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  • How does Hemingway develop a sense of anticipation and drama at the beginning of the Old Man and the Sea?

    Hemingway’s opening is dramatic for a number of reasons. Read through the first two pages and/or listening to my podcast, and then list FOUR ways Hemingway develops a real sense of anticipation in the opening of the novel. Do you agree with these points? 1. Hemingway immediately tells us that there is a great deal…

  • Co-operative schools? The reality is a fright

    An educationalist warns that the evidence suggests the Tory proposal for teacher-run schools would lead to chaos What a great wheeze! Just think, if the Tories come to power, my teacher chums and I could be running our own co-operative schools. For a teacher like me, having struggled to teach under the iron grip of…

  • The worst classroom bullies? Politicians

     A toxic brew of meddling and failure to teach the basics has set teachers against pupils Luke had his victim, another 13-year-old pupil, in an armlock and was smashing his fists against his face. Things weren’t going according to my lesson plan. I rushed over to the fighting boys and yanked them apart, yelling at…

  • Composed on Westminster Bridge — an explanation for GCSE English Literature Podcast

    Composed on Westminster Bridge; an audio explanation by Francis Gilbert “Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802” is a sonnet by William Wordsworth describing London, viewed from one of the bridges over the Thames, in the early morning. It was first published in 1807. Earth has not anything to show more fair: Dull would he be of…

  • Should students choose their teachers?

    There’s no doubt that students, in certain ways, are gaining greater powers in schools. For example, legislation on “Student Voice” means that teachers are obliged to consult students about what teachers they would like to teach them. The wording is vague however: headteachers have a great deal of discretion as to how much they actually…

  • Why boycotting SATS for 11-year-olds is not a good idea

    The Standard Assessment Tests for 11-year-olds, while not perfect, are necessary. There are three reasons why teachers shouldn’t boycott these tests. Firstly, the tests as they stand do help drive up standards in reading, writing and arithmetic. Extra lessons are put on for those children who are not up to scratch and pupils who are…

  • What the hell is going on with computers in schools?

    Sonia Livingstone, an academic at the London School of Economics, gave an interesting talk at a Becta conference pointing out that there are several problems with using computers in schools. Firstly, she observed how many pupils feel that the internet can be a very unreliable source of information, not feeling certain that they were getting the…

  • Should teachers be censured by the authorities for being drunk?

    The new General Teaching Council’s Code of Conduct states under Rule 6, which is “Work as part of a whole-school team”, that teachers should “recognise the important role of school in the life of the local community, and take responsibility for upholding its reputation and building trust and confidence in it.” This guideline is very…

  • Gifts won’t make you teacher’s pet

    More and more pupils are giving teachers presents, but the practice only creates insecurity in parents and staff The strangest present a colleague of mine received was a perfectly formed turd. Michael Whyte was teaching in Plaistow some years ago in a school that’s now closed, when sitting down to teach his first lesson of…

  • The Common Entrance Automatons

     Wellington College’s head knocks state ‘factory schools’, yet his entrance exams see children being drilled as early as year four   Anthony Seldon is one of the most powerful figures in education today, so when he provides 20 recommendations for improving schools we should all take note. Given his ideological closeness with the Conservatives, he…

  • The National Scandal! Teaching Reading — my correspondence with Susan Godsland at the RRF

     Speaking at the Reading Reform Foundation conference has really crystallised my thoughts on the teaching on reading. I found it both positive and depressing. Positive in that the RRF is offering concrete solutions that appear to work, but depressing but they’ve been ignored for too long. Here is my correspondence so far with Susan Godsland.…

  • Town and Country quiz – revising the poems

    Please add in annotations to the poems if/when you see fit as you are answering these questions London What does Blake notice in every face he meets? (weakness, woe or sorrow) TRUE OR FALSE: ‘Mind-forged manacles’ are chains created by minds which have been oppressed or brainwashed They are a special type of clothing people…

  • Have government policies failed to teach our nation to read?

    I spoke at WAVES — the Reading Reform Foundation Conference — today, giving my views on twenty years of teaching — and sometimes failing — to teach reading. I spoke about the changing times: how when I first taught there was no internet, no mobile phones, no social networking sites, and how the class reader was…

  • Is it harder than ever to be a teacher?

    There’s a crisis of identity at the heart of the teaching profession. We don’t know exactly who we are or what our roles should entail. Are we the founts of all knowledge who pour it like milk into the empty vessels of our pupils? Or are we merely facilitators of learning, guiding our pupils through…

  • Are standards getting worse in our schools? What is education for?

    It depends what you mean by standards. Exam pass rates have gone up, but does that mean standards are higher? I argued on Newsnight that teachers like me are now like foreman in factories; supervising, cajoling, bribing, lecturering children to pass exams. The net result is that children are getting better at passing exams, but…

  • Exciting developments in the E Book world

    There are lots of new opportunities in the world of E-Books, which I’m just getting my head around. Here are some interesting sites: Follow these links for a flavour of what’s happening in the world of digital texts: www.futureofthebook.org.uk www.bookfutures.com www.fictional-stimulus.ning.com www.ifsoflo.ning.com www.insearchoflosttim.net www.songsofimaginationanddigitisation.net www.thegoldennotebook.org

  • School choice – an overrated concept

    As a teacher for 20 years, I can tell parents that with their support children can flourish anywhere The agony of waiting is over. Yesterday was national offer day, when parents learnt if their children had got into their favoured secondary schools. Unfortunately, as many as 100,000 children and their families have been bitterly disappointed.…

  • Should teachers use force to break up pupils who are fighting?

    The question is a tricky one. As a young teacher, I got into trouble for pulling two pupils apart while they were scrapping on the floor. One of the pupils claimed I’d manhandled him and complained to a senior member of staff. Luckily, my manager knew what the child was like and didn’t believe his…

  • Comparing Poems from Town and Country — mock exam questions

    Comparing poem from Town and Country by FGI   Comparing The Passionate Shepherd to His Love and The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd. Marlowe’s poem is very passionate. What imagery does the poet use to make the shepherd’s love seem so passionate? What are the delights that the shepherd is offering? In Ralegh’s poem, the…

  • Comparing Lake Isle of Innisfree and A Dead Harvest In Kensington

     How to write a fandaglistic hyperpolished poetry essay in timed conditions. Use this frame to help you! Explore the different ways in which the poets portray nature  in ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’’ and ‘A Dead Harvest in Kensington’ Introduction: where you introduce the poems by explaining BRIEFLY what they are about. Remember you get…

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