A word has been bandied about in education over the last few years, and I think it's one that has been much misunderstood - by everyone from support staff, students, parents, teachers and most of all, of course, SLT. Consistency. Nicked from Memedroid. Possibly my new favourite website. But what does that actually mean in... Continue Reading →
To phone or not to phone…
In England this week, the government have announced new guidance suggesting that all mobile phones should be banned during the school day and teachers should be encouraged not to use theirs in front of students. I have some views on this, so here we go. A recent study1 of over 10, 000 12 year olds... Continue Reading →
Mistakes, mishaps and mayhem
If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you'll know I work with other teachers helping improve classroom practice amongst other things. Occasionally a few of these teachers will look at me like I know all the answers, and the simple truth is I do not, and never have. It's pretty easy to sit... Continue Reading →
Parents evening 2
What's this? Another post about parents evening? Well, yes, there's more than one in a year you know... There is a particular hell to the parents evening at this time of year. Why oh why is it now? Returning after Christmas always feels tough, as the Christmas holiday is not restful at all. All that... Continue Reading →
And we’re back!
Yep, it's January which only means one thing: back to work. With any luck, the first day this term was an interminable inset day, where you can perhaps play back to work bingo and get all the important questions out of the way. How many times did you hear any of this: How was your... Continue Reading →
So here it is…
Merry Christmas - you made it! Definitely time for a beverage of your choice1. So, how was the last week for you? Did you have to keep students engaged up to today? Did you decorate your classroom? Give out Christmas cards to everyone in your tutor group2? Play carols during tutor time? Or maybe 'Fairytale... Continue Reading →
One week to go…
Yeah, it is, really. No, no come back.... One week of the longest term in the school year left. The Autumn term is usually fifteen weeks long, which is unfeasibly1 huge. For year 11 and 13, they are halfway through the year. Unbelievable. The summer term can also be as long, but let's face it,... Continue Reading →
Interesting questions
Full disclosure: this wasn't going to be this week's topic, but something happened yesterday. I am lucky enough to work with teachers to try and improve their practice, and work with small groups of students. Yesterday, a cool, enthusiastic teacher asked me a very important question whilst we were discussing ways to avoid burnout and... Continue Reading →
Inspirational?
A few years ago, there was an advertising campaign which had celebrities naming a teacher who had inspired them. I can't remember much about it1, apart from Bob Hoskins growling someone's name. There's also a video on YouTube of Ian Wright meeting his former teacher guaranteed to melt the heart of anyone except the biggest... Continue Reading →
Performance Management (PM)
Ah, is there any other two word phrase designed to invoke a mixture of fear, disgust and feelings of inadequacy in a teacher than 'performance management'? The process involves looking at your performance (clues in the name!) over the past academic year. It is meant to look at the training you recieved, your job description,... Continue Reading →
David Watkins 