Foundations I am very blessed to work in a school where most of my students have a talent I do not possess. Over 75% of our students speak something other than English as their first language, and many of them speak three, four or even five languages fluently. There are 72 languages spoken in our … Continue reading Vocabulary Flood
Category: Teaching Ideas
Posts about activities, strategies and resources which I have used in my classroom…
differentiation (with a small ‘d’)
This post is based on workshops I have led this summer at both the Leeds Trinity University NQT Conference, and at Teaching and Learning Leeds 2017 (hosted by The Grammar School at Leeds). If you attended either of these sessions and have questions, suggestions or comments, I would love to hear them @funkypedagogy, or write … Continue reading differentiation (with a small ‘d’)
Bird’s-eye View: GCSE top grade statements and evaluation…
This is a resource I have developed for my Y11 class. It is meant to support them in making evaluative comments about texts (looking at them from a bird's-eye view), and exploring overall text structure. The idea is that it allows students to construct strong opening statements, and also gives them prompts to consider the … Continue reading Bird’s-eye View: GCSE top grade statements and evaluation…
27 English reading and analysis resources which work!
The creativity and generosity of the online teaching community never ceases to amaze me. I have spent a couple of weeks collating resources for my department from my Twitter back catalogue, and was blown away by how long the list was. Years of communication with fellow educators has given me a huge collection of ideas and resources, some … Continue reading 27 English reading and analysis resources which work!
The Dyslexic English Teacher
It was only after I had got through GCSEs, A Levels, an English Degree and my PGCE year that I discovered I am dyslexic. My particular brand of dyslexia manifests itself in letter, number and colour recognition. In other words, I misread words, struggle to recognise spelling errors (including my own), read more slowly than … Continue reading The Dyslexic English Teacher
Walking-Talking Mock Exams
Many of you will know how these work and, whether you love them or hate them, they are an invaluable tool in the journey to exams for students across the spectrum. We used them last year in the run up to exam prep in English, and students reported an increased confidence level and, in some … Continue reading Walking-Talking Mock Exams
A Level Teaching Ideas – #5 Academic Voice
ALL credit for this goes to the talented Leslie Rowland, a PHD student and Associate Tutor in English at Indiana University. She ran a really fantastic workshop with some A Level Literature students in West Yorkshire this week, and the work she did was so great that I thought other teachers of essay subjects would … Continue reading A Level Teaching Ideas – #5 Academic Voice
#TMBrad – Teachmeet reflection..
I am always amazed by the dedication and sheer geekery of some teachers. At 10am on Saturday 11th July (the FINAL weekend of the school term), teachers from around Leeds and Bradford (plus, you know, Bahrain, just because...) descended on Appleton Academy for a day of inspiration and all round teacher banter. The day was … Continue reading #TMBrad – Teachmeet reflection..
A Level Literature Ideas #4: Engaging with abstract statements, questions and concepts…
Confused? This is what my students see when I ask them to think outside the box... As I write this, I am sitting in a classroom with no windows. The air-con is broken. The kids are melting, their brains hurt, and I am trying to get them to engage with this question: "Is love just … Continue reading A Level Literature Ideas #4: Engaging with abstract statements, questions and concepts…
A Level Literature Ideas – #3: Mood Boards
Literature at A Level has traditionally been a very essay driven course; there are very few specifications which allow any element of creative writing, and even these are optional swap-ins for a potential second essay. This is a shame because students need to be able to appreciate the craft of the writer and have a … Continue reading A Level Literature Ideas – #3: Mood Boards
