After the constant changes of the last two years, I know that many of us are excited about getting back to school and experiencing more ‘normal’ lessons. It is liberating to think that we (hopefully!) will be able to incorporate activities which were previously restricted, such as speaking. At the time of writing, it seems […]
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Paradoxically, being at home for twelve months has made the world more accessible for those students, who have access to a solid internet connection. Virtual field trips, virtual concerts and museum visits have opened the doors of possibility for intercultural understanding. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the language classroom, where an insight into […]
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I arrived to the school as a new member of staff in September under the banner of Assistant Head teacher for English and (that somewhat abstract concept) literacy. So much drew me to the school but one big driving force was that the school had established itself as a ‘reading school.’ Hours before my interview […]
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I will forever remember the academic year 2020-21. Not for the lockdowns, or the bubbles bursting; not for the lateral flow tests or constant sanitising; not for the masks and visors, or contact tracing. No, as memorable as Covid has been, I will remember, with relish, the year marking as we know it we came […]
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Following months of screen gazing, limited interaction and working in isolation, our students are ready to come to life and to feel the buzz that our lively and dynamic MFL methodology brings. A foreign languages lesson is a social event where interaction and communication are essential, just what our young people need, having been starved […]
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What Lemov makes clear here is that there is something important happening when we share reading, indeed not a singular something but a whole bunch of somethings. The complexity of reading has been well documented (Scarborough’s reading rope makes this very clear). Through the reading process, our students are acquiring vocabulary, developing phonological and grammatical […]
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The day to day existence of a teacher has changed beyond recognition this year as we moved from classroom to remote learning; from bubble to zone; back to remote learning and now back to the classroom once more! Phewf! Given the many, many ways we have adapted as a profession; isn’t it time to take […]
Read more The single most requested training I get from MFL teachers relates to listening skills. Colleagues often feel this is the most difficult skill to prepare pupils for, possibly because it is easy to misunderstand the myriad of micro-skills that make up “listening”. For pupils it is also difficult: it often triggers anxiety and leads to […]
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Metacognition is about pupils’ ability to monitor and direct their own learning. The concept of metacognition has been around for a long time, but seems to be having a revival recently, perhaps in part owing to some of the challenges presented by lockdown. Beyond the nightmare navigation of zooms, screen sharing and behaviour management from […]
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This September, for the first time in many years, I found myself leading a department with non-specialist teachers delivering Year 7 geography. I know from speaking to others that this is a position that many geography departments find themselves in year after year and so I recognise how rare my experience has been if this […]
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