Last summer, I was asked to take part in a project on assessment at Key Stage 3 to consider what the Programme of Study for languages might mean for the design of new assessments in the classroom. Reviewing this document, I was reminded of the emphasis on the interconnectivity of the four skills of speaking, […]
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In a previous blog post I outlined a very basic memory technique which works by creating a story out of to-be-remembered information. This makes the information more memorable than recalling a list of unrelated words and the technique itself requires no real groundwork, after all, you are just making up a story. Whilst impressive results […]
Read moreGiving children the skills to become confident spellers has a huge impact across the curriculum – not only helping them approach their weekly spelling tests with ease, but importantly helping them make effective vocabulary choices in all of their writing. Here are some top tips from our resources to help. Make the most of staff […]
Read moreRight, it’s been a long half term and it’s cold outside, so let’s start with a joke: After a lovely day out in the countryside, a tourist is driving back to his hotel when he realises he’s lost. There’s no mobile phone signal and his satnav isn’t working either. He drives up and down the […]
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We consider that technology should not be used for technology’s sake as this is proven not to improve outcomes. It should only be used when it frees teachers and learners to be more effective in what they do best and that is to teach and to learn.
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When I visited a local school recently I was talking to Martin Heeley who has been working on and developing some ideas I gave him during the course. As we have a focus on the blog about what to keep of the ‘old ways’ and what technology we can harness cheaply or even free to […]
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I am able to commit a huge amount of information to memory in a very short space of time. I can memorise the order of a shuffled deck of playing cards in less than 2 minutes, a list of 240 random words within a 15-minute time limit and, given an hour, I can memorise the […]
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One of my favourite lessons on graphs is when I use the floor of my classroom as the x–y plane. I fix an origin in the middle of the floor (in order to make sure negative coordinates are included). I use masking tape to represent the axes along the floor, with masking tape dashes marked […]
Read moreThere are few things which have the same potential to revolutionise teaching and learning as technological innovation. Many schools have been quick to adapt and integrate new technologies into the classroom. But with so many possibilities, the big challenge for schools has been how to harness them in ways that improve outcomes and don’t break […]
Read moreMyth 1: Jam Tomorrow “New technologies are being developed all the time, so the past history of the impact of ICT is irrelevant to what we have now or will be available tomorrow.” After more than fifty years of digital technology adoption in education this argument is wearing a bit thin. We need a clear […]
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