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Reading for School
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Teaching Fitness
This post has been in planning for some time. I use the term 'teaching fitness' fairly frequently and, like most of the terms that stem from running an Indie publishing house in my youth, they are rich in meaning for me, yet loose in connotations for others. Teaching...
Planning for OFSTED
That time has come again to plan for OFSTED. It takes my back to my PGCE days where lesson plans took an inordinately long time and didn't necessarily produce a better lesson. However, they certainly aided the reflection afterwards. I have worked past 9pm, which is...
Student evaluation – Year 11
With a little over five weeks to go, my students reflected on how they feel about their language and literature exams. The results are: Reading Articles Writing OMAM Short Stories Comparing Poetry Unseen Poetry Comments 4 3 4 4 4 3 Confident 2 2 4 3 4 3 Less...
Making a Scheme of Work (SoW)
Schemes of work are funny things, especially in English. One school in which I worked insisted upon all KS3 classes following the same SoW to the same day. Another school (in fact, most schools) have very loose SoWs indeed, which perhaps mirrors the practice of...
Qualities of the connective ‘however.’
As my Year 11s will attest, the use of 'however' commonly introduces a contrast or opposing point. It can, of course, present a different take or slant on a previous argument. It doesn't, however (!), suggest that the upcoming point has the same qualities or emphasis...
Improving lesson planning – Reflecting on Spring 2
Each time of year is particularly challenging for its own reasons. The opening term is challenging in terms of establishing routines and getting back some level of teaching fitness. It also moves into the cold and darkness of the Christmas term (of which it is...
Billy Collins Poetry
A student who will undoubtedly be a great teacher one day has shown me a video well worth sharing about poetry. Enjoy! http://www.ted.com/talks/billy_collins_everyday_moments_caught_in_time.html
Writing a Manifesto
An excellent text-changing activity. My effort? Teaching is more than a job. Teaching is a philosophy, a lifestyle: it is a way of being. But it is a profession like any other. Like plumbing. But instead of fixing lead piping and unblocking u-bends and ensuring...
The pragmatic effect of modifiers – example
Great example of the pragmatic effect of many modifiers - wedding couple who knew they booked same hotel as Queen were 'completely' unaware that she would gatecrash their reception:...
Resilient learners – few thoughts.
During a recent 'OFSTED' session where an Inspector came in to deliver an mid-week twilight training session, it was said that one judgement is of the 'resiliency' of our students. That is, whether they give up when presented with difficulties. I am rated highly. The...