How I Teach: Surface area to volume ratio- Transport in Organisms

In this blog, I will discuss how I teach surface area to volume ratio (SA:V) in the context of transport in organisms. This sequence takes a few lessons but it does depend on the class. These are the questions I want my students to answer at the end of this teaching sequence: What is surface...

How can we motivate our students?

'Motivation influences behaviour, learning and wellbeing' Motivated Teaching by Peps Mccrea Motivated students work hard to succeed and are the dream of teachers everywhere. But being motivated to learn can be difficult especially when some students are not used to feeling successful. How do you help these students feel like they can achieve and do...

Return of the Sunday blues

I have always wanted to teach but for some reason I never considered it an actual career. After my degree (which I spent explaining things to my classmates before assessments), I chose to complete a Masters and a PhD in Biology. I always thought I would end up in Research and possibly lecture eventually. Unfortunately,...

Setting up assignments for remote teaching

There are a lot of blogs and thoughts being shared on how to make our remote teaching as efficient and effective as possible. I have found a lot of the tips being shared are for live-streamed teaching. At my school, we use pre-recorded videos (either made in-house or through other brilliant sources such as Oak...

How I teach: protein synthesis at KS4

The sequence of protein synthesis from a gene on a chromosome to a correctly-folded protein appears in the Triple or Separate Sciences content on GCSE specifications. In this learning sequence, students are expected to know that a template made of RNA is complementary to the gene sequence. This template passes through the ribosome where it...

Routines: before a lesson and after a task

Effective routines make great classroom teaching possible. I have previously written about general routines that can transform the classroom culture and atmosphere for the better, when executed consistently. In this post, I will share routines for students before they start the lesson and after they finish a task. Start of the lesson: To avoid student...

Thank you to all Pastoral teams

This term has been one of the toughest that teachers have ever experienced. Most of us are moving around to different classrooms, planning normal and remote lessons, dealing with reduced staff numbers as well as many other issues we have never had to consider before. Besides feeling lost most of the time, I have also...

How I teach: the inverse square law (rate of photosynthesis) at KS4

In the past, I used to quickly skim over the explanation for the inverse square law when teaching factors that affect the rate of photosynthesis. I would provide my students with the equation and we would probably only practice a couple of questions on it. Then one day, I made the mistake of giving my...

How I teach: the density equation at KS3

When I teach a concept, the first thing I do is work out all the questions I want students to be able to answer at the end of the learning sequence. For the density equation, these are the questions they need to be able to answer: How do we represent particles in an object?Do particles...

Routines: why are they important and how can we embed them?

At my school, the teaching and learning team (which includes me!) runs a carousel-style CPD during our evening Twilight sessions and I've chosen to run a session on Routines next week. The timing of this CPD could not have been any better with my recent acquisition of two brilliant books: Running the Room: The Teacher's...