@TeacherToolkit

Ross Morrison McGill founded @TeacherToolkit in 2010, and today, he is one of the 'most followed educators'on social media in the world. In 2015, he was nominated as one of the '500 Most Influential People in Britain' by The Sunday Times as a result of...
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This is my 12th edition of Education Panorama and its one-year anniversary. In total, these newsletters have shared more than 600 educational blogposts! Here is a summary of what’s being going on in the education sector during the past month … 

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If you are new to this monthly newsletter, you can expect to find the following:

• Education: all the links to my @TeacherToolkit articles I have shared over the past 30 days,
• Panorama: plus the blogs that have caught @TeacherToolkit‘s eye online, plus any interesting events in the real world of education.

In The Educational Panorama – April 2015 edition – this monthly newsletter aims to capture a summary of everything from the online edu-sphere of bloggers and tweeters across the UK. In my March 2015 newsletter I shared over 40 blogs on teaching and learning which 5,000+ of you chose to read.

This month, I share 15 of my own blogs, mainly on CPD, plus a trip to Scotland, where I discover a fabulous group of teachers who have gathered on a Saturday to enhance their own professional practice! Teaching and Learning dominates the newsletter this month, with an interesting blog from Tom Sherrington in the Top Blog feature! British Summertime has got off to a wet start and TeachMeetLondon is less than 2 days away at the time of writing …

This April edition features some blogs from me – as usual – on range of topics, plus many more from other bloggers new and old. It’s all here! By the time I write my next Education Panorama, we’ll be into final stages of revision season and I’ll be planning my trip to Northern Rocks (June 2015). Until then, enjoy the holidays if they have started already and take time out to rest, spend time with friends, and re-visit your Teacher5ADay.

Education:

1. My Education Panorama (March ’15) newsletter gathering in over 5,000 readers.
2. A Common Sense Approach to Marking Workload was a very popular read earlier on in the month.
3. A blog about the Lessons in Leadership, some senior teachers may learn in post.
4. The Challenges of Teaching Food Technology is a blog for all design technology teachers.
5. Constantly Tweaking Teaching and Learning is a blog about teaching and learning tweaks in a landscape without (one-off) lesson grades.
6. The recent updates published by OfSTED. commonly known as, OfSTED Inspections: Clarification for Schools. Read MythBusters.
7. This is a message to all inspectors, from @HarfordSean, the National Director for Schools. In this blog, I have highlighted the key components for busy classroom teachers.
8. Another resource! A blog about achievement and features yet another 5-Minute Plan by @TeacherToolkit and @LeadingLearner.
9. This is a post-Canada blog which shares some of the evaluation comments from teachers who attended my face-to-face conference at McGill University in February 2015. In this blog I ask; can one-off CPD events really make an impact on classroom practice?
10. Did you know, when Ofsted conducted a pilot in the Midlands (June 2014) for no lesson gradings, they have yet to publish any report/findings?
11. A blog about resilience, tolerance, failure, revision and exam motivation. I take inspiration from @DrDanNicholls‘ blog and use this to create an assembly resource. If Not Now, When?
12. One Small Tweet for Teachers, One Giant Blog for Teaching is my blogging journey from start to present day.
13. This is another blog about the invalidity and unreliability of Ofsted. @OfstedNews Say Sorry.
14. Is it time to tie a noose around those bad marking myths? What Not to Mark?
15. And finally, The Question Matrix is a blog about questioning students.

 Images: @TeacherToolkt photographs from March 2015

Panorama

Here are the blogs I’ve noticed over the past 30 days. I’ve been deliberately concise this month. As ever, it’s difficult to keep up with so many wonderful blogs as more teachers blog online. I’ve read as much as I can to represent the blogs that have ‘pricked the ears’ of all those who talk about all-things-education.

Teaching and Learning:

1. 6 Steps to Differentiation is a blog by Emma Davies who is a primary school teacher in Liverpool.
2. I Get Knocked Down, But I Get Up Again by @suemoreton1 – A blog about building character in students.
3. Assistant Headteacher @Gary_S_King writes Book Looks – Inclusive, Developmental and Reflective.
4. What’s it Like Teaching in a Prison? by @cazzwebbo. An interesting read!
5. How to Create a Helpless Student? by @PsychologyMarc. Always a worthy read from Marc.
6. If Not Now, When Raising Achievement by @DrDanNicholls. A blog which inspired my latest assembly resource.
7. Slamming the Door on Bad Writing Habits by @atharby. A great read, as always!
8. Working Towards Outstanding in Differentiation by @cazzwebbo. And a second blog feature this month. Differentiation, the impossible desire for every teacher.

CPD / Well-being:

1. No Laughing Matter by @theprimaryhead.

Leadership / OfSTED / DfE / Politics:

1. It’s Easier at the Top, a great read by @tjjteacher who explains why some senior leaders may forget what it’s like on the front-line.
2. Reflections on an Inspection by @ep3577. A useful Ofsted read.
3. Judge Teaching Over Time, Not in 20 Minutes by @DrDanNicholls. A second blog feature this month.
4. Selection, Choice or Neither by @DrMeganCrawford. A fascinating gathering at the House of Commons to launch a new Civitas book!
5. Inspection is Over. It’s Official! by @LeadingLearner. There are some hopeful signs here …
6. What are Schools Not Responsible For? by @mfordhamhistory. As the election draws nigh and various manifestos get released, we need to hold these politicians to account!
7. Leadership in Complex Times by @LeadingLearner. A call for different leadership in complex times.

Recruitment and Research:

1. Interview and Job Seeking Advice by @r_brooks1. Always vital reading at this time of year.
2. Research and Education, a blog that What exactly is a ‘Teacher- Researcher’? by @cijane02
3. Teaching in a Refugee Camp by @DebraKidd – a 3-part series of gripping blogs.
4. The ChocoTzar Guide to Getting a Job by @ChocoTzar. And again, useful readong for the job season. A headteacher’s perspective.

Twitter / Blogging:

1. The 5 Ws of Social-Media and Blogging, very useful advice by @MissBsResources.
2. Who Do You Think I Am? by @theprimaryhead who raises some important point about anonymous blogging.

Top-blogs of the month:

I’ve selected one blog for this April 2015 edition.

. A compelling blog by headteacher Tom Sherrington which says;

“… For the record – we don’t have a surveillance culture at Highbury Grove; the detentions are not Orwellian – there is nothing Big Brotherish about our behaviour system that we have come to love.”

This is a story about schools dealing with the press and how newspaper publications can exaggerate the reality in return for a few extra reads/sales. Read For The Record … by @headguruteacher.

Image: David Clark

  It’s just less than 21 school-days until the first GCSE exam …

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