Every teacher recognises the vital role of academic vocabulary to access the school curriculum and go onto succeed. Put simply, the more words you know, the further you’ll go. Words are crucial …
Do We Need to Sort Out Silent Reading?
DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) or ERIC (Everyone Reads in Class) are very common approaches to independent reading that occur each week in countless schools. They are part of the fabric of …
Is it time to KO the Knowledge Organiser?
What if tools commonly used in the classroom threaten to inhibit the learning they were developed to support? Too often, a well-meaning teaching tool can get detached from the thinking which made …
Covid-19 and the Literacy ‘Matthew Effect’
“For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Matthew, 25:29 Six …
What do teachers really care about?
“You know, when you find yourself having to raise your voice, and your heart starts pounding, and you start realizing that things are not going the way you had planned, it’s a …
Transform Education and Assessment (Just Not Yet)
Ch-ch-changes. After the trials and tribulations of the summer of 2020, renewed calls are being made to transform education and change how assessment is enacted in schools. For experienced teachers, it is …
5 Helpful Websites on Reading for Teachers
There are vast array of brilliant websites about reading that would help teachers of all stripes in their daily work. Some cover useful reading materials, whereas others dig into the science of …
The curriculum challenge…renewed
People have gone relatively quiet about the ‘c’ word… curriculum. Whilst schools grapple with the challenges of having all pupils safely attend school, then everything has to be considered anew. The careful …
The Hidden Lives of Learners and Me
When I was growing up I sought out books that mirrored my world. I can name the narratives that walked me through my tortured teens, or those books that helped me attempt …
Reading on Screen: A Warning!
Since the dawn of the internet and our ability to read on-screen, people have bemoaned its negative impact on learning. But is reading on screen any different to reading a traditional book? …