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Tough Young Teachers – Review
I liked it. It didn’t focus on exposing vulnerable children but instead was a real, honest and accurate portrayal of the experiences that new teachers (as well as the not so new) encounter, the problems they face and the passion and enthusiasm that goes into solving them.
Jeremy’s little red book
I have never seen a party leader hold and point to his manifesto as much as Jeremy. This explains why he is being so successful on the campaign trail.
Thoughts on Tough Young Teachers
This was a brilliant final episode. It really captured the highs and lows that teachers experience. The highs when a student screams ‘I got an A’ and the lows when our results aren’t as expected. It presented teaching as the drug it is, no matter what happens, you keep going back for more.
Do I still believe it?
At the start of the 2014-2015 academic year I thought it would be a great idea to reflect on my educational beliefs, those that underpin my daily activity. Now, at the end of the 2015-2016 academic year, I think it would be a great idea to see if any of these beliefs have changed.
Is your learning falling off the edges?
A spiral model of learning will stop new learning from dropping off the edges as it will continually develop and reinforce the links between current and new understanding
The Intelligence Wager
Much has been discussed concerning whether students can become more intelligent, i.e. whether they can increase their capacity to learn, as well just simply learn new things. I firmly believe that they can but regardless of the answer to this question the most important things is that we act as if they can and Pascal’s wager provides a good analogy as to why.
What motivates school staff? A lesson from Google
Empowering and encouraging staff to formulate their own ideas and to actually implement them will serve as the highest form of motivation
Spaghetti, marshmallows and assessment for learning
The marshmallow challenge highlights that AFL methodologies have most impact when they are intrinsic to lessons and not used as a ‘tag-on’
What I believe
At the start of the educational year it is a great idea to reaffirm and re-evaluate the principles that guide us in our daily teaching and leadership activities. What do you believe? What will you not compromise on? What do you stand by? What underpins your daily activity. Here, in some order of importance, is a collection of what I believe.
An Indian Education
My recent visit to Indian schools highlighted the transformational power that effective school leadership can have, how education can change lives, how a ‘different’ style of examination system can foster high level thinking skills, why teachers should act as a ‘distanced friend’, the power of Skype, how children can make their parents ‘live better’ and why we should focus on nature and heritage