Setting the context for learning is a constant challenge for teachers. Cries of "why are we learning xyz?" ring out when (for example) teaching the chemistry of alkanes and alkenes. Likewise, pick any suitably abstract area of the curriculum and demonstrating the "why" can stretch…
Someone sent me a headache inducing chart recently (I've blurred the schools): A data table and a chart - double the fun. The table is OK (ish) and is readable – but the graph. Genuinely I can’t get my head round what is going on.
One of my previous head teachers taught me a phrase – “Perception is reality” – used for many aims; to spur us on during Inspection, to praise when initiatives went well and to feedback when things went wrong. This is equally true for data. Certain…
Sometimes you see a chart on a website and can't help thinking about the motivation and thought process behind it. Take this, taken from a live school local authority web site: The colours haven't been adjusted - shades of yellow / orange representing something over the years…