Overview: I have coached teachers for 20 years, but only avoided being rubbish in the last 3. 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.

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.

Overview: It is all good for us to decide to change what we do in the classroom, but without our students on board, we will be fighting a losing battle. 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.

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

Overview: Cold Call is one of the most common ways of asking students questions in the classroom. 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.

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

Overview: 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.

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.

Overview: 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.

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.

Overview: Asking students to discuss something with their apartment seems straightforward enough. But with students, things rarely are. 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!

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

Overview: 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.

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

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

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

Overview: 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.

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.

Overview: 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.

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.

Overview: 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.

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

Overview: 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.

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

Overview: 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.

Relevance: This workshop is relevant for maths teachers from Key Stages 2 upwards. The content may transfer to Key Stage 1, but I cannot promise.

Overview: How we break down a concept is a key factor in determining if our students will understand it. In this workshop, we look at how to break concepts down into atoms and how to deal with those atoms students have met before and those atoms that are new.

Relevance: This workshop is relevant for maths teachers from Key Stages 2 upwards. The content may transfer to Key Stage 1, but I cannot promise.

Overview: How I model new ideas to students has changed dramatically over the 20 years I have taught. In this workshop, we examine how to deliver a clear, concise, teacher-led I Do and how to maximise the chance of our students following our explanation.

Relevance: This workshop is relevant for maths teachers from Key Stages 2 upwards. The content may transfer to Key Stage 1, but I cannot promise.

Overview: Following our I Do, we need reliable evidence that our explanation has made sense. That is where the We Do comes in. In this workshop, we look at strategies to ensure the We Do delivers an effective check for understanding that involves every pupil and provides an effective bridge between the I Do and the independent practice that follows.

Relevance: This workshop is relevant for maths teachers from Key Stages 2 upwards. The content may transfer to Key Stage 1, but I cannot promise.

Overview: Following the I Do and the We Do, students need time to consolidate what they have learned at their own pace. In this workshop, we look at strategies to ensure students get the most out of this independent practice phase, including choosing a task, giving clear instructions, maximising the first three minutes, circulating effectively, and going through answers.

Relevance: This workshop is relevant for maths teachers from Key Stages 2 upwards. The content may transfer to Key Stage 1, but I cannot promise.

Overview: Many students, especially those in the lower sets, go through weeks or months of maths lessons without experiencing non-routine problems. In this workshop, we look at strategies and high-value structures to ensure that all students experience – and get a lot out of – a regular diet of problem-solving in their maths lessons.

Relevance: This workshop is relevant for maths teachers from Key Stages 2 upwards. The content may transfer to Key Stage 1, but I cannot promise.

Overview: The Bjorks and their contemporaries’ work on memory has fundamentally changed how I plan and teach. In this workshop, we will examine the research into desirable difficulties and discuss how to apply it practically in the classroom. This is our best chance to prevent our students from forgetting what they once knew.

Relevance: While the principles of memory apply across subjects and phases, I can only discuss their application in the maths curriculum and classroom. So, I would be wary of choosing this workshop for a non-maths audience.

Overview: A weekly Low-Stakes Quiz is one of the most powerful ways to give students a regular retrieval opportunity. In this workshop, we examine the features of a Low-Stakes Quiz, including its content, format, marking, and how students use their corrections in the future.

Relevance: The Low-Stakes Quiz is designed for secondary maths students, but the ideas should transfer to upper primary students.

Overview: Homework is advantageous over any other retrieval opportunity because it does not take up precious lesson time. But what does research tell us about impactful homework design, boosting participation ratio, the effectiveness of marking, and successfully implementing whole-class feedback?

Relevance: I can only discuss the design and implementation of homework in the secondary maths classroom. The ideas should transfer to upper primary students.