TS-9.3

4 Pose, pause, pounce, bounce The teacher’s questions don’t just make pupils think, they also measure understanding – or lack of it. ‘Pose, pause, pounce, bounce’ is a simple and effective idea devised by Pam Fearnley at Pupils First UK Ltd. Questions are ‘posed’ by the teacher or other pupils, followed by a ‘pause’ to allow for thinking or discussion of possible answers. One pupil is then ‘pounced’ on for their answer, and their answer is ‘bounced’ to a different pupil with another question – for example, directing ‘Do you agree with that answer?’ to one pupil, and then ‘How can we find out if that is right?’ to another. The aim is to involve as many pupils as possible in the thinking process. teachwire.net/secondary 1 Continual feedback Verbal feedback stamps can provide evidence that teachers are talking to pupils. These are perhaps useful as a reminder, but good teachers give verbal advice, coaching and feedback continually throughout lessons, and we shouldn’t formalise a natural interaction – in my opinion. Weave around the classroom, pen in hand, zooming in on work to give useful guidance, underlining, highlighting and using every available strategy to make the pupils self-reflect and correct. This type of teaching encourages independent learning, as it gives pupils the tools for monitoring their own progress. 3 Peer-to-peer critiquing Teach pupils that ‘I can learn more by helping others learn’, and that when they assess each other’s work through high-quality peer critique, it improves their own performance. Reinforce an atmosphere in which the pupils listen to each other, care about each other making good progress and appreciate constructive criticism. Have zero tolerance of disrespect towards the effort of others, and ensure they know and understand the success criteria. Encourage them to discover and share useful memory strategies and learning skills, and reward high- quality peer assessment as much as you can. 2 Simplified self-assessment The assessment objectives for your subject may help pupils to self-assess accurately, but they will probably need translating into simple categories. Mini quizzes, low-stakes tests and timed recall games are all good techniques to help them learn how to build and test their memory skills. Press the pause button and let them see how much they have retained. ‘How are we doing?’ and ‘How do you know?’ are important questions for the teacher or TA who wants to be a change agent. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jackie Beere OBE is an author, teacher trainer and coach, specialising in leadership, learning and cultivating a growth mindset. These suggestions are taken from her book, Independent Thinking on Teaching and Learning (Crown House Publishing, £9.99); see bit.ly/jb-itotal for more details Jackie BeereOBE sets out several ways in which assessment can become a productive collaboration between teachers and students 4 WAYS TO involve students in assessment A S S E S S M E N T 13