June 10, 2015


From a student's point of view...

I was thinking the other day, I have published loads of blog posts about helping teachers, laying out your classroom, getting students involved; but here's the thing, I have never written one from a student's perspective!

So, I reckoned with myself, teachers are there to help students and that means that the students are the priority. Now, you won't be a very good teacher, or very good at anything for that matter, if you don't understand your priority fully, so here it is. A blog from a child's perspective...

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May 26, 2015


When Naughtiness is Really a Cry for Help

Students who persistently misbehave may have underlying special educational needs. Here are five of the most common signs

When a child misbehaves, a teacher needs to weigh up factors such as context, background and timing before deciding how to react. This internal check-list is crucial to the punishment being a fair reflection of the crime and its perpetrator. Nevertheless, many children are still being punished for behaviour they cannot control, or that has justifiable cause, because of undiagnosed special educational needs.

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May 08, 2015


Getting to Know Your Pupils

Getting to know pupils is vital if you want to avoid conflict, and if you want your pupils to realise their potential.

Teaching is an interactive process that requires an ever-changing system of exchange and negotiation between you and your pupils. It is important for all of us to remember that employing the ‘jug and mug’ principle, with the children being the empty receptacles into which you simply pour a healthy portion of knowledge, is no longer appropriate.

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April 14, 2015


Classroom Difficulties - Dealing With Difficult Students and Parents

Confronting difficult students in your class is not something that teachers look forward to but it is a disruption that every educator will meet at some point during their career. And then comes the possibility of difficult parents. Although these may be tough and sometimes emotional situations to deal with, it is important to stay positive. View full article →
April 08, 2015


Five things great teachers have in common

The quality of someone's teaching does not just refer to how much information they manage to get into their student's heads or the results that they produce. It also refers to their technique and presentation. Many teachers have a fantastic amount of knowledge that would be greatly useful to students, but they have no idea of how to express it. Great teaching often has less to do with wisdom and skills, but more to do with their attitude to their student, their subject and their work. This article explains the top five characteristics of great teachers, and how to incorporate them into your own lessons. View full article →
April 04, 2015


Getting Teens Talking

Getting teenagers to use English in class can provide a considerable challenge to most teachers. This article examines some of the reasons why it can be so difficult and makes some suggestions for overcoming these problems. View full article →
April 02, 2015


The problem of learning names- solved

Remembering your pupils' names can be tricky. Here are a few ideas to try, including games and the delicate art of bluff

Learning your children’s names is absolutely vital for good behaviour management; it’s all part of building a good and strong relationship with them. However, there is no overestimating how difficult learning names can be. This is particularly true for secondary school teachers of subject such as PE, music, drama and RE, who may have a large number of classes that they see for an hour a week.

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March 11, 2015


The first day- Nervous? Excited? Here are some ideas to help you get through it

It is extremely unlikely that you’ll be thrown in at the deep end on your first day at school, and expected to actually look after a class on your own. What is more likely that you will be asked to observe the class or teacher, perhaps helping out with a small group of students once they have been set a task on which to work.
Here’s a check-list of tips for what to do (and what not to do) on that crucial first day View full article →
February 08, 2015


Classroom layout: your questions answered

Experience and research has shown me that the best way to keep a group of pupils focused and engaged is having pupils seated in rows. Personally I would have this as your ‘default’ arrangement. There will be time when you do actually want ‘cross-table chat’ and of course this is when you do need to sit pupils in groups. My advice would be: do not have groups of any larger than four because there will be more opportunities for pupils to be a) distracted and b) marginalised.

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January 16, 2015


Our Top 10 Inspirational Teaching Quotes

As a teacher today, it’s easy to let the sheer number of tasks you have to tackle overshadow the bigger picture. It’s important to take some time every now and then to remind yourself why you love being a teacher. We’ve compiled a list of our ten favourite teaching quotes that will put a smile on your face and inspire you to be the best teacher you can be!   1) “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” - Malala... View full article →
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