The 10 issues I see when I watch maths lessons... and what we can do about it

Lessonsd learned from watching 1000s of lessons

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Over the last few years, I have been fortunate enough to visit, on average, two different schools a week across the UK, work with 100s of teachers and observe 1000s of lessons. As a result, I have learned a lot. I have spent the last year writing up everything I have learned (for free) on my Tips for Teachers website and recording 25 CPD workshops you can purchase and share with your colleagues in departmental meetings or whole-school insets.

I decided to do this because even though the schools I visit each week are diverse in location, intake, and results, the trends I notice in the lessons I see are pretty constant. So, it seemed inefficient (not to mention costly for the schools involved) for me to travel around the country each week, seeing the same things and offering the same advice. So, I thought I would write it all up so any teacher, department, or school could take what I have learned and apply it themselves.

To give you a head start, I want to share the most common things I see when I watch maths lessons. Many of these fit into the six big teaching challenges Josh Goodrich discusses in his excellent Responsive Coaching book:

As you read the following, ask yourself the following:

Which of these issues have you nailed (and how do you know), and which require more work?

1. Students are not listening

In almost every lesson I visit, I see examples of students not listening to instructions, explanations, or their peers' responses. Sometimes, this lack of attention is visible - students talk to each other while the teacher is talking. However, this lack of attention is more often invisible - students are quiet, looking at the teacher, but when I ask them later what the teacher has just said, they cannot tell me. My proposed solution is to build regular checks for listening in lessons. You can read about this for free here and purchase the workshop here.

2. Checks for understanding are unreliable

In many of the lessons I observe, the dominant means of checking for understanding is asking for volunteers or to Cold Call. The issue here is that we only get a single data point, and we are then forced to make decisions about the understanding of the rest of the class based on such a small, often unrepresentative, sample. My proposed solution is to improve checks for understanding by eliciting mass participation wherever possible and ensuring these checks are effective by varying question types, avoiding hints, and building in wait time. You can read about this for free here and purchase the workshop here.

3. The response to a check for understanding is ineffective

A teacher who has mastered their checks for understanding also needs to ensure their response to those checks is appropriate. I often see teachers respond the same way regardless of what their students' data shows them. This leads to a misallocation of time, where concepts that students are secure on are laboured over, leaving little time for those concepts where students need teacher support. My proposed solution is to develop a model for responsive teaching, with clear actions for three common scenarios following a check for understanding. You can read about this for free here and purchase the workshop here.

4. The Do Now is dead time

I regularly see Do Nows that last 15 or 20 minutes, and at the end of it, many students have learned very little as they have been busy tricking - waiting for the teacher to go through the answers, so they can fill them in and proudly adorn their work with lovely green ticks. I have a lot to say about the Do Now concerning the purpose, the difficulty, the number of questions, how to check for understanding, and how to respond to those checks. You can read about this for free here and purchase the workshop here.

5. Students lack the foundational knowledge to understand the new idea

I often see two mistakes when teachers present a new idea to students. The first is to assume that the prerequisite knowledge to understand that idea is secure, because they covered that last week, or students were okay with it last year. The second mistake is building in checks for that prerequisite knowledge whilst simultaneously presenting the new idea - so checking for understanding during an I Do. This often leads to I Dos veering off course as the teachers find they have to address a surprising gap in knowledge. My proposed solution is to atomise - in other words, break down a new idea into its smallest constituent parts - and then address these atoms before the I Do. You can read about this for free here and purchase the workshop here.

6. The I Do is ineffective

I often see I Dos that last for up to 5 minutes, and at the end of it, the students are still confused. Sometimes, this is because the teacher has not planned what they will say, and thus, their explanation lacks the clarity and concision needed to communicate a new idea. Sometimes, this is because the I Do is, in fact, an I Do/We Do hybrid where the teacher does a bit of modelling alongside a bit of checking for understanding, and the whole thing ends up a bit of a muddle. My proposed solution is to separate the I Do from the We Do and deliver it in a way that ensures maximum clarity and attention. You can read about this for free here and purchase the workshop here.

7. The We Do is ineffective

A good We Do should give the teacher immediate data on whether students have understood the basics of the I Do they have just seen. However, I regularly see poorly chosen We Dos that do not reliably assess students’ understanding or We Dos that one or two students dominate. Hence, the teacher does not have a reliable sense of the understanding of the whole class. My proposed solution is to assess understanding of a carefully chosen We Do in a way that allows you to see the responses of all students multiple times, so you can precisely diagnose where in the process students are struggling. You can read about this for free here and purchase the workshop here.

8. Student effort falls as soon as they start independent practice

I regularly see a significant drop in students’ effort when the teacher sets them off to work independently. Some students take the opportunity to chat with their mate, while others have a cognitive break as they laboriously pick up their pen and turn to the relevant page. My proposed solution involves thinking carefully about the first 30 seconds of independent practice and ensuring our circulation and checks for understanding are sufficiently planned to prevent or identify any drops in effort. You can read about this for free here and purchase the workshop here.

9. Very few students get to experience problem-solving

I go through entire days watching lessons without seeing any student answer any question beyond basic consolidation. When I do see students do something more sophisticated with a procedure, it tends to be students in top sets or the one or two high-flyers who finish a piece of work early. All students need to be exposed to problem-solving regularly, if not to stop them from being bored out of their minds, then to ensure they can cope with the unpredictability of a high-stakes exam. My proposed solution is to build three types of problem-solving activities into our planning and introduce them so that all students, regardless of their achievement level, can benefit from them. You can read about this for free here and purchase the workshop here.

10. Students can’t remember the things they once knew

I often flick through books and see evidence of students understanding a concept in the moment, only to have seemingly forgotten it completely a few weeks later when they need it. This is frustrating for students and teachers alike. My proposed solution is to consider four main retrieval opportunities and be systematic with the scheduling of concepts into these retrieval opportunities. You can read about this for free here and purchase the workshop here.

I will end with the same questions:

Which of these issues have you nailed (and how do you know), and which require more work?

Hopefully, you will find the resources I have shared useful.

What do you agree with, and what have I missed?

Let me know in the comments below!

🏃🏻‍♂️ Before you go, have you…🏃🏻‍♂️

1. … signed up for my free online workshop: 25 Tips for Teachers?

2. … read my latest Tips for Teachers newsletter about teaching to the test?

3. … listened to my most recent podcast about atomisation in action?

4. … read my write-ups of everything I have learned from watching 1000s of lessons?

Thanks so much for reading and have a great week!

Craig