14
2019
Improving students’ writing about personal experiences
“I don’t know what to write about.” Ah, how familiar we English teachers are with the above adolescent lament. When it comes to writing about personal experiences, all of a sudden they have never left the darkened shelter of their rooms, never interacted with anyone and pursue absolutely no hobbies whatsoever. Their heads shake and they gaze wistfully off into the distance: “I don’t do...
Read More
24
2019
The first five years of teaching: motivation, CPD and retention.
It has been a very quiet few months on this blog. The TES English teacher podcast has been keeping me very busy (this latest episode with Matt Pinkett and Mark Roberts on helping boys achieve is a cracker) and I have been trying to finish off my Masters in Practitioner Enquiry. This post is a brief summary of some of the key findings of the...
Read More
01
2019Teaching The Secrets of Effective Revision
Half of my life is an act of revision. John Irving I can’t quite believe that ‘Slow Teaching: Finding calm clarity and impact in the classroom’ came out a year ago this weekend. I have hugely appreciated all the people taking the time to pass on feedback and write reviews. It has been so rewarding to see that it has helped some teachers and had...
Read More
01
2019
The Introduction to ‘A Quiet Education’
Schools are anything but quiet. Their walls reverberate with noise, with a hub of activity that begins long before the bell loudly dictates the start of the day. The interpersonal demands are huge; talk and communication dominate every space. For those of us who are more inclined to quiet, it can be an exhausting experience. To the untrained eye it may not appear...
Read More
17
2019
Ten Non-Fiction Books Every Teacher Should Read
“The differences between expert performers and normal adults are not immutable, that is, due to genetically prescribed talent. Instead, these differences reflect a life-long period of deliberate effort to improve performance. K. Anders Ericsson I didn’t write as much as I would have liked in 2018: it was a busy old year with the arrival of a wee chap who doesn’t fully support any writing...
Read More
16
2018
Teaching Writing Using Comparisons
“Thought the quest for improvement may be informed by lessons and honed by practice, it must first be kindled by delight in the best works of the masters and a desire to approach their excellence”. Steven Pinker ‘The Sense of Style’ Over half-term I had planned to read ‘Learned Optimism’ by Martin Seligman and Steven Pinker’s ‘The Sense of Style: The Thinking person’s guide to writing...
Read More
06
2018
‘The Four M’s’ in the English classroom
Yesterday, I delivered a workshop to a group of English teachers from Harris Academy, under the title of ‘Sustainable Outstanding Teaching’. In part of the talk I wanted to talk about what I am focussing on developing in my own classroom practice this term. I have, in a moment of lightning bolt genius, deemed one my pedagogical projects for the year ‘The Four M’s.’ Now...
Read More
28
2018
The TES English Teaching Podcast
For the past two months I have had a social media and, for the most part, educational break. I haven’t read anything on education, I haven’t seen a single Twitter feed and I have, as far as possible, tried to live a mobile phone free existence. I won’t bore you too much with the rationale for this, and fear not – this is not another...
Read More
23
2018
Teaching and Learning Leeds Conference: ‘Slow Teaching: A recipe for improved teaching, leadership and wellbeing.’
I have spent this week obsessing and fretting about delivering this at the wonderful Teaching and Learning Leeds Conference. This was the initial ‘script’, and while I gave learning it a good bash, what I spluttered through in fifty minutes might not have sounded exactly like this! “The best laid schemes” and all that… I appreciate that this is a slightly terrifying list for...
Read More
15
2018
Summer term experiments: Year 10, ‘Invictus’ and ’12 Years a Slave.’
“Don’t address their brains, address their hearts.” Nelson Mandela. This mission to develop the reading confidence of my low set Year 10 group continued with earnest this week. Last weekend, I spent a delightful hour rummaging around my book shelf to find some suitable extracts (my long suffering wife seemed to have issues with my retort that I couldn’t possibly complete any housework,...
Read More