Category: teaching and learning theory
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Balloon Modelling Starter for A-level Sociology
Here’s a starter I use for my ‘sociology before Christmas break’ lesson. The aim of the starter activity is for each student to be able to make their own sausage dog or giraffe balloon animal – they’re essentially both the same, one just has a long neck, the other a long body! You’ll probably want…
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Starters for A-level Sociology
A few of my favourite starters for A-level Sociology Lessons: Draw Society While the drawing task may seem a little juvenile, it is typically quite revealing – you usually get a mixture of pictures which show harmony and conflict/ division and some which are ‘whole society’, while others more individualised, but most of them tend…
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Strictly Sociological
Who doesn’t love a bit of Strictly Come Dancing? But if this years Strictly judges were sociologists, what perspective would they represent? Marxist Craig Revel Horwood The most critical judge, who doesn’t mind speaking the truth even when it makes him unpopular. The closest thing to a Marxist on Strictly, in the loosest possible sense…
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Crime and Deviance Teaching Resource Bundle
I’ve just release a new crime and deviance teaching resource bundle as part of my A-level sociology teaching resource subscription This teaching resource bundle contains everything teachers need to deliver 10-hour long lessons in the sociology of crime and deviance for A level sociology. Each lesson includes a student work-pack, supplementary resources such as…
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An Introductory Session for A-Level Sociology
A brief outline of how I introduce A-level sociology to students unfamiliar with the subject…
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A few thoughts on revising research methods in context/ applied research methods
The ‘applied methods*’ question appears in paper 1 of the AQA’s Education with Theory and Methods exam (paper 7192/1). This is out of 20 marks, and students are expected to apply their understanding of any of the six main research method covered in the A-level sociology specification to any conceivable topic within education. An example…
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On teaching to a question – but what question to ask?
For teachers, ‘teaching to a question’ is often the most efficient way of organizing a lesson, and it’s something I found especially useful when I first began my teaching career, 146 years ago. In this post all I’m doing is re-visiting this basic strategy in preparation for teaching the next block of theories of crime…
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‘Station’ based lessons for A level sociology
Station based lessons are those in which the teacher sets up a number of different (and differentiated) tasks on different tables in the class room and students spend a set time at each table, moving from task to task. I find these are most useful at the very beginning of the Winter and Easter terms,…
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Socrative for Teaching and Learning A-Level Sociology
Socrative is a real-time feedback learning-tool which allows teachers to quickly produce multiple choice, true/ false or open ended questions in order to assess student understanding. Personally I think Socrative is the most useful online learning tool available to teachers and students studying A-level subjects, much more useful than Quizlet, for example, although it still…
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Using Quizlet for Teaching A-level Sociology
Quizlet is basically an online flashcard and quiz generator – you simply set up a discrete ‘study set’, for example, ‘the Functionalist Perspective on Education’ and create a range of flashcards with brief definitions of key concepts or an overview of the key ideas of theorists, or even ‘stock evaluations’. In the background of Quizlet……
