Peter Dawes – Oakapple

If you clicked on this link to have a good snigger at some pretentious drivel, hopefully you’ll be disappointed. TV car adverts are still the best place for that. Here, in no particular order, are the guiding principles behind any of the educational training I offer….

• Avoid jargon where plain English will do. No TLAs (three-lettered acronyms) either.
• It must be practical. All the techniques and examples I cover imply minutes, not hours of teacher prep.
• Adapt to the needs of the group. Be prepared to depart from the script, where necessary - which applies as much to classroom practice as INSET training, of course.
• Variety is crucial. I love my Whiteboard for example, but certainly wouldn’t use it all lesson, every lesson.
• It is very easy to get caught up in the latest fad and flog it to death. Beware anyone who tells you ‘this is THE answer’. It won’t be. Anyone for wall-to-wall Powerpoint?
• Found a good new idea? Tried it out and it worked well in class? Now’s the time to see which boxes you can tick on the government checklist. And not the other way around.
• If it works well do it. Trust your own judgement – you can always find a justification later.

One of my best activities involves pupils NOT being told beforehand what they are doing and why. (Currently a near-sacking offence, as my aims and objectives are not displayed from the off.) My way around this if the prowling SMT hitman catches me doing this? Explain that the plenary will be to decide what the aims were….