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Do meeting proformas handed down from SLT to middle leaders help or hinder?  Is a checklist better?  How well do SLTs leaders model running high-quality meetings and line management?  Matt and Femi discuss.

Nothing advertises SLT being detached from reality more than forcing staff to spend entire day(s) sat listening to speakers in the hall.  Matt and Femi discuss alternatives.

Femi and Matt discuss what it takes and means to be clear with staff and say what it is that actually want to say!

Matt and Femi discuss issues around QA of books, including the importance of a clear, shared understanding of what a book is for!  Amongst much else, they touch on whether there are subject-specific variations, what qualities you might look for in work, and the crucial understanding that marking is one of the tools that can be used to give and gather feedback as opposed to a stand-alone dimension of teaching.

Matt and Femi discuss the terms 'inclusive teaching', 'adaptive teaching' and 'responsive teaching'.  The point is also made that great teaching is, by definition, inclusive teaching: if not all of your students are making great progress then it's hard to claim that the teaching is 'great'.

Reflecting on a lovely message received from a former student, Matt and Femi discuss what it means to believe in our students and how that belief plays out in our actions and behaviour.

Welcome to Season 4! After brief introductions for new listeners Matt and Femi discuss the first part of Viviane Robinson's book 'Reduce change to increase performance'.  In particular they focus on the distinction between change and improvement, problem and goal clarity, the importance of understanding the beliefs and values that underpin the status quo, the concept of double loop learning, and the idea that true engagement requires both parties to have access to the other's thinking. We welcome listener feedback and enquiries - you can reach us via email: [email protected]

Femi reflects on the last year with one particular class in mind and asks: "Are my lessons challenging enough?"

Femi has been teaching a Science class and shares his approach and reflections with Matt.  They discuss 'learning to learn', booklets, AI, rounds of teaching and CFU, shed loads of practise, feedback and self-checking answers, precision and rigour and much more!

Amongst other things, Femi and Matt talk about how hard it can be as a middle leader to lead on change without strong models to refer to.

Matt and Femi discuss the subtle ways students can often make life difficult for teachers, and why this happens in some classrooms but not in others.

Matt and Femi have a chat about teachers using seating plan resets as a strategy, debate breaking down intangible aspects like 'feel' into granular concrete components when coaching, and the role and possible negative effects of prior information when it comes to planning seating plans and thinking about a new class.

Matt and Femi talk about coaching, and how teachers working on their craft will often need to stick with a particular focus and practice it with reflection and feedback to master it.

Matt discusses with Femi a recent conversation he had with a teacher that he supports regarding resetting a challenging class in which norms had severely slipped from previous high standards.  The conversation will be of particular interest to heads of department supporting colleagues in their team.

Matt and Femi discuss economy of language during explanations and the advantages of keeping teacher talk lean. Contact us at: [email protected]