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Review ------ 'Making every lesson count' should help new and experienced teachers to do just that. It offers practical advice on how we can focus on "simple truths" in order to ensure that great teaching leads to genuine learning. Drawing on what research evidence suggests, what they have learnt from inspirational colleagues and, most importantly, from their own practice as serving teachers, Shaun and Andy offer a carefully structured analysis of how teachers and school leaders can create a climate within which excellence and growth will take root and flourish. I'd recommend this to anyone who is committed to being their best within the classroom. --Jill Berry Former head, now education consultant Shaun Allison and Andy Tharby have produced a rare thing: a book on teaching and learning that is useful and accessible for pretty much every teacher. The book synthesises a plethora of great ideas and sound evidence from around the educational world and distils it into usable knowledge for busy teachers. Clearly, it is a book written by knowledgeable and expert teachers who understand what their fellow teachers need to develop their practice and make their lessons count. The readable style is a rare treat and I gobbled this book up in no time, confident in the knowledge that I will be revisiting it often. --Alex Quigley, Director of Learning and Research, Huntington School This is a great book. I could have done with this at every stage of my career. It is grounded in common sense, firmly rooted in the realities of the classroom, triangulated with some great researchers and thinkers both in education and beyond. From Socrates, to Berger, Lemov, Dweck, Willingham, Lemov, Heath, drawing on the expertise of the colleagues they work with and above all their own experience, it is all here. And it s beautifully illustrated by Jason Ramasani. What is so impressive about this text is that it peels back some of the conventional wisdom , for example on differentiation. In their skilled hands they show how far this is from preparing different worksheets for different groups of students. Instead, they show how to differentiate through questions, precise feedback in the classroom and above all through showing what excellence looks like. And they dispose of that superficial notion of differentiating through lesson objectives being expressed as most, all, some. Instead, they propose setting expectations high and response to genuine needs as they arise. You experiment with the most suitable strategy to hoist each individual child up . Not easy, but worth it. And they make excellence work visible, not just in the classroom but around the school. ing work in frames both celebrates and showcases what is possible. Similarly they explain how important it is to have medium and long-term s in which lessons should be considered as building blocks. Too often, we can become obsessed with the details of individual lessons, when in fact they are only parts of a greater whole. Quite right. What is particularly helpful about this book is that each idea is shown in practice how it might work, often scripted from examples from their own lessons. Everything from unpacking hinge questions, solo taxonomy, live modelling, exploring what am I doing, why am I doing it? Then, there s a great section on speaking and the place in securing understanding for all students, but particularly for disadvantaged groups. The importance of practice, missing things up, appropriate feedback, how to support students with making their comments kind, specific and helpful. Too often, in too many classrooms, it stops at the kind. And finally, that turbo-driving strategy for meaningful conversations in classrooms: Socratic questioning. Well, well worth a read. For every teacher in every school. --Mary Myatt, adviser and inspector http://marymyatt.com About the Author ---------------- Shaun Allison started teaching science in West Sussex, before becoming a Head of Science. He is currently Deputy Head Teacher at Durrington High School. He leads on CPD and is interested in supporting teachers to grow and develop their classroom practice. He is also a popular speaker. Andy Tharby is a practising English teacher with 9 years of classroom experience at a secondary school in West Sussex. He is also a research lead, with an interest in helping ordinary classroom teachers enhance their practice through engagement with a wider evidence base. He writes a well-regarded blog, Reflecting English, in which he covers a range of subjects from improving student writing to finding solutions to the problems and dilemmas faced by busy teachers.