TLT16 take aways

I thought I would make the best use of my 4 hour train journey back to reflect on my practice in the context of the teach meet in Southampton this weekend.  As always when I attend these events, I have found it reenergising. If nothing else sometimes this is enough. Everything else is a bonus

Improving my Teaching of Grammar

I set myself a challenge this term to improve my teaching of grammar in order to help students develop their understanding and analysis skills. I have found every year, by the time my students reached GCSE, they are struggling to identify the basic word classes like nouns and verbs when analysing writer’s craft. So, I

Reflections of the last year back as an English Teacher

In January 2015, I took a big leap of faith and left the job I loved as an AST in English and moved to a different school without my role. Why? Many reasons, some personal, some not but ultimately after 7 years in the same school working my way from NQT to head of Media

Carnegie Medal Short list, book two: The Lies We Tell Ourselves

Second day, second book, which tells me straight away I must have enjoyed it as this was slightly longer than Fire Colour One. This fiction story of Sarah and a group of 9 other black children who are the first to be integrated into a Virginia school is both painful and insightful. I particularly liked

Carnegie Medal book review 1: Fire Colour One

   So, I’m sat on a beach in the Dominican Republic, enjoying my Easter break and have swallowed up the first of the Carnegie short list. I felt I wanted to record a short review of the ones I read for several reasons: the main one being how blown away I was by the beauty

For Kiera

For Kiera No one teaches you this part. People are so afraid of it, they won’t even give it a name. A name taints the feelings, It puts them in a box As if we can lock them away, As if we can pretend that it is another us   Separate.   They tell you

Explain lessons don’t have to be Didactic

As an English teacher, teaching context can, at times, seem like there are only a few pedagogical approaches and they become over used. I have lost count of the times in which , when introducing a new topic or text, I’ve reverted to my expert groups approach. I’d had enough of using it, and the

Rugby advice

Firstly there is passion: I have played since I was six and this has meant I have gained a lot of knowledge from my time playing. This means I have gained the motivation to want to win and it has become more than just a game of rugby; if I let myself down it also

“Hard work beats talent …

“Hard work beats talent when talent refuses to work hard”

I’ve been pedalling this line to my students for four years….love it

Challenge… My attempt

This took me 33 minutes, including time for a vague plan. I have to be honest it is difficult to be creative under pressure and remember all the crtieria in which you are being assessed. I think I will wait before I check to see really how well I have done… All comments welcome. THE