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 partContinue 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 wentContinue 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 toContinue 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 legacyContinue 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 ourContinue 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 oftenContinue 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 isContinue reading "Two questions for teaching"

I tweeted last year about some of the differences in day-to-day life in the USA compared to the USA. The prevalence of checks, the centrality of plastic cards as opposed to tapping your phone and the adding of tax (and tips) at the cash register (sorry, the till) are just some of the finance-related quirksContinue reading "Taxing"

Apart from The Crown, Netflix hasn't really had anything which piqued my interest for a few months. Perhaps this is partly down to me going a bit streaming service crazy since getting to the States. Then within a week or so, a couple of things popped up which have been good. First was the NorwegianContinue reading "Fauda"

I suppose it was only a matter of time before I missed a post. I'm glad I'd done twenty-seven days before it happened. I wrote a few weeks ago about the idea of 'dailyish' habits, which I thought at the time was a more realistic approach to my New Year's writing resolution, but with eachContinue reading "Intellectual butterfly"