aren't clear on the best ways to revise. I even had one student tell me that he just highlights the revision guide! I spent part of my lesson this week going through exactly how I would like my Year 11s to revise. We spoke about retrieval practice, spacing the topics they are doing and ensuring thy are interleaving topics in the revision they are doing.  Hopefully now they have concrete strategies that they can use ...

I got the job! It's been a stressful couple of weeks for me trying to get a job. My family and I are moving across the border to Wales and obviously it is a big change for me teaching wise. Fortunately I have got a job at a great school in a role I have always wanted to be, Lead Practitioner. I know I have loads to learn about doing the job really well but am looking forward to the journey.  If you have any tips on being a great Lead Practitioner please let me know.  📚 Read:  My most recent post on how I teach equivalent fractions using Ratio tables. This is the second post in a larger series illustrating how useful Ratio tables are. Have a read here .  🔊 Listen: Dylan William on the Tips for Teachers podcast. Lots of great tips to takeaway, in particular I liked his idea about not asking questions but instead just saying statements. Have a listen here . 

One of our department focusses for this year has been around encouraging students to talk like Mathematicians. Previously there was an issue with too much talk happening and not enough students engaged in the work. As a school we went the opposite way and pushed for silence during the time students were working. Now we are at a stage where behaviour and off task talking is no longer an issue so we want to look at the next step. We initially focussed on our questioning and ensuring students are giving full answers and using correct mathematical terminology. (We have had a real drive on literacy and ensuring students clearly understand what different words mean and how they can be used etc.) However we have noticed that this means only a select minority actually get the chance to use these words and talk about the maths that they are doing.  This week we spoke about introducing some of the Kagan structures in lessons, when appropriate, to encourage that discussion. I used some of the...

As part of my NCETM course we had the opportunity to watch some videos of teachers from Shanghai teaching some concepts.  It struck me the language they were using even for topics such as introducing what an angle is. New words would be introduced early on, clearly defined, backed up with examples and reinforced with students applying the word in context. Consistent high level language that is built on as the topic deepens can then be used to avoid misconceptions and gives students and teachers a common language to be able to communicate effectively.  🔊 Listen:  Becoming educated speaking to Michael Child's about his book The Sweet Spot. In the podcast the underlying focus was on optimizing teaching whether through improving your classroom layout or ensuring time is better spent on improving explanations than peeling displays for your classroom. Listen here .  📚 Read: My blog on the benefits of using Ratio tables in the classroom. Over the next few weeks I will be ...

My trainee and I have been discussing the importance of transitions in a lesson. One of his work ons has been to make them 'snappier' so students are focussed and on task quickly after explaining what to do.  Good transitions start with clarity in instructions. By clearly stating what you expect to see students doing there is no grey area and students know the expectations. Non compliance can then be followed up according to the behaviour pathway. E.g. "On the board is 5 questions, I'd like you to write down the answers with workings into your book. This is to be done by yourself, in silence. You have 5 minutes, off you go."  Next is to make use of the word 'go' to help create a sense of urgency. Go is associated with racing and so it encourages students to get on with the work straightaway. Following this, for the first 30s of setting students off on a task, the teacher just stands and observes. The first 30s is where students will fall into bad habits, t...

I have been utilising ratio tables more and more in my lessons at the moment and it has given me a bit of a realisation.  If I am teaching a topic where I want to show students and additive relationship between values e.g. how adding 10% and 5% gives 15% then I will use bar modelling to show this. If I want to show a multiplicative relationship then I will use ratio tables. E.g. 10% X 1.5 = 15%.  Obviously there are certain scenarios where one would be more beneficial than the other. But if I strip my teaching right down to the essentials I feel that these two representations allow me to demonstrate to students most concepts they will come across in Secondary School I am in the process of writing a series of posts in how I use ratio tables so keep an eye out for it. In the mean time, the following thread is a great start from Sam Blatherwick.  🔊 Listen: High performance podcast with Scotland Football Manager Steve Clarke. One quote in particular stood out for me "don't ...

✏️ Have taken some time this week to look at ways of improving my own learning and formulating my own ideas in a much more effective way. This has lead me to the idea of using a Second Brain. Lots of YouTubers currently use the idea of second brains to store information they have read about or learnt and then be able to retrieve it and use it as content for their videos. It's pretty much a searchable sub conscious. Imagine all the quotes and ideas you have ever read about, stored electronically and searchable. It allows you to make lots of links between all of your stored ideas and retrieve them whenever you need them. I am currently in the process of formulating my own system using OneNote, personal preference, but there are lots of different options for your own system. Be sure to check out the following video for more on using a Second Brain.  📚 Peps Mcrea twitter thread on how to minimise distractions.  📚 James Clear article about commitment. Fully commit to the proces...

I've been on two job interviews this week, unfortunately both unsuccessful, but it had me thinking about interview lessons. I'd like to think I am confident in my ability to teach my classes and am confident in my own subject knowledge. However when in an interview lesson, the habits and culture you have grown over time with your classes are gone. Any reputation you have gained in your school is instantly gone. You don't have the prior knowledge of each student. You may not even have the same technology you would normally use. You are back to being a novice. I am unsure how beneficial these interviews lessons are and that actually would we be better off seeing a number of lessons over time? It would allow the school to identify trends in your teaching, the habits and routines you have in place and the relationships you build up.  Obviously I understand that in reality this is very difficult to actually do. I do think though that the interviewing school must take this into c...

The trainee teacher in our department has started to teach my Year 10 group this week. It has taken me back to when I was training and the struggles that I had and the feedback my mentor would give me. One thing I didn't consider back then was how the class teacher feels who I was taking over from.  I know that as a trainee I was no where near being an amazing teacher but over time I have continually improved. So it has been a struggle for me to allow the trainee to teach my class thinking that there would be aspects that I know I could deliver much better. On the flip side of this it has been great to learn from him by watching him teach and being able to give small steps to improve for next time. The initial focus has been on general pedagogy, e.g. use of questioning, planning for misconceptions etc. It's made me reflect on my own teaching ensuring I don't just talk it, I walk the walk too! I've also enjoyed seeing the improvements he has been able to make lesson on l...

I've tried to focus my time this week on improving my own writing. I watched a really good video on YouTube, link below, that forced me to reflect on my own writing. I recognise that my weekly reports may have some good ideas in however I need to ensure they are interesting add useful to the reader. No one is bothered by hearing about what I've learnt, they are more interested in how it can affect themselves. I've recognised that my weekly report has been a really nice space for me to journal each week and put ideas on paper but I want to start making them leap to putting higher quality content out there.  I'm going to put more thought into my own writing so that my actual blog posts are useful and interesting to the reader. Fingers crossed, they then start to change how the reader thinks and acts. 🔊 Listen: Bear Grylls on High performance podcast. Write out your goals, embrace failure and learn from it to achieve success, do your best, set an example for others 100% o...

Last week I wrote about ensuring the curriculum is of a high quality, this week I will take a look at how we are assuring it is being taught for all pupils. To what extent does the subject leader and other department responsibility holders assure themselves that there is a high-quality curriculum for all pupils? One of the keys to the quality assurance in our department is the centralised resources for teachers to use. Teachers are provided high quality resources as suggestions to be used and adapted for their classes. Not only is this assuring a high quality curriculum is being taught it has also drastically reduced workload. Over time this bank of resources head been updated and added to do. Another way we quality assure is by going in to lessons and actually seeing what is going on. We have been able to identify some real strengths in the department but also support colleagues who may be struggling. While in lessons we also look back at some of the quality of the work being produced...

This week I've been having conversations with the leadership team about the Maths curriculum. Our discussions were based on two questions: 1. To what extent does the subject leader and their department ensure that a high-quality subject curriculum exists for all pupils? 2. To what extent does the subject leader and other department responsibility holders assure themselves that there is a high-quality curriculum for all pupils?  Ensure In our department we have an overall scheme of work that we follow. We've recently changed our Key Stage 3 scheme of work to focus mainly on Number in Year 7 and Algebra in Year 8. This has come from learning from some of the most successful, similar schools to us. It is also based from experience knowing how important and strong understanding of algebra and number is to everything else in Maths.    We then turn that larger scheme of work into smaller sub units e.g. multiplication, indices, fractions etc. These units have a number of objecti...

I haven't posted for the past 3 weeks seeing as Christmas and New year's was on Saturday and I was otherwise occupied with my children. Therefore this post is a bit of a CPD dump of all of the podcasts and blogs I've consumed over the holidays. There are some real gems in here that I would definitely recommend taking a look at.  🔊 Listen: High performance and happy place collaboration. In this episode they explore what they have learnt throughout the year highlighting similar lessons in both of their podcasts. Have a listen here .  🔊 Listen:  Diary of a CEO with Ben Francis. I've been watching and listening to Ben Francis a lot recently, he is straight talking and communicates his ideas really well. In this episode he talks about using 360 reviews to constantly improve himself and develop. Listen to him speak here .  🔊 Listen:  Best of 2021 conversations: the knowledge project. This highlight reel from the year has some real gems in and well worth a listen. I...

👨‍🏫 Teaching: Just like that Autumn Term is over and Christmas is round the corner. It's been a busy term with lots of ups and downs but I've continued to learn loads.  📚 Read: Jack Tavassoly-Marsh writes about how we can get the most from using mini whiteboards to check for understanding. They are such a great tool but we need to be able to use them effectively. Have a read here .  📚 Read: How do we get the most from meetings? Clarity about what the meeting is for, how to participate and how members will deal with the information afterwards will make them a lot more effective. Read more here .  🔊 Listen:  Knowledge project with John Maxwell talking leadership. He talks about this idea of evaluated experience to make us better. "Reflection turns experience into insight". Listen to it here .   🔊 Listen: Chris Williamson talking with Jake Humphrey about High Performance. Jake speaks about the lessons he's learnt from other high performers that he has sp...

👨‍🏫 Teaching: As I come to the end of my brief spell in charge of my department while my head of department has been off ill, I want to reflect on the role he plays in our department and some of the jobs I have had to do in his absence.  1. Centre of the school I didn't realise how much extra there was to be done as a Head of Department compared to a Second in Department. You are that end point to your team so when they have questions you need to have those answers or at least be able to find the answers quickly to support your team. At the same time when other departments or leaders come to your team, you are that point of contact. It's made me realise how important the middle leaders in a school actually are. They are the driving force of what goes on at a school. Everything flows through them. I can see how the pressure from Senior Leaders and pressure from the teachers below can cause a lot of stress on middle leaders.  2. Teaching and learning conversations My second re...

👨‍🏫 Teaching:  Everything went wrong in one of my year 9 lessons this week. First, I had to move classrooms and teach in a different room, that didn't have enough tables or chairs. Second, the projector wasn't working so everything I had planned to show the class through my laptop I couldn't do. Third, all of this was happening while one of our trainees was observing me! Fortunately things worked out well in the end. I went back to whiteboard and pen and adapted my lesson so students were still able to learn. It was great to hear that the trainee thought it ended up being a really good lesson and she was impressed with how calmly I dealt with it all. Everyone likes recieving positive feedback but more to the point I wanted to make sure she could do the same in the future.  My advice to her...practice it. Put yourself in those nightmare situations in an environment that you can control. So if it does come up for real you have already had a practice and know what to do.  ...