Thinking Skills

Feedback from the staff at Park View High School, Birmingham

***** Creative, innovative and above all, informative. A very inspiring session. Thank you!
*****Refreshing old knowledge. Enjoyed the team work. Enjoyed the chance to talk and discuss ideas with other members of the team.
*****I thought the day was excellent, was really useful and gave me confidence in a lot of the subjects I work in. Was brilliant.
*****Interesting, snappy, lively, eye-opening.
*****Alan always enthuses me to be a better teacher.
***** Excellent passion and enthusiasm to getting creative learning going.
*****Another truly amazing day with a variety of resources, ideas and brilliant techniques to employ in the classroom and with the pupils.
*****Very well organised and presented. Fun, informative and very useful. Thank you.
*****Brilliant ideas. Not overwhelming but can be used one at a time.
*****Well done for the wonderful presentation.
*****Great day. You warmed us up on a really cold day. Really enjoyable.
*****Excellent practical ideas to take away and implement. Great delivery.
*****Some useful tips and hints to use. Useful games and resources that can be used with the pupils.
****The Presentation was interesting and split into manageable sections. I liked the videos and the visual learning tools. I will visit the website.
****Interesting and innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Time passed fast.
****A lively and entertaining day.
****Very enthusiastic. Good presentation which emphasise the importance of learning and how to effectively implement these skills in a classroom. Good voice projection and interesting way of distributing his information. Used interesting ways of keeping us enthusiastic which helps us to anticipate what we will do next.
****Very entertaining and informative. I especially enjoyed the bridge planning.
****Very good. Very entertaining, and stimulating – all day – what an achievement!
****Good resources/ examples. Good range of activities.
****I enjoyed being reminded of things which I tend to forget. I liked the cracks and the bridge reasoning activity.
****Your enthusiasm is great and very contagious. Thanks for your wackiness!
****A very good round up of lots of approaches to teaching with awareness of thinking skills. Interesting for most of the time. Some new approaches. Lots of new ways of presenting. The theories were linked successfully to practice. The activities were stimulating and quite good fun.
****Some useful hints and tips. Very informative and interesting.
**** A very enjoyable session. A lot of useful ideas shared. We enjoyed the funny bits. The instructor was audible and very positive (but not quite mad). Many things to try out in the lessons.

Feedback from staff at St Clare's Primary, Blackly, Manchester

"It was interesting to notice how different staff exhibited different types of thinking skills when approaching different tasks. Lots of interesting ideas and information. Thanking you!"

"Alan, thanks for another thought-provoking day. There was a great deal to think about but the presentation was extremely enjoyable. The book provides an interesting and informative resource."

"It was very interesting looking again at Blooms Taxonomy. I really enjoyed looking at the jokes/ pictures during each break. Liked them a lot. Thanks for your enthusiasm. Try to slow down a bit!"

"Had a great day. I’m instilled with the confidence once again that I am doing things right. The time to think and reflect and communicate ideas with work colleagues, which is ever so important, but something which we don’t get to do normally. You are definitely positively mad."

"Found Blooms revised taxonomy a good planning tool - will try to use. Good to end on multiple intelligence-idea. Have tried to encourage this throughout the school with mixed response. Change takes time!"

"Lots to think about - a great collection of resources. Helps to pull together work in lots of different areas. A worthwhile day."

"Course has helped to define/ highlight different aspects of thinking skills, useful for planning, assessment and for my role in education."

"Enjoyable session. Hopefully can adapt for early years."

"Reflecting on the ways in which knowledge is acquired, processed and used is quite fascinating. The human mind is amazing and you really help us to appreciate this."

"It was a real thinking day, with myself asking more questions than answers. Will need time to think. Really liked the taxonomy - will use."

"Thank you for all the jokes and funny videos. Lots of different ways of thinking to consider. Pictures were interesting to see how the brain works. Will try out lots of exercises and games learnt."

"A great reminder about how to use thinking skills in the classroom situation."

"An interesting and thought-provoking day. I especially enjoyed the videos and pictures trying to pick the different objects. Interesting use of visual ideas to help with memory."

"I particularly enjoyed the thinking skills at the beginning. Made me realise how much I actually do already. Was also great to look at visual thinking - lots of resources to try this with the children. It was good to have short brain breaks as I find it hard to concentrate for long periods at a time."

Feedback from staff at Benson Community Primary School

"This course made me realise it is possible to maximize teaching and learning"

"This course made me realise the importance of thinking skills and how to incorporate them into teaching"

"The course was engaging and it was good to see alternative methods being presented"

"This has inspired to carry on multiple intelligences in the classroom and to use different teaching styles"

"I loved the practical ideas, meeting other staff, and sharing with other schools"

"This course is full of new ideas, presented in an exciting way"

"Video clips, audience participation, use of visualisations – I am very  impressed with Alan and how he presented the day"

Comments by teachers who attended the course at the Conference Centre, University of Surrey June 2007

"Vast amount of information, sharing and being able to work in such a lovely small group. A thought-provoking day!"

"The memory techniques, the energy and passion of the presenter. I now have so many ideas to take back to school. Fantastic day."

"It has given me so much to think about and lots of ideas to implement in my classroom."

"It seems like a lot. It is a lot. But it feels great!"

"I was made to feel very welcome. It was energetic and humorous. It made me re-assess my ideas about thinking skills and has given me some fresh approaches to their implementation."

"Meeting other teachers and sharing ideas."

"Lots of practical ideas you can take straight into the classroom, as well as providing you with tools to develop long-term teaching strategies."

"The workbook is a fabulous resource - full of good practical ideas."

"Ideas can be easily implemented – won’t cost a fortune! Can be put into all areas of the curriculum."

"I enjoyed everything about the day!"

"It was good to get lots of ideas that I will be able to introduce gradually and monitor in my phase. Very enthusiastic presentation. Thanks."

"Alan’s energy! Enthusiasm and knowledge – inspiring!"

Claverdon Primary School

Our hopes were certainly realised indeed surpassed by the energy and enthusiasm brought to us by Amelia. We have done a lot of follow up work already with displaying the hints for memory.

Alison Stringer, Headteacher.