The Professional Teacher
Support for teaching professionals in the classroom and beyond
Are These the World's Most Innovative Schools
The Tech Insider online magazine has recently announced its view on the 13 most innovative schools in the world in 2015.
Embedding numeracy in the classroom
I love this website from Tyler Vigen on "Spurious Correlations" in which there are lots of graphs showing relationships or correlations between one variable and another. The variables chosen are...
Universities have broadened access to HE
The number of full-time undergraduates from disadvantaged backgrounds going into Higher Education has risen, according to a report published this week by Universities UK. The report also shows that...
Synonyms and Antonyms through game-based learning
Here at tutor2u we are big fans of game-based learning. Learners love it, and teachers usually find it a welcome relief!
Effective group work through effective plenaries
Most of us have had lessons in which our students have been involved in group work, but the lesson hasn't quite gone to plan; maybe some students have contributed very little, maybe we didn't get...
There, Their and They're
We all know that grammar matters. However, so many of our pupils find grammatical rules confusing, particularly the confusion between their, there, and they're. After all, the three words are...
Human Dominoes
A simple but effective way of reinforcing key terms and definitions is to turn it into a game of Human Dominoes. Print off the key terms onto A4 sheets (one term per sheet), and then print off the...
Tackling Plagiarism
This term at Harvard University, students have been taking a pledge not to cheat. Brett Flehinger, Harvard's Dean of Academic Integrity, says that the message is about "changing the culture", with...
North-South divide in GCSE results
A report published today by Ofsted's boss Michael Wilshaw claims that one third of secondary schools in the North of England and the Midlands are not good enough. This comes after a report earlier...
Abbott and Costello - misunderstanding maths
I really like this classic clip from Abbott and Costello which shows us just how easy it is to get baffled by numbers and make assumptions about whether our students have the numeracy skills...
The Shanghai Maths Method
The Department for Education has been carrying out an experiment in 25 schools in deploying Shanghai-style maths teaching methods in UK classrooms, in an attempt to raise the UK's PISA standing...
Mental Health resources
Recent surveys have shown that, on average, 3 children in a typical class suffer from some sort of mental health problem (although many never report it because of fear of stigma), and that over 60%...
Deloitte to use Computer Games to find Apprentices
In an attempt to improve social mobility, Deloitte is now removing the names of schools and universities attended by applicants, and applicants for its popular apprenticeship scheme will have to...
Why the correct punctuation is vital - classroom starters
Here is a selection of fun and visual starters that can used to illustrate why using the correct punctuation is vital!
Meeting and Greeting for effective classroom management
A few years ago I was observing lessons as part of my school's interview process for recruiting new teachers. As a rule, after the lesson taught by the potential recruit, the observer always asked...
Hip Keith Hughes on managing the classroom
I first came across Hip Hughes History in my teaching of US politics, and noticed this morning that he has also posted a number of short videos on managing the classroom. Much of it is simple...
Managing Classroom Behaviour in 1947
Here is a great vintage video clip from 1947 on managing classroom behaviour and improving standards - it could be something to watch in a department meeting to discuss the good points and bad...
Using nudges to improve standards
The nudge theory bandwagon has certainly been jumped on by professionals in all kinds of areas now (see my earlier economics blog post about President Obama's recent executive order on the matter),...
Assessment for Learning in STEM subjects
During my browsing of free, online courses available through Future Learn, I stumbled across one that could be a real gem - Assessment for Learning in STEM teaching, run by education gurus Dylan...
Future Learn course on literacy through film
Future Learn offers a wide range of free online courses - many teachers use them as extension material for students needing an additional challenge - but there is an increasing number of courses...