BEST PRACTICE Assembly corner As summer approaches…


“I’m really passionate about getting students


involved in their learning,” Mr Barnicoat told SecEd. “I thought about how I could get the kids involved in this complicated idea. I decided to get some of them acting as nerve impulses, some as transmitters and some as drugs. They loved getting dressed up and being involved and in the next lesson they were still able to remember and communicate what they had learned. “I’m over the moon to have won and everyone is


really pleased but I’m just one of the many teachers in my school who strive to inspire the students every day.”


Mathematics


“To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure is the most perfect


refreshment.” Jane Austen (1775-1817), English novelist


“Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in


the English language.” Henry James (1843-1916), American writer


“The summer night is like a


Olly Offord is also right at the start of his career as a teacher. After studying economics at Durham University he thought he would go into the City but instead signed up to Teach First, the educational charity that aims to address educational disadvantage by transforming high-achieving graduates into “effective, inspirational teachers”. Now in his second year of the Teach First programme,


eet Britain’s m Teachers


“When you know your subject really well, it’s easy


to come up with a creative way to teach it,” said Mr Rogers, who has been a teacher for eight years. “My year 11s were starting to revise for their GCSEs and I wanted a video on long shore drift that I could use in lessons. I came up with this idea off the top of my head and I’m thrilled that students have said they understand the topic much better now.”


Physics


chemistry category of the competition with her video showing students how to balance a chemical equation. Using a whiteboard, marker and coloured stickers,


she made the topic clear, simple and engaging. “I’m quite camera shy but I was inspired to make


Maureen Cowles, head of science at Windsor Girls’ School in Berkshire, loves cooking and is renowned for what she calls her “disgustingly rich chocolate brownies”. Her recipe is adapted from a children’s cookery book that she has had for years. She was in the middle of planning a lesson on how


radioactivity is used in real life when she hit on the idea of using her brownies (and a few Smarties) to explain the topic. “I’m passionate about getting girls involved in


science,” she said. “It’s important to remember that students enjoy lessons that are interactive and visual so I came up with the idea of making a whole tray of brownies to show nuclear fission. I knew the girls would be interested in watching the lesson because it would be so visual and then they could look forward to eating the brownies at the end too.”


Chemistry


There can’t be many teachers who started their careers as party planners but Mari Nicholas is one of them. She studied chemistry at university but realised it was time to switch to teaching when she began suggesting science-themed events and parties to clients. Now a science teacher at Ricards Lodge High School in Wimbledon, south London, she won the


SecEd • July 7 2011


the video by a couple of revision sessions I’d done recently with my year 11s,” she explained. “I hope students find it useful. What I love about teaching is that there are so many different elements to it, including coming up with inspiring ways to teach topics that students sometimes find difficult.”


Biology join today


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Science teacher Benjamin Barnicoat studied neuroscience at Sussex University, then went on to do a PGCE there. He is now an NQT at Peacehaven Community School in East Sussex. But despite the fact that he is only in the first year


of his teaching career his video won first prize in the biology category. Challenged to find an effective way to explain how neurotransmitters work and how drugs affect the nervous system, he got his pupils to spin, jump and run round the school playground.


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he teaches maths at Balby Carr Community Sports and Science College in Doncaster. He brought Pythagoras’ theorem alive by making a video explaining clearly and simply what it is and where it can be applied – from measuring the screen of an iPad to calculating the size of a roof. “I am a big fan of using technology in teaching,”


said Mr Offord. “There are always elements of self- doubt but winning this competition has really bolstered my confidence as a teacher. And I’m completely sold on teaching as a career now.”


SecEd • Emma Lee Potter is a freelance education journalist.


Further information To see the winning videos and the many other entries, go to www.youtube.com/dreamteachers


perfection of thought.” Wallace Stevens (1879-1955), American poet


“I wandered lonely as a cloud. That floats on high o’er vales and hills. When all at once I saw a crowd. A


host, of golden daffodils” William Wordsworth (1770-1850), English poet


“Here comes the sun, here


comes the sun.” George Harrison (1943-2001), English singer/songwriter and guitarist in The Beatles


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