Many of us in a position of responsibility in a school right now are grappling with the problem of setting grades for students robbed of their chance to take examinations this summer. As far as complex problems go, this is a beaut! Already, the classic errors associated with solving complex problems can be observed. One … Continue reading A cautionary note about awarding grades

We are embarking on a quest to recreate teaching in a virtual form. At various rates, bound by our technical abilities, every teacher, in every school, is moving from setting souped-up 'homework tasks' to attempting to recreate the surface features of the teaching and learning process. Review - instruct - apply - assess. This is … Continue reading What it feels like to learn

I swear that they were due the week everything fell apart. As we were sending children home because we didn't have the staff to teach them, as we were rapidly formulating contingency plans for the inevitable school closure, even after the atom bomb that was the cancelling of summer exams - even in the middle … Continue reading What it says on the tin

Distance weakens our ability to control. It is an odd feature of human nature which has been brought home to me this week. Visibility is a prerequisite to compliance. Without visibility, consequences cannot be incurred; power cannot be exercised. Contained within a classroom, students are visible to the teacher: 'Sit up, Johnny'; 'Can you get … Continue reading All that’s left is trust