What Can English Teachers Do?
There’s a sense that right now the world is particularly dark. We often hear the unlovely word ‘polycrisis’. At such a time, English teaching might seem almost irrelevant and ineffectual. What can we do?
Read More'Bjork & Bjork's Desirable Difficulties in Action' by Jade Pearce and Isaac Moore
Bjork and Bjork's Desirable Difficulties in Action by Jade Pearce and Isaac Moore is a snappy and helpful guide to a crucial idea in teaching and learning.
Read MoreAdditional Assessment Components: English and AI
Where are we with the Additional Assessment Component in Leaving Certificate English in the context of AI? (illustration: typically terrible AI generated picture)
Read MoreresearchED Belfast
Some notes from researchED Belfast on Saturday 28th September 2024.
Read MoreJamie Clark's 'Teaching One-Pagers'
In Teaching One-Pagers Jamie Clark presents complex educational ideas in a pleasingly succinct and jargon-free format.
Read MoreThe Occasional 3
The third edition of The Occasional, for paid subscribers of The Fortnightly, on received ideas in and clichés about Irish eduction.
Read MoreThe Perfect Classes
A memory of perfect classes discussing The Portrait of a Lady.
Read MoreAlex Quigley's 'Why Learning Fails'
Comments on Alex Quigley’s book Why Learning Fails (and what to do about it),
Read MoreAndrew Atherton's 'Experiencing English Literature'
Andrew Atherton’s Experiencing English Literature: shaping authentic student response in thinking and writing provides stimulating ideas for English teachers at all stages of their careers.
Read MoreEnglish, AI and the thermostatic principle
Jottings on Generative AI and English teaching.
Read MoreThe English Meet idea
Some thoughts on the first three years of English Meets at St Columba’s College.
Read MoreCarol Atherton's 'Reading Lessons'
A review of Carol Atherton’s Reading Lessons: the books we read at school, the conversations they spark and why they matter, with extended comments on English teaching.
Read MoreEnglish Meet 2024
The third English Meet is being planned for Wednesday 1st May.
Read MoreTralee Webinar: Cognitive Science in English
Notes and links from a Tralee Education Support Centre webinar to introduce the principles of cognitive science to English teachers in Ireland who are unfamiliar with them. January 2024.
Read MoreOn 'Notability' for teaching
A recommendation for my most-used classroom tool, the iOS app Notability.
Read MoreTom Needham's 'Explicit English Teaching'
Tom Needham’s Explicit English Teaching is a rare example of a book for our subject that is based on the principles of cognitive science.
Read MoreShakespeare: 'In Our Time'
A list of the BBC Radio 4 ‘In Our Time’ episodes about Shakespeare.
Read More'The researchED Guide to Cognitive Science' edited by Kate Jones
The authors in Kate Jones’s selection of essays looking at the basics of cognitive science explain key concepts in a valuably accessible way.
Read More'The Art of Explanation' by Ros Atkins
Ros Atkins’s The Art of Explanation: how to communicate with clarity and confidence is a fascinating fine-grained account of how he has reached the status of one of broadcasting’s most impressive ‘explainers’.
Read MoreRos Atkins explainer: Manchester City
Ideas for the use of a Ros Atkins ‘explainer’ in English class.
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