Monthly Archives: February 2023

I wrote a teaching-related post last week revisiting the real purpose of writing: to transmit ideas from one person’s mind to another. When you consider the openness of this definition, it is liberating and empowering. One of the reasons I think I have stuck to my writing resolution, almost to perfection, is because I enjoyContinueContinue reading “Righting the wrong with writing”

Simplifying with checklists: I try to break down the steps of what I need to do, put them in order and then work through them. Reduces complexity, reduces stress. Not going for ‘just one more’: I had developed a nasty habit of getting to the end of an episode on a streaming service, and ratherContinueContinue reading “Two for Tuesday”

I wrote earlier this year (yes, I know, it’s only February) about the joy of spotting constellations when you read different ideas, in different places which seem to converge into some kind of pattern. I’ve also written about how our brains seem to be hardwired for stories – so constellation-spotting is probably just another partContinueContinue reading “Disparate threads”

Golf is a frustrating game. The single biggest thing to enhance my performance on the golf course is not to control the technical. I accept my technical limitations and, in reality, my swing is probably better now than it used to be. No, the main thing for me is controlling my head. When I wentContinueContinue reading “A game of two halves”

I remember my first high school Geography lesson. In hindsight, it was quite the formative moment. I still recall my teacher, Mr MacDonald, describing Geography as being a ‘jack of all trades’ subject. Some twenty-five years on, as a Geography teacher, I think that the generalist nature of the discipline is what attracted me toContinueContinue reading “The Generalist”

Arsene Wenger, I contend, continues to be one of the most underrated managers. That isn’t to say that many people rate him, quite rightly. It is to say that too many people don’t give him the credit he deserves. I don’t just mean how he revolutionised the game, which he did, but also the legacyContinueContinue reading “The Wenger diaspora”

The Facebook algorithms have got me again. I paused too long over an advert for Storyteller Tactics, which is a card deck of advice for communications and presentations. Algorithms aside, I’d probably be in the target audience anyway. I’m fascinated by the act of storytelling and always have been. Daniel Willingham tells us that ourContinueContinue reading “Story”

Readers of previous posts may have happened across my interest (read obsession) with the whole self-help genre. One of the most interesting (in the uniquely English sense) books I’ve come across is Paul Dolan’s Happiness by Design. I think I came across the book in the British Airways inflight magazine. Reviews of the book oftenContinueContinue reading “Happy”

I blog the most about teaching, which isn’t a surprise as that is what I do for a living. That is where my expertise and experience lies. I enjoy writing about lots of different topics, but probably have the most to say about teaching. My educational interests have long been dominated by curriculum, which isContinueContinue reading “Two questions for teaching”