Surfing the ‘Semantic Wave’: Helping beginning teachers to think about tackling the ‘pitch’ of their lesson

This blog is jointly authored by Victoria Crooks and Alex Ford. Check out http://www.andallthat.co.uk/ to read more blogs from Alex. Photo by Vladimir Kudinov on Pexels.com Matthew is a fab beginning teacher. He is highly professional, and his subject knowledge is second to none. Simon, his mentor, is delighted by the deeply informed historical discussions … Continue reading Surfing the ‘Semantic Wave’: Helping beginning teachers to think about tackling the ‘pitch’ of their lesson →

Poor Pedagogical Choices: When task design derails your lesson

Seb felt like he had spent all night making the activity the children were about to attempt. He had made source cards he was going to hide under the tables and stick under chairs. He wanted the students to work in pairs or small groups of three to answer questions which would gradually allow them … Continue reading Poor Pedagogical Choices: When task design derails your lesson →

The magic of teaching a history lesson with coherence direction and purpose

Photo by Vinu00edcius Vieira ft on Pexels.com There was a magical moment in a lesson I recently observed where you could almost see on pupils’ faces the relevance of the lesson collectively ‘click’. Following a retrieval practice exercise on the Reformation and actions of Henry VIII at the beginning of the lesson, and the discussion … Continue reading The magic of teaching a history lesson with coherence direction and purpose →

Showstopper Lessons: What Beginning Teachers and their Mentors can learn from GBBO.

Photo by Vojtech Okenka on Pexels.com I love baking and all things cake. So, having recently written about what mentors might learn from Strictly, I now turn my attention to what beginning/ early career teachers and their mentors might learn from Bake Off and the nature of the three baking challenges included in each episode. … Continue reading Showstopper Lessons: What Beginning Teachers and their Mentors can learn from GBBO. →

From caveman to concepts: Making history count in the primary classroom

Back in March I wrote this blog for the UoN Primary Team's excellent Blog considering six ideas for developing primary history, along with some practical strategies. I now reproduce it here in case it is helpful to a wider audience. “Mum you’ll never guess what happened today!” These words we’re delivered by my 7-year-old with … Continue reading From caveman to concepts: Making history count in the primary classroom →