Inspiring creativity, positivity and an adventurous spirit. Teacher, writer and blogger.
As I've discussed before on the blog I'm currently writing my first novel and it's nearly finished! Read my post here about how I've done that alongside being a full time teacher. I'd like it to be read by a few people who read thrillers frequently and have the time to give me a few …
Continue reading "Do you read thrillers? I’m looking for beta readers for my first novel"
This is a creative writing scheme of work I've developed for year 10 or 11. It's designed to prepare them for the AQA English Language Paper 1 Section B, although you could remove these parts and just use it to prepare students for a creative writing task.
Teaching students to be creative is difficult. If they don't think they’re very good at it they feel shut off by it, as though it’s a skill you either have or you don’t. To make it harder still, there’s a number of things which hinder these students in accessing their creativity.
Failure is something we deal with every day, especially in teaching. If our students fail, we've failed. In the current educational climate that never been truer. But, it can be easy to forget how it feels on the other end of the learning front-line. Putting everything into each assignment, only to be told you've (sometimes) got …
Continue reading "How personal failure has helped me understand my students"
I've made these flashcards to teach students the persuasive language devices they'll need when writing articles or letters.
Firstly, let me get something clear, I love teaching. When you've thoroughly planned a lesson, it's going well and the students are on board, there's nothing better. This is not a post (the sort you sometimes see) by people jaded with the profession about a "plan B" or "getting out while you still can". This is about being able to do something you really want to, as well as be a great teacher.
When is your work as a teacher finished? Well, never. Teaching is never done. There is no point at which you have done everything possible, there will always be something more you can do. Add to that a desire to do the best job possible and see students succeed, and what you're left with is very little time for anything else.
Teaching students to follow a structure when being creative is something I try to avoid - the last thing I want to do is put a limit on their creativity. However, there is a trend when students are marked on descriptive writing (like in section B of paper 1 of the AQA Language exam) for …
Continue reading "Use this descriptive structure to focus your students’ creative writing"
Using writing to develop creativity – flipping the thinking. Getting students to write can be difficult, especially if it requires creativity.
