Teaching is brilliantly complex, endlessly challenging, and potentially the most rewarding of the professions. No two lessons are the same. No two classes are the same. This diversity and complexity demands an expertise from teachers that is too often underestimated. Teachers need to constantly anticipate, act and adapt. There is
Do your pupils have a problem with 'writing stamina'? The teachers and leaders I work with routinely describe the problem of pupils lacking writing stamina as a vital issue they want to address. But what is writing stamina anyway? I find it is typically a catch-all for a
Dyslexia is one of most common special needs that impacts learners in schools. It is an issue, and a label, that is well known, but probably less well understood. So, why are we misreading dyslexia and what can we do about it? This crucial issue with reading words on the
What is the connection between the following words: Coiffured, dowerless, sepulchre, docilely, spasmodically, ardour, lament, apoplectic, prostrate, care-worn, apoplectic, urchin, munificence, and extemporise. Sound familiar? Probably not. They certainly aren’t familiar to most pupils who first encounter them in GCSE English Literature texts (drawn from the 32 choice texts
Have you ever seen a ‘streaky tenrec’? Probably not. For pupils sitting the key stage 2 SATs reading assessment, they likely met the tenrec and the wildlife of Madagascar for the first time. The first text for children to read in their SATs reading assessment was an informational text, entitled
The new academic year can be a time of promise for pupils. The promise of new teachers, peer groups, and the relationships that come along with it. Though there can be anxieties and worries too, it offers opportunities for a fresh start and newfound success. That time to begin afresh,
Do pupils need to know about ‘working memory’ or ‘procrastination’? Will a ‘study skills curriculum’, or a revision programme, really make a vital difference? Each year it is common to see annual plans shared for study skills curricula. Whether it is a key stage three programme, more targeted at GCSE
How do we encourage reluctant children to successfully stick with a tricky task? How do we advise truculent teens to persist through a long and winding learning curve fraught with failure? These are the perennial questions we ask that are about how best to motivate learners to undertake the struggle