by thequillguy | Sep 25, 2018 | For School, For Students, For Teachers, Literature
English teachers are usually charismatic. The act of reading and considering poetry and drama makes for strong and interesting personalities, usually. This is usually translated into a classroom persona. Yet is this a necessity? Like some Twitterarti worry, is...
by thequillguy | Sep 18, 2018 | For School, For Students
Here is a report I submitted a few years ago based upon my experiences of implementing Accelerated Reader (AR). While I think that AR is the best programme for tracking reading in reluctant readers, encouraging reading in a secondary school requires a far more...
by thequillguy | Sep 14, 2018 | For Living, For Students, Literature
This year I have taken on the running of our KS5 literature specification. It has been an interesting experience, calling into question my philosophy of what makes a worthwhile curriculum. One conversation that was had with outgoing staff was of the prioritisation...
by thequillguy | Sep 4, 2018 | For Living, For Students, Literature
This summer I was promoted to Head of KS5 Literature, leading a team of six people. I enjoyed the support of some very experienced teachers, including a principal examiner and ex-Head of an elite Asian school. We needed to switch from an AS course to a linear approach...
by thequillguy | Sep 1, 2018 | For School, For Teachers, Lesson Planning, Metacognition, The Psychology of Teaching
My training for staff at the start of this year focuses on making screencasts. You can see a video summary of the training below. It aims to frame screencasting exemplars as a useful stimulus to stimulating metacognition practice. Following my study on metacognition,...