90-minute CPD

Contents

About my CPD

Since 2010, I have been fortunate to deliver keynotes, run workshops, and support school maths departments worldwide. My work is always grounded in research and illuminated with real classroom examples. My aim is always the same: To leave teachers with things they can use in their classrooms tomorrow and strategies and approaches that will last a lifetime. Without wishing to blow my own trumpet, the evaluations and feedback I receive are always outstanding.

Please note: I am not taking on any more maths departments to support beyond my current commitments. This may change, so feel free to get in touch and I will add you to my waiting list.

The workshops

Overview

I am pleased to offer a series of 90-minute workshops covering a range of themes. These can be delivered as one-off keynotes or workshops or assembled to form a full-day or half-day CPD. They can be delivered in person or remotely.

Below are the descriptions for each workshop, along with guidance on who each workshop is most relevant to. Please see the FAQs towards the bottom of the page for further details.

HABITS AND ROUTINES

1. Supporting teacher change: How I observe a lesson and give feedback

In this workshop, we dive deep into my coaching process. I share my specially designed lesson observation template, illustrating each section with examples from the teachers I have coached. We then look at how the evidence we collected during the lesson observation informs the structured coaching session that follows, supporting the teacher to develop new habits and routines.

Workshop relevance: This workshop is suitable for teachers from any subject or phase who are currently coaching or aspiring to coach in the future. It is also suitable for any school leaders looking to introduce or develop coaching programmes in their schools.

2. Supporting student change: Embedding routines

In this workshop, we examine a framework for helping students build positive, sustainable habits and routines in our classrooms. The framework is grounded in research, and each stage is illustrated by concrete examples from teachers and students I have worked with over the last ten years.

Workshop relevance: This workshop is suitable for classroom teachers from any subject or phase.

THE MEANS OF PARTICIPATION

3. Cold Call

In this workshop, we explore one of the most common ways of asking students questions in the classroom: Cold Calling. But, as we shall see, it is not quite as simple as choosing a child and asking them a question. We look at tips and strategies to ensure Cold Calling maximises the number of students actively thinking hard in our classroom while also increasing the reliability of our checks for understanding.

Workshop relevance: This workshop is relevant for classroom teachers from any subject or phase.

4. Mini-whiteboards: Developing routines

Mini-whiteboards are my favourite way of checking students’ understanding. But to fully reap the benefits of using mini-whiteboards, we must first reduce the costs associated with them: faff, time, and potential issues. This workshop examines practice strategies to make our mini-whiteboard routines slick and effective.

Workshop relevance: All my mini-whiteboard examples are from the secondary maths classroom. I am confident the strategies transfer to upper primary, but I cannot promise they also transfer to other subjects.

5. Mini-whiteboards: Checking for understanding

Once we have reduced the costs associated with using mini-whiteboards, our next job is to ensure we maximise our ability to collect valuable data from our students to increase the reliability of our checks for understanding. In this workshop, we look at innovative, practical strategies to do exactly that.

6. Turn and Talk

In this workshop, we examine how to maximise the effectiveness of paired discussions in our lessons. When should we use them, how do we ensure both parties have their say, and what should we do following a Turn and Talk? All will be revealed!

Workshop relevance: This workshop is relevant for classroom teachers from any subject or phase.

7. Call and Respond

Call and Respond may seem like a weird way to ask students to participate: the teacher says one half of a statement, and then all students respond in unison. In this workshop, I will share several use cases for Call and Respond, as well as practical tips and strategies to maximise the chance of it being effective.

Workshop relevance: This workshop is relevant for classroom teachers from any subject or phase.

CHECKING FOR UNDERSTANDING

8. Checking for listening

If students are not listening, they will not understand. It’s as simple as that. Unfortunately, many students are not listening to our instructions, explanations, or their classmates. In this workshop, we will examine exactly why that is and what practical steps we can take to improve our students’ attention.

Workshop relevance: This workshop is relevant for classroom teachers from any subject or phase.

9. Checking for understanding: 10 key principles

A teacher not checking for understanding is like a painter painting with their eyes closed. However, not all checks for understanding are created equally. In this workshop, we examine 10 guiding principles we can strive for to ensure our checks for understanding are as effective and reliable as possible.

Workshop relevance: Although all of the examples are from the work of secondary maths, I am confident this workshop is suitable for classroom teachers from any subject or phase.

10. A model for responsive teaching

Checking for understanding is only one-half of the story. Once we have the in-class data from our students, what do we do with it? In this workshop, we examine my model for responsive teaching, focusing on high-value teacher actions in three common scenarios: most students get it, some students get it, and very few students get it.

Workshop relevance: All the examples I use are from the world of maths. I am confident the strategies transfer to upper primary, but I cannot promise they also transfer to other subjects.

11. Diagnostic questions

Multiple-choice diagnostic questions are one of my favourite tools for checking student understanding. In this workshop, we will examine strategies for gathering accurate data from our students and innovative ways of using the questions beyond simply challenging students to get the answer correct.

Workshop relevance: Although the questions I use are from secondary maths, I am confident the strategies transfer to other phases and subject areas.

12. Learner-generated examples

Challenging learners to create examples amidst certain constraints can reveal unique insights into the depth of their understanding and facilitate positive classroom discussions. In this workshop, we look at models to help learners generate their own examples for any mathematical concept.

Workshop relevance: This workshop is relevant for maths teachers from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 5.

PHASES OF A LESSON

13. Do Now

How we start our lessons sets the tone for what follows. In this workshop, we dive deep into the Do Now phase of a lesson, thinknig hard about the structure, content, difficulty, and how we can ensure we get an accurate sense of our students’ levels of effort and understanding.