In 1994 I set out with my wife to discover the best place to buy a computer system -- and discovered a lot of sexism along the way.
Read MoreA Single Comment on my School Report Turned my Life Around
A letter to one of my secondary school teachers.
Read MorePhoto by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
What's your dream team?
One of your tasks, along with your new colleagues, is to recruit people to be in your team. What a wonderful feeling that must be!
Read Morebooks to be reviewed by Terry Freedman
Navigating nonfiction books
One of the first things I look for when reviewing a non-fiction book is whether or not it contains an index. If it does, the next thing I check is whether the index is actually useful.
Read MoreConference, by Terry Freedman
Upcoming events
The following events may be of interest to teachers.
Read MorePhoto by Honest Paws on Unsplash
Is honesty always the best policy?
Starting a new job as head of the Information Technology and Business Studies department in a school, I was filled with excitement, and a certain amount of anxiety — but not entirely for the usual reasons…
Read MoreThe state of Computing
Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education) has published its first report in ages into Computing as a subject. I've summarised the findings, and added some links and comments on my own in italics.
Read More#Flashback Friday: Review of The Long Tail
The “Long Tail" has been lauded and quoted at length. But what does the book actually say, and how does it stand up to scrutiny. In this lengthy review I give it a cautious "thumbs up".
Read MoreBooks to be reviewed #3: Climate Change for Dummies
This is another book to be reviewed for Teach Secondary magazine.
Read MoreFollow the signs to a couple of new newsletters. Photo: Signpost pointing right, by Terry Freedman
New publications alert: If it don't fit...
After a year of weighing up the pros and cons I decided to start a couple of publications on Substack. One is about literature and life in general, and the other one is focused on education more generally
Read MoreReview of Tools for Teachers
My review of this book has just been published in Teach Secondary magazine. The review there is slightly different from the one I submitted, so I’ve included my original one here as text, and the Teach Secondary one as a scan.
Read MorePrinting press, by Terry Freedman
Introducing teachers to desktop publishing
When I started at a school where part of my role was to encourage other teachers to use the education technology facilities, one of the strategies I used was to produce fake news stories using the school’s desktop publishing software.
Read MoreImage by Tumisu, please consider ☕ Thank you! 🤗 from Pixabay
#FlashbackFriday: Lesson observation
A still-relevant article from a few years ago.
Read MoreHandshake, by Terry Freedman
Breaking the social media contract (Updated)
Why I’m unfollowing people more and more.
Read MoreTfL data by Terry Freedman
An article about data
Elaine keeps telling me to remember to clock in and out at stations, even if the barriers are open. She’s right.
Read MoreBooks To Be Reviewed #2: Futureproof
There are some interesting-looking books at the top of the to-be-reviewed pile. This is one of them.
Read MoreBooks to be reviewed #1: No Excuses
There are some interesting-looking books at the top of the to-be-reviewed pile. This is one of them.
Read MoreQuick looks: Support Not Surveillance, by Dr Mary Bousted
As far as I’m aware no Education Secretary has had the ability or the courage to deal with the teacher recruitment and retention crisis.
Read MoreQuick looks: Tools for Teachers, by Oliver Lovell
Overall the book is a good investment, although I did have some quibbles with it.
Read MoreQuick looks: About Our Schools, by Tim Brighouse and Mick Waters
If you want to see the humble brag elevated to an art form, this is the book for you.
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