Maths and Darts
johndabell ‘David you require 79.’ He steps up to the oche, thinks for a moment and tells me that treble 13 and double 20 will do it. He hits the virtual…
2021
Literacy and LEGO Minifigures
The centrepieces of any LEGO are the LEGO Minifigures, also known as a ‘minifigs’. They were first introduced in 1978 and since then these instantly recognisable anthropomorphised pieces of plastic…
Anagrams and Decision Making
Are you a good decision maker? Some decisions are easy to make and they appear almost instinctive. These are straight-forward and don’t demand much thinking through. Then there are other…
Metaphorical Comparisons
There is a great activity in the book Five-Minute Activities by Penny Ur and Andrew Wright called Metaphors. This is a seemingly simple activity which encourages students to find metaphors…
Building Capacity In Schools With “We”
One of the things effective school leaders do is use the collective first person pronoun “we” rather than the singular “I”. We are in this together. We are a team.…
The Will To Survive
Are you a member of the Survivor’s Club? This is the name of Ben Sherwood’s book and it looks at the secrets and science that could save your life. The…
Lost At Sea Challenge
Classes need a constant drip-feeding of team building games in order to keep everyone together and to appreciate different strengths and weaknesses. They tend to be given at the start…
Never Leave A Class Unattended
Absenting oneself from the demanding warp and woof of the classroom can be professional suicide, especially if something ‘kicks off’. One thing drummed into us when training was ‘never leave…
Pun Names And Book Titles
I’ve always been a sucker for a good pun and especially when it comes to book titles and pun names. I still remember my childhood favourites, There’s a Hole in…
Watch Your Wallpaper
Imagine a 6 year old child that can spell the following: Great Uncle Bulgaria Tobermory Madame Cholet Orinoco Wellington Tomsk Bungo Nothing remarkable about that you might think but the…