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 …
How much should you write in English exams?
“This porridge is too hot!” she exclaimed. So, she tasted the porridge from the second bowl. “This porridge is too cold,” she said So, she tasted the last bowl of porridge. “Ahhh, …
10 Tricky Questions for Teachers
What if we were faced with uncomfortable questions about some of our brightest and best teaching and learning ideas? It would be uncomfortable and challenging, no doubt. Perhaps, though, such reflection on …
Why Whole-School Literacy Fails!
There is no more important act in education than helping children to learn to read. I am sure we can agree that developing our students as confident readers, writers and speakers is …
Rethinking Assessment
It is decades since Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam opened up the ‘Black Box’ to reveal the crucial importance of assessment as learning, but it would appear the messages from said box …
How to Train A GCSE Essay Writer – Part 2
Thinking about better assessment is not always at the forefront of the mind of a busy English teacher. We are so hassled by marking, planning and well, teaching lots, that we keep …
How to Train a GCSE Essay Writer
I have written a countless number of essays. At school, university, and back at school again, showing my students how to do it. In my fourteen years teaching I must have modelled …
The Problem with Past Exam Papers
Over the weekend I had the joy of watching my little boy, Noah, play one of his football matches (there was a little pain too – just don’t mention the penalty). If …
Blog Update
(Image via Pixabay) A few short weeks ago I consigned my old HuntingEnglish blog to the electronic dustbin and emerged phoenix-like with my new blog – www.theconfidentteacher.com. Unfortunately, not all my …
Learning (and Assessment) First
(Illustration by Frits Ahlefeldt) We so often get assessment wrong in schools. Under perennial accountability pressures, assessment often loses it chief purpose: aiding learning. Today, in Sheffield, hundreds of teachers are gathering to …
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