Author Archives: rsbate

I have written before about my enjoyment of walking. Spending time walking through a city, exploring the character of neighbourhoods and putting together that mental map in your head is a genuine pleasure to me. Today we set out to find the Roman Catholic cathedral in Washington DC. Living a five minute walk from theContinueContinue reading “Walking”

Channel flicking (or the app-based TV equivalent) I decided to watch some golf. I’ve always enjoyed watching golf on telly. As a minimum, it is good ‘filler telly’ – you can watch it in the background while you’re doing other stuff. Then there are also times when it’s the best telly you can watch, suchContinueContinue reading “Flag in, flag out”

Untappd is one of my favourite apps. I sometimes, not entirely inaccurately, refer to it as ‘Facebook for alcoholics’. And I’m not trying to play down the plight of alcoholism. I’m merely trying to summarise the operation of an app which allows people to register their purchases of alcoholic drinks, along with a rating ofContinueContinue reading “Untappd: an appreciation”

I’ve written before about notebooks, though I can’t remember whether I published it or not. I enjoy using a notebook. I enjoy writing with a pen. As a teacher, I tell my students about the cognitive benefits of note-taking with a pen in contrast to typing. My love of scribbling has been lifelong. Even whenContinueContinue reading “Notebooks”

Inset (in-service training) days illicit a spectrum of reactions from teachers. Many colleagues love it when these days are turned over to department or personal time. I don’t have a problem with this. Purely selfishly, it allows me to get on top of work which would otherwise be done out of school hours in timeContinueContinue reading “Visible thinking”

Following on from Slow Horses and Treason, I have now finished Jack Ryan and am almost done with The English. Th third season of Jack Ryan (Amazon) is perhaps the best yet, albeit I don’t have the clearest of memories of the first two seasons (which isn’t necessarily the greatest of endorsements). The premise ofContinueContinue reading “The binge continues”

One of the favourite things about time off work is the extra hours it allows for television binges. I spent most of the Christmas holidays travelling (maybe that’s another post), but I still managed to find time for two series: Treason (Netflix) and Slow Horses (Apple TV). Both of my Christmas binges are bedfellows inContinueContinue reading “Festive binge”

I am not one for making resolutions. Past performance tells me they’re not worth it. One of the ideas I’ve come across a number of times, in different sources, over the past couple of years is the importance of regular writing. I know I am doomed to fail, but I am going to try andContinueContinue reading “New Year”

Sat writing this on 3rd September, it is funny to comprehend that I have now been in the USA for over a month. I suppose, unsurprisingly, that time continues to pass at the disconcerting pace which I had experienced back in the UK. Other things have continued too – not least my inability to findContinueContinue reading “Weekend Writing”

When it comes to booklets, I started out as a sceptic. Seeing so many other schools touting their shift to booklets on social media, I wanted to think carefully about the pros and cons. I saw two major pitfalls: the workload involved in producing booklets and a concern that they would become too restrictive forContinueContinue reading “Booklets: Some Practical Advice”