I have recently been reading John Hattie’s fantastic book, ‘Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning’. I am only half-way through at the moment but I know it will be one of those books that I dip in to constantly. Reading the book, one of the key messages that really stood out for me was the idea that, ‘…the greatest effects on learning occur when teachers become learners of their own teaching, and when students become their own teachers’.

With those words in mind, I have been working with a Year 8 Maths class that I teach to trial some of the ideas developed by the PLC group I have been working with this year.

The first strategy I introduced to pupils was the idea of ‘C3B4ME’. Before pupils stick their hands up during a lesson and exclaim, ‘Sir, I’m stuck!’, they are being encouraged to see three of their classmates for help. The idea of this is to encourage pupils to become more resilient and resourceful.