Leap over you professional plateau. (This post is a copy of my article for the Guardian Teacher network) I’m a huge football fan and I always have been since my father took …
Shared Writing: Modelling Mastery
If the path of repeated deliberate practice makes something like perfect, then imitating good models of writing provides solid foundations for the pursuit of writing excellence. ‘Shared writing‘ is one specific strategy …
Becoming a Better Teacher by ‘Deliberate Practice’
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who had practiced one kick 10,000 times.” Bruce Lee When I was a young boy I …
Questioning and Oral Feedback – Our ‘Bread & Butter’
A few weeks ago I had the great pleasure to present to the staff of my school for just over an hour on teaching and learning. My session, in the main hall, …
‘The Power of Habit’ – Helping Students Master their Habits
“All our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits,” William James Over the summer I read the excellent book, ‘The Power of Habit‘, by Charles …
Confidence – The Rosetta Stone of Teaching
Nearly a decade ago I began teaching English (not very well if I remember). I was a startled rabbit of the most baffled kind. Each morning I would quietly take ‘Rescue Remedy’ …
Questioning – Top Ten Strategies
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning.” – Albert Einstein Questioning is the very cornerstone of philosophy and education, ever since …
Beating the ‘October Blues’
It is over a month in, the start of term vigour and optimism has waned for almost all involved, and everything begins to feel more like hard work. The ‘October blues’ phenomenon …