Keeping Track of Inspiration

I frequently find my phone packed full of interesting and inspiring educational ideas. My photo roll is crammed with Twitter screenshots, my notes page is stuffed with blog links and my favourites tab is quite frankly overflowing with sites to peruse. My main problem is that I can never locate them easily enough as they…

My Transition Activities

Two weeks ago, I had 'Move Up Morning' with my Year 4 class. Next Monday and Tuesday I also have the pleasure of being with them just prior to the summer holidays. Having two and a half days of 'transition' to plan is an incredibly exciting yet open-ended task. Much like all other areas of education,…

“This Was The Best Day Ever”

These six words were uttered out of a child's mouth on Friday afternoon so I thought I'd record and share what had happened that day: We were coming to the end of our Learning Journey week. This is a week off of our usual timetable (pfft..what does that even mean!?) in which we provide our…

Engaging A Reluctant Reader

I had a belated parent consultation this afternoon. We discussed how the child in question couldn’t find any book that they really enjoyed getting their teeth into. Some texts had the appropriate level of complexity but were too boring whilst others had more enticing plot lines yet were filled with overly-complicated vocabulary that just put…

Reading For Pleasure – Hot Chocolate at Starbooks

In a previous blog post (https://teachingtrafford.wordpress.com/2017/09/04/our-classroom-a-home-away-from-home/) I alluded to a Reading for Pleasure strategy I was hoping to trial this academic year. Two weeks, two hot chocolates and one mango juice into my trialling, I thought it would be good to sketch out the idea and reflect on the approach so far. The Strategy Children…