‘The year 9 class of the future?’ A discussion around class size is never far away from educational debate. Every so often a new report is emblazoned with headlines in the press: ‘class size matters’…’class size doesn’t matter‘. What are we to believe? Well, of course class size matters, stupid. And yet, as with most […]
Class Size Matters, Stupid! Read More »
Some people deserve to be heard and their inspiring life story passed on. One such person is Helen Keller. Born on the 27th of June, in 1880, in Alabama, Helen fell ill, aged eighteen months and was struck blind, deaf and mute. Her story is one of tremendous courage, will and achievement. One person who
A Teacher’s Genius Read More »
Stand tall, place your legs apart, clench your fists and place them onto your hips. There…that is your power pose. Keep it for a minute or two. Does you feel more confident? Is your body coursing with testosterone-induced power? Professor Amy Cuddy devised a hugely popular TED talk to celebrate her research into the tremendous force
English teachers are a privileged lot. Of course, there is the poetry, the novels, the discussion, debate, philosophy, the odd spelling, the plays, the spell-binding craft of writing and the essential power of reading. Well, not only all that stuff – we also have some great online resources and bloggers. This compilation is an updated
Teaching English: Online Reading & Resources Read More »
I’ve always held with the Beatles lyric that we get by with a little help from our friends. In classrooms, with students learning and helping one another learn, it can often help too (when done well). The evidence to support the effectiveness of ‘Peer Tutoring’ programmes in schools has always been strong and I
The (Potential) Perils of Peer Tutoring Read More »
Sometimes surveying a scene from a different perspective gives you a new, fuller understanding of things. For the last few months I have been writing about confidence and becoming a confident teacher. I have researched the hell out of it and talked to many people about the notion of confidence. In the past few weeks
An Absence of Confidence Read More »
If you are a school teacher and you haven’t heard of Carol Dweck’s ubiquitous growth and fixed mindset concept then… quite frankly, where the hell have you been for the past few years? No doubt lots of good has emerged from this common-sense psychological framework, with a few dodgy approaches too. The growing evidence base, showing the limitations,
Growth Mindset – More Evidence Read More »
