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Picture A Box – Helping Year 9 Write Historical Narrative

“Picture a box. It’s made of wood. Maybe pine. It’s simple. Three feet long, two feet wide, two-and-a-half feet deep and open at the top. Now picture yourself climbing inside. Sit down. Feel the wood against your back. Run your fingers along the rough surface of the boards. Maybe you have to hug your knees… Continue reading Picture A Box – Helping Year 9 Write Historical Narrative

West London Free School Conference Workshop Resources

These are the files that Corinne and I used at our session for the West London Free School Conference on 9th March 2019. The handout is probably the most useful one. Goullee Stanford WLFS Handout 2019 Goullee Stanford WLFS Excel Example Goullee Stanford Automatic Markbook Example Goullee and Stanford WLFS Presentation 2019

Rate My Teacher(‘s Rating) – Why Reading Academic History Should Be a Performance Management Target

The Claim1 This is a short post in defence of the following claim: “It is entirely reasonable that one of a history teacher’s performance management targets should be about reading history.” Before we start, let’s be clear about what we mean. I don’t mean that a PM target should be: “Read some history and then… Continue reading Rate My Teacher(‘s Rating) – Why Reading Academic History Should Be a Performance Management Target

“What Will You Pack, Sonny, What Will You Pack?”

It’s getting close to that time of year when we, like so many other schools, take a group of Year 9 students to the battlefields of the First World War. Every year we go to the Somme and Arras because these are sites that have a connection to our local area. The Cambridgeshire pals battalion… Continue reading “What Will You Pack, Sonny, What Will You Pack?”

What Should They Know of England…?

…who only England know? * [tl;dr If you aren’t interested in the ramblings and just want tips on using software, skip down to the next subtitle] This question, bitterly asked by Kipling in his 1891 poem The English Flag, bemoans the “poor little street-bred people” who “yelp” criticism at the English flag. Kipling asserts that,… Continue reading What Should They Know of England…?

Did the Bretons Break? (And What’s It Got To Do With Textbooks?)

PLEASE NOTE: This blog post is not the same as the article in Teaching History 175 (Although the first bit’s very similar!) Picture the scene. A cold morning in the middle of October. A dreich mist envelopes the fields. The air full old English and mangled French battle cries of two armies arrayed and poised… Continue reading Did the Bretons Break? (And What’s It Got To Do With Textbooks?)

1991 And All That – Why I won’t be buying anything from Pearson Progression Services

Lost in the Supermarket This week I was in a branch of a major supermarket trying to find some new swimming shorts for my 2-year-old son. Amongst the cartoon-violence-film-franchise trunks and unicorn-loveheart child bikinis I chanced upon three pairs of day-glo knee-length shorts – one pink, one yellow and one green, each in eye-watering neon… Continue reading 1991 And All That – Why I won’t be buying anything from Pearson Progression Services

What are we doing when we think that we are dual coding? – Part Two: Does consistency matter?

We have a Year 7 enquiry question that asks students to consider the historical significance of four medieval women. We’re pretty happy with it. It allows us to cover some chronology that would otherwise be missing, introduces students to the idea that historical significance is ascribed rather than inherent, suggests some criteria by which historical… Continue reading What are we doing when we think that we are dual coding? – Part Two: Does consistency matter?

What are we doing when we think that we are dual coding? – Part One: What do students already need to know in order to understand the pictures?

Dual coding in some subjects must be easy. In biology, the picture you need to illustrate the parts of a leaf is one that shows the parts of a leaf. In physical geography, a description of the creation of oxbow lakes would probably be best dual-coded by a diagram of the formation of an oxbow… Continue reading What are we doing when we think that we are dual coding? – Part One: What do students already need to know in order to understand the pictures?

Cognitive Psychology in the History Classroom – An Introduction

In January of this year, we were lucky enough to hear a presentation from Dr. Yana Weinstein from the University of Massachusetts (@doctorwhy) and Dr. Carolina Kuepper-Tetzel from the University of Dundee (@pimpmymemory), both from the organisation The Learning Scientists. We heard them give a talk about six strategies to help students develop their long-term… Continue reading Cognitive Psychology in the History Classroom – An Introduction