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Reading for School
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In Cold Blood – Playing With Genre
In True Blood is another dark read, distinctly American and impressively literary. It is a text that manipulates genre, attempting to fuse a journalistic style with a free indirect discourse when presenting the perceptions of criminals. At its heart we meet our worst...
TedX Presentation on Confidence: No Difference between Real and Fake Confidence?
A student that I taught at the beginning of my international career spoke profoundly well at a recent TedX event. I was very impressed. She named dropped my Socrates creed that there is no difference between fake confidence and real confidence, at least as it presents...
Book Review: Wonder by RJ Palacio – Collisions of Kindness
This is a young adult story about kindness and identity. Its story can instigate useful conversations in schools and homes about how we treat others, and therefore how we want to be treated. I found some of its presentations of school-life problematic, though. The...
A Question on Frankenstein: Walton’s Change in Perspective
A student recently asked me a question in the run-up to our Xmas Mocks. I include the question as it is an example of what students should be like. He/she is an excellent student whom I have known for many years as a debating champion. Question: Hi Sir, Sorry to...
Organising a Debate Club: Some Points of Practice
Working internationally has given me opportunities that just didn't exist for me back where I was born. One is the chance to debate. I remember doing a few debates in Sixth Form classes, but they never really went anywhere. I also remember turning up to a few debates...
Reading and Writing as Planning
Those who can do. Those who can't, teach. What is it that English teachers do if they are not a reader? Ann Rice, children's office, said that teaching (in her very short career) destroyed her ability to write. The all-encompassing nature of teaching, the complexity...
Differences between a learner and a doer
Over the past five years or so I have been increasingly struck by the need to judge learning by the thinking taking place, not just by the tasks taking place. Too many discussions about lesson planning in my past focused on the tasks to be done. Of course, students...
Do English teachers need charisma?
English teachers are usually charismatic. The act of reading and considering poetry and drama makes for strong and interesting personalities, usually. This is usually translated into a classroom persona. Yet is this a necessity? Like some Twitterarti worry, is...
Using Accelerated Reader: Report Commissioned for the NATE ICT Committee
Here is a report I submitted a few years ago based upon my experiences of implementing Accelerated Reader (AR). While I think that AR is the best programme for tracking reading in reluctant readers, encouraging reading in a secondary school requires a far more...
Content vs Specification: Thoughts about KS5 Planning
This year I have taken on the running of our KS5 literature specification. It has been an interesting experience, calling into question my philosophy of what makes a worthwhile curriculum. One conversation that was had with outgoing staff was of the prioritisation...