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Spring week 3

Mentor materials

Observation discussion - planning guided practice to build pupil independence

Teaching techniques to focus feedback on

Interaction:

Discussion

Outcome:

To have practised planning guided practice to build pupil independence.

Stimulus

In their online study materials, your teacher was asked to consider a lesson they will soon teach and plan to include guided practice.

Review and discuss this plan with your teacher.

Praise, probe and set precise actions

Refer to the Feedback Model outlined earlier in this handbook to support you with praising, probing and setting precise actions.

The following practise should be focused around the outcomes of the probe and precise actions, so that it is specific to your teacher’s developmental needs. However, below are some practise ideas based on the online study content to support you if needed.

Plan and practice ideas

Work with your teacher to support them to improve their guided practice plan. When doing so, consider the following points:

  • What will pupils need to know prior to guided practice? This will inform what to include in their explanations and modelling.
  • What key teaching points will the guided practice focus on? These will be the parts pupils are asked to contribute to.
  • What methods or strategies will you utilise? E.g. ‘Think Aloud’, partially completed examples
  • How does guided practice build on from your explanation and modelling?
  • How does this guided practice prepare pupils for their independent activity?

Key questions and talking points

  1. How successful should pupils be during practice and why?
  2. How can you be sure pupils are being successful during guided practice? What might you do if many pupils are not?
  3. How can you develop writing in your subject or phase?
  4. How can you expose potential pitfalls during guided practice?

Observation discussion: planning guided practice to build pupil independence