creativity, ideas and innovation

Ideas for Encouraging Collaboration and Creativity Part II: how to brainstorm properly

If you are looking to start an innovations group either in your school or across county and you want to focus on a particular issue then you probably need to thrash out some ideas before you decide. A good old-fashioned brain-storming session will be great starting point for your collaboration. We also mentioned a [...]

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Making Learning Relevant: using street art in lessons

I came across a Tweet by DLFresources which showed four new pieces produced by the interesting street artist Banksy. Using graffiti in the classroom does not go without controversy but it does give us the opportunity to examine why artists and ordinary people, ever since the Roman times, have turned to producing messages of various [...]

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An answer to the question, “How long does it have to be sir?”

I have just finished a round of assessment with my Year 9 SEN group. They are not yet at the stage where we can do extended writing, but given that their last assessment was a verbal presentation, I wanted to get them to write something and think about how words can be used.
I have been [...]

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Getting creative with SEN

Today my Year 9 low ability / SEN class made this:
It was the result of a lesson that started by analysing current adverts for their message. We then went on to look at the story of Kitty Eckersley and why her husband joined the Army.
Next, we brainstormed (properly – in fours and in silence, then [...]

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Think Backwards

Too many lessons are planned from the beginning (i.e. the content at the front of people’s minds. What is taught is less important than why it is being done. Having an idea about where students are meant to be and what skills they need to have by the end of the lesson will help to [...]

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