/ November 21, 2016 at 12:00 PM
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Morning all. I was at the Northern #ASEConf at the weekend, had a good time and had lots to think about. I’m going to try really hard to blog it this week, but I’m buried under a ton of stuff and…
/ August 21, 2016 at 7:35 PM
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It turns out that I’m really bad at following up conference presentations. Back in early June, I offered a session on teachers engaging – or otherwise – with educational research. It all grew out of an argument I had on…
/ May 24, 2016 at 11:06 AM
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I’m sure many other bloggers have posted about this already, but in case it’s passed you by; the new GCSE specification is officially starting from September. Many schools, of course, started teaching from the draft simple because, if you’re delivering…
/ April 24, 2016 at 6:43 PM
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I’ve been pretty quiet recently – at least it feels like I’ve not been offering much to the conversation. There are several reasons, but a big part of it is that with paid freelance work I’ve really not been able…
/ February 4, 2016 at 1:44 PM
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All secondary teachers look forward to the summer term. Not just because we might actually get to see daylight before and after work, but for that possibly mythical creature, ‘gained time’. Assuming you don’t end up teaching RE to stroppy…
/ January 18, 2016 at 10:33 PM
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I’m a science teacher. When talking about the characteristics of sound in my lessons, I encourage students to give detail. It’s not enough to say that a change causes ‘more vibrations’. If the sound is a higher pitch, the vibrations…
/ September 19, 2015 at 5:33 PM
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Number one rule in discipline is never get irritable. Forgive easily and forget. Easier if you aren’t in a mood… — Miss Smith (@HeyMissSmith) August 9, 2015 This tweet really resonated with me, and there’s not a teacher alive who can’t…
/ March 19, 2015 at 12:41 PM
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A good turnout for the second week, although some pupils hadn’t shown up despite the stories about marshmallows and spaghetti. Apparently this is a regular issue for after-school activities in primary school. Several kids were enthusiastic about telling me the…
/ March 16, 2015 at 10:35 PM
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I’ve dug out some old markbooks – electronic and paper – because I wanted to think about who it is that we’re teaching, and why. It occurred to me that having universities contributing to A-level specification discussions assumed that the…
/ March 10, 2015 at 9:24 PM
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Quick and easy practical, instant gratification, cheap materials (that you can eat at the end). Yes, the first in our series of science club activities was always going to be Spaghetti Towers. Materials spaghetti (1 pack per four kids) marshmallows…
/ March 10, 2015 at 8:49 PM
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My son’s primary school was looking for more after-school activities. My wife was at the meeting where they discussed the possibilities. And I’m a science teacher with a bit of spare time as my current role is both part-time and out…
/ February 18, 2015 at 6:15 PM
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I’m going to keep this brief in the hope it actually gets (a) finished and (b) published. Because I’ve several drafts that I’ve just not found the time or motivation to finish off. In context; I have a small child,…
/ January 15, 2015 at 9:04 PM
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To increase the chances of this actually getting posted – instead of sitting in limbo like the (ahem) five drafts I’ve not completed – this will be briefer than my usual approach. But I figure bullet points are better than…
/ October 5, 2014 at 9:10 PM
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My son is a keen and able reader. Not quite ten, he read and enjoyed The Hobbit earlier this year. He likes both Harry Potter and Alex Rider. David Walliams‘ books are now ‘too young for him’ and he’s a big…
/ September 15, 2014 at 3:05 PM
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Tonight’s #asechat will involve Charles Tracy, the IoP’s Head of Education (and one of my bosses), discussing the new approach adopted by exam boards from this year. There’s lots of information at Supporting Physics Teaching, which is free to access and…
/ September 4, 2014 at 1:48 PM
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This was already planned as a response to Ian McDaid’s What’s In My Bag post, but I was prompted by a tweet from Cory @Doctorow about the wonderful Grid-It organiser. They’re great. Go and buy one. So anyway, here’s the contents of my bag,…
/ August 12, 2014 at 9:55 PM
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I had an old webcam. I had time on my hands. And I had an idea. This was never going to end well. I’m actually pretty pleased with the result. It’s nowhere near as pretty as the one on Instructables produced…
/ July 22, 2014 at 9:59 AM
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So yesterday was the first proper day of the holidays. I say that because the weekends don’t really count, do they? But the first weekday when you get to lay in bed, relax over a cuppa, wear shorts rather than…
/ July 17, 2014 at 10:11 AM
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My eldest son already identifies as geeky. Maybe it’ll change, and that’s fine. But right now he’s got a Raspberry Pi, several electronics kits and a burning desire to make a robot that will allow him to take over the world.…
/ July 17, 2014 at 7:45 AM
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Six weeks of summer holiday stretching ahead and I’ve laid in a stockpile of books, both paper and electronic, to keep me out of trouble. I’ve also got a long list of saved articles to catch up on; lesson study…
