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Reflections and articles around teaching and learning.
Where Are They Now?
One of my earliest Facebook memories was receiving a friend request from a past student. A wonderful message followed thanking me for being the teacher I was. I won’t brag and go into details, but we don’t get this feedback often and when it comes it is treasured. It...
Why Burnout is not the End.
Day 4 of the challenge and we are asked to write a story post. Stories are the lifeblood of English teachers so there was not a shortage of possibilities. Once again I was tempted to take the easy road and talk about one of the many magic moments that I experienced...
Sharing is Easier with Chrome.
Here I am again. This 3rd post in the challenge is to be a review post. What to review posed a challenge in itself. My first thought was to review school based PD offerings but that needs a much fuller treatment than I can do today. I have been reading and researching...
A Frequently Asked Question
Today’s post is the second in the 7 day challenge. Important family commitments meant that I did not get this posted yesterday so I am going to try and do 2 today. This is a situation that you, as an English teacher, face all the time I know. Your lessons are all...
4 Essential Activities for an English Teacher.
No matter how much information we have sometimes it is hard to get into a good writing routine. So this week I am taking the plunge and have signed up for a 7 day blogging challenge. Darren Rouse over at ProBlogger is running this. I like Darren, he is an Aussie guy...
Please – No More Chapter Questions!
Nothing is more surely designed to drown any flickering student interest in a book than chapter questions. Honestly, if there is a good reason why we still do this it is beyond my comprehension. And this is the point isn’t it? Comprehension. I have always loved to...
Make it About Them.
I remember many years ago reading a Peanuts cartoon where Lucy was trying to get someone to learn their numbers. I have searched but can’t find the cartoon so you will just need to take my word for it. Finally Lucy raised her arms in frustration and pointed out that...
The Reasons I hate Book-Hire Schemes for English
When it comes to text books for many subjects, hire-book schemes can be really helpful. Many of these books are expensive to buy and as they are used year after year it makes sense to ensure that all students have access. However I think they are deadly for English...
How to Manage the ‘END.’
This is always a strange time of year for me. Colleagues in the Northern hemisphere are in the process of winding down and preparing for their long break, while down here in the Southern regions teachers are up to their eyeballs in the busiest time of their year....
Less Management, More Engagement.
Classroom management has been at the top of PD lists and topics for educational publications for the last couple of decades. An unconscionable number of trees have been sacrificed to provide manuals and workshop handouts, while at the same time entire languages of...
Framing the moment.
I was reading Frederick Buechner this morning and he was talking about Art. All Art, not just the visual. As an author, he was talking most about literature and its ability to take a simple event or action and frame it in such a way that we actually notice it. The...
