We were proud to see many rave reviews of the television documentary ‘Educating Essex’, featuring our Host School in Essex , Passmores Academy.
The fly-on-the-lockers documentary gives exclusive access to everyday life in this outstanding teaching. school. The first episode demonstrated the struggles of maintaining discipline in a modern secondary school. It also gave an insight into the importance of outstanding teaching.
Although 16 year old Carrie’s question ‘What is Pi? Where does it come from?’ has been ridiculed in some quarters, is it really such a silly question. What is Pi? Where does it come from?
The fact that classes are asking questions shows that they are engaged in their learning. Are your class questioning, challenging and thinking about what they are learning and what it means? How can you get them to do this?
For a start, perhaps we should think twice before dismissing a question as ’stupid’. Ridiculing or ignorining questions will mean many pupils won’t have the confidence to ask what’s on their minds. Questions from students should be encouraged, and used to increase deeper thinking and learning in pupils. No question is a stupid question.
So, how do you get your class questioning?
Andy Griffith who trains teachers on Outstanding Teaching courses and Mark Burns give us a few hints and tips:……..
If you can get questioning right, you are one step further on the road to becoming an outstanding teacher. It will also make your life a lot easier, as engaging your students will mean less time spent managing low level disruption. After all, an engaged pupil will soon lose the inclination to be disruptive.
P.s. if you’re still chewing over that Pi question, we’ve found the answers for you….
Pi or π is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle’s circumference to its diameter.
It’s believed that the Egyptians were the first to use Pi in practice though they would perhaps not been able to precisely define the value of it. The Great Pyramid at Giza , built in 2566 BC, had a perimeter of 1760 cubits and a height of 280 cubits giving it the ratio of 1760/280 = 2 π.