Attempting to leave no educational stone unturned.
I wrote a review and reflection about Harry's Responsive Teaching which you can find here. As teachers and leaders, we often think and talk about what goes on in the classroom in distinct categories. This is helpful because it gives us a way to talk the same language as others in a busy environment. When… Continue reading Habits of Success – Harry Fletcher-Wood – A Review and Reflection
I’ve been thinking about books and ideas that have molded and formed my pedagogical brain. For post one in this series, see here. For post two in this series, see here. Here's five books and a couple more suggestions, that have shaped my thinking on curriculum to date.... Seven Myths About Education – Daisy Christodoulou Daisy’s… Continue reading A Pedagogical Mind: 5 Books that have shaped my curriculum thinking
I’ve been thinking about books and ideas that have molded and formed my pedagogical brain. When I say here I 'believe' in education, I mean that I believe that education is a powerful mechanism for change and transformation in the lives of individuals, communities and even nations.
I’ve been thinking about books and ideas that have moulded and formed my pedagogical brain. These books haven’t given me tips and tricks on how to teach better; they have shaped my view of education, schooling, the classroom and all importantly, how teachers ought to relate to students. These books have given me a vernacular to talk about teaching with more precision.
In my last two posts (found here and here) , I’ve tried to be clear about the essence and form of classroom culture. In this post, I will outline three key strategies (Threshold, Do Now and STAR Sitting) for developing classroom culture, why they matter and how I have led whole school change to embed… Continue reading The Form of Classroom Culture: 3 Essential Strategies (Threshold, Do Now and STAR Sitting)
We can't find good answers in education unless we ask the right questions. These five elements of classroom culture have helped me ask the right questions about what makes highly effective learning environments day in day out.
What does it feel like for students to be part of our classrooms? Is it a safe place for them to be themselves? I mean really be themselves, in a place where learning is the most important thing, not compliance; a place where rules and expectations you set make sense all the way down and… Continue reading The Essence of ‘Classroom Culture’
This blog will give you a whistle stop tour of how we have been trying to continue to develop teaching during this challenging yet fruitful time to be in education in the UK. What has been encouraging during Lockdown 2.0 (or is it 3.0?) is that, at our school, we have not changed how we… Continue reading Developing teaching during a pandemic: a brief overview of what we’ve been doing
Teachers work in a rhythmic way. Our work moves in patterns and processes that are arranged systematically into half-terms, terms and academic years. In one sense this might seem mundane, yet, like a piece of music, without an episodic pattern, our work would make no sense…or their wouldn’t be any of us left. There’s something… Continue reading The Rhythm of the Teaching Life
What goes on in the mind when learning? This is one of the perennial educational questions that has bamboozled philosophers and psychologists for generations. Although I don’t think that cognitive science is even partly able to answer it, I think it is a field of research that educators ought to have some knowledge of, since… Continue reading Understanding How We Learn – Yana Weinstein, Megan Sumeracki and Oliver Caviglioli – A Review
How then should we teach? 