Immerse yourself in the art and science of teaching and learning with a comprehensive range of blogs. Explore dynamic topics such as effective feedback strategies, impactful explanations, the art of questioning, and more. Gain valuable insights into pedagogical techniques informed by research evidence, along with an array of practical tips. These blogs are useful for teachers, leaders and everyone interested in education.
I was brought up by my family to believe that you got your just rewards for working hard. It is a belief that has stayed with me and nourished me throughout my life. Well, with some important qualifications. You see, we weren’t very good at mathematics in my family.
It is exam results week and teachers all over England will be picking through the remnants of their students’ results – their successes and failures. My thoughts come to one of the mainstay strategies that correlate with exam success. That dull and nagging pain: revision. We know that a world of
Wayne Rooney, aged 16, scoring an iconic goal against Arsenal. Genius derived from genes? Or does practice make perfect? Most young boys grow up in Liverpool playing football and little else. I fulfilled the stereotype with aplomb. I’d play football in shop doorways, braving passing buses, or, more safely,
What if we are not the accurate judges that we think ourselves to be? What if our natural biases get the better of us, even when we don’t expect them to do so? Does it mean we are not really very good at assessing the work of our own
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
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
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,
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
13-year-old Arvind Mahankali from New York (correctly spelled “knaidel,” a word for a small mass of leavened dough, to win the American national competition) Americans love a ‘Spelling Bee‘. They are unique competitions where precocious children battle it out in a linguistic street-fight, whilst anxious parents look on with a