Blogs that made me sit up and take notice in 2016 (Part 1)
Ah, its that time of year where every Tom, Dick and Harry starts with their "best of" lists. Well, as someone who likes a read and a good natter, here are five blogs that I read this year that really made me sit up, think and take notice.
Tom Starkey "Quiet" 10th of January 2016
In this hard hitting and touching blog post, Starkey highlights the plight of the quiet child. I still remember reading this and it was nearly a year ago. A timely reminder then, now and for future reference not to pour all your energies into one, whilst others are ignored.
Jo Facer "What is mastery?" 23rd of January 2016
Not only did this one support me in some training I was delivering at that time, it is also a neat, succinct account of what mastery teaching is and isn't. The blog offers a link to a handbook on mastery teaching and learning which provides an excellent framework for those looking to explore the technique.
Victoria Hewitt "Marking, Feedback and DIRT ideas" 3rd of April 2016
This blog is the first I read around the idea of DIRT and how to implement it in the classroom. It takes about two minutes to read and offers some fantastic and simple ideas that you can take away instantly and start using.
Mike Stuchbery "A teacher shares their breakdown story in hopes that you won't have to" 20th of April 2016
In this heartfelt and brutally honest blog, Stuchbery explains how he "hit a wall" and how you can avoid it yourself. It certainly hit a few notes with me at the time as I was in the middle of a 6 month break from full time classroom teaching myself then.
Russell Tarr "Using Hexagon Learning" Sometime in 2016!
This is an idea i've started to use so many times in class as it works a treat! This blog provides probably the most detailed description you will find on the web as well as various ways you can tweak the activity to suit your group.
http://www.classtools.net/blog/using-hexagon-learning-for-categorisation-linkage-and-prioritisation/
