Friday Mindset #96

Happy Friday.

Another week down; enrolment, transition, inductions and introductions, parents’ information sessions… these first weeks are exhausting. We keep telling ourselves it’s all about doing our best to set everything up correctly, minimising the chances of issues later on. Or trying to, anyway.

And speaking of work now paying dividends later - awkward segue - we’ve got some interesting stuff to share this week; some stuff you could get in place now to help establish a culture that pays in the weeks to come.

Brew up and let’s dive in.

Something to try...

We’ve got a short powerpoint for you this week. It’s about notetaking, something we’ve been thinking about and supporting students with forever. We’ve been advocates of the Cornell notes approach for years, and have spent a lot of time in coaching conversations demonstrating the method. But we’re going bigger this year, teaching it to larger cohorts rather than just individuals.

That required a slightly different approach, so here it is for you too. Simple, clear, and easy to deliver, this is a notetaking system that will have an impact on your students’ ability to review and subsequently recall material.

Check it out here:

Something we're reading...

Sachin Ramje, founder of Hypervisuals, is a hugely impressive creator of infographics. We were particularly taken with this one over the summer.

It’s really going to come in useful as students begin to struggle with focus and motivation, and would work as a quick and effective tutorial activity as well; breaking down and experimenting with the evidence-based suggestions that are made. Enjoy!

Our latest offer...

Discount alert! This one’s for newsletter readers only. Tony runs student sessions introducing the VESPA model. He’ll visit your school in person or dial-in via Zoom, Teams or Google. His sessions are always lively, engaging and beautifully presented! The details are here (scroll down past the staff sessions):

He’s got a handful of slots left in the coming months, and he’s offering 20% off sessions that are booked before the end of September - just mention the newsletter discount when you fill out your request from and he’ll be in touch! Decent stuff.

And that’s it for this week folks. See you on Friday 22nd, when we’ve got some geeky stuff to share including - and we’re aware how weird this is going to sound - a video about fungus. Bet you can’t wait.

All the best to you and yours,

Martin, Tony and Steve

p.s. This is an interesting read one-minute read, and a reminder of the powerful work we do in raising aspirations as teachers. But the back-and-forth in the comments is worth a look too; noteworthy counterpoints about support, challenge and survivorship bias: