Two weeks ago I wrote a short blog about how I wanted to structure my trust’s initial teacher programme (here).…
Physics Problems for Primary Pupils
We teach Key Stage 2 children (7-11 year olds) how to solve interesting and sophisticated maths problems (see here). Many…
What if you could develop Initial Teacher Training (ITT) in any way you wanted?
In July last year, the principals of Paradigm Trust gave me a task: redesign Initial Teacher Training from the ground…
Seven Rules for Teaching Problem Solving in Maths.
My maths trainees have been teaching problem solving. These are the rules we have developed: Rule #1: Don’t give your…
Seductive Problems
My trainee maths teachers love setting students challenging, interesting problems. I see students scribbling away trying to be first to…
Retrieval Practice and Sentence Practice All In One!
Retrieval practice is in the air. The latest blog by Alex Laney on the Teach Like a Champion blog (here)…
Check Out, Check In, Check Up
“She is very confident in her decision, but subjective confidence is a poor index of accuracy of a judgement.” Kahneman,…
A Teacher Is the Sum of All of the Problems She Can Solve
Over the past year and a half I have been writing a handbook for novice physics teachers. The book is…
Cognitive Psychology and Initial Teacher Education
“The question is not whether these experts are well trained. It is whether their world is predictable.” Daniel Kahneman, Thinking…
James Clerk Maxwell and the Second Great Unification in Physics
Newton unified physics and astronomy: this was the first great unification in physics. Maxwell unified electricity and magnetism – the…
