Exponentiation I was prompted by a recent tweet to think more about exponentiation. The problem being posed was how to convince students that the laws of indices apply even when the exponent is not a whole positive number. There is a deep issue lurking here, which is that the more abstract the mathematics, the less […]
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This summer saw the first sitting of the new-style GCSE Science courses. When results day rolled round, many teachers were surprised when Ofqual stepped in to ensure that higher tier students who weren’t able to achieve a 4-3, the lowest grade expected to be awarded for the tier, could be awarded a 3-3 rather than […]
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Like almost everyone else in Maths education, I have recently decided to broach the ‘mastery’ word. It does feel a bit odd to do so, given that it’s been around at least since at least the 60’s, and I’ve never felt a need to use it before – despite having been an advocate of the […]
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The recent changes in the exam system have required students and teachers to make some significant adjustments. With the first 9-1 exams over, now is a good time to reflect on the areas that students have found particularly challenging. One of these is the need for students to apply their knowledge to unfamiliar contexts. For […]
Read moreby Ann Clucas How do you teach about the abstract and symbolic to those who may be most comfortable with the concrete and literal? How can you explain wildly varying opinions of what is true (and what truth itself means) to those who may struggle to see more than one point of view? Each person […]
Read moreby Rachael Jackson-Royal A team of Religious Education teachers, who are members of NATRE (National Association of Teachers of Religious Education), have combined forces with researchers at Bristol University to start work on a project to identify the best ways of promoting community relations in RE, with a particular focus on ‘contact theory’. This idea, […]
Read moreI suspect that when they read ‘ Why Closing the Word Gap Matters: Oxford Language Report ’, many teachers nodded in agreement but also, perhaps felt a little depressed by the picture it painted. The fact that many children arrive in school with limited vocabularies compared to their peers is well-known to early years teachers and that this gap persists through secondary school […]
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The last four years have seen a variety of events, projects and memorials to mark the centenary of the First World War. As we head into the autumn term, thoughts turn to how we as historians can commemorate the Armistice of 1918, a key turning point in ending the conflict. Although the war did not […]
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As teacher educators, working with PGCE trainees in many different History departments, we knew that a workshop which focused on supporting struggling GCSE students would draw people in when we presented it at the Historical Association Annual Conference. All new exam specifications create huge anxieties for teachers, but the sense of pressure associated with the […]
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Over a year ago, in a previous post for this blog , I wrote about my focus of encouraging students of ALL ages to ‘Speak Like A Geographer’. This was in light of having previously restricted this focus on terminology to GCSE and A Level cohorts – and wondering why they didn’t manage to adjust to the required key words and […]
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