No Pens Day Wednesday - The Communication Trust

Teachers’ Activity Pack
Outcomes
No Pens Day
Wednesday
28 September
2011
One of the most important parts
of the day is the reflection it will
prompt, from both pupils and
teachers, about what worked for
them and what didn’t.
For pupils, we suggest
opportunities are built into the day
to ask their views about different
lessons and activities.
You could use the questions
here for discussion of the day, to
evaluate practice and to enter our
competition for best activities,
lesson plans and learning on
No Pens Day Wednesday.
Pupil Voice
1. Which were the best
activities during No Pens
Day and why? You could use
examples and traffic lights/
smiley faces to encourage
pupils to judge which were
best.
2. Which were the best
lessons...and why?
3. Were there times when
you wanted to write things
down? If so when would that
have been useful?
4. What do you think of this
way of learning? Would you
like your teachers to do more
activities like this or less?
Thumbs up or thumbs down?
For teaching staff, we suggest
some time is given after the day
to work through the following
questions, both to evaluate
and support positive practice
and to determine next steps for
supporting speaking and listening
in school.
Reflections on the day
1. What were the most challenging
elements of the day?
2. What worked well – what
activities, principles, lessons?
3. What were pupils’ views on the
day?
4. What was the impact on
learning?
5. Did the day give you any new
insights into particular pupils?
6. Any surprises?
Choose elements of the day you’ll
use again, for example
1. Try one new activity from the
activity templates per half term
until it’s embedded in your
teaching
2. Support colleagues to do the
same
3. Include discussion on ‘speaking
and listening’ across the
curriculum in staff meetings to
maintain momentum
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