Why do we count in 4s?

 Why do we count in 4s in England?

As a former maths teacher who chose to work in #FEmaths I think we may need to look at assessment at age 16.

I give the analogy of a pilot in my book.

A pilot proves knowledge has been acquired and retained on key aspects of flying in an exam. But to fly a plane commercially they accrue hours of competency. They evidence, over time, how they apply this acquired knowledge. They progress in their roles held in a hierarchical structure with flying hours a key part.

When I think about assessment in England, we assess at 16 a whole course approach and those who don't achieve the desired grade 4 are immediately affected for the rest of their lives. 

Imagine a student who achieved a grade 3 in maths but 7s in all other subjects. They gain 4 A levels (not in maths). Go to university and achieve a BA. They do an MA and then decide to get a job.

The first qualification that is often required is a grade 4 in English and maths. The rest of this students brilliant study doesn't get taken into account unless that grade 4 is there.

The 4 is what counts.

Sure the student can re-sit alongside other study but the point is, we place all our emphasis on this assessment designed for students aged 16.

What were you like at 16?

We don't take into account experience, skills, evidence of learning over time. 

We count in 4s.

I say this having taught an adult who worked as a healthcare assistant in a hospital, during covid, who wanted to be a nurse. They re-sat maths 6 times. They earnt a healthcare assistant wage for the 6 years of re-sits they took. They gained vast care and medical experience in that time. The year of covid they passed maths and immediately began a nursing qualification. Upon completion all the years experience were recognised and they entered nursing at a higher band salary than would be usual.

The experience counted but only after we counted in 4s.

So I come back to the pilot example, yes a skills test of the basics. Then a process of evidencing learning over time, applying the subject to real life, showing what you know in a variety of non exam ways. Sounds like a good maths course for 16-19 years olds, no?

These are not our decisions to make but we can raise our voices and show how we think change would deliver better for our students.

We need to stop counting in 4s.

This analogy and other arguments for disruption are in my book which is raising funds for charity. It is also available as an audio listen along version as well. Info at www.whatthetrig.co.uk 

Edtech and me

I write this as I am being nominated for an award (see this link)

I think it's important to remember where you came from and those who shaped your path, always. This might be an individual award (and I may not even make the shortlist) but recognition for others who helped me, is deserved.

Back in 2015 I took a break from FE for maternity. I returned in 2016.

What followed was a year of me finding my feet. Literally.

I was told that we couldn't use memory sticks anymore (hello 2016!) And that all my lessons were on Google. I'm not joking, that was all I got from the Google expert in my team! After a day of googling, 'where are my transformations of shapes lessons?' and crying I asked my husband if I could buy a Chromebook. No, I didn't need his permission but yes, having returned from maternity and having zero money of my own, I felt that I should. I spent £149 on a Chromebook and vowed to teach myself how to create lessons in this Google thing.

Welcome Johnny Diamond and Steve Hope to the frame. We had never worked together before but they said to everyone at college, if anyone could make good, maths lessons in Google for education they would reward them with money! When my child was at nursery and I had TOIL owed for evening classes, I wrote. When I got home early from the traffic and my child's nursery was paid for another hour yet, I wrote! Boy did I write! I wrote 30ish lessons, all original material for GCSE maths. What a learning curve. I included #Equatio (handy given now that's my actual job!) I wrote robust multiple choice quizzes with Equatio in Google Forms. I wrote full sequenced lessons on Google Slides, all original materials including diversity and inclusion examples as well as British values. Like I said, I wrote!

My motivation for this was purely financial, to earn the £149 I had just spent back, if I am honest! But this learning experience was to kick start a chain of events. On that same £149 Chromebook I became a level 1 and level 2 certified educator in Google for education. I was determined to teach myself!

My approach with EdTech is always, what need is it serving, does anything we already have serve that need, what else do we need to make this the best solution ever? This approach often means I stay in my lane.

Steve Hope saw something in me. Something. I don't know what it was, and we are still very close and I could ask him, but I don't need to, because I don't think it matters what it was. I was a nervous maternity returner but he saw me learn this Google thing, write all those lessons, teach across multiple campuses, all with a small child in tow. I didn't work for Steve, yet, he included, encouraged and supported me.

2018 saw another maternity leave. The day of my 12 week scan I interviewed for Steve for an advanced Practitioner role. I went for my scan, came in for lunch and the tried to appear 'normal' for an interview, this is not a recommended approach! Steve offered me the job and didn't bat an eye when I said I was pregnant again. That whole convo will stay with me forever. He genuinely didn't think it would affect my role, I have to be honest aside from 5 months fully away, it didn't. I also became a Google for education certified trainer in 2018. That Google thing that I had been determined to teach myself, I now had qualifications in it and could train others. 

In the months before my leave Steve brought Iain Thompson on board who was (and forever will be) my rock. We were a brilliant team. We still are, just it's a friendship team not a work team! Whilst on a KIT on maternity Steve asked me to apply for APconnect. I did (in a park mid baby feed via my phone!) When I returned to work in 2019 my focus was to get up to speed with what I missed on APconnect and lean on Iain Thompson. I relied on him. We went to an event and we met Lou Mycroft. I was back on track with my APconnect work. AP connect, did that, it connected me to other APs nationally to learn and grow with. 

2020, you know.

It was only recently when I said it out loud did it sink in. 2020, Iain, Steve and I supported over 1000 staff who had over 10000 students with all their Edtech needs as they taught online. We did this remotely in our homes, me in mine with a baby and a child in reception which meant homeschooling too. I don't think I can ever fully explore the feelings of that period, it was tough.

When it got really tough in summer 2020 I remembered Lou from APconnect offering us to reach out when we needed, I have no idea why this popped into my head when it did but I am grateful that it did and I found the ideas room with JoyFE. JoyFE gave me that peer support to test Edtech ideas on, we did Flip birthday cards for each other!

2020 I applied to be an innovator as part of the Google for education programmes. To my surprise I was chosen as one of 75 of the many who applied. I think everything until this point shaped things but this event changed things. I met  Ryan Evans here and just like I would be lost without Iain, I would be lost without Ryan too. There isn't a week that goes by without me needing advice from Ryan. We pushed, and still push, each other with EdTech, that critical friend that drives you on and always has your back, that's me and Ryan!

2021 I left working for Steve. I was now self employed trying to carve a path on the noisy world of Edtech and consultancy. In comes Jamie Smith and Ian Nairn. Late 2020 we began discussions and it was to be that I would have a regular self employed gig with C Learning working on exciting new products (AI/XR) coming to market as well as CPD for colleges and schools on Edtech. I was unknown to them, they took a chance. I vividly remember the day I finally said out loud that I was going to go self employed and that I was nervous. Jamie asked what's stopping you from doing it, and I said nothing, I won't let my family starve. That saying it out loud conversation was a massive moment.

2021 I was named Edtech50 (mind blowing). It also saw me be a Google Certified Coach (very early doors as in one of the first 2 in UK and Europe). Then mentor other cohorts through my gig at Canopy. Grateful for the work from canopy through this period too, consulting with colleges and local authorities on Edtech. Throughout all this self employed period, I still thought an evening class of GCSE maths every week, I loved teaching. How could I help people with EdTech if I hadn't used it myself? My classes also appreciated me staying in my lane, too much Edtech can distract from what we are here to learn. 

I have to mention my 2020-21 GIFs work. In my teaching I had a lot of students struggle with lack of access to internet and data. They had other financial struggles too and safeguarding referrals were regular but data and device access directly affected their learning. I built a short CPD course on how I turned to creating GIFs to bridge that gap. I delivered this to colleges and schools and recorded it and it's free on Eduspark. Hat tip to Eduspark for bringing me in early doors, supporting and believing in me.

Another regular gig in this period was APconnect itself. APconnect is run by Touch Consulting. That wonderful programme that had shaped me as an Advanced Practitioner, I now worked on. This was down to Joss Kang and Lou taking a chance on me. Here I got to hone my Edtech in a different way. Outside the Google for education eco system and support APs nationally.

2022 I decided to take a job, gigging had been fun, a blast! Texthelp had a role that I had seen advertised before and I decided the timing wasn't right. When I saw it advertised again I felt the timing was better for my family. And here we are.

I think whenever we are recognised as an individual it is really important to also recognise who helped make that individual. Hat tips throughout all of this long blog because I owe so many people for helping me learn and grow.

Owning the title former teacher

Rather un eventfully I left teaching April 2022. I don't know what I had planned for the event but it ended up being an email to senior leadership saying enough was enough. Truth is, I probably, had left the classroom long before, I had done a year as a zero hours evening class teacher, before that I had done 3 years as an evening class teacher on secondment. Actually the last time I think that was a 'teacher' teacher was probably 2017. When I shared with pals that I was leaving (for good this time) I shared that I felt a bit of a fraud having only been a zero hours teacher for a year. That in my head, because I wasn't working all day every day in the classroom I was less of a teacher. There were some interesting debates with friends. Some took the view that I was still putting the same love and attention in to my one class and having wider impact with my other work, some dismissed the idea saying once a teacher always a teacher, some said think of the ones you have taught.

I debated all of this and some! Why did I have this dilemma? In 2018 I became an advanced practitioner, a teacher who coached other teachers. To keep me fresh I still taught one class a week on an evening. That's the beauty of FE, there is always an evening class that needs a teacher! The plan for this was that I would practice what I preached to the teachers I was coaching and they could observe me anytime doing all the amazing things I was coaching them through. This meant that I should have been putting Ofsted levels of planning into that 1 class a week. Let's be honest, I wasn't. I had a lot on in my other role, and whilst these lessons were well planned, they weren't gold plated. The theory was also that I would still be viewed as one of them, one of the teachers that I was coaching, on their level, I could say, "I get it" 

I would like to apologise now to those teachers who I coached and who I said this to. Whilst I 'got' teaching and learning, and I still do, my one class a week was not significant enough for me to position myself with other teachers. Truth, most of my week was spent training, coaching and mentoring and very little time went into my alleged Ofsted level planning. So I wasn't the same, I wasn't in the team meetings hearing the same messages, I was an outsider parachuted in to cover that evening class who left after class. I wasn't there when someone had to cover reception at the community site. I wasn't there when they had a deep dive by SLT. I wasn't there when there was an attendance problem with students. No doubt I was having impact across larger teams in my role, my role was enjoyable and I saw progress with my coachees. But I was not a teacher the same as them, had I exited the classroom?

Let me tell you about being a zero hours teacher. No, it's not the same as being employed. The Christmas just eat voucher that HR give out from SLT is only for employees, not zero hours employees. The well being day that you can take is only for employees, not zero hours employees. The payroll who can, and do, kick back your time sheet and don't pay you because of a typo when you are zero hours. Yet employees who are salaried are always paid. All of this breaks my heart for others who are zero hours. My situation was very different. I had my own self employed work and was financially stable. I genuinely was still teaching for the love of teaching. It certainly wasn't for the salary. The salary was 50% less than my salary when I was an advanced practitioner and I know (and appreciate) that the zero hours pay I got was very generous too. Again I know how fortunate I am that I was able to combine my love of teaching with my self employed work. Fortunate that circumstances worked out and that I had my reputation from being an advanced practitioner as well was there being an evening class that always needed covering. 

Now, this past year as a zero hours teacher has been wonderful, in my virtual classroom. I have had such good times with my students. I have adored almost every second of it. I have enhanced my teaching digitally in a flipped/asynchronous style. My students have their work up front, at the start of the week, the morning after their evening class. This is a form that branches out depending on their responses. If they're ok with the topic (these are resitters) they get some questions, if they need help they get a video from me or another one I have curated from YouTube. My students have a choice of how they learn and when they learn. I think of it like each chalk and talk episode I would do in the classroom is a form, with a task built in for them to complete. The tasks are all self marking and then I ask for a student reflection on how they felt that it went. Each episode is linked together in one overall doc and if this is complete before the end of the timetabled class they are marked positively for attendance.

I have blogged about this before if you want to learn from my years 1 and 2 iterations here (link1 link2 link3 link4 link5 link6 link7). I then host a workshop live in the timetabled slot. This is shorter than the timetabled class as there are bookable one to ones as well on offer. If the forms are complete it is optional for students to come to the workshop. This also means that if students have ignored my work and attend live they can get the gist of what's been going on and return to the work post workshop or part way through too. Some students arrive for 10 minutes ask for a specific example explaining and leave. Some students attend the whole thing piecing together where they went wrong in the forms from their weeks work and some students come some weeks and not others. It has worked for 2 years. I have taught 3 cohorts this way over 2 years. I have done action research on it which I shared at ALT and I was doing more research in it as part of my MA. Obviously I'm not now as I have no sample as I have left! So had I left teaching when I became zero hours?

One student has never attended live apart from mock assessments where they heard my pleas and joined the call live. Every week their work was completed day 1 and the screenshots of their self marking tasks showed it was all correct. Their mock results were amazing, grade 5s and I really should have put them in for higher (but that's a whole other tale). This student also weekly appeared in my emails with negative comments from other tutors, late, no work, poor attendance notifications. These were always followed up by SEND team replies reminding other tutors of this students EHCP. This student had been at college previously and had sat maths and done worse than they had at school. Before I left I asked for a chat with this student. They obliged and on the call they appeared with their parents. Their parents explained that the student struggled with anxiety when on live calls and thanked me for never pressuring them to attend live. I explained my job is to find a way that it works for everyone as much as possible and where I can flex I always will.

FE maths is often the least popular subject in college. The one most students have to do but they really don't want to do. In this example the parent was telling me maths was their highlight. I asked the student why they liked maths and they replied, they don't. They hate it. Standard FE response I thought. They said what they liked was that I was respecting the challenges of the way that they learn and by allowing them to study at their own pace, at home, take breaks, revisit tasks and not be dragged to a live session face to face or online was what they enjoyed. I may have turned my camera off as I may have had a wet cheek from tears at this point. I asked about previous attempts at GCSE, I am always fascinated why it hasn't worked before and how can we make it work this time, it's always a question I ask! The student explained that they had never sat a full exam, they had reacted negatively to being in the exams before and either been removed or left after 10minutes. So the question then was, how do we make it better this time? The student had no answers other than that they would try. I made a promise to try too; to try to get all the forms for the rest of the years topics scheduled on Google classroom before I left. We had a deal. I wrote this before the date of the exam but I have heard from the SEND team that the student is still watching if I will keep my promise of scheduled asynchronous tasks and if so, they will keep theirs and try to sit the exam. (All the tasks are written and scheduled!)

So when did I stop being a teacher?

The other week when I had this call and left my current class. I think I was a teacher all along, just not as in it as full or part time classroom teachers. The level of work is similar but I accept I escaped the pressures of being in the building all the time. Yet the pressures of being zero hours and having to chase emails and attendance in your own time are significant I would argue, but different.

I am not still a teacher, I have now left teaching. Even though my scheduled tasks continue! But I will proudly wear the badge of former teacher, supporting those still teaching where I can!

Building Communities Online ish

Relationships play a key part in what I do. As a professional and as a teacher. What I love is getting to know, and helping people. I recently presented at Canopy Live on building communities online. This is a session I trimmed down from a full day's training that Dr Lou Mycroft and myself offer colleges and schools ( happily discuss more about this with anyone interested, anytime). We talk about the practice of care in what we do and making people feel valued.

Forgive me for forgetting where I heard it, but the saying, you haven't arrived in the room until you have spoken. How do we create that culture of safety for students to feel that they have arrived and able to speak?

In the #JoyFE #IdeasRooms the opening round is always 'How are you?' This is a perfect way to arrive in the space, everyone feels valued, everyone is heard, no pity party is held but pain is acknowledged. And sometimes we need to say we are not OK and for that to be acknowledged for us to start to feel better. yet when teaching, this is a question I tread very carefully with. It is not that my students are worth less than my colleagues who I share this caring practice with. It is that I want my students to feel safe.

We know teenage years are incredibly awkward for many, we have lived them after all. If I were not OK when I was 16 and my maths teacher asked how I was, I am not sure what my answer would have been. possibly, 'yeah fine', and move on to the next person or maybe 'actually I'm unwell and I really need help because I have recently experienced X'. The first answer worries me as a teacher. I want my students to feel that they can talk to me about anything. I really do. How do I know when they are fobbing me off and saying they are fine when they are not? How do I unpick that as a teacher who sees them once a week? But it is the second answer that concerns me most.

A few weeks ago I was teaching online and I asked my students my own version of a question that welcomes them into a space. (Secret revealed shortly, hold on!) In the chat box came all the answers from my students and I commented on them as they came in. Then a student posted, "I've got the rona." 

When you ask "How are you?" You have to be prepared for the raw, honest and hurtful response that you may hear. You have asked how the other person is, and they are choosing to share. You can't preempt that response, therefore you cannot regulate your emotions to what is about to come your way. You are open and vulnerable to what is coming, you made your position clear when you asked "How are you?" Whilst vulnerability is brave and respected it is not a naturally comfortable position.

So what did I do with my ill student? I (rightly or wrongly) offered empathy, offered support and offered them a breakout room to chat more. Their reply was "nah, it's just having to isolate that does me in" 

What my student wanted was for how they are feeling to be acknowledged, they didn't need any help at that time. It is wonderful that I am aware and I can offer support for them in other classes and check on their health in a follow up message later. But they weren't annoyed at having Covid-19, they were annoyed at having to isolate. This then prompted a lengthy 15 minute chat between students about how isolation was causing havoc with their work and personal lives outside college. 

Honestly, as an adult, these were not the concerns that I was expecting. But this is what we do, we expect certain behaviours from students. Prensky (like or loathe the term digital native and immigrant) talks about how teachers need to communicate in the language of students. I struggle with a lot of what Prensky wrote in that piece but I think there is something in our expectations as teachers vs what students reactions. I am not talking about inappropriate behaviour nor refusing to engage with work. I am talking about how we, as adults, think along one path and students may think along another. How we expect students to respond to "How are you?" and how they choose to respond may be different.

So what do I do? I ask a random question that falls into my head. My previous top 10 hits have included asking "favourite sci-fi film?" "Pepsi or Cola?" "Best size of Easter egg?" "Favourite Christmas song?"

What am I trying to do? I am trying to welcome my students into the space by asking an extremely low stakes question. I can then engage with responses and hopefully build rapport. They have arrived in the space once they have spoken. This started off with good intentions and has been well received. So much so that with a returning student (a student who didn't achieve their target grade and is being compelled by law to resit again) said when introducing me to our new class together "You will like her, she asks all sorts of questions to get us going, she is funny like"

Move over SPaG, MATH is on the scene

I am writing this following our event Opportunities for FE English and maths #FEconnect cutt.ly/FEmathsEng. We opened the day with a discussion between Jonny Kay (https://twitter.com/jonnykayteacher) and myself guided by Lou Mycroft (https://twitter.com/LouMycroft). During the discussion I suggested a whole college marking policy for maths. Most likely colleges have one for SPaG but possibly not maths. Why not?

We spend a lot of time in FE, and we used to in schools when I was in them, trying to put English and maths front and centre. Jonny and I argued that co teaching and collaboration should happen across disciplines in colleges. If Pythagoras is being taught in the vocational area, maths staff need to share how they would teach it and a consistent approach to be taken across the college. We carefully craft policies for every eventuality and we may even have a maths marking policy and code, but what do we do in our day to day tasks to support the development of maths?

I remember maths stairs being a necessity, an equation revealed or a fact to be recalled as you ascend. Yet when the same students answers maths problems in hair and beauty there was no consistent maths marking to help build connections to the maths qualification they were studying. SPaG policies and marking codes are almost a given, common currency transferable between institutions. If you arrive at a new school or college you can guess 'SP' probably means spelling mistake in work maybe even '//' is new paragraph. This currency of whole college and school marking has become the norm for English. Some have moved away and things will always shift though.

In researching this blog post I lost hours on an image search of whole school marking policy. Lots of // and SP and P. All familiar to me. One post I read said that the marking policy must be printed in size A1 in the classroom so that all teachers adhere to it! I remember in my NQT re-marking a set of books that I had marked in the wrong shade of green and I was terrified my mentor would tell me off. They didn't; but they did point out that my students were using the wrong coloured pens for reflections. I'm not proposing maths teachers head down this route, but a more unified marking code may help bring maths out in other areas more to be celebrated.

The EEF found that there was little difference of impact of teacher using coded Vs non-coded marking, as long as students knew what the codes meant. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/evidence-reviews/written-marking/. They suggested that time can be saved for teacher in using coded marking. Maybe this is why SPaG took off, everyone has or had one, each with a nuance for their institution.

What I can't let go of though is a maths code. I know in primary I have seen some use of maths marking codes in my local area. I haven't seen it in secondary (granted not visited very secondary school around and would love to be shown successful examples). In colleges I haven't seen it either. Again if you are successfully using a maths marking code please share your experiences, I am keen to learn.

I often say we are the double glazing sales people of education as maths teachers. Everyone needs windows but they are reluctant to pay (put the effort in) for them. I know this is a generalisation, though, but I hope that you get my meaning. We are on the back foot from the beginning. We talk a lot about embedding maths in other subjects. Julia Smith (https://twitter.com/tessmaths) (on our podcast e-m-booth.site) suggests that my embedding maths we are pushing it down and squeezing it in. Julia suggests we should be enhancing out maths in other subjects. I think she is on to something.

In vocational subjects that tokenistic embedding of maths can happen. 

"When we look at graphs of data maths will be embedded in this unit of work."

Great, graphs, perfect! What I always say is, ask that next question. What does the data tell you? What would happen if the outliers were removed from the sample? What percentage of success can you assume from this data? Whenever I talk about embedding (or enhancing) maths I want staff to ask that extra question. Conversely, those not taking a tokenistic approach maybe actually teaching units that involve serious calculations. Think about the calculations needed in electrical engineering or motor vehicle or catering. These calculations will be being taught in colleges, but then we may encounter another conflict. The methods chosen might not be the methods used by the maths department. Who has checked for consistency of message? Who is looking out for the interests of the students here? Imagine being taught ratio one way by your vocational tutor (I have 4 ratio methods that my students regularly come to class with from school!) and the next day being taught it another way by your maths tutor? This could easily happen. Consistency is key.

Move over SPaG MATH is on the scene.

M - clear method used

A - accuracy in the stages of calculation

T - task met

H - Work is set out in a clear, legible manner.

Anytime there is maths being used in work, this code can be applied. In vocational subjects that have maths, in study skills sessions that cover maths, in maths lessons. There can be a consistent message. Adding in here for progression from functional skills to GCSE, consistent message is also key to supporting students in feeling settled. This MATH message suggested is also consistent to GCSE and functional skills marking codes as well.

GCSE and functional skills maths have coded marking too. M for method is common currency as is A for accuracy. The setting out of work is key skill we, as maths teachers, push. The examiner wants to award marks (trust me I examine for an awarding body) but only if they can follow the working out. High standards of the setting out of work is not only a great study skill; it is important when submitting work to be marked externally, which probably isn't just happening in students' maths subject but in their vocational subject also.

The time saved by teachers in marking using a code, as the EEF (ref above) found, is worth considering. Time saving, wherever found, should be explored. The MATH marking code, as I suggest, may save time and deliver a more consistent student experience. I would also include the movement to a coded policy could enhance the student experience further as it moves away from tick and flick. 

A tick at the end of the work doesn't tell a student what was good. Likewise a X at the end doesn't explain what or where they went wrong. I would love feedback to be given to inform students on every piece of work but we have to be mindful of teacher workload. I'm not going to stray into the difficulties in students receiving quality feedback, that might be another blog. A coded policy may be a handy bridge between tick and flick to full feedback, whilst also bringing focus on maths across all subject areas too.

In this example, the method and answer are correct but the setting out of work is wrong. There is no 24 x 37 = 888 but task met has been awarded as we can imply that is what was meant by the student. The method chosen hasn't been accurately applied, the 24 should have been where 88 is and 888 should arrive on the left hand side. I have indicated where the high standards also applies with the formation of 2 in 28. This may seem harsh to non maths specialists but these are the margins that can cause grades to change. Exam papers are scanned into a computer system to be externally marked for GCSE. Clarity is a key skill required. Opinions on this are all valid but these are the facts and the job of the maths teacher is to prepare students for their final exam, as it stands.

This is a paint mixing example from motor vehicle. Here the method is sound but there are errors in following through with numbers so A is not awarded. It is nearly set out and so H is awarded but the task hasn't been met as the final answer is incorrect and T isn't given. I can vision student reflecting on this and seeing that they have made mistakes within their working out using this code and seeking further guidance, or a teacher initiated discussion around the errors. The code is not the end of the journey but hopefully a consistent and speedy way to promote maths and high standards across colleges.

In this example the method is sound, there is accuracy throughout until the final stage which has meant the final answer is incorrect. H wasn't awarded as there is a mis-alignment of the expanded bracket and the =44. 

I think M sits well, is there a sound method being used? A, is the student accurate in their application of the chosen method? T, have they answered the question that the teacher set them correctly? H, does the work read easily?

I have tried, unsuccessfully at a college previously, to embed this marking code. The college had a whole college numeracy marking code and didn't want to change. That code wasn't used by staff, it wasn't reviewed, it wasn't on A1 printouts on the walls (maybe that's where it fell down?) And it was a full page long. It had numeracy, processing, shape all included. For example, of drawing shapes must be done with a ruler. That awarded the [] mark on the code. 0 indicated correct order of digits. You get the idea. It was lengthy and not shared regularly, most importantly it wasn't led from the front. Was it a policy to grab if OfSTED asked if they had one maybe?

What I'm suggesting here is a brief whole college marking code. Wherever calculations are used they are marked the same way. Consistency of message aligned to GCSE and functional skills maths marking codes. But it must be led, it can't be assumed others will follow it, maths needs pushing to the top of the agenda! If college resit results are to improve, something has to change. If you have a SPaG marking code do you have a maths one too? I would love to know more, is it commonly used, is it equally used as much as SPaG?

And if you don't maybe you might consider applying my MATH example?

Context whole links included to be more accessible rather than hyperlinked behind a word of text. I am a consultant to colleges on their teaching and learning, EdTech and embedding of maths; whilst still teaching GCSE maths in an FE college.

Teaching Online - Part 6 Asynchronous

This has been a long journey. The longest adaptation and reflection I have put into my teaching since, well, forever. It has been a labour of love progressing my ideas and helping my students. We didn't get it right every lesson, we have 'lost' teaching time in trying new things. Yet I am happy to have modelled for them, modelled learning, modelled critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaborated with them. So how does it look now? Now we have Google Forms using go to section based on answer (branching logic in Microsoft Forms) for each episode of the lesson. I record my teacher talk for each episode, input it into the form. Offer them an alternative video from YouTube, so that they have a choice. I offer them a short quiz on Study Maths or a quiz on Maths Kitchen. I give them another choice. They reflect against the learning intentions throughout the form and submit evidence of their work, screenshot via file upload. Each episode is in a Google Forms. All the episodes are housed in a single Hyperdoc. 

My first week of this approach I waited, I had to force myself not to peek to early at the form responses. Eventually I looked. I looked 2 days before the deadline and guess what, the majority had done the work! I was over the moon! All the individual episodes in the Google Forms pull into one Google Sheet, each one on a different tab.

 The sheet reads like a book, I eagerly turn the pages and switch tabs to see the progress happening in the lesson! I have conditionally formatted it so if a student indicates they need help it goes red. There are no red entries! I take the register early, I am only missing 1 students work, all but 1 have done the lesson 2 days before it is due. I look further, they all did it at different times. Some 7am workers, some 10pm workers, they are learning at their convenience, when it works for them. 

I have spoken before about the importance I placed on building community with this group of learners. This included a group chat on Google Chat, it could be a channel on Microsoft Teams. I dip in to see what's been in the chat over the weekend. And there it is, the community I helped create. There are questions about how to access some materials that another student has answered. I see questions about how to tackle the more challenging episode, a student has responded recommending the alternative video I included from YouTube. A student has asked how to put powers into their calculator, another student has replied with a picture annotated for them of what to press. They are collaborating, communicating and helping each other learn. My favourite part of the chat are the honest pleas that it is hard, maths is challenging, but that the group rallies to pick each other up and they are supportive. I recognise mine are a group of adults but they are very mixed in ages and the younger students are only 19, I believe I could replicate this to some degree with 16-18 learners.

Lesson day comes and I log on for the one to one's that students have booked with me. Overwhelmingly the feedback is positive about the asynchronous approach. I then move to the main meeting. I had scheduled 45 minute workshops on each of the episodes. There was the 1 student who hadn't done their work. I joined 2 minutes late and the realisation had already happened, they had missed my Google Chat messages, my Google Classroom posts and my emails all on the plan for the week. They were apologetic and we moved on. In the workshop I modelled examples and set questions via the chat, snipping parts of questions and pasting them into a Jamboard.

I am directly substituting that part of the lesson where I do board work and we collaboratively solve or I model a correct answer. That part of the lesson where learners have done some work, we've marked it and we have identified common misconceptions or common errors. The beauty of doing this online is that it takes a second to snip a question and paste it into the Jamboard (any whiteboard software would do, whiteboard.fi, classroom screen, zoom etc) in real life I am stood there for what feels like an age copying questions out onto the board, losing learning time and board space making my answer area smaller. Secondly I can quickly find a new set of questions either in my drive or online to apply what learners have covered in a new context. In real life there is a delay with this in the classroom. We are saving learning time now being online. Plus, and this is a big plus, I am not spending an age photocopying booklets. Winning on saving paper and winning on saving time. Those who need materials in yellow or green can easily and discreetly turn that on (noverlay is a great example in chrome) and when I find extra work or set different work to what was planned they are included.

I am now adding value. I am modelling. I am explaining. Learners are expanding answers, applying to new contexts. Helping each other with little hints and tips. I can stretch the learners on. Focusing on each episode for 45 minutes means that learners dip in and out. We have a lovely 2 minutes at the start of each workshop for those leaving and those arriving saying hi and bye. This isn't lost time, this is valuable community time. This is lovely for me to be part of. 

We are now 2 weeks in to this model. Learner feedback is overwhelmingly positive. All now prefer this asynchronous approach. All check in with me during the week, via email, hangouts chat or messages on Google Classroom. I don't ask for this, but they choose to let me know how it is going, which is beautiful. The workshops are attended by 3 regulars who are the weakest based on recent assessment data, I am pleased that without intervention from me they have chosen to stay close. Then the rest ebb and flow. Sometimes I have 8 in a workshop, sometimes I have 5. We wouldn't cover misconceptions with all of our learners every lesson, we would differentiate and target and I am pleased that this has naturally happened through this model. 

One to one's are consistently snapped up by different learners who need different things. I feared I would be repeating or modelling the same questions or topics across all the one to ones but this hasn't happened. I am taking this that the topics I have chosen to cover in the workshops have been appropriate. Now we are further on I have added in another workshop specifically called challenge workshop. In this workshop I move the learning on to the next level applying to new contexts. A specific example is when we were doing ratio the challenge workshop covered those no starting point questions that require a bit of algebra. These are the best attended sessions. The majority of learners come to these apart from my 3 who attend every session usually, because they feel it isn't right for them at this time to take on the challenge. I respect that awareness. 

I wanted to share some recent feedback from learners. 

"I'm having my tea whilst you do this, I'm OK with the topic but I got stuck on question 7 and I knew you would cover something like that tonight so I've dipped in and out, thanks I'm all sorted now" 

"See when you do it I'm alright but when I'm on my own I panic. I need this class and the doing work myself to make it sink in."

"I like to do it when you set it and then come along so I've had time to kind of forget it you know, then coming here I remember it and I get it more" 

"Honestly I hate ratio but now I get it, can't believe I've spent so long not doing it at work" 

"You just get it, it's hard fitting it all in with work and kids and you make it OK for me to do it when I can" 

"I couldn't do a proper class and be all shy and that, here I'm OK to say what I want to ask" 

There's so much in these quotes. The unintended application of retrieval practise. I hadn't planned that this would be an outcome. Yet the reality of me setting the work asynchronously and 6 days later hosting a workshop has naturally created that spaced practise and I am excited to look at this more. I knew the benefits of asynchronous for working parents would be huge but I wasn't expecting the safety of the smaller numbers. By offering optional workshops that learners self select the numbers are smaller meaning those who are usually less confident feel able to speak. This has huge power and potential for me to explore as a means for engaging reluctant learners and I am keen to evaluate this more. 

Yet this isn't all perfect. Massively I miss hearing from all of my learners and that control. I decide their learning and here I am handing huge chunks of that over to them to manage. I recognise that this is the future and it is the best approach for them, yet its new to me and I am learning to let go! 

The biggest drawback of this model is my time. I've gone from being a well organised experienced teacher with a bunch of lessons ready to go and therefore only light planning in face to face classes to this. And the time taken to plan for this cannot be underestimated. I have multiple channels of communication to manage. Learners are messaging on hangouts chat, on classroom, via email. They need replying to and there is an urge for me to drop what I'm doing to help and reply immediately, I am working on managing this better! The time to plan has been reduced somewhat now I can copy the forms I am using and the Hyperdoc and change the links each week, yet to make the videos for each episode takes time that cannot be cut down. A 15 minute learning episode takes 5 minutes of me talking for input, perhaps some editing, then curation of resources to go with that. The 15 minute episode takes 20-30 minutes to plan. The workshops need planning for too, granted not for input but curation of resources. Snipping of images. A 45 minute workshop is taking 10 minutes to plan. One to one's take time, they can't be cut. So in a week of 4 learning episodes I'm taking an hour to plan. Then 3 workshops is another 30 minutes planning. On top of that is the time for managing communications, let's assume 20 minutes over the week. The one to one's are 15 minutes each and I will do 4 of those, another hour. The delivery of the workshops, 3 lots of 45 minutes. We are at 60+30+20+60+45+45+45 we are at over 5 hours for what was once a 3 hour lesson face to face, which would have had minimal planning. That's before marking which would always be outside lesson time anyway. I love spending my 5 hours doing this weekly but is it sustainable long term? Yes if I am given the 5 hours to do it. 

I can see huge potential in this but it will rely on teachers being given the time to do so. Not just in terms of the 5 hours vs 3 hours a week but in terms of the journey I have been on. What works for me might not work for your class. That's the beauty fo teaching, trialling new ways and reflecting and adapting. We need to be trusted by managers to be given space to explore. 

This has been an amazing journey that I have enjoyed reflecting on here, I hope its showed that things don't always work, we need to reflect and adapt but that's why we love the job right? 

Angles in parallel lines

I have to admit that this is not a topic I am personally brilliant at. Every time as a department we did a mock paper there would always be a heightened anxiety I had if there was an angles in parallel lines question on the paper. I am not great at spotting F and Z angles. I struggled with it at school. I was taught it as F and Z angles and they’re no longer allowed as descriptions! It’s just not my kind of topic, I have a brain that means I have to work harder with shape space and measure topics! I have some great lessons to demonstrate alternate and corresponding angles and I heavily rely on these to be clear in my demonstrations. I have to admit in my early years of teaching I had my fingers crossed that all the students would get on board with it and there wouldn’t be many questions! As the years have gone on I am more confident to field the questions that learners have on the topic but I can’t help but empathise with those learners that just don’t get it!

Have you ever sat in a training session thinking, nope no idea where this is going, what time is lunch? You can see that look on learners' faces sometimes and I see it more often than not in angles on parallel lines. One year I had a learner who was in a bridging provision, not quite an alternative provision but not a mainstream school placement, she just couldn’t grasp angles in parallel lines. I went back to teaching angles on a straight line and recapped that. She turned and looked at me and said “yeah what’s that got to do with this stuff though?” and I thought, oh yeah she’s right! It made me think. What is the best way to sequence angles on parallel lines? I wasn’t sure I had it right? I went back to the exam boards scheme of work. I then checked another exam boards scheme of work and both indicated angles in polygons and angle facts on lines were the building blocks to angles in parallel lines. So yes, what did it have to do with this new topic of angles in parallel lines?

I questioned myself. I know it is 2 sets of lines and angles facts but why do I teach it as an abstract standalone topic? Was it because of my previous lack of knowledge in the topic? Was I projecting my fears onto my learners? So being brave and taking the risk with my next group of learners I taught angle facts on straight lines and around a point then in the lesson on angles in parallel lines I left it as a challenge for them to calculate missing angle values in parallel lines. Unsurprisingly with their existing knowledge they were able to answer the problems. Obviously their reasons weren’t alternate and corresponding angles but their numerical value answers were correct. I then taught my usual lessons edited a bit so that we covered the reasons for parallel lines in the following lesson.

Now I teach GCSE resit to 16+ learners. I teach 16-18 and 19+ learners and as you can imagine both groups require different approaches. I find that 19+ often crave the knowledge for perfect answers and will tackle angles in parallel lines with greater ease than 16-18 learners. 16-18 learners have sat the exam already, if not more than once. They have seen angles in parallel lines in many forms already, they’ve learnt F and Z to help them remember but then had that crutch taken away and ‘should’ know how to calculate missing angles in parallel lines with reasons. However they haven’t achieved a grade 4 and have to sit the exam again and what if they still ‘can’t’ calculate angles in parallel lines? So I now teach it as 2 sets of angles on a straight line problem and that the angles repeat. For example:

When you look at the mark scheme, the majority of the marks are for the numerical values, 

This is taken from Edexcel Foundation Paper 2 2018. ¾ marks are for numerical calculations. This example had an isosceles triangle included as well as parallel lines. I have now, almost, enjoyed teaching angles in parallel lines this way. I find that if their angle fact knowledge is secure I can introduce the labels on top for alternate and corresponding angles easier. 

You may not have the difficulties I had with angles on parallel lines, you may not even teach maths! My point is had I not been challenged with “but what does that have to do with this stuff though?” I would never have looked at my sequencing on the topic. Perhaps you have a topic that often falls flat in class? It may be worth re-evaluating your sequencing up to that point, does it make sense, almost ask yourself, yeah so what? Why am I teaching it this way? I don’t need to remind you if you are in education of the need for impact impact, IMPACT! If you taught it this way what would be the intended impact and if you taught it that way what would be the intended impact? What is the actual impact? Can you trial both ways? 

We must, as educators evaluate where we have been on the learning journey in order to guide our learners to their intended destination. We don’t often have the time or prioritise the time to undertake such evaluations but hopefully this post inspired you to take a moment and think? 

Blended Learning Quick Wins

I have just published my blog on what I plan for September and I wanted to follow it up with how I will do it. 

Cast your mind back to a lesson that required cutting paper. Perhaps they were making their own loop cards, or cutting triangles to prove Pythagoras. Remember the times you needed to stick work into books. Your lesson was planned, it ran well, but you probably had a frantic 5 minutes at one point because of the extra equipment, I know I did. In my experience finding the scissors posed a challenge, including the left handed ones. Finding the glue sticks too. Handing them out in the class, realising some students had 3 pairs and others had none. Losing glue sticks lids, the time lost to equipment diverted from valuable learning. All of this happened on more than 1 occasion to me and can still heighten anxiety, including now when I reflect. What caused me the problems was the extra equipment, to make things flow I like to give my learners everything that they will need all in 1 place. In my physical classroom I have a helpdesk where they can come up and grab maybe a device to check an idea, watch a video. It might have the scaffolding sheet for the topic, a broken down task. It might have the help sheet or template to help write a cheat sheet or multiplication grids pre drawn. It may have foreign language dictionaries. Everything that they need to access the lesson themselves, helping them be independent no matter how much assistance they need to get there.

Blended learning is going to be no different. I am going to want to put everything in one place for them. Hyperdocs then come into their own as do Hyperbooks. A hyperbook is a notebook digitally held, maybe for a unit of work. A hyperdoc is a lesson plan of everything they need for the lesson. There are different types of hyperdocs. Ones that guide through each stage of a topic, discover, explain, explore and others that are choice board in style.  I can see benefits of all of these. Mainly they help the learners be independent and progress through their learning at their own pace. The true meaning of asynchronous learning. Slidesmania is my go to place for these things. Well worth checking out. Imagine a hyperbook of tabs all within shape space and measure. Once for area, one for perimeter, one for circles, sectors, compound shapes, problem solving tiling questions, sounds good! Sounds like a lot of work from the teacher, but when was teaching not a lot of work? We are planning for a new way of learning and perhaps we could save some time in this and insert a video on the first page of each section that already exists? Is there a youtube video we could insert? Yes of course there is! Can I take a moment to recomment the brilliant Mars Maths videos, worth checking out! All we need to do in Google Slides is click Insert>Video and search for the best video for our needs.

 The beauty of Google Slides we can start the video at certain points, so only the first 2 minutes are relevant to your group? No problem! Use the start and end times! 

I accept building a hyperbook on a series of lessons within a unit is a lot of work, but ready made videos can be a real help. Like Alice Keeler says 'stop pretending Google doesn't exist' Let's use the videos that are available. Personally I will be mixing it up. I like the way I explain certain topics, you can see in my blog about, SASSYLASS for Pythagoras, ADAM for ratio, TERRY for transformations and DIN0 for nth term. I will be using a mixture of Loom, Screencastify, Hippo Video and Screencastomatic to record my explanations. I will be recording my desktop whilst I talk over my slides that I would normally use in class.

I have begun doing this for lessons and recording over my slides. In what would have been a 3 hour lesson previously I have found the actual teacher talk element is only 20 minutes when recorded. I have used the exact same slides I would talk over in class. No editing. What I found that when I would normally set them to work on the topic I have explained I have asked them to pause the video. This means that I can edit the videos into shorter videos later or leave it as 1 long video. I found that the problem with doing this is I am assuming they will get to the end point I am anticipating. I think there needs to be a mix of my own videos and ready made ones. I can select and curate existing videos to show progression, of topics I think they will get to and signpost it as such. This one is only if you got 100% on the quiz on that one. This one is if you struggled in that quiz. You get my meaning. This will all be trial and error but I was surprised that in a 3 hour lesson I only talk for 20 minutes! It feels a lot longer!

OK what about questions? Could we insert hyperlinks to a quiz in our hyperbook? I think so! 

Quizzes are quite easy, if not easier to replicate online. I think many have been using Kahoot for a while in the physical classroom. Now you can assign Kahoots for home learning. You could insert the link on a page in a hyperbook, the beauty of Google Slides is you just need to click INSERT>LINK or use CTRL+K. There are lots of existing quizzes already on Kahoot.

Another favourite for quizzing is Quizizz. You can post the quiz to your class and they can do it at home. Again there is a wide library of quizzes to choose from, so if the one you are looking for doesn't exist on Kahoot, Quizziz is a good place to look. If both of these are familiar to you and you want to change things up a bit, there are lots of others but Assistments is a good tool too. The old Transum quizzes, although can't be assigned and tracked are still great. 

Transum was around when I began teaching, starter of the day was everyone's form time activity! I like to insert the link to Transum in the hyperbook in Google Slides and ask the learner to insert a screenshot of their results underneath when finished.

Many of them are levelled and differentiated allowing learners to push on if they are finding it easy. I like that there is no sign in, they show progression, sure I accept I don't hold all the results in a nice Google Sheet, but I could type them up myself if I really wanted to! Transum has self marking on all sorts of activities and topics so for me it's on my list of places to link to.

Don't forget that in our Hyperbook, because it is in Google slides we can insert our own Google sliddes from our lesson presentation to help learners follow the topic too! Copy and paste in our summary slides or our nice examples into the hyperbook, sure! In our hyperbook then we have video, explanations, questions. All in one place! I think that if we could create a hyperbook on a unit sectioned by topic it would be a great experience for our learners. I'm now thinking it doesn't seem that much work? Maybe a little more but I think I see a way of suing some stuff that already exists?

Now what about robust questions? Teaching GCSE resit in FE means there have to be some GCSE exam questions in there. I am a big fan of both the old 1MA0 topic questions which you can find from Mr Barton here and the Corbett maths ones here. In my physical classroom I love handing these out as my consolidation exercise. Putting what we have learned in the lesson into exam context practise. But we have a problem. They are paper based pdfs, much like the real GCSE! (Which will obviously have to move on...but we will save that for another day!) This is where I hit a snag, how can I move these online? Then I hit upon ilovepdf and my life was complete! 

I convert the pdf to powerpoint. I then save the powerpoint at Google Slides. 

Once in Google Slides I insert textboxes for learners to insert their answer. This bit is fiddly but they could insert their own, I'm just being super organised! I plan to share these with the answers so it can be self marked. Whoa you say, self marking, they will all get 100% surely! Ah but the beauty of Google Slides is we can use FILE>VERSION HISTORY and see when the changes were made and what it originally looked like! 

Obviously not all my ideas are acceiboe for all, I am HUGE fan of Texthelp and for those with additional needs I would leave the pdf as is and encourage them to use the pdf reader from Texthelp. We can then screenshot or save their edited version. I haven't gone into it too much on here as I wanted to present an affordable acheivable work flow. We could use this method for all but not everyone subscribes to Texthelp products. 

There are a thousand more ideas that I could talk about for blended or distance learning but I have tried to keep it as simple as possible and as free as possible. Through my work I have seen that not all schools have access or subscriptions. I think and feel it is doable to create a unit workbook using a Slidesmania template. Inserting videos, inserting self marking quizzes and linking to exam workbooks in Google Slides format. What would be really great if we got learners to find the videos that spoke to them, if they created the content in their workbook. They research the topic, curate the resources, and design their own template. That is my aim but I know that as new as blended learning will be for me in September it will be multiplied and magnified for my learners and we can build to the top of any learning mountain. But to start with we are at the base camp and I need to help them pack their rucksack with all the right tools for the job and I think a hyperbook is the way to go!

Here is my rough first draft, welcome to copy and adapt, please click FILE>MAKE A COPY. Many thanks to Slidesmania for the template.

Example