- The Friday Mindset
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- Friday Mindset #183
Happy Friday!
Two quick notices before we jump in this week. First…
Yes, our wonderful publisher Crown House are running a flash sale that ends today! It’s a flippin’ amazing 50% off pretty much all stock, they tell us, which means it’s the perfect time to bulk buy. Some of these beauties below will cost you just over a fiver. A fiver, folks! Fancy taking advantage? Follow these links or forward them to your librarian:
Oh-kay. Secondly, a reminder that we’re filling up in the Summer for staff CPD so if you’re looking ahead to staff inset days and you fancy a session (i) introducing VESPA, or on (ii) Building Independent Learning, or (iii) Motivation, Goal-setting and Agency, or (iv) Evidence-based Revision, or (v) anything else VESPA-adjacent, get in touch at [email protected] and we’ll fit you in!
Once last thing - this is our last newsletter before Easter, remember, so you’ll be seeing us again in a few weeks. Right, let’s dive in.
Something we're reading...
This study has been an interesting one to pick apart this week. Here’s the long and short of it:
Students are asked to do a very short bursts of revision in preparation for a test - just 24 minutes, split into two 12 minute sections.
They’re split into three groups. One group note-take. The next write extended explanations of the material they’re reading. The third are asked to plan and prepare a lesson.
Just 24 minutes is all the three groups spend - how much impact could that have on a 12-mark exam taken a little later on? Well, enough to make a statistically significant difference in recall, that’s for sure.
And there’s an interesting theory explored in this paper as well - that those students preparing to teach are imbued with a confidence - a ‘power’, the study calls it - that is the result of preparing to be an expert on a subject; a rise in agency, perhaps, a change of mindset.
You can download the pdf of the paper here. It’s a pretty approachable one, fairly straightforward to read, (statistical analysis aside!)
Portal Talk...
The Easter Bunny has been busy this week! Not with chocolate eggs, but with something arguably even more exciting for schools: a free downloadable VESPA poster set 😂
You can find it here:
The page opens with the main VESPA poster, but it is also interactive. Just click at the top of the page to open individual posters for each of the five VESPA elements: Vision, Effort, Systems, Practice and Attitude.
The main poster gives a clear overview of the VESPA model, and at the top of the page you can also click through to open individual posters for each of the five elements -Vision, Effort, Systems, Practice and Attitude.
Perfect for classrooms, sixth form centres, study spaces, tutor rooms or anywhere students might benefit from a quiet reminder that success is usually a bit more Vision and Effort than last-minute panic and wishful thinking.
We should be honest: this is, of course, a little bit of VESPA marketing dressed up as a helpful Easter freebie. But it’s also genuinely useful, looks good on a wall, and is completely free for any school to download and print, whether you use the VESPA Coaching Portal or not.
And if you are not yet using the portal, but would like to see how schools are using VESPA more fully through questionnaires, reports, coaching tools and practical student activities, you are very welcome to get in touch. It is the last week to take advantage of our free VESPA Questionnaire cycle promotion, so do get in touch if you would like to learn more!
Something to try...
We’ve taken this week’s paper (above) and turned it into a powerpoint for subscribers!
It’s not just a handful of slides explaining the study, though. We wanted to give you more then that.
What you’re getting is a complete explanation of why not all revision is equal. You’ll be introduced to three types of revision, then given a list of imaginary students who each limit themselves to a particular revision strategy. Great for a tutorial or classroom activity where your learners get to predict which students will do best…
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