Blog Posts Archives - Page 2 of 2

[un]comfortable

The following is a guest post by my good friend Nick; you can read more about the author here. Something quite profound happened to me last week while my wife Suzie and I were taking a post-work stroll. The sun paused in its descent just long enough to bathe the last, blissful hours of the day in the glorious golden light you can see in the photo above. We meandered down a dirt track, passing beautifully painted huts, a few herds of sheep, numerous cows, some goats (don’t look too closely at goats, they are frightening beasts), some ducks, d[...]

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Movement in the Classroom

Incorporating movement and physical activity into the classroom is a great way to keep students engaged and focused, and helps to stave off boredom. In primary school, students are often moving regularly, yet when they get to secondary school we seem to expect them to sit still for extended periods whilst still retaining focus. Below are five ways in which I try to keep my students moving in class. 1. Between activities, have students stand up and move around. This can be as simple as having students shake out their limbs, or do some jumping jacks and then sit[...]

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How do I get my students to read?

I love receiving emails from my readers and buyers: I enjoy connecting with like-minded people; I appreciate engaging in conversations about education; I value sharing in your experiences. Recently I had a reader email me to ask about how to get students reading the novels they study in class. read more[...]

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How To Engage Students in the First few Minutes of a Lesson

I have a wonderful friend who is currently a student teacher. I absolutely love chatting to her about her experiences and questions, as she challenges me to reflect on my own practice: to re-evaluate my strategies; to work out what it is I do and why; to tweak what isn’t working. Her questions are always intelligent, thought-provoking and full of exciting curiosity – she is going to make an exceptional teacher. A few weeks ago she asked me how to get students to ‘come to the party’; how to entice them to engage and participate in the learning experience s[...]

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Designed to Inspire: The importance of classroom decorating

For teachers in the Northern hemisphere, it’s summer which means time for that well-deserved vacation. For me, summer means long evenings, Pimms cocktails, Wimbledon, strawberries and lots of time to read. (Can you see how summer brings out the British in me?) Occasionally my thoughts drift to the upcoming new school year. And then I find myself thinking of the first impression I want my students to get as they walk into their new classroom – and what frame of mind I want them to come to me in. A new year brings with it the chance to wipe the slate clean and[...]

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My Favourite Quotations: 1

Every now and then I come across quotations which attract my attention. Sometimes they make me smile, sometimes they inspire me, sometimes they challenge me, and sometimes they just make me feel warm and fuzzy. I thought I would post some of these quotations from time to time, and share my reflections. ************************************************ A few weeks ago I wrote a post about a teacher who really influenced my life. Since then I have had many conversations about the influence teachers have had in friends' lives. Some influences are positive.[...]

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Student Teaching Tips: 8 Things I Wish I Knew As A Student Teacher

Student teaching: an exciting, daunting, overwhelming and thrilling experience. It’s the first time you step back into the classroom on the other side of the desk and realize that the view is rather different from here. Student teaching wasn’t all that long ago for me, and in the last few years, as I have sat at the back of the classroom and observed other student teachers, I have thought about the experience a lot. These are the eight things I believe all student teachers should know. 1. We were all student teachers once. Sadly, you will encounter many te[...]

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Inspired by Fizzy Fish: Memories of Great Teachers

Can you identify a particular teacher who shaped the person you are today? I can. Her name was Mrs Carter and she was simply wonderful. She wasn’t a big personality. She wasn’t a comedian or an entertainer. She didn’t have a commanding voice or a captivating teaching style. In fact, in many ways, and to many people, she was neither remarkable nor impressive. Yet to me, Mrs Carter was inspiring. A small lady, softly spoken and gentle; sat down when she taught, spoke quietly and listened intently. Classroom management was not her forte – but it didn[...]

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Teaching Grade 9

I have a love-hate relationship with Grade 9. Walking into the classroom, you can almost smell the hormones in the air: the anxiety of teenagers trying to shake off primary school identities and find their ‘grown-up’ individuality; the adolescent angst; the confusion of young people trying to come to terms with growing up. You see the lovesickness in the eyes of those going through their first crush (which is so all consuming, don’t you dare tell them that their attention would better turned to prepositions for forty minutes). Childhood friendships shift[...]