Planning and sequencing a Key Stage 3 curriculum that is diverse, exciting, and interconnected. In seeking a balance between context and objectives, Applebee’s (1996) influential publication Curriculum in Conversation emphasises that curriculum […]
Teaching THESIS in Introductions
The Value of a Strong Introduction An introduction serves a purpose and therefore it must be put together thoughtfully. An introduction is required for each question on the AQA Literature papers, except […]
John Hattie’s Mind Frames
A quick think on Hattie’s Visible Learning Looking forward to a new academic year, a new school and a new course of schemes, I have reflected again on John Hattie’s brilliant book […]
Active Feedback: my 5 favourites
How can we make feedback active rather than transmissive? How can we encourage students to engage with feedback so that they become self-regulated and curiosity driven? Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick (2006) argue that […]
Writing about gender roles: a few small things
Writing about the significance of gender roles at GCSE Understanding the significance of context and then embedding relevant aspects of it within a response is something that is very difficult to teach, […]
A Focus on Feedback Action
Marking and feedback principles that aim to support pupil progress and teacher well being. “A mantra might be that schools should mark less in terms of the number of pieces of work […]
10 Great Things
Here are ten great things that I have spotted on Twitter (mostly through the amazing @Team_English1) and had a go at using in the classroom. Thank you to all the wonderful practitioners […]
Research Nuggets: Good Quality Feedback
Here is a small selection of research bites that I’ve found of interest recently. Feedback is something that can be a real challenge in today’s classroom. To start… What does effective feedback […]
Ideas for teaching STRUCTURE
Here are FIVE key things to try… It always seems to make sense to read a text before analysing and exploring the way that a writer has chosen to structure it and […]
Question Time
Throughout my training and first years of teaching, I was often asked to focus on varied questioning techniques. The usual ones that were put forward were ‘no hands up’ and using a […]
