Author Archives: sallythorne
On being a long-term mainscale teacher
A couple of weeks back I came across a Twitter thread about wanting to stay mainscale and become a better teacher, and it did make me chuckle to see how the teaching landscape is morphing from one of a relentless … Continue reading
What I’m reading now
Now that down time is kicking in I am going back to the books to consolidate the year and prepare for next year. Here’s what I’m reading at the moment. Adam Hochschild, Bury The Chains I’m teaching a brief history of … Continue reading
Policing other people’s teaching
When December rolls around, I get annoyed by the inevitable complaints of people proclaiming that it is too early to put up the Christmas tree. Why does it matter to people so much? There is no rule about this. If you … Continue reading
A Tale of Two Year 11s
I inherited two year 11 groups upon my arrival at the new school. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The best: sparky students, quicker relationship building due to seeing them more often, the promise … Continue reading
WLFS History conference: Tamizian
Narrative construction. Vartan begins with two questions: What makes a good narrative? What was the last narrative you read and enjoyed? Definition. A story? Yes, but chronologically ordered and limited by evidence. An underrated skill – Lang, 2003. A form … Continue reading
WLFS History Conference: Walsh
Prosopographical! This is the term of the session for me. Definitely need to go and do some reading Sources and interps for ordinary pupils in ordinary classrooms. Ben begins by talking about his experience of students as an examiner. Some … Continue reading
WLFS History Conference: Carroll
Jim Carroll on, how can we get students writing more like historians? History is an argumentative discipline. Scrap “I think/believe” – don’t encourage then that beliefs are important, because it’s about evidence, not belief. Make the cause the subject of … Continue reading
