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Wrong Answers or Wrong Questions?
“The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a very creative mind to spot wrong questions.” –Antony Jay, British writer, broadcaster, director and actor I came across this...
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Teacher faux pas
Congratulations must go to John Gurdon who, this week, received a Nobel prize for medicine. But according to an article in the CourierMail, he achieved this despite some quite negative comments from...
View ArticleFlipped, half-flipped or not flipped?
You might be interested in checking out two blog posts I read today. Firstly, I read a very interesting post from Shelly Wright who, it seems, fell out of love with her flipped classroom and...
View ArticleMore on Mistakes
Tess Pajaron, who works at OpenColleges, made contact recetly asking for my opinion on an article by Miriam Clifford on the value of making mistakes. I’m humbled to be asked. While I won’t reprint...
View Article“I know my son and he doesn’t lie…”
I had reason to meet with a mother recently to discuss some behaviour issues (her son’s behaviour, not the mother’s). There had been some ongoing concerns expressed by the mother and by me, emails...
View ArticlePrac teacher in the room…
I don’t tend to have too many prac teachers visit my class now that I do not have a full teaching load but I have started this term with a second year Secondary English student teacher and it is...
View ArticleDestroying a novel
As you may be aware, am teaching English this year. We have just finished studying a new novel, Fog a Dox and I’m seriously wondering what damage I have done to the good work of the author. It is a...
View ArticleSki lessons
I can’t ski. There… I’ve bared my soul by exposing a long-held secret. In 2005 my wife, kids and I packed out bags and headed off to live and work in Canada for six months. It was one of the best...
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I Love Mistakes
Let me share with you my classroom mantra… The only bad mistake is the one you don’t learn from I trust you and your students make lots of great mistakes today!
View ArticleThe Synergy of Trust and Learning
There has been a subtle but significant shift in my classroom of late; so subtle I sort of missed it happening. But as I reflected on the past few English classes, especially with my boys’ class, I...
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The Past – The Adolescent – The Future
What a great statement about adolescence. It’s so true isn’t it; adolescence is a time of transition between the comfortable and known world of childhood and the exciting, scary and enticing world...
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Being Liked… (revisiting AMLE Characteristic 1)
I’ve been revisiting the thought processes around my blog of a few months ago… and considering it in light of a post by Renee Moore titled ‘What if Your Students Don’t Like You’. Rather than answer...
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If these walls could talk 2.0
I got a bit carried away last week as I started writing on this topic. Let me try again… The end of the academic year is racing toward me at break-neck speed. There is so much to do and so little...
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Learning Forgiveness
How real are you in front of your class of adolescents? Are you willing to make mistakes? My early teaching career was one built on the foundation of ‘the teacher is right’ (even when I was wrong)....
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6 things teens need to hear every day…
Tomorrow As in, “You were to have this completed today. Let’s work toward tomorrow”. Grace is needed with teen learners and sometimes there are very good reasons why something needs to be put off for...
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I know you’re busy but… 10 ways to be present for your students
I got pulled up recently by a passing comment from one of my students… “Mr Wilcox, I know you are really busy but could I come and talk with you about my work?” For some reason (guilt?) the ‘really...
View ArticleTrying to be hands-off for creative tasks
To finish the year, I have my Year Eight students working in teams to engage with the ‘now what’ question that flowed quite naturally from the work we have been doing on social justice, third world...
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