Teach17

Teaching is surrounded by new initiatives, frameworks and fashionable terminology. Some ideas are useful, but many simply rename principles that effective teachers have understood for years.

Successful teaching is rarely built around one perfect method. It depends on clear explanations, strong subject knowledge, sensible routines, appropriate challenge and the ability to respond to the pupils in front of you.

These 17 rules are not a checklist for a perfect lesson. They are practical principles that can help teachers make better decisions and avoid unnecessary work.

1. Know what pupils should learn

Before choosing an activity, worksheet or video, decide what pupils should know, understand or be able to do by the end of the lesson.

A useful question is:

What should pupils still remember next week?

An activity may be entertaining, but that does not automatically make it valuable. Pupils can enjoy a lesson without learning much from it.

Start with the learning. Choose the activity afterwards.

2. Teach the pupils in front of you

A lesson that worked brilliantly with one class may fail with another.

Different classes bring different levels of prior knowledge, confidence, behaviour and motivation. Some pupils may need greater structure. Others may be ready for more independence.

Good teaching involves responding to the actual class rather than delivering an identical lesson to everyone.

Adaptation is not a sign that the original plan was poor. It is part of teaching well.

3. Know your subject

Strong subject knowledge allows teachers to make difficult ideas appear simpler.

It helps a teacher:

• choose effective examples;
• identify misconceptions;
• answer unexpected questions;
• explain an idea in different ways;
• connect new content to previous learning;
• decide what pupils need to know next.

Teachers do not need to know everything. They do need to recognise gaps in their knowledge and address them before teaching the topic.

4. Make the difficult parts visible

Experts often forget how many steps are involved in completing a task.

A teacher may look at a physics question and immediately recognise the correct equation. A pupil may not know where to begin.

Break complex tasks into visible stages. For example:

1. Identify what the question is asking.
2. Find the relevant information.
3. Choose the correct method.
4. Complete each step.
5. Check the answer.

This does not lower the level of challenge. It makes the route towards success clearer.

5. Explain your thinking

Pupils often see a polished answer without seeing the thinking that created it.

Instead of silently completing an example, explain the decisions:

“I need to calculate the force. The question gives mass and acceleration, so I can use force equals mass multiplied by acceleration. Before substituting the values, I need to check the units.”

This shows pupils what successful thinking sounds like.

The aim is not simply to demonstrate the answer. It is to demonstrate the process.

6. Do not talk for longer than pupils can think

Teacher explanation matters, but explanation becomes less useful when pupils become passive.

Break longer explanations into smaller sections. After each section, ask pupils to:

• answer a question;
• complete a diagram;
• predict the next step;
• explain an idea;
• solve a short problem;
• identify an error.

The issue is not whether the teacher has finished explaining. It is whether pupils have understood.

7. Check understanding before moving on

Teachers should not wait until a test or marked piece of work to discover that pupils are confused.

Check understanding during the lesson through:

• mini-whiteboards;
• cold calling;
• hinge questions;
• short calculations;
• diagrams;
• multiple-choice questions;
• brief written explanations.

A good check tells the teacher whether to continue, slow down or explain the idea again.

“Does everyone understand?” rarely provides useful evidence.

8. Check everyone, not only the volunteers

Hands-up questioning often produces answers from the same confident pupils.

This can create the illusion that the whole class understands.

Give every pupil a reason to think. Ask all pupils to write an answer before selecting someone. Use mini-whiteboards. Allow brief paired discussion. Use cold calling calmly and routinely.

Every pupil should expect to take part, even when only one pupil is speaking.

9. Act on what the checking reveals

Assessment only matters when it changes what happens next.

When pupils are struggling, the teacher may need to:

• use another example;
• return to an earlier step;
• draw a diagram;
• reduce the amount of information;
• correct a misconception;
• provide guided practice;
• explain the idea differently.

Continuing with the original plan despite clear confusion is not maintaining pace. It is leaving pupils behind.

10. Use examples carefully

One example rarely produces secure understanding.

Pupils need to see what a concept looks like in different situations. They also need examples that show the boundaries of an idea.

When teaching forces, do not only show moving objects. Include stationary objects with balanced forces.

When teaching conductors, include examples and non-examples.

When teaching a writing technique, compare an effective example with a weak one.

Carefully chosen examples can often explain more than another paragraph of notes.

11. Make pupils think about the right thing

A pupil can appear busy without thinking deeply.

Copying, colouring, searching online and producing attractive slides may occupy time, but they do not automatically improve understanding.

Ask:

What will pupils be thinking about during this task?

A stronger task might require pupils to:

• explain why;
• compare two ideas;
• identify a mistake;
• apply knowledge;
• justify a choice;
• predict an outcome;
• connect two topics.

Learning depends heavily on what pupils are thinking about, not simply what they are doing.

12. Establish routines

Routines reduce uncertainty and save time.

Pupils should know what to do when they:

• enter the room;
• begin the starter;
• collect equipment;
• listen to instructions;
• ask for help;
• move into groups;
• pack away;
• leave the classroom.

Routines need to be explicitly taught and practised. They should not exist only in the teacher’s head.

A calm classroom is often created through predictable systems rather than constant correction.

13. Correct behaviour without creating a performance

Behaviour needs to be addressed, but every correction does not need to become a public confrontation.

Instructions can be brief:

“Stop talking and face this way.”

“Return to your seat.”

“Begin question one.”

Calm consistency is usually more effective than anger. The teacher should follow the school’s behaviour system and avoid entering lengthy debates during the lesson.

The aim is to restore learning, not win an argument.

14. Be warm without becoming unclear

Positive relationships matter. Pupils are more likely to engage when they feel noticed, respected and supported.

However, good relationships do not require teachers to remove boundaries or avoid difficult conversations.

Pupils should know that their teacher:

• wants them to succeed;
• listens to them;
• treats them fairly;
• maintains high expectations;
• challenges behaviour that disrupts learning.

Warmth and authority can exist together.

15. Support pupils without doing the thinking for them

Scaffolding should help pupils reach the difficult part of a task.

Useful support might include:

• a diagram;
• key vocabulary;
• sentence starters;
• a partially completed example;
• a reminder of the first step;
• additional thinking time;
• instructions presented in stages.

The support should not remove all challenge. It should make the challenge accessible.

As pupils become more confident, the scaffold should gradually be reduced.

16. Give feedback pupils can use

Feedback should lead to an action.

“Add the missing unit” is more useful than “Check your work.”

“Explain why the current decreases” is more useful than “More detail needed.”

“Correct the second line of the calculation” is more useful than a lengthy general comment.

Not every task requires written marking. Whole-class feedback, verbal explanations, model answers and immediate corrections may all be more effective and less time-consuming.

The important question is not how much feedback the teacher gives. It is what pupils do with it.

17. Reflect without blaming yourself for everything

Not every lesson will work perfectly.

A simple reflection is often enough:

• What did pupils understand?
• Where did they struggle?
• What should I change next time?

Teachers should learn from unsuccessful lessons, but they should not treat every problem as a personal failure.

A lesson can be carefully planned and still be affected by absence, behaviour, tiredness, interruptions or gaps in prior learning.

Improvement matters. Perspective matters too.

Good teaching is responsive teaching

There is no single correct lesson structure.

Different subjects require different approaches. A science practical will not look like an English discussion. A Year 7 lesson may require different routines from an A-level class. A confident group may work independently, while another class needs greater guidance.

The principles remain broadly consistent:

• know what pupils should learn;
• explain ideas clearly;
• check understanding;
• respond to mistakes;
• maintain sensible expectations;
• make pupils think;
• adjust when necessary.

Teaching cannot be reduced to a formula. It is a combination of knowledge, judgement, preparation and relationships.

The best teachers do not blindly follow rules. They understand why the rules exist and know when the pupils in front of them require something different.