Classroom Ideas « The Creative Education Blog

Guest Post: Back to School – How to Motivate Your Class After the Summer Break

On October 11, 2012 / All Posts, Classroom Ideas, Tools for Teaching / 4 Comments

After a summer full of free time – most of which kids will have spent sleeping, lazing around and playing – it’s no wonder that many pupils find the return to school a difficult adjustment. The school routine of the previous year is a distant memory, and this can make coming back into a learning environment challenging. As teachers, this is an issue we all face, but it can be exceptionally hard to address. With increasing distractions from learning (predominately in the form of smartphones and handheld games consoles) on top of the usual excitement of seeing friends again and

5 Ideas to Jazz Up a Premade Lesson Plan

On March 8, 2012 / Classroom Ideas / 9 Comments

As teachers, we live to be creative and find new and better ways to help children learn. But equally, as teachers, we have an immense workload and it can be really difficult to make all the hours add up in the day. Many of us turn to premade TES lesson plans as a way of squaring the circle. But using somebody else’s lesson plan and being creative don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Here are 5 fun ideas for personalising a pre-made plan.

Innovation in Your Lessons – There is No Middle Ground

On February 21, 2012 / Classroom Ideas / 2 Comments

I was struck yesterday when I read this post by Seth Godin In Search of a Timid Trapeeze Artist (you can read it, it’s very short!) What he says is generally true of all organisations – and of schools too. Innovation in teaching isn’t really something you can dabble in, it’s a lifestyle choice. A choice to constantly drive at the boundaries of what’s possible in your lessons. Those of us who try to be ‘a bit innovative but no more’ will always struggle. That’s not to say innovation is easy – particularly when you’re burdened with workload – in fact

20 Great iPad Apps for Primary Literacy

On February 6, 2012 / Classroom Ideas, Tools for Teaching / 8 Comments

From initial charges that ‘it;s just an overgrown iPhone’ the iPad is now part of many teachers’ and schools’ essential kit. But it’s fair to say that while Apple has created a beautiful, robust and powerful piece of kit finding the best apps on the App Store can be a challenging experience. So I asked everyone on Twitter for some advice on what th best apps were out there, and @narthernlad came back with so many suggestions I’m going to split them over a couple of posts! Here are some suggestions for literacy apps to try with your students. If

Guest Post: Using Co-Constructors to Help Plan Lessons

On January 17, 2012 / Classroom Ideas, Guest Posts & Interviews, Student Voice / Leave a comment

I saw this wiki article by Dave West, originally published here and like it so much I asked if we could repost it on our blog. He kindly agreed. During the spring term I visited Skipton Girls High School and saw there the power of this kind of staff-student interaction. I was struck by several things: The fact that the barriers between staff and students seemed to be broken down The engagement of the staff and students in the lessons the students had helped to plan The apparent increase in results that co-construction had brought

Guest Post: 5 Fun Ways to Get Your Students to Cooperate

On January 5, 2012 / Classroom Ideas, Guest Posts & Interviews / 1 Comment

Not enough effort is spent truly promoting teamwork in school, considering the amount of time all of us will spend working with others once we graduate. Finding ways to get your students to work together to accomplish a goal is one of the best ways to encourage critical thinking, raise their self esteem, involve them actively in learning, and improve camaraderie. Try any one of these fun activities with students of all ages.

What Makes an Excellent Teacher

On December 9, 2011 / Classroom Ideas, New Teachers / 5 Comments

So after a long search, Sir Michael Wilshaw is grasping education’s poisoned chalice and taking the role of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools. And his opening salvo has already begun. Following the lead of the government white paper it’s not just ‘coasting schools’ that are a target, but ‘coasting teachers’ too. Personally, I dislike the label ‘coasting’. It seems to imply a complete lack of care, whereas I’m sure it’s much more the case that with all the personal and time pressures of teaching some can just get stuck into a bit of a rut.

Using Drama to Liven Up Your Lessons

On November 30, 2011 / Classroom Ideas / 3 Comments

Why use Drama in Lessons? Drama isn’t just a subject, it’s a very powerful technique for adding interest and engagement to your lessons. But it’s often also one that some teachers steer slear of with the challenges of organising it and the potential for disruption. So I delved into our course archives and adapted this guidance written by our Lead Consultant for English and Drama Kevin Piper.

How to Rediscover Your Love For Teaching

On November 16, 2011 / Classroom Ideas / 1 Comment

A worrying amount of NQTs never make it through the first few years of teaching. Even those of us that do make it through, with the nights drawing in and the pressure and marking piling up it’s natural to think “Why am I doing this?!” If you’ve lost your passion for teaching, if one government initiative after another has surgically removed your mojo – here are some tips to get you passionate again about your profession.

3 Free Science Experiments You Can Try In Class

On November 11, 2011 / Classroom Ideas, Subject Teaching / Leave a comment

After the massive success of the Sue Cowley behaviour management videos we showed in a previous blog post, I thought it would be nice to give away a few more freebies from our video archive. This week a free video from each of our 3 DVDs on creative science experiments. [myyoutubeplaylist ZYyjk25HhII, XDzI-Q10Vi0, -sMUfUuSNvw] There are 36 experiments in total across chemistry, biology and physics each with an explanatory video, student worksheets and health and safety guidance. Blog readers can get a £10 discount fo the full set by quoting the code Blog (cunning eh?)

10 Ways Your School Can Raise Achievement at KS3

On October 26, 2011 / Classroom Ideas, Curriculum / Leave a comment

Key Stage 3 is often a time when boys can become disengaged with learning – making them less likely to achieve at Key Stage 4 and more likely to disrupt the learning of others in your class! Here are ten whole school approaches you can take to try and improve the achievement of boys in your school at Key Stage 3. I think in many respects they’re general good practice too, which you could apply to developing learning with any group across your school with some modification. 1) Identify Boys That Need Support A programme of assessment through

Archive for the ‘Classroom Ideas’ Category

Guest Post: Back to School – How to Motivate Your Class After the Summer Break

5 Ideas to Jazz Up a Premade Lesson Plan

Innovation in Your Lessons – There is No Middle Ground

20 Great iPad Apps for Primary Literacy

Guest Post: Using Co-Constructors to Help Plan Lessons

Guest Post: 5 Fun Ways to Get Your Students to Cooperate

What Makes an Excellent Teacher

Using Drama to Liven Up Your Lessons

How to Rediscover Your Love For Teaching

3 Free Science Experiments You Can Try In Class

10 Ways Your School Can Raise Achievement at KS3

Five Ideas to turn Homework into Home Learning

Ideas for getting to know your new class

10 ideas to make planning next term’s lessons easier

Do extrinsic rewards lower intrinsic motivation?

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