March 2012: Student Teaching & Learning Ideas for an outstanding lesson
Teacher + Manner: - Enthusiastic about their subject- Have a really good subject knowledge so they can answer our
questions- Care about the students!- Relaxed atmosphere- Confident with the class.- be organized for lessons so that it is productive.- notice the quiet students.- Not just pick people with their hands up- Focus on the subject
Behaviour management:- Good communication skills, balance between strict and fair and
fun- Not be too relaxed(able to control the class) but approachable - Being strict but providing some freedom for students to express
their ideas.
Learning Activities: - Interactive lessons – pupils contribute more than teachers
i.e. a group of activities rather than just note taking- Change the style of the lesson so it is not repetitive or too
predictable- Slow down lessons or speed them up depending on our learning.- Allow us opportunities to give our opinions without being
questioned by the teacher (group/ pairwork)- teachers do not talk for too long (less of an issue for KS5 students)
– want more activities & less listening to teachers.- e.g. debating hot seating poster making song writing & presenting it to the class series of activities- single activities = 2 minimum imaginative – present learning in a different way e.g. recipes in
different languages. Smart Board games (KS3) Roleplay KS3 dislike textbooks! More practicals
Exciting & different powerpoints Group activities/ teamwork – especially group discussion Use of documentaries – including original film clips - in the middle
of lessons to keep us engaged.
Assessment: - Use of little whiteboards- so as to engage all pupils into
participating in lessons. - Let us know if we have made progress – we want to know what we
can do to improve- Peer marking (in addition to teachers’ marking)- Sample essays - Summary sheet of the key points at the end of the lesson then at
the start of the next one to summarise what we did the previous lesson.
- ‘’If you can concisely summarise what you have learnt that’s a good lesson!”
