I read three blogs on a fairly regular basis that I recommend that you do too. They are written by three teachers who are connected to people that I know (and have played football with!), yet I would not know them personally.
The first is by a head teacher called John Tomsett. His frankness is extraordinary. In his blog he writes about his Ofsted inspection, and of some of the glibness in response to outstanding observations. He films himself teaching, and critiques it! Finally, he writes of how his relationship with his son has been affected by his dedication to his job. In all, it affects me: http://johntomsett.com/2014/01/10/this-much-i-know-about-why-putting-your-family-first-matters/
Secondly, Alex Quigley writes about teaching English in a way that is clear, rigorous and throughly engaging. He writes with honesty about his inadequacies as a teacher because he is precisely the opposite. Freely he shares his resources, and critiques what he does with courage. www.huntingenglish.com
Finally, David Didau is one tough teacher. He writes with authority on planning, teaching and whole-school literacy. His recent posts critiquing metastudies include some (somewhat terrifying) feedback from Dylan Williams. http://www.learningspy.co.uk/featured/reducing-feedback-might-increase-learning/ Given my recent focus on rubrics and feedback, it is a punch to the stomach that I needed. It makes me question what aspects of my feedback are truly important and useful, and realise that practice is the only thing that might reveal what is useful to my students. Or not.
