Blog

How to level-up any lesson with game mechanics

This article was published in the UKEdMag E-Zine March 2014 HERE With the advent of the new national curriculum and its new emphasis on computing there has never been so much focus on technology in the classroom. In particular there has been a huge surge in tools to...

Passwords are like underpants

Passwords are like underpants. You need them everywhere. Make sure you change them often. It’s important that you care. Never get them out in public. Never share them with a friend. Make sure you don’t forget them. Or your fun will surely...

Using dabs and cats to teach maths

As part of a series of lessons on shape and angles with year 6 I taught a lesson on drawing 2D shapes with given angles and side lengths. We had previously struggled with using protractors LOTS but this lesson was a bit of a tying-it-all-together lesson at the end of...

Using Erase All Kittens With Year 6

In the last week of my first school experience block I had a spare computing lesson with my year 6 class and free choice of activity. The class have a reasonably good level of computing and we have just finished a block of Espresso Coding so I wanted something that...

What should every maths lesson include?

I’m in the middle (well, quite near the beginning really) of a specialist maths primary PGCE at the University of Worcester. This means we get all the usual primary stuff plus some extra “special maths”. There are some differences in how our school...

Burning my bridges

I wrote this as part of a new “About Me” page but I decided it warranted post status. I grew up and went to school in the town where I still live; Bewdley in Worcestershire. I have always found pretty much everything fascinating and had a real drive...

Cloning for dummies

Many moons ago (2003) I did a PGCE in secondary science, most of which seemed to be teaching sex education every other week. There were many lows and a few highs, one of which was a particular lesson that I did based on my degree (biochemistry). More recently I...

How to land that dream teaching job

I’ll start with a bit of context. I did a secondary PGCE when I was somewhat younger. I have since run companies through which I have hired around 50 people over the years. I’ve also been a primary school governor for six years including two years as chair...