Hearts, Heads, Hands, Move
I recently re-read the following post and have been reflecting on the need to give support to teachers without stifling flair and commitment.
https://teacherhead.com/2019/11/14/tight-loose-and-the-folly-of-prescriptive-lesson-structures/
@teacherhead
I believe in an open classroom ethos which removes teachers’ sense of vulnerability and enables a focus on teaching and learning. Creativity is one of the joys of classroom teaching and overly restrictive planning requirements can stifle this. However, a common structure and some common vocabulary helps shape the way teachers think about and plan learning supporting collaboration and collective improvement.
The structure I like best is Hearts On, Heads On, Hands On, Move On:
Hearts on – Capturing and maintaining student engagement - provide the hook that displaces the noise and pre-occupations that dominated as they walked in the door. Mystery, anticipation, (controlled) excitement can be built through simple, short and repeatable strategies. This is different to a ‘starter’, which may or may not be engaging.
Heads on – Passing on detailed understanding of objectives and expected outcomes. This requires the mastery of questioning for understanding (see Sherington’s excellent book on Rosenshine’s Principles in Action).
Hands on – Facilitating and maintaining high levels of student independence. This is where the careful planning comes in. Activities that are been driven by curiosity, engage brains and have a well defined and understood goal are key.
Move on – Accurately determining student progress, passing this on to students and adapting learning sequence. This is where the old three part lesson fell down. Teachers are always assessing how an activity is progressing, what are the developing misconceptions, where should learning go to next? Teachers must feel free to change course as they go.
Once our staff had agreed on this structure we wrote it into our lesson planning structure, schemes of work and development plans. It gives enough structure to ensure high quality for the students but enough freedom for staff to feel trusted and able to be creative.
