Introverts thrive by being allowed to be quiet, having time for reflection and not being required to 'perform' all the time.
Read More
Quick look: Desirable difficulties in action
The idea of desirable difficulties has always appealed to me. In my teaching I’m partticularly in favour of applying Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development.
Read MoreReview: The Collaboration Book – 41 Ideas for Working Better
Most people would agree that collaboration is a good thing – so how can we collaborate more effectively in school settings?
Read More
Click the image to see this book on Amazon (affiliate link)
Review: Listen: On Music, Sound and Us
This book might not directly address obvious aspects of the music curriculum, but it can certainly give teachers access to a rich seam of facts and anecdotes with which to embellish their lessons.
Read More
Review of Destination Time Travel, by Steve Nallon
A book on temporal adventures may seem like an odd inclusion here, but it can actually be used in many ways.
Read More
Review: The Language of Deception: Weaponizing Next Generation AI, by Justin Hutchens
AI might not be ‘intelligent’ in the strictest sense – but it can certainly appear to be, which is almost as worrying.
Read More
Review of Tips for teachers: 400+ ideas to improve your teaching
Don’t let this book’s size (nearly 600 pages) put you off. It’s comprehensive, and very well structured and laid out.
Read More
Quick looks: The collaboration book
I’ve just sent Teach Secondary magazine my review of this book, so I can’t say much before that’s published.
Read More
Review: The Book at war
The Book at War is a fascinating study of how books and other reading matter have variously influenced politics, propaganda and history over time.
Read More
Review: Iterate: The secret to innovation in schools
Having endured some fairly dreadful ‘initiatives’ in my time, delivered from on high with the directive to ‘make it work’, I approached Iterate with some trepidation.
Read More
From EdTech to PedTech (full review)
Those of us who have held responsibility for embedding digital technology across a school will all have tales of well-meaning management who, frankly, didn’t have a clue.
Read MoreReview: The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper
Who would have thought that a material as commonplace as paper could have such a rich history and profound effect on our lives?
Read More
Review: Once upon a prime
As someone who had little in the way of mathematical prowess at school, I initially opened Prime with some trepidation.
Read More
Click the cover to see this on Amazon (affiliate link)
Review: First Year Teaching
This is the guide I wish I’d had when I started teaching.
Read More
Click to see this on Amazon (affiliate link)
Review: From EdTech to PedTech (excerpt)
Those of us who have held responsibility for embedding digital technology across a school will all have tales of well-meaning management who, frankly, didn’t have a clue.
Read MoreReview: A Little History of Music by Robert Philip (YUP)
I asked the AI module built in to Squarespace to write a paragraph on why music is relevant to teachers of Computing. Here’s what it said…
Read MoreQuick look: Parliament Buildings: The architecture of politics in Europe
I suspect that the use of space in parliament buildings will hold some lessons for schools as well.
Read MoreReview: The Liars of Nature and the nature of liars: Cheating and deception in the living world
The key question at the heart of this book is perhaps this – if honesty is the best policy, why is dishonesty so rife in nature?
Read MoreReview: Sensational: A new story of our senses, by Ashley Ward
Research apparently shows we may actually have up to 50 senses, and even that figure isn’t universally agreed upon.
Read MoreReview: The A-Z of Great Classrooms, by Roy Blatchford
I’m personally yet to be convinced by the benefits of dictation, and the idea of teaching English via a cross-curricular approach has been tried with less than satisfactory results. Nevertheless, this is a great source of ideas.
Read More