Teacher Planning Podcast

Julia discusses her life and teaching experiences in Bahrain, as well as brief mentions of her time living and working in Thailand. Got a young family and hesitant about the move? Julia explains why this is not an issue.

Sophie discusses a lesson that is taught to year 9s in anticipation of beginning key stage 4. Her school deliver snippets of content to pupils in a 9-week program to give students the opportunity to discover what the PE BTEC course (and other subjects) is actually about and help decide whether or not they would like to choose that option. In this lesson, Sophie describes the clear structure to her lessons (do now, learn new content, hinge question, sport application and exit ticket). Sophie plans the lesson meticulously to ensure that there is challenge for every pupil within the group.

This episode explores life as a teacher in Japan and what life is really like. We discuss a typical day in school as well as cultural aspects, including addressing some misconceptions that some might have about the country. This episode is a must for those who are thinking about experiencing teaching life in this fabulous country with some must-listen bits of advice. Subscribe to Andrew’s Youtube page – Higgins in Japan Follow Andrew on Twitter at @Higgins82

This episode is a slightly alternative approach to teaching languages. Andrew describes his lesson on applying directions in a practical way. However, as Andrew is speaking from a 'TEFL' (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) perspective, he is actually describing the lesson from the target language point of view. The reason this has been listed as an MFL episode is because exactly the same ideas and principles can be applied to the teaching of any language. Subscribe to Andrew’s Youtube page – Higgins in Japan Follow Andrew on Twitter at @Higgins82

Leading in to exam season, English Teacher, Lauren describes her lesson 90-minute with her top set year 11 group in which they go through some key exam techniques for an English Language paper. This particular lesson focuses on an extract from The Kite Runner. They start off with a ‘do now’ activity before any other learning takes place before identifying the difference between implicit and explicit information. The main section of the lesson is breaking down what is being asked of students in the analysis question. Lauren uses the ‘I do, we do, you do’ technique to scaffold for students to be able to analyse confidently by themselves, aiming to reach the top marks by the end. Follow Lauren on Twitter at @MissEnglishHOY

Amy describes her cricket lesson on the use of the overarm throw when fielding in cricket. Her lesson is described for one of her girls’ groups, but can be applied to all standards with the use of minor changes to activities if deemed appropriate. The lesson follows carefully thought out progressions through the activities, ending in a timed competition between students. The lesson is also described with Covid regulations and limited timings in place. Again, Amy discusses how she uses this lesson when being allowed ‘normal’ lesson time.

In the episode, Charlotte describes her 100-minute lesson on one of her favourite topics. Although Charlotte’s lesson won’t suit all, it is clearly discussed how the lesson can be either condensed down to 60 minutes or even extended over 2 lessons. With the lesson targeted at a mixed ability group, Charlotte plans for this through a variation of tasks, including her clue-based starter activity, text analysis paired discussion, video clip, whiteboard work and a diamond 9/6 activity to finish off. Parts of the lesson are designed to encourage surprise and shock from the students, ensuring they remember the content for future years. She also heaps praise on the work of Simon Beale (@SPBeale on Twitter) work of for his work on the breaking down of ‘heavy texts’ to make tasks more manageable and relatable to students. Follow Charlotte on Twitter at @Charineducation

In an episode that was recorded in the middle of the Covid pandemic (when exams in the UK were still due to go ahead!), Jennifer demonstrates her years of experience in GCSE exams with particular hints and tips in MFL papers. This particular lesson is structured to include a combination of reading and writing skills based on social media and tech, but Jennifer emphasises the importance of aiming for opportunities for cross over between the 4 skills, including some quick-fire speaking at the end if time allows. More subject-general revision is discussed between 36-42 minutes of the episode for any other subject teachers, focusing on the structure and intent of revision lessons. Follow Jennifer on Twitter at @nowMrsMFL

This episode explores life as a teacher in Singapore. As previous colleagues in an international school in Singapore Dan (UK) and Mark (USA) reminisce about their experiences, ranging from the education system and the learning culture of local students through to lifestyle factors that could affect one’s decision to make the move. Other key areas discussed included salary/disposable income, accommodation provided for international teachers and commitment to the post. Follow Mark on Twitter at @travlingteacher Follow Dan on Twitter at @@mrguineyhistory

Using the group structure discussed in the bonus episode, Joe explains and rationalises his lesson on the tennis serve. Typically, with this being a challenging lesson for both teacher and students, he discusses various differentiation strategies and paths the lesson can take. Follow Joe on Twitter at @mrJ_JonesPE

In this episode, Joe discusses his department’s strategy on grouping year 9 PE students (still KS3) so that they are best prepared for sport in KS4. This ranges from exam questions and theory content for the probable GCSE students to fun, engaging, alternative sports for the less enthusiastic students. Follow Joe on Twitter at @mrJ_JonesPE

Nicola makes her second appearance on the podcast after the success of her Circle Theorems lesson description in Term 1. In this episode she discusses her lesson on sequences, taken from a White Rose Maths scheme of learning. Nicola begins by explaining how White Rose Maths has changed her way of approaching her lessons and sequences of lessons before describing the lessons itself, including the concept of encouraging children to talk and think like mathematicians through enabling them to verbalise their thinking before entering the patterns in to a table before transferring on to a graph. Follow Nicola on Twitter at @whisto_maths Follow Nicola’s Maths Department on Instagram at @oha_maths

Making her second appearance on the show, Catherine uses this opportunity to describe her year 7 Geography lesson in which the children explore the geology of their local area. As the second lesson within the scheme of work, the lesson structure and content can be applied to anywhere in the world, but might need some research on your local geology if you do not know already. Below are the links discussed during the episode. https://geoscienceforthefuture.com/ - includes #askageo Earth Science Teachers Association (ESTA) - https://earthscience.org.uk/ Earth Learning Ideas website - https://www.earthlearningidea.com/ Geology of Britain viewer - https://www.bgs.ac.uk/map-viewers/geology-of-britain-viewer/ Follow Catherine on Twitter at @GeogMum https://geogmum.wordpress.com/ https://www.geography.org.uk/

This episode explores life as a teacher in Malaysia and more specifically, Penang. Having also taught in the UK, Thailand, and the Malaysian city of Kuala Lumpur, Liz gives her personal account about teaching in international schools, what one needs to consider when thinking about teaching abroad, invaluable interview advice and also a comparison with the Malaysian education system. If you are even considering teaching abroad at any stage, this is a must listen. Subscribe to Liz’s Blog - takeawayteacher.wordpress.com Follow Liz on Twitter at @misscloke

Oli Thompson – Art/Photography – Year 10 - What makes a successful photograph? Ollie discuss his lesson in which GCSE students are given the opportunity to use high-quality, SLR cameras that they would never normally have access to. During this extended lesson, they are given a self-discovery task in which they must create photos of the following techniques; Drawing with light, blurred motion, playing with perspective and a professional-style portrait. Follow Oli on Instagram at @_ollie_artist

After teaching in a variety of countries over a number of years, History Teacher, Dan Guiney, discusses the process of planning itself and inquiry units. Like many others, Dan is a big believer that lessons should not be planned as individual lessons, but start from the end, create essential questions and include plenty of inquiry units – ‘’Questions within the unit, which the essential questions will be a product of.’’ This episode leads on perfectly to Dan’s lesson-specific episode where he explains his single lesson structure. Follow Dan on Twitter at @mrguineyhistory

After providing his insight into his whole planning process and enquiry units, Dan Guiney discusses the use of this within a lesson for year 8s on Slavery. This episode is slightly different to others, in the fact that Dan has a general 4-part structure that he explains, along with some ideas that can be used within the lesson. Follow Dan on Twitter at @mrguineyhistory

Experienced teacher, tutor and producer of numerous MFL resources, Kate (Kate Languages) describes her lesson for year 7s on pets. Taking us on a journey from seeing pictures and repeating the words to some students writing a paragraph about pets, Kate explains this lesson in a way that any teacher would be able to produce. Kate’s plan, worksheet and powerpoint can be found on her website using this link: https://katelanguages.co.uk/les-animaux-a-year-7-lesson-plan-with-new-gcse-style-questions/ Follow Kate on Twitter at @katelanguages

Jen discusses the topical and political subject of migration and provides students the opportunity to form or sway their own opinions on the reality of this area. This is done by exposing the class to facts and figures, leading to an analysis of the issue and why this is still such a hot topic. Follow Jen on Twitter at @Jennnnnn_x

Definitely one for the trainees! In this alternative episode, Sam discusses a lesson he taught to a year 11 core group in which the lesson didn’t go as planned. Sam’s a trainee and understandably taught a lesson that didn’t go as he planned it. Sam details the reasons why this lesson didn’t go to plan and what he would do differently in the future with all practical lessons to avoid the same mistakes. Follow Sam on Twitter at @HarrayMr