Author Archives: sallythorne

More Potatoes: following up on “Tough Reading”

Posted on October 16, 2014 by sallythorne

(What is it in my brain that makes me always spell tough with a t at the end when I’m typing it?) I have finished the potato lessons. I am a bit sick of potatoes now, if I’m honest. However, … Continue reading →

Posted in History, lesshelpful | 1 Comment

Less Teacher Talk

Posted on October 15, 2014 by sallythorne

Last year, for my self-directed appraisal target, I picked to focus on talking less in class. I have a good teacher voice and I like to wax lyrical; sometimes I rely on this too heavily, particularly when I am tired. … Continue reading →

Posted in History | 1 Comment

The History Department at Open Evening

Posted on September 28, 2014 by sallythorne

We’ve had some very successful History open evening activities in the past, my favourite being a version of Call My Bluff where students challenged visitors to guess what various artefacts were and what they were used for. I still have … Continue reading →

Posted in History | 1 Comment

Tough reading

Posted on September 26, 2014 by sallythorne

I have a pet hate about difficult readings in class. It is hearing teachers say, “Well that’s great, but my class would never cope with a reading that difficult”. Clearly I understand that context is all and tailoring a reading … Continue reading →

Posted in lesshelpful, wins | 1 Comment

Tata, Gove

Posted on July 15, 2014 by sallythorne

Watching the news of the cabinet reshuffle tick across the BBC website this morning felt a bit like a slightly more middle class version of watching the contestants go into the Big Brother house. Each newbie was duly inspected in … Continue reading →

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SHP2014: Christine Counsell

Posted on July 13, 2014 by sallythorne

Christine is speaking about knowledge. We don’t spend a lot of time talking about it which gives us bad PR as a profession. We should attend to it much more explicitly and not be frightened of it. The reaction from … Continue reading →

Posted in shp14 | 1 Comment

SHP2014: Teachmeet

Posted on July 12, 2014 by sallythorne

Ed Podesta first. He’s making a plea for teachers to come and help answer questions and provide advice for students on the student forum section of the schoolhistory.co.uk forum. Luke Mayhew second, talking about GCSE Classical civilisation. He pitches it … Continue reading →

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SHP2014: Neil Smith and Simon Orth

Posted on July 12, 2014 by sallythorne

Neil and Simon are explaining the Harkness idea of collaborative learning. It involves a bit of the flipped learning idea, where students read and complete tasks before the lesson and then discuss it in class, tackling tasks set by the … Continue reading →

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SHP2014: Christine Counsell

Posted on July 12, 2014 by sallythorne

Christine is talking about the curriculum jewel of interpretations and its protection. Christine uses a variety of examples: an association of little ships from Dunkirk, a Facebook page dedicated to a destroyed mural commemorating the Chartists in Newport, a 19th … Continue reading →

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SHP2014: Sally Burnham

Posted on July 12, 2014 by sallythorne

Sally is talking about rigorous historical thinking in the mixed ability classroom. We start by thinking about the challenges and the joys of mixed ability. Sally says she spent so much time doing different activities and differentiated sheets that she … Continue reading →

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