Did you know that in between teaching, ranting, and blogging, we also create secondary teaching resources! If you’re looking to plug some gaps in your lesson plan, need some inspiration, or fancy having some evenings to yourself this week, dive in and take a look at some of our latest and greatest resources. Continue reading Beyond’s Latest & Greatest Secondary Resources
Mock GCSE Exams Already? It’s day two with the pupils and I’ve just administered my first of many mock GCSE exams of this school year. Before I’m shot down for endangering the mental health of Year Elevens, let me explain … Continue reading GCSE Exams: How Soon Should We Start Exam Prep?
Judging a professional on unforeseeable circumstances is obviously unfair – yet teacher standards are judged all the time! I wonder what it would be like if others were treated the same way? Like doctors, for example, or maybe dentists… Continue reading Teacher Standards: If Other Professionals Were Judged like Teachers…
With the latest exam coming to a close, here are some enticing alternatives to recycling any spare papers lying around… A bonfire Setting light to a pile of scripts goes against our eco-friendly principles but it has been an unseasonably … Continue reading 4 Uses for Leftover Exam Papers
Penny S-K discusses exams, the US college admissions scandal and the determination to succeed at almost any cost in tonight’s blog. I’m not usually one for celebrity gossip, but the scandal currently rocking Hollywood has had me hooked. Earlier this week, it was announced that actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were among 40 people charged for plotting to cheat on college entrance exams. Partially because I am a big fan of Huffman’s, and partly because I am a teacher, this story has captivated me. The ins and outs of the case are for finer minds than mine, but what … Continue reading Feeling the Pressure
It’s a disturbing irony that the idea for this blog post originally came to me on the way to work and I’d contrived to forget it by home time! I had to rack my brain to dredge it back up. The same thing sometimes happens with words, which is not a good look for an English teacher. The most embarrassing memory lapse to date was forgetting the word ‘syllable’ in front of Y8. Fast approaching my fifth decade, I accept it as a sad fact of life that the memory slowly deteriorates. Then again, were my youthful powers of recollection … Continue reading Would You Pass a Memory Test?
There’s probably not a teacher out there who hasn’t had that conversation. The one where you’re being introduced to someone for the first time and they ask what you do. You tell them you’re a teacher, and they smile, nod and say something along the lines of, ‘How rewarding. Knowing that you’re shaping future generations. It must be great to share your knowledge with young people.’ And it is. Mostly. Of course, I’d be lying if I said there weren’t days when I’d rather poke out my eyes with a blunt stick than stand in front of a class, but … Continue reading Teaching: A Two-Way Street
Here’s a handy checklist to ensure you have a successful day at school. Confiscate 3 phones, lend a tie that never returns and tell everyone to tuck their shirts in a few times before the end of form time. Remind your eager year 7s in period 1 that lining up to show you their first sentence isn’t necessary. You’ll mark it later. Explain that body spray is not a substitute for taking a shower to those year 9 boys during period 2. Spend your 15 minutes of break trying, and failing, to do some printing. Either because the queue is … Continue reading A Successful Day at School
Twinkl content writer, qualified English teacher and sometimes cover supervisor Paul Brand shares his blueprints for surviving cover lessons. The hazy, indeterminate nature of cover lessons makes them a battleground from which nobody emerges with much credit, and I speak as someone who’s fought on all sides. Is there any solution to the age-old conflict that arises whenever the regular class teacher has to temporarily vacate their position of authority? Petty Officers Let’s start with the kids. The eyes of even the brightest and best light up at the sight of a cover teacher trooping through the gates. Looking on … Continue reading Take Cover! How To Survive Cover Lessons
Content writer Becky Driver picks out some science resources that could tie you over until the final lesson of term ticks round. Are you struggling for ideas for the next few days? I’ve found a few resources to get you … Continue reading Very Very Nearly There: Fun Science Activities for Those Last Few Lessons
