You can’t read or hear about an Education Secretary (see here) or Shadow Secretary (see here) lately without chewing on a bit of GRIT and being told about how we should all be teaching ‘character’ for the betterment of…well, everybody. It surely proves good politics on the doorstep. Who could argue with wanting our children …
My journey to school each morning is mercifully short. Each day I follow the same habitual steps, with little variation beyond the odd song that rattles my morning stupor. Every so often though, I drive past a student of mine. Now, each time, driving past him evokes a whir with questions. Let’s call that student …
As an English teacher I am surely granted the eternal power of an exaggeration fueled headline every once in a while. Ok – so perhaps highlighters aren’t the biggest problem in education, but if you know me well, you may have heard my complaint whereat these gaudy coloured pens symbolize some deep rooted issues with teaching and learning …
Blogging reviews of the year have been written; a new year is already rolling and a new school term beckons. It is a time for an end to excess food, excess drink and stock-piling a few blogs before the the Spring term careers head-long into view. Maybe a blog about blogging is too much, or …
The run up to Christmas is always a mixed blessing for teachers. Mired in the cold and dark of winter, sinking is swathes of marking, we are slowed by a brain thumping, limb stiffening tiredness. This is twinned with the blessed prospect of a two week holiday. For so long in December it all feels …
On the 30th of December, back in 2012, I wrote a blog post about making and sustaining habit changes in education – read it here – based on my reading of the brilliant, Switch, by Chip and Dan Heath. I said then, and I would maintain little has changed, that this one book has influenced …
As part of our whole staff training at Huntington School we have been sharing ideas and collating ‘Top Ten Strategies’. This list is the fruits of our labour: 1. Differentiated questioning. Given the time we take doing it daily, effective questioning may well be the highest impact strategy we can employ. There is no ‘one size …
