
Our team sorts through all blog submissions to place them in the categories they fit the most - meaning it's never been simpler to gain advice and new knowledge for topics most important for you. This is why we have created this straight-forward guide to help you navigate our system.
And there you have it! Now your collection of blogs are catered to your chosen topics and are ready for you to explore. Plus, if you frequently return to the same categories you can bookmark your current URL and we will save your choices on return. Happy Reading!
Looking for a lesson starter to focus your class while you welcome your students and take the register? In her first NexEdBlog, Miss Davies shares how she uses Do Now in her classes.
When I started working at my current school, I found the concept of the Do Now a little bit strange. For the first six years of my career, I had been used to lining students up outside the classroom, getting students in and then starting with the register. Sometimes I would have a task as students were walking in (for example, playing them a piece of music with questions on the board), but this was not a routine in the classroom. Moving to a school with no bells, where students can enter the classroom at different times, the importance of a task on the board has become clear.
The one big rule for the Do Now? Students must be able to complete it without teacher intervention or supervision. This enables the teacher to be on the door greeting students or speaking to individual students before the lesson officially starts. As a Do Now should only take between three and five minutes to complete it also means that you can do the ‘class admin’ (for example taking the register, handing out resources) whilst students are completing the task – it’s a form of ‘lesson multi-tasking’!
I tend to use the Do Now as a form of retrieval practice (a hot topic in education at the moment!), testing students on previously learnt knowledge, whether that was in the last lesson or several weeks or months ago. Depending on the class and age group, I will either get students to write down the answers (this will be more likely with Key Stage 4 and 5) or I will get answers from students (either by hands-up or cold-call questioning). This is more likely with Key Stage 3. Within the department, we are going to introduce mini whiteboards at Key Stage 3 to ensure that every student is engaged in the Do Now at the start of the lesson.
I’m also a true believer in routine. By starting every lesson in this way, it means that students are aware of my expectations for the start of every lesson and that learning takes place from the minute students step into my classroom. It helps to set the tone for the lesson. It can also help with how the rest of the lesson will go. If a misconception in understanding is identified during the Do Now (based on knowledge learnt in a previous lesson) I can weave this into my lesson to ensure that that misconception is addressed and removed by the end of the lesson.
Here is an example of a Do Now that I have recently introduced into my GCSE lessons. The students are currently studying the Star Wars set work (Edexcel) and I have been setting theme ten key terms to learn each week (my version of the vocab test) and they have five minutes at the start of the lesson to write them down into their books. For the first two weeks I have used key terms from their current set work; in future weeks I will be mixing current key terms with previously learnt key terms from other set works. This will encourage students to also revise from their previous booklets. It is simple, self-explanatory and does not rely on teacher intervention:
If you are looking for a new routine as part of your lessons, I would highly recommend the Do Now. They are short, snappy and set the tone for your lesson.
The author
Read more
Read more
Read more
Read more
Read more
Read more
Read more
Read more
A-life provide interactive workshops Health & Wellbeing that take the workload off the teachers and engage children so they learn to develop healthy habits from a young age. We have taught over 1 million children through our school workshops that are engaging and accessible-for-all.__https://www.youtube.com/watch
Discovery RE® is an enquiry approach to Religious Education for Primary Schools which consistently delivers excellent learning outcomes. The programme is a comprehensive set of detailed medium-term planning for Religious Education from Nursery to Year 6 (for 3–11-year-olds).
Dolce is a family-run business providing freshly made, healthy meals to children using sustainably sourced British produce. We have delivered on our promise to schools for over 25 years, supported with the use of our cashless pre-order system reducing queuing time, limiting waste and managing allergens.
The Reach More Parents platform utilises more channels than any other platform. Whether it is in-app messaging, emails, SMS, social media channels, your school website or our multi-media news feed - we can update them all simultaneously. Couple this with top-class support, as we’re the only company to provide dedicated telephone support to parents.
Winner of the Education Resources Awards, Teach Primary Awards 2020 and Teach Early Years Awards for Best Primary Literacy Resource. Mighty Writer is not software, it's tactile. It transforms children’s literacy almost overnight, guaranteed! Its core range is for 4-7 years, but can be used with all abilities.
Bookteq, a B-Corp certified digital platform with a social purpose, unlocks the potential of school facilities, spaces, and wraparound activities. We enable schools to better support families and the community by reducing barriers to access, and nurture happier young people through easy access to sport, activity, and play.
School Policy Tracker is an online software solution that was created by school leaders for school leaders. Our online policy tracker can save you valuable hours, making sure you know exactly which policies are in need of review and ensuring you are fully compliant and up to date with all statutory requirements.
Curriculum Maestro is a game-changing online platform that helps you to implement and manage your primary curriculum all from one place. It includes a fully sequenced curriculum, projects, resources, teaching and assessment tools. Curriculum Maestro is aligned with the new Ofsted framework and is easy to implement, saving you and your staff hours of valuable time.