Who I am, What I do.
This piece was written as a contribution to Rory Gallagher‘s “Who I am, What I do” teachers’ personal testimony blog. My path to the classroom...
An Explanation: Romeo and Juliet – Fate and Interpretation
This month’s #blogsync calls for “an example of a great classroom explanation”. I must admit that I have thought twice about the following contribution as there’s...
Presentation to Pedagoo London
This is the information that accompanied my two presentations to Pedagoo London on 2 March 2013. The event was a grass-roots un-conference run by teachers...
Grant More Freedom
This journal entry was written as part of the first #blogsync, an initiative in the synchronisation of online journals by UK Educational professionals. The first...
Tangled in the Scaffolding
Teaching writing is one of the greatest joys and challenges of the English domain. Along the way, you encounter, acquire and discard many approaches and...
If Nothing Changes, Nothing Changes
Albert Einstein defined insanity as: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Yet, inescapably, the English education system ignores this...
Build a Brilliant Teacher
When a teacher fails, it’s “mea culpa”; when we succeed, it’s “didn’t the students do well?” Something that struck me when listening to John Hattie...
Why should my students blog?
Two days ago the long-awaited installation of internet-connected devices landed in my underground classroom. The buzz was palpable. My students, unable to contain their enthusiasm,...
Winning Hurts
Most of what I know about learning I discovered through running on mountain trails. This journal entry represents my manifesto for teaching and learning in...
The Real World – A Meta-Letter to My Pupils
Picture this: a classroom inhabited by a class preparing for a “functional skills” English assessment. The students are clear about what was expected of them....