HISTORY, TEACHING

History teacher film review of Mary Queen of Scots

There have been a lot of films and TV dramas documenting the lives of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I with some being far more credible or interesting than others. It’s easy to understand why the lives of Mary & Elizabeth are often brought to the screen due to the intense drama, suspense, relationships and conflict of the period … everything a good script requires! What is likely to attract audiences to this film are the popular actresses Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie, playing Mary Stuart and Queen Elizabeth in addition to those fascinated by two of the most well-known female monarchs in British history. Read more

BOOK REVIEW, HISTORY, TRAVEL

A discussion of The tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

I regularly review educational books on my site and whilst this post was originally intended to be another review I have decided to go beyond the story in The tattooist of Auschwitz to discuss the historical context of the novel in addition to the central story. The tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris is based on the true story of Holocaust survivors Lale and Gita Sokolov. The story is about how they met and fell in love in a concentration camp. It has become one of the bestselling and most talked about novels of 2018. Read more

EDTECH, HISTORY, LITERACY, RESOURCES, TEACHING

Cartoon and comic strips in the classroom!

The comic strip has often been a popular go-to resource and activity for teachers. They can provide an overview of events, tell a story and so on. However, the comic strip task can also be an activity that is a time waster and not support learning – wasting precious lesson time and simply keeping learners busy which of course is not good. The issues with the comic strip are that pupils can spend too much time on the illustrations and colouring rather than focusing on the captions and information, although many pupils can effectively communicate their understanding and knowledge through illustrations too. When using technology to create comic strips pupils can again place the focus on the layout, design and other features rather than the actual content.  Dual coding ( combining written information with visuals to support) has become a widely recognised as an effective strategy to support learning and comic strips are a great example of this. I do believe that with guidance, clearly explained success criteria and a modelled example the comic strip can work very well in the classroom. You can watch an excellent video explanation of dual coding by the learning scientists here. Read more

HISTORY, LEARNING, LITERACY, RESOURCES, TEACHING

Summarising Pyramids!

I am delighted to be featuring a guest blog post by Carmel Bones. Carmel is a former History teacher, Head of Department, Teacher trainer, AST and she is now an education consultant providing CPD for teachers across Europe. Carmel is also a well-known author amongst the History educational community and Fellow of the Historical Association. It was at TMHistoryIcons 2017 where I first heard Carmel share the idea of summarising pyramids. In a short amount of time Carmel managed to explain the resource with such enthusiasm and show various examples.  I think this is a great idea and resource for the classroom. Carmel has kindly agreed to explain summarising pyramids in more depth. You can read her post below: Read more

EDUCATORS, HISTORY, LEARNING, LITERACY, RESOURCES, TEACHING

Linking learning grids!

Learning grids are a fantastic resource that can be used across different subjects and with different year groups/key stages. If you are not familiar with this resource it is simple; it is a grid consisting of 36 boxes ( 6 vertical and 6 horizontal). Dice are required – dice can be bought cheaply online or at stores such as Poundland or Tiger. Pupils will roll the dice twice – to give them a number they can use for the horizontal and vertical line (for example 2 across and 4 down). I have used learning grids in a variety of ways; to re-cap previous learning, support literacy,  as a plenary and much more! The idea of a linking learning grid is more complex and challenging. Read more

CPD, EDTECH, EDUCATORS, HISTORY, LEARNING, LITERACY, RESOURCES

My top ten apps for Teaching and Learning

My iPad has become an essential part of my teaching toolkit; for various reasons. I am an advocate for using technology in the classroom. I always keen to learn about new technologies and share apps that can be used in the classroom to support and enhance learning.It is important to add that I believe in using technology purposefully and effectively, not for the sake of using technology or as a “gimmick”. I have undertaken research and further reading focusing on how best to use technology in the classroom to support and engage learners. I would recommend reading Perfect ICT Every Lesson by Mark Anderson, to build confidence, discover different strategies and find out about the SAMR model. You can read my review of his book here. Read more

AFL, CLASSROOM DISPLAY, EDTECH, HISTORY, LEARNING, LITERACY, RESOURCES, SOCIAL MEDIA, TEACHING

Ten ways to use Typorama app for Teaching and Learning!

The app Typorama is a simple and easy app to use and I have used it in so many ways in my classroom!

I thoroughly enjoy creating teaching and learning resources. I’m also keen to embrace technology in my classroom and lesson planning.  Typorama app ( a free app but it does cost to remove the watermark) transforms photos and text into amazing typographic designs on iOS. Images are provided on the app or you can upload your own from your camera roll. The images are powered by Pixabay search engine, where all images are released free of copyright. There are also over 40 different typographic styles available with photo filters, overlays and adjustment tools. I have used this app in a variety of ways. I wanted to share ten methods to use Typorama focusing on teaching and learning. Read more

AFL, CLASSROOM DISPLAY, EDTECH, HISTORY, LEARNING, RESOURCES, SOCIAL MEDIA, TEACHING

Revision strategies that work for me and my pupils …

Teachers are busy ensuring pupils feel prepared and confident to sit their exams and achieve their maximum potential. Pupils will have their highlighters, post it notes and revision lists at the ready! However, I recently read an interesting article in The Guardian The Science of revision which suggests ditching highlighters, putting phones away, turning music off and instead eat breakfast, teach someone else and spread revision out over a longer period of time. A useful article, worth a read. In my opinion revision does need to be personalised and the sooner pupils realise what works for them the better!  I often explore different methods to support pupils with their exam preparation and here are some of the techniques and resources I use with my classes. Read more

CPD, EDTECH, EDUCATORS, HISTORY, LEARNING, SOCIAL MEDIA

The TeachMeet event for History teachers…

I love teaching ( hence LoveToTeach the very obvious and not so subtle title!) and exploring pedagogy, research, methods and so on. I am also very passionate about my subject – History ( my mum remembers me at nine years old and being obsessed with the Tudors!). Although I have taught various other subjects as well such as Geography, Religious Education, Politics, Drama, Social Studies and even Welsh! As well as trying to stay on top of my workload I aim to keep up with the latest developments in education. As a Historian I am always keen to delve deeper into a specific period or study another event/period/country that I have yet to learn about. Subject knowledge and pedagogy are both very important elements of continuing professional development for all educators. TeachMeet History Icons is a very unique event focusing on teaching and learning, specifically within History. It is a TeachMeet ( free CPD event) hosted and organised by History teachers for History teachers. I am delighted to be a co-host, organiser and presenter once again this year as we return on the 1st April in Chester! The idea has to be credited to my good friend Tom Rogers who approached me about organising this event and I am so glad he did. Read more