Category Archives: History
#youreallyshouldteach…Interpretations of Abolition
With the new A-level came a new coursework topic. I now offer my year 12s the option of writing their essay about the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which is particularly pertinent to the school’s context. Much reading ensued. Most of the … Continue reading
GCSE reading
If I ever thought that history teacher Twitter was a bubble, history teacher Facebook reconfirms it every day. These groups are exceptionally helpful for sharing ideas, tips, resources and advice given by exam boards, but I must admit that I … Continue reading
#youreallyshouldteach…Emma of Normandy
Last year, one of my favourite year 11s approached me at the end of the lesson and asked me if I’d ever heard of Emma of Normandy. Her gran has asked for a reading recommendation, she explained. I had not, … 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
The Knowledge
I’m coming clean now and admitting I thought the knowledge vs skills thing a false dichotomy (and an enormous distraction, but that’s for another time). This is a conclusion I came to after spending a great deal of time mystified as … Continue reading
#youreallyshouldteach…Vlad the Impaler
Ben Newmark and Mike Stuchbery over on Twitter have been hoping to highlight some obscure bits of history that are worth teaching. I’m going to bang my Vlad the Impaler drum again. In my final year at university I took … Continue reading
Resources for revising Crime and Punishment
Just reading back over my last blog post. “Less busy”, haha. Anyway, I have a couple of helpful things to share. The first is a set of Crime and Punishment flashcards I made for my Y11s. These are modelled on … Continue reading
Development Study: The British Diet Through Time
I’ve written in brief about the development study we’ve taught in year 8 this year, here and here, where I explain my efforts to get students reading difficult sources. Having explained the annotated timeline assessment as part of the HA … Continue reading
Threshold Concepts in History, part 1
I’ve been thinking a lot about progress in history and assessing it this year. There are lots of reasons for this. Firstly the demise of NC levels requires it, as we’re having to build a new model to assess progress at … Continue reading
History revision for parents
Last night I invited the parents of our year 11 cohort to a workshop to give them some tips for helping their children revise for GCSE History. A couple of weeks ago I sent home a set of American West … Continue reading
High Dive Teaching 