-
What’s STRESS got to do with it?
Stress is bad, right? Get me to my next holiday! Am I wishing my life away? When it comes to modern living, we lament our stress to anyone who will listen–social situations often involve discussions of stress or difficulties we are experiencing. I’m as guilty as the next person, and sometimes more, as I find…
-
The student’s 8-second attention span
According to Stolen Focus, by Johann Hari, our attention spans are getting shorter. We are losing our ability for Deep Focus, and in turn, we are losing our rights, our world and our futures. Sounds dramatic. But he makes a good argument, and we see this stolen focus everywhere. Teachers are desperate to get their…
-
5 Oracy Teaching Tips for the Classroom
The 15-year-old girl cowers in the back of the classroom. She’s been in tears for days and her mother has already phoned in to ensure her daughter doesn’t have to speak in front of the others. “She suffers from anxiety,” mother says. Sound familiar? The poor girl is representative of so many who feel the…
-
The Spark that Ignites Learning
On our walk this evening, my three-year-old daughter skipped down the path tonight, singing, picking daisies and exclaiming over everything she saw. her blonde curls bounced around and her eye shone. She kept asking questions about what she observed around her, and she loved our answers. Her simple pleasure at our simple experience was palpable,…
-
Why Students Need to Speak Often in Lessons
More than expecting students to answer a smattering of questions, more than “checking for understanding” from a select few (those who don’t mind answering questions in front of the class, for example), more than a random comment or an off-the-cuff discussion, students’ speaking in lessons–in EVERY lesson–needs to be prioritised. Perhaps it should be number…
-
Ofsted Comment on Reading in Secondary Schools: August Handbook Update.
Where does reading fit into the new Ofsted Handbook? They’ve included one comment: “the curriculum needs to be designed and taught so that pupils read at an age-appropriate level.” That’s it. Nothing else on reading. However, the implications are HUGE. The word “all” is important here, especially when we know that, according the Education Endowment…
-
What Does Deep Learning Look Like?
In Brene Brown’s most recent book Atlas of the Heart, she discusses her thoughts on the big question above. She says: in order for deep learning to occur, we must search for the “Zone of Optimal Confusion”. Her argument is that for something to change, for learning to occur, it needs to be uncomfortable. It…
-
Uniform Policy and School Ethos
Why does one always see teachers telling kids to “tuck in your shirt” and “take your coat off in the building” and recently, “put your mask over your nose”? Constant struggle for us as educators in the UK. Sure, it’s part of our job and sure, we are hammered with the “consistency” mantra filtering through…
-
Why “The Evaluation Question” in the GCSE English Language Exam Illuminates a Problem–but What’s the Problem?
Let’s start with the advice we are all meant to give our students regarding this 20 marker. “You always agree with the statement,” we are told to tell students. “Why?” some of the more critically-inclined-engaged students ask. “Because if you don’t agree, it’s probably because you don’t understand the story well enough to agree.” Whilst…
-
Empathy in Education?
How do we make our students care about things that matter—human rights, social responsibility, global responsibility, environment…you know, the big picture stuff? Feels overwhelming when I sometimes can’t get my students to care enough to write a few effective sentences. After failing to excite my year 11 students enough to care about a writing task…