What does the classroom of a great teacher look like and sound like? I imagine there are many answers to that question: from pin-drop silence, as students are abuzz with mental activity, to a symphony of talk, conducted with deft expertise. Many great teachers conduct their classroom with unconscious skill
The drive for research evidence being used in education has achieved something quite radical in our time: it has been met with near universal political consensus. You won’t hear Gove or Hunt bickering over this debate. A diverse spread of organisations are also in support – from teaching unions like
A quick question: “How many animals of each kind did Moses bring onto the Ark?” Did you get it right? Two. Of course. Er, not quite. If you didn’t notice already, there is a fundamental error evident in the question. The answer is zero. Noah was at the helm
When you become a father you get used to being asked endless questions about the intricacies of our complex world. The road is paved with unending questions. Why does this…? How does that…? Questions become connections. Connections flower into understanding and grow into knowledge. Without being trite, such curiosity is
Many a debate is sparked in education about the need for ‘engagement‘ in teaching and learning. Some dismiss ‘engagement‘ as the bastard language of OFSTED to encourage an adventure playground style approach to learning. For me it is something a little more quotidian, a little bit more…well, normal. It
This practical post on a couple of teaching and learning strategies is wholly indebted to an excellent trio of posts from Doug Lemov, of ‘Practice Perfect‘ and ‘Teach Like A Champion‘ fame. His series is based on the concept of ‘disciplined discussion‘. I love this simple phrase as it neatly
Most of my posts are about teaching strategies, the curriculum or the odd political rant. I have written very little on the subject of behaviour management. I considered why and decided that as I began my blog, as a teacher of nearly a decade, in a good school, with good
Do teachers and school leaders need to down tools to survive and succeed? Schools are incredibly complex places. We often use analogies that compare schools, and indeed the classroom, to emergency scenarios. Such language captures the sense of stress and struggle; many times have I felt as though I was
My abiding memory of GCSE Biology is what seemed like a succession of David Attenborough films and graffiti daubed textbooks. I recall only an ugly collage of rat dissections and bodily functions scrawled upon in fading textbooks by bored pre-pubescent boys! Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t enamoured by the subject. There
The new school year is careering into view already. Plans are being crafted, return to work stress is growing like a weed. My thoughts turn to the newbie teachers about to join our faculty – both newly qualified and in training. Here are some handy tips for new teachers in particular,
The summer holidays provides one of the few periods in the year when you can deeply reflect on the complexities of the job of being a teacher. After the desperate need for much needed rest is satisfied, there is time to reflect upon the high and lows of the school
My last post of the school year is a resolution for the school year ahead. There is no special philosophy, research or expensive equipment required. It is a simple focus on ‘opening the door’ more in the coming year. It is about sharing. Not just in the sense of sharing