Challenge for all

Challenge v differentiation

• What is challenge? Difficult work that causes students to think deeply and engage in healthy struggle out of their comfort zone

• What is differentiation?Harder or easier tasks allocated before the lesson

The tools to meet the challenge set

Idea 1: Scale up

• Teach just beyond what they are expected to know/be able to do

• The anchor effect…start with something difficult and everything else seems much easier!

• Self-esteem and confidence

Idea 2: display exemplars

• Enlarged & annotated on display boards• Gallery of excellence in the classroom or corridor • Mounting work in frames makes a statement &

reinforces the value of excellence

• The message?– This is what excellence looks like– This is the standard I expect you to replicate– Study it closely and you will see why it is excellent

Idea 3: layered writing

• Structured redrafting;– Writing frames– Sentence starters– Questions– ‘writer’s palette’ – having produced a first draft

the writer’s palette is introduced to scaffold and extend students’ ideas

Making it manageable

• Focus on a set number of students each lesson• Plan tasks that all students can be getting on

with that will allow you to spend time giving some students individual attention

• Plan some questions and ‘now try…’ examples and activities that you can use.

Mindsets

‘yet’

• Carol Dweck claims that ‘yet’ is one of the most powerful words we could use. When a student says ‘I can’t do it’ we should end their sentence with ‘yet’.

Should every lesson be challenging?

• No.• The journey should be challenging at times as

students begin to understand and use new information and skills, but it is equally as important to build in time to consolidate and build on concepts.

• If we move on too swiftly we risk knowledge gaps and misconceptions

Acknowledgements & further reading

• Making every lesson count by Shaun Allison & Andy Tharby