A classic trilemma: When you build a tank you can make it faster, more armoured, or more lethal. You can’t do it all. The world feels increasingly binary these days. Everything is reduced to its simplest, sharpest form: You are either with us or against us. It’s black or white. You are right or wrong. […]
“If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck”. So said my dad, often (1947-2016) Today I’m writing about the proposed changes to the school curriculum and assessment in England from 2027. Obviously, it helps if you read the review itself, but I […]
Whilst helping my daughter with her maths homework this week, I heard myself say, “Show working” I immediately kicked myself. First, because it was clear I was just repeating something I’d been told as a child — and there’s nothing more annoying than that. Second, because only now, years later, do I fully understand why […]
When I first started teaching, I used to reprimand tardy students and tell them, “You’re late!”. Nowadays, I ask, “Are you OK?”. The Lord of the Rings is still the best thing I have ever watched on the telly. Not that new Amazon TV series tripe, I am talking about the Peter Jackson trilogy. The […]
Another invitation arrived this weekend (compliments of the bots feeding my social media feed) offering me another packaged AI solution to mark all my student essays. Here’s the title: The #1 AI Essay Grader for Teachers And here’s the hook: Reduce grading time by 80%. Grade your entire class’s essays in 2 minutes or less and […]
At the end of every school year, I feel it: the compression. Teachers are finalising reports, marking exams, writing references, and preparing next year’s curriculum and timetables. Parents are emailing. Students are burning out. What should be a celebratory end to a fantastic year starts to feel like siege warfare. Everyone is trying to get […]
If I’m hearing correctly, educational standards are worse than ever. Teachers are saying that kids don’t just dislike reading more than a few words; they can’t. They don’t just hate writing more than a few words; they can’t. And even when they do write, you either can’t read it, or the grammar and spelling are […]
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