The Friday Mindset - Issue #59

September 09, 2022

Welcome back folks, happy Friday and welcome to term!

New year 7s have made their relieved way home at the end of a week running on nothing but pop-tarts and adrenaline.

Cocky year 9s who naively believe they 'run the school' are already off-campus, heading back for a weekend watching re-runs of the Great British Sewing Bee.

Which means it's just you and three sixth-formers who think they might try for Oxford left on site.

A moment of calm has descended. Let's take a breath before we join the hordes on the motorway. That specially-curated 90s playlist you put together will still be there for you in fifteen minutes. Brimful of Asha can wait. Let's dive in.

Something to try...

Just before the summer break we were running some training where we suggested monthly challenges for tutor groups. The idea was that each month of the next academic year from September through to January there'd be a theme and an accompanying challenge that became a focus for tutorials and discussions during the course of the month.

We thought the newsletter might be a good place to share what we came up with, so on the first week of each month, we'll share the theme for the month and a short accompanying PowerPoint; the kind of thing you could present in a fifteen-minute tutorial session and then revisit for discussion and reflection as the month goes on. Each challenge has an intro and clip - followed by an example and a commitment that students have to make. (If you've been reading for a while, this stuff might be familiar.)

So what are the themes? Well, here's the first one:

September: The Environment Design Challenge. Using James Clear's work on habit formation, we encourage students to design a physical and digital space which promote a good start to the year.

Here it is. Hope it's useful:

Monthly challenges for tutor groups

Something we've been (re)reading...

We recommended an extracted section of this book as an article in a very early newsletter, but there are maybe 600 new readers since then, so now is the perfect time to give the full book our attention.

‘Urban Myths about Learning and Education’ is the work of two Dutch academics and a Belgian researcher; De Bruyckere, Kirschner and Hulsof. It’s an important read for those of us tasked with leading learning. Here's why: at this time of year we’re often launching new initiatives or projects, and we need to be prepared for resistance from eye-rolling naysayers who've seen it all before.

The very staff we’re speaking to in September might know all about some of the debunked myths or studies mentioned in this book, so it pays to make sure you’re abreast of what the research currently indicates… as well, of course, as bearing in mind that really innovative, positive change often comes from trying something without knowing whether it will work at all.

It's a clear, persuasive and enlightening read, each chapter structured around a myth that needs busting. Here's the first few to give you a flavour: "Myth 1 We Are Good Multitaskers. Myth 2 We Only Use 10% of Our Brains. Myth 3 The Left Half of the Brain Is Analytical, the Right Half Is Creative. Myth 4 You Can Train Your Brain with Brain Gym and Brain Games. Myth 5 Men Have a Different Kind of Brain than Women...." and on it goes.

It's essential stuff for those of us standing up in crowded rooms to lead change in teaching and learning. Check it out here:

Buy Urban Myths about Learning and Education Illustrated by De Bruyckere, Pedro, Kirschner, Paul A., Hulshof, Casper D. (ISBN: 9780128015377) from Amazon's Book Store.

Our latest offer...

We have had some significant updates to the VESPA platform over the summer. It's been fantastic to see the impact of the resources on thousands of students around the world and the feedback from both teachers and students has been incredibly positive. If you are not familiar with the platform you can take a look at https://www.vespa.academy. Or you can attend one of the free sessions that Tony (our IT guru) will be running every day over the next two weeks at 4pm GMT. Each session will last approximately 45mins, and will involve just a small number of staff.

The link for booking is here:

An introduction to the VESPA Academy portal. This session will run daily from Monday 13th September until Thursday 22nd September, between 4-4.45pm (GMT)

And that's it for now. Make a break for it. Crank the volume up and sing along to Suede, Oasis, Embrace and erm... Hootie and the Blowfish.

Best wishes to you and yours,

Steve and Martin