Author Archives: Kris Boulton

…okay, I should be clear on what I mean by ‘more impact.’ These are just my thoughts; it’s how I see the world, and have made my own career choices: You can have close proximity to your impact for a … Continue reading →

Back in August, Sam Hall, a second year Teach First participant, wrote this. In it, he describes the process he went through to build a geography lesson that was in line with some of the principles from Enlgemann’s Direct Instruction, … Continue reading →

…by reading Engelmann’s mighty tome, then this might help. Click, for hi-res PDF   It shows the relationship between maybe… 65% of the high-level content, which isn’t a bad start. In the literature: Fuzzagorical  ->  Nouns Categorical     ->  Non-Comparatives Comparative  ->  Single … Continue reading →

…do teach them something about how scientists think. Agree, or disagree?   I’ve written before about the distinction between substantive and disciplinary knowledge. It would be great if we could teach children to think like mathematicians, scientists, historians, by the … Continue reading →

TeacherTapp said this: So I said this… (though I meant to say ‘knowledge’ – damnyouautocorrect ‘n all that) Then Laura said this…   And so here’s my best, super-brief shot.   Point 1)  Knowledge comes in different forms As a … Continue reading →

I’m frequently asked for places to go to learn about Direct Instruction. So, here’s a summary. I’d probably suggest starting with ‘Psychology Learning Resources,’ for an intro / overview. Then, The Components of Direct Instruction might be the best summary of … Continue reading →

*** UPDATE *** On Tuesday 13th March, Ofsted announced the results of their visit to Charter.   ************** On Thursday I spent a morning at Great Yarmouth Charter Academy, and like many people, I’m angry.   Angry that there aren’t … Continue reading →

I’ve taught sets, mixed ability, and streams. What follows isn’t any rigorous analysis, or appeal to research.  From what I’m aware of the research, the conclusions aren’t exactly conclusive: lower attainers benefit from mixed groupings, higher attainers suffer.  Mark McCourt … Continue reading →

I’ve taught sets, mixed ability, and streams. What follows isn’t any rigorous analysis, or appeal to research.  From what I’m aware of the research, the conclusions aren’t exactly conclusive: lower attainers benefit from mixed groupings, higher attainers suffer.  Mark McCourt … Continue reading →

I’ve taught sets, mixed ability, and streams. What follows isn’t any rigorous analysis, or appeal to research.  From what I’m aware of the research, the conclusions aren’t exactly conclusive: lower attainers benefit from mixed groupings, higher attainers suffer.  Mark McCourt … Continue reading →