As we get ready for September, after so much recent disruption, one of the groups who are most likely to be worried about the year ahead will be Year 10. They may be feeling apprehensive about learning everything in time for the exams, so it’s important that we encourage them, let them know that we […]
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Recently, I’ve been playing around with and using a lot of Oxford University Press Shakespeare materials and resources, which are proving to be excellent. In particular, I’ve been experimenting with their ‘Macbeth GCSE Revision Workbook’ by Graham Elsdon, which is part of the Oxford School Shakespeare series. I’ve been using this in the more traditional […]
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A perennial issue for English teachers is how best to prepare students for English Language. This is for good reason. Without a specific body of knowledge to teach, such as a literary text, it can all too easily descend into vague discussions orbiting around examination papers. In my own teaching, in order to address this, […]
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With just a few months until the beginning of the May/June exam series, the countdown to exam preparation has most definitely started. And whether your students are preparing for their first set of mocks or already have a number of past papers under their belt, revision will definitely be top of everyone’s to do list. […]
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Despite optionality this year, the AQA course is lengthy. If you are doing it over 2 years, it needs to be covered at the rate of knots and so therefore retrieval practice (RP) should be a welcome guest in every classroom! Put simply, RP is the strategy of calling information to mind which enhances and […]
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Over the last 10 years, the teaching profession has been exposed, and to some extent attempted to embed, the principles of effective revision. For many staff the names of Ebbinghaus, Dunlosky and Willingham have become familiar and their work and principles are now found in the ‘Golden Thread’ of the ITT Core Curriculum, the Early […]
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Journey’s End is a tragic play and one with valuable lessons about the futility of war – but maybe none more powerful than those Hibbert seems designed to convey. Sherriff described his characters as ‘simple, unquestioning men’ but Hibbert is far from either. As a construct, Hibbert enables Sherriff to show that some of the […]
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Learning to ‘face a few responsibilites’ Working with a student the other day, I realised that writing about the character of Mr Birling in ‘An Inspector Calls’ is probably the most difficult. When teachers who have taught AIC for years tell me it is ‘too clumsy’, ‘too obvious’, ‘too preachy’, they are referring in part […]
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Part of our series of posts that focus on a key character from exam set texts. Offering alternative interpretations and insights, these are ideal for sharing with students as they revise and prepare for their English Literature exams. ‘Everything’s all right now, Sheila.’ For me, Gerald Croft is in many ways the most interesting character […]
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Macbeth is often presented as a villain and it is difficult to defend him without taking the obvious route of blaming Lady Macbeth for his actions. In my view, it is not all about her manipulation of him. As I said in a previous blog , I think he has made his mind up to act on […]
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