“You say it best, when you say nothing at all”: Resisting the pressure to comment beyond your expertise

Photo by https://kaboompics.com/ on Pexels.com It seems to me that whenever a major event occurs, a controversy erupts, or a cause gains public attention, there is increasingly an assumption that you should immediately take a position on the issue and share your opinion. Silence is viewed suspiciously, and interpreted varyingly as indifference, cowardice, complicity, or … Continue reading “You say it best, when you say nothing at all”: Resisting the pressure to comment beyond your expertise →

Consistency, Consistency, Consistency: Articulating Ground Rules and Establishing Expectations in the Classroom

Photo by Caleb Oquendo on Pexels.com Every year my main message when teaching beginning teachers about behaviour management is CONSISTENCY. This week, I’ve been dropping my child off at a holiday club being held at their primary school. I've been struck by how the parents of the pupils who usually attend the school have abided … Continue reading Consistency, Consistency, Consistency: Articulating Ground Rules and Establishing Expectations in the Classroom →

Tuchel and Bellingham: What teachers can learn from the World Cup when giving post-lesson feedback

Photo by Allen Boguslavsky on Pexels.com For me, one of the most fascinating moments of England's World Cup quarter-final victory over Norway happened in the minutes immediately after the match. Jude Bellingham’s two goals had led England to victory and a semi-final place and the players were exhausted after a gruelling contest in difficult conditions. … Continue reading Tuchel and Bellingham: What teachers can learn from the World Cup when giving post-lesson feedback →

Mentoring beginning and early career teachers: A thank you to our mentors

Photo by Ann H on Pexels.com From the outside, teacher mentoring can look like a simple weekly meeting, a quick post-lesson conversation, or a shared planning session squeezed in before home time. But mentoring is multi-dimensional work. It involves constant shifting between encouragement and challenge, between stepping in and stepping back as mentors do the … Continue reading Mentoring beginning and early career teachers: A thank you to our mentors →

From ITT student to colleague: sustaining relationships beyond ITT

Photo by Anna Tarazevich on Pexels.com This week, in the middle of a PGCE interview, the applicant asked: “Is there any ongoing support for your trainee teachers after they leave your programme?” I smiled, partly because it is such an important question, and partly because I was thinking about what had happened in the last … Continue reading From ITT student to colleague: sustaining relationships beyond ITT →