Improving stretch and challenge. Laura Jackson @mrsjacksonmusic

Sept- Oct 2013 My lessons were planned for the middle/ majority of students. WHY? Majority- bulk of work? Focus on less able- make sure work appropriate/ differentiated. Ensure more able had work- few students.

Nov- Dec 2013 Plan from the top down. This will “lift” all students. #arisingtide “A rising tide lifts all ships” Use my differentiation skills to shift focus from bottom to top.

Transition.. Things to explain: Order of priority- Skills, Speed, Success. Used for peer assessment and feedback, as well as self assessment. Progress was notable. Student motivation and engagement was increased. I gave students the choice of task in a performance lesson. I colour coded the tasks rather than “labelling” them with a level.

Student feedback Student A - KS3 target is L5. Last performance task grade 4c “I would never have picked a level 5 task but I got a 5c because I could play the melody and baseline on my own for the first line. I need to improve my timing to get a 5b” Student B - KS3 target is a L5 Last performance task grade 4a “I got a 6b and I am buzzing. I got a 6 because I had to play my own chords because my partner was off. If I played a bit faster, it would improve my level. I got all the way to the end though”.

Raised challenged tasks combined with... Improved EASY feedback methods (which are being developed further)

…using critique to act on feedback immediately

…mean I am confident all students in KS3 with achieve or better their target levels. Quick methods YOU can try… “Gold Standard” work When you are marking, use the gold stars to highlight excellent work. Ask the student in the next lesson why you think thy were awarded the star, or ask other students using visualiser/ webcam. Student feedback Explain how you mark the work before the task, then ask the students to trade sheets, initial the peer feedback box and write a WWW point and an EBI point.

Finally….