The teaching is the point

When you’re in the throes of the school term it’s easy to think about the next holiday. To look forward with excitement to that dreamlike last ringing of the bell signalling the time to pack up and go home. Of course, that’s normal. Teaching is a hard job. It’s relentless and frustrating. It’s easy to …

Inspire your students with a creative writing workshop

My favourite part of teaching English has always been creative writing. I suppose that's no surprise considering I am a writer myself.   Last week (November 2019) I was asked to deliver a creative writing workshop for a school in Kent. It's something I'd thought about doing for a while, so when they asked, I …

Five reasons not to work during the holidays

During any holiday season, there always seems to be a big split amongst the teaching community on social media. There are those who are using the time to get ahead with their marking, planning or even going into the classroom to get things organized for the first day back. Then there are those who believe …

Creative writing mini scheme of work

I love teaching creative writing and young people can be so good at it. They have such great ideas which, when harnessed, creates some great pieces of work. I've already shared the Creative Writing Structure Strips which are incorporated into this short scheme of work.   I've used this a number of times, often when …

2019 the year of FOCUS

UPDATE! (3rd June 2019) My debut novel, Kathmandu, is out now! Click below to start reading now: UPDATE! (5th April 2019) I'm really pleased to show you this. Finally, after focusing on writing for the last few months, I received the proof copy of my book Kathmandu today. 2019 the year of focus (original article) …

Five ways to proofread – both for you and your students

We all know what it's like, you post something online, or send an all-staff e-mail, then notice the glaringly obvious mistake in the first line. That happens because when you read something you've just written, you read what you want it to say - not what's actually written. This is something that affects me, both as …

Helping young people visualise the future

How many times have you heard an assembly about working hard to benefit later, the metaphor of sowing seeds for your future, or an even less structured rant about "the future is what you make it, rah, rah, rah..." In fact, I am guilty of playing that same "stuck record" myself, telling students how important …

The Healthy Teacher Project 9 – Mal Krishnasamy

What is The Healthy Teacher Project? Mal Krishnasamy is an education consultant and leadership coach. She has worked as the head of history, been part of a school's senior team and the management team of a multi-academy trust. I love talking with people like Mal who have stepped away from classroom teaching because their perspectives …

See, wonder and infer – a structure to help your students with inference

Students are better at inference than they get credit for. Their problem often lies in ordering and expressing their thoughts  - not the inference itself. I use this structure to help students talk and write about their inferences of both texts and images.   We go through this one stage at a time: First, students …

Creating realistic optimism in your classroom

The job of a teacher is to be optimistic, for ourselves and our students. We are supposed to teach students to be ambitious, to push themselves, to be the best they can. I count myself as an optimist - it's been essential in all my achievements so far. Who would bother to put in all …