Stretching the Most Able This could be as a whole class or individually AIM: Place the students in the ‘zone of proximal development’ (Lev Vygotsky’s notion) – so they move on from existing knowledge and understanding Planning - How difficult is it? -What are you getting them to do? -Will they be learning actively? -How can you adapt it? -Do they know why they are doing it? Structure and Pace Expectations we convey to them AVOID PASSIVITY!! All students must be doing something Listening Reading Writing Talking Reflecting Thinking etc Observe their learning – adjust accordingly and then plan appropriately Success Criteria is vital to achieve any of this Plunge students into the ‘realm of uncertainty’ –Thunk are great for this and use content aimed 2-3 years higher How to stretch and challenge your students Mike Gershon

What if this man had never existed? The Gadfly This involves asking lots of little questions intended to push thinking and avoid sloppiness: “What do you mean by that?”; “But, what if…?”; “What evidence do you have?”; “Does that always apply?”; “How can you be certain that is true?”. The Stingray Administer a shock to ­pupils’ traditional way of thinking in the same way a stingray unleashes its sting: “Imagine if X was not the case, what then?”; “What if everything you’ve said was turned on its head?”; “What if a great change happened?”. The Midwife Ask questions that help give birth to ideas: “That’s an interesting idea; could you explain it a bit more?”; “How might that affect things?”; “What made you think of that idea?”. The Ignoramus Play dumb or ingnorant to encourage explanation: “What does that mean?”; “I don’t understand – can you start from the beginning?”; “So, do you mean that…?”.

Use a resource to question and challenge their knowledge and understanding – get them all to write on mini whiteboards so there is no passivity and they all have an answer prepared – you can then pinpoint your questions Imagine if McDonald’s wasn’t the market leader? (The Stingray) Why does America have the most coffee shops and restaurants? (The Gadfly) So what would happen if China’s economy keeps growing? (The Midwife)

Here are five ways to convey your high expectations: Reasoning: When pupils share their opinion with you, or with a partner during discussion, push them to explain what underpins that opinion. Do not let unsupported assertions escape without asking “Why?”, “What reasons do you have for thinking that?”. You can even train your pupils to start asking these questions of each other. Products: Plan your lessons so that pupils are building up to creating some kind of product – an essay, perhaps, or an extended piece of drama or a presentation. This will imbue your lessons with purpose and show them that you believe they can create significant pieces of work. Success criteria: Make sure that every pupil knows what the success criteria are for each major piece of work you ask them to do, and that it is possible for everybody to attain them. In a positive classroom, pupils will be more likely to push themselves to excel. All, most and some: If you use the idea of “all, most and some” in your planning, do not share it with pupils. Consider how demoralising it must be for a pupil who knows they are not top of the class to see that noted down at the start – although following our discussion at Iford session we discussed how we all use different language to share this idea with students and there are different ways to show this in their personalised learning i.e choosing different levelled work or gold/silver/bronze work – thus giving students choice in their learning and differentiated appropriately (which the students want and feel motivated by) Formative feedback: Set your pupils challenging targets regularly. Forget about sharing grades for the moment. Instead, tell pupils what they need to do to improve and give them the opportunity to do it. How to stretch and challenge your students Mike Gershon

‘The cost to society of silencing individuals who were irritating could be high’