funkypedagogy English Teachers Blog
Catch up with a slice of fresh news on all things education! Whether you're an English teacher looking for innovative classroom strategies, a language enthusiast exploring new learning techniques, or an educator passionate about shaping the future, this blog has something for you. We bring you insights, tips, and the latest trends in English teaching, curriculum development, and educational technology—all served with a dose of inspiration. Stay tuned, stay curious, and let's make learning more engaging than ever!
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Write like a… short story writer
This is a short extract from my new book, Teach Like A Writer. Here, Jacob Ross talks us through his classification system for types of short story. I’ve turned this...Continue reading→
Zero Written Feedback: a trial
FACT: Many schools still have blanket marking and feedback policies which dictate frequency and form of marking, e.g. one mark every four lessons, with a comment on progress and two...Continue reading→
Storming the Citadel: a quest for cultural capital
This blog is based on a talk I gave at ‘Teaching and Learning Leeds 2019’ hosted by the Grammar School at Leeds on Saturday 22nd June. Why is language vital?...Continue reading→
Poetry 2: Knowledge and Revision
The poetry anthology is a difficult challenge for revision because there are so many moving parts and it’s difficult to know what to prioritise. I’ve had lots of people asking...Continue reading→
Poetry 1: Key Principles
Poetry is the music of language. It is the most condensed, perfect form because the writer has compressed all meaning, emotion and expression into the most concise finished product possible....Continue reading→
Quotation Revision and Confidence!
I am a big proponent of learning quotations by rote. If students can memorise albums full of song lyrics, they can learn quotations! My students have been explicitly learning quotations...Continue reading→
Unseen Poetry Without the Stress…
Unseen poetry is stressful. We feel that it is never given enough time (because there are fifteen anthology poems to teach) and students struggle with confidence because the texts will...Continue reading→
Call me a ‘ball-breaker’ one more time…
This is a re-post of a blog I wrote for WomenEd in February 2019. A couple of years ago, a male colleague introduced me to someone as a ‘ball-breaker’. He...Continue reading→
Wellbeing: the subtle art of saying “no”; saying “not yet”, and asking the right questions…
Reading time: 5 minutes As the dark winter months close in around us, I am seeing a lot more in my Twitter feed about wellbeing and people who are seriously...Continue reading→
Words of the Week: what we do…
Reading time: 5 mins All the resources for the year 2018-19 are below. The resources for 2019-20 are at this website: https://mysparkwords.com/work We’ve all seen ‘Word of the Week’ used...Continue reading→