After the Bell

In today’s episode, we return to our series supporting new and aspirational tutors and are joined by Rebecca Cracknell, who is an established tutor and who has written a number of courses for Thirsty Scholars to support new and existing tutors.

Previously we chatted through getting started as a tutor, day-to-day working, and the importance of planning and preparing tutoring sessions. Today we focus on some top tips and tools for any tutors who are listening. We discuss what an essential tutor toolkit should look like for face-to-face or virtual sessions, and recommendations around tools to support.

We are delighted to have Rebecca Cracknell, one of our tutor experts and course writers, back this week to talk about tutoring. Rebecca shares how she focuses on session planning and the difference between tutor and teaching sessions. 

This series aims to support new and aspirational tutors, motivating and inspiring our learners can be tough at times so today we ask Rebecca how she plans her sessions as a tutor. We ask Rebecca how important clear aims and objectives are and she shares her recommendations for engaging activities. 

Working as a tutor can often feel quite isolated, in this week's episode Rebecca Cracknell, one of our expert tutors and course writers shares her experiences around the realities of working as a tutor. We chat about what her typical week looks like, what support networks she taps into, any challenges, and her most rewarding tutoring story. 

In today’s episode, we meet with one of our expert tutors as part of our tutor series which focuses on supporting new and aspirational tutors. Rebecca Cracknell, whilst an established tutor also has written a number of courses for Thirsty Scholars to support new and existing tutors.

Rebecca shares what it is like to start as a tutor, how she started her tutor journey, how she balances tutoring and home life. We also hear where Rebecca turned for support and her most rewarding tuition story. 

In this podcast we focus on Rosenshine's Principles of instruction and Step 8 - providing scaffolds for difficult tasks. Helen Morgan and Andy Bridge join us to discuss how important it is for learners to experience "cognitive apprenticeship". They learn how to become an expert thinker with learner skills and the importance as a teacher of knowing when to remove the learning frameworks or scaffolding to allow them to apply their learning themselves. 

In this episode Helen Morgan, a previous Head of School, and Andy Bridge, current Deputy Principal return and join us to discuss Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction  and focus in on Step 7 - Obtain a high success rate

Helen and Andy's discussions around Rosenshine’s Principles provide anecdotes and tips whilst they share experiences and observations from within the educational environment. We focus on where this fits with the stages of teaching practice, how can teachers achieve this in the classroom, why an optimal student success rate is not 100%, and the balance between balancing misconceptions and challenge.

In this episode Helen Morgan, a previous Head of School, and Andy Bridge, current Deputy Principal return. In previous episodes we have focused on the ECT years, RQT years, and also the first five steps of Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction and we return to focus on Step 6 – Checking for Student Understanding.

Rosenshine’s research suggests that Checking for Student Understanding (CFU) is seen as the core concept in the principles and often seen as the single biggest common area for teacher improvement. 

In this podcast we are focusing on support for Recently Qualified Teachers, Our experts Helen Morgan, and a previous Head of School, and Andy Bridge, current Deputy Principal return to share their top tips and reflections and support available for Recently Qualified Teachers. They discuss how to make the most of your RQT year.

This is a series of podcasts initially focusing on Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction and in today’s episode Helen Morgan, a previous Head of School, and Andy Bridge, current Deputy Principal return to focusing on Step 5 – guiding student practice. In previous episodes, we have focused on the first four steps of the principles. Rosenshine’s research suggests that the most effective teachers give more time for guided practice which is proven to be directly linked to spending more time using worked examples. We unpack what is guided practice? What does is look like when witnessed in the classroom? When it is most effective and any challenges or top tips to ensure effective guiding of student practice. 

As a new Early Career Teacher (ECT) or Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) we are sure you will want to ensure you make a positive, impactful, and encouraging impression on your learners, colleagues, and community. Being a professional ECT or NQT is not always easy and there will be lots of touchpoints where you will need to consider how you are perceived. Our experts Helen and Andy have navigated through this journey and also support many ECTs on a daily basis. Here they discuss the importance of role modeling, working on relationships, the support that is available to ECTs through their mentors, the Early Career Framework, and also your support network.