We have all been there… You are being observed by a senior member of staff. Your hands are clammy as you grit your teeth through every minute of this crucial lesson observation. This one hour may determine months of hard work. You are speaking to a small group of students, correcting a simple misunderstanding. A […]
Our Dirty Little Secret…Student Behaviour Read More »
It is that time of year again. Nerves fray, students and teachers (probably parents too) as we arm our students with the obligatory revision strategies, resources, wall plans, flashcards, apps, highlighters, revision guides, and whatever else we can get our hands on, in the flimsy hope that some of it sticks. After a decade or
Exam Revision and Overconfidence Read More »
(Image sourced from Flickr and courtesy of City of York Council) “It [Confidence] is the single most important attribute any child can have. I truly wish there were classes to focus on it…With confidence comes personality. With personality comes a form of charm, wit and wisdom. These can camouflage any shortcomings in the academic
Should we teach ‘confidence classes’? Read More »
(Image sourced via Pixabay.com) In writing a book for teachers with purpose of developing their self-confidence, I was always very wary of being misinterpreted as representing confidence as some gift that is granted to us with a moment of inspirational self-talk. Confidence isn’t some elixir that grants us success; in fact, an unthinking pursuit of confidence
Confident…but not quite sure Read More »
(Image sourced via Pixabay) I hate speaking on the phone. I loathe it with a singular passion and look to avoid it when I can. Why do I experience such a visceral response to something so, well, ordinary? The answer: a phone call deprives me of the crucial stuff of good communication. Like every
(Image via Stowe Boyd from Flickr) “The human mind is an overconfidence machine.” David Brooks, The Social Animal Overconfidence is dangerous. How many ill-judged wars, invasions, crashes, economic downturns and worse, have been initiated by confident fools? Now, such overconfidence provokes such massive global catastrophes, but it also triggers trivial daily problems for us all.
Overconfidence – Explaining it Away Read More »
I have the following image to start a couple of assemblies at school. My question for students: what emotions is the woman at the centre of this image experiencing? Negative answers abound: she is invariably lonely and sad. Such assumptions about standing aside from the crowd pervades our culture. We want to be picked first in
The Introvert Teacher Read More »
