James Fitzgibbon

Big steps taken with the Y9 Mao’s China SOW. Daunting to start with, but getting there via manageable chunks of content. Vital that students have a knowledge of what underpins the culture and outlook of the current global superpower. #historyteacher

Busy times! Therefore, icons for ‘Do Now’ recall tasks are a no brainer. Students recall requested knowledge and then provide an explanation. Reflection on answers follow with discussion and questioning. Once completed, students have a ‘one point of reference’ sheet. #historyteacher

Returning to a lot of KS3 assessment. ‘Revision Recall Rows’ have become a solid initial task pre summative assessment to help students organise their thoughts and build confidence. No pressure to answer all of the questions but an immediate accessible format. #historyteacher

Our shift to A3 assessments for Y7 has really helped progress and engagement. Shorter yet concise responses to build confidence with skills/content whilst maintaining rigour around knowledge and chronology. #historyteacher

Next round of ‘Progress Points’ ready for Spring 1 Y7-9. The addition of these midpoint assessments to our curriculum has really helped tackle misconceptions early doors as well as drilling down into the spelling and definitions of key terminology. #historyteacher

Consistently using ‘REC’ once we have reached the end of a key topic, event or concept. Students begin with basic recall (R), this is then extended (E) via an explanatory response and then teacher led chunking (C) to ensure key aspects are understood and embedded. #historyteacher

Recently, encouraging knowledge centred conversations has been a challenge. I tried a visual format of ‘Discuss and Describe’. Students, using the icons connected to knowledge from a previous lesson/prompt Q’s, discussed Stalin in pairs, then wrote a description. #historyteacher

Incline knowledge recall has become a go to ‘Do now’ task/starter for quick retrieval and a settled start. All students have questions they can immediately access but difficulty develops with confidence. Moving from multiple choice Q’s to short written answers. #historyteacher

Trialled this last week and I think there will be a lot of ‘visual mapping’ in the crawl to the finish line. Applicable to all Key Stages, initial connection of knowledge to the icons, push to discuss how they link and then explanation questions to finish. #historyteacher

With assessments we’ve tried to put ‘story’ at the centre of our recall formats. Rather than stand alone knowledge, we want students to show understanding via connections/impacts. From this, teachers have a greater grasp of where students are at and misconceptions.#historyteacher

Another clip sheet, this time for Dan Jones and his great overview of the Norman conquest found in the link below. Simple and accessible questions for Y7 that promote focus during clips, points for discussion and knowledge all in one place. #historyteacher www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/top...

We started our year with homework in booklets for KS3. Safe to say, it’s not worked, from immediate destruction in bags to student confusion on where to answer questions. So we’re shifting to A3 sheets, easy to upload online if lost, stuck in books on hand in. 🤞🏻#historyteacher

The next set of mid-topic ‘Progress Points’. Slight adaptation with the spelling and definitions section. Provision of definitions gives greater clarity and saves time with students having to match up. Followed by multiple choice recall and ‘the story so far’ #historyteacher

First round of ‘Progress Points’ and they’ve been a good addition! They allow for the affirming of knowledge and picking up misconceptions. Tweaks needed on definitions as too much time was spent listening to a range of very similar responses. Overall though ✅ #historyteacher

First topic homework set for Y7-9 within our new booklets. Students working through short meaningful tasks linked to bettering their understanding of second order concepts and building on knowledge developed in lessons. #historyteacher

Emphasising chunking content with Y11. Paper 3 Germany contains a huge amount of complex content. So infographics combined with simple task formats to start a lesson, end one or break down a difficult concept. Hopefully this approach will firm up foundations. #historyteacher

A Level numbers have rocketed so to has the mark load. Attempting to battle that with whole class feedback comments that are numbered and attributed as individual feedback. Combined with SPAG, exam board mark scheme, student reflection and consolidation questions. #historyteacher

This format is fast becoming a go to for articles and extract tasks. Finding quotes, quick comprehension responses and deeper explanation questions guarantee thorough reading, triggers for quality discussion and meaningful notes. #historyteacher

Already we’ve used some of the clip sheets from last year’s bank with Y9 and Y10. Brilliant for focused viewing, triggering debate and reflecting back on as a summary of key knowledge. Also logistically a meaningful cover work task. #historyteacher

Building on our KS3 homework format we’ve compiled tasks into one booklet. Purpose/logistics are outlined to students and parents. Whilst for teachers, workload is minimised via no requirement to remember to print/set homework tasks/highlighted teacher reviews. #historyteacher

Y9 was in desperate need of remodelled knowledge organisers. Chronology, Key Figures, Terminology and Core Content all in one place for students to refer to during lessons and revision. Looking to ensure they are utilised more throughout curriculum this year. #historyteacher

Revisited our ‘Curriculum in Objects’ initiative. Initial idea of student led inferences remains in place but we’ve switched to connected closed questions to build confidence and frame the concepts and understanding we want to take forward into the topic. #historyteacher

A labour of love but our Y7 KO’s are completed. We move onto trying to box off Y8/Y9. Chronology, Key Figure, Terminology and Core Content all in one place for students to reflect on and refer to during lessons and in preparation for assessments. #historyteacher

Something we’re considering are ‘Progress Points’ half way through a unit. Ensuring students have a grasp of key terms, foundational knowledge and a sense of narrative of how events link/impact. Provides insight on what to revisit/prepares for summative assessment #historyteacher

Looking to adapt how students engage with extracts by varied approaches to guarantee thorough reading. Start with scanning for quotes, read to answer comprehension questions and then combine the extract with own knowledge to provide explanations. #historyteacher

This year we’ve developed a range of ‘Clip Sheets’ which have helped to make each snippet more meaningful. Students have quality short answers to reflect back on, the set questions promote wider debate and logistically they’ve been excellent for cover work. Win! #historyteacher

Still not finished, not sure it ever will be but we’ve made a lot of progress in developing our KS3 curriculum. Connected second-order concepts, guidance on outcomes and key vocabulary all identified for students, parents and staff to be aware of. #historyteacher

Only Paper 3 to go and again there is so much knowledge to retain. These KO’s focus on who were the key figures of the topic and importantly a chronology of events, ‘the fallout’. Great as a one page reference for prompts and reminders before the exam. #historyteacher

Still chipping away at KS3 assessment. Varied multiple choice formats provide a confidence boost for students whilst rigorously assessing knowledge. This builds to a historical skill/second order concept response. Review of knowledge/writing enhancement to finish. #historyteacher

So glad to see lots of students outside the exam hall for Paper 1 with their ‘If faced with’ question stem sheets. Juggling the content is difficult enough so having this quick reference point is a big help. #historyteacher docs.google.com/file/d/1x2D1...

Old but gold. ‘Has it stuck’ recall is a great recall format. Students begin with ‘core knowledge’ post it’s in the centre and work their way out. Accessible for all yet full of challenge. Great for all Key Stages and easily adapted. #historyteacher docs.google.com/presentation...

Next round of ‘All Four One’ KS3 homework sheets. This format has helped with the consistency of our homework setting and offers flexibility with setting either the entire sheet or individual tasks. Short sharp bursts of meaningful knowledge/second order concepts. #historyteacher

A great Easter school session on Teams with our Y11 historians. Full focus on Paper 2 question stems, their structure and working through difficult examples. The session PPT acts as a ‘one point of reference’ for how to tackle each question to help revision. #historyteacher

Returned to school and lots of work needed to get Y11 to the end of Cold War. I’ve reused these one page overviews as a blank framework for direct teacher instruction. Students make notes on each section via explanation. Considered focus on who, why and what. #historyteacher

We’ve embedded our whole class feedback slide across KS4/KS5. Students ‘purple pen’ and note general feedback. They then list key spellings regardless of if they had issues or not, finishing with summative ‘knowledge extension’ questions to secure understanding. #historyteacher

So much content to digest within Superpower Relations that I’ve used ‘The Story so far…’ format for both recall/building confidence with narratives. Statements are given with linked sentence starters for the next event. Students attempt independently, then edit. #historyteacher

Starting next week off with one of my favourites. One task in one hour, teacher led annotations of the Tudor family tree to introduce a character dense topic. Each slide builds the narrative for students to understand the links between individuals/their impact. #historyteacher

We’ve built into KS3 this year more teacher directed ‘one slide’ explainers to secure foundational knowledge and key understanding. Teachers work through the scaffolded aspects of the slide whilst students take core notes/make annotations on given illustrations. #historyteacher

Our next round of ‘All Four One’ homework’s are ready to go for Y7-9. Short bursts of meaningful tasks from defining key terminology to further practice of source skills. Set as a whole sheet, divided into two sets of tasks or chunked into four mini homeworks. #historyteacher