HeyJaredAn English Teacher's Playbook
Notes, lessons, and insights from two decades of teaching English.
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Five Books for Teachers to Read at the Beginning of a New School Year (opens the original)
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For many teachers in Ireland, today is New School Year’s Day. We’ll all be back over the next couple of weeks, and so it’s a good moment to prioritise some good reading before the emails and spreadsheets take over!Happy New Year!JonClosing the Vocabulary Gap by Alex Quigley - An essential exploration of how teachers can address word poverty and develop students' vocabulary across all subjects.The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson - An inspiring look at how educ
Making Topic Sentences Visible (opens the original)
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Acknowledge topic sentences. Point them out and hone in on them. Show students how they are usually the first sentence in a paragraph but not always. Whenever you present pupils with an extended text, draw their attention to topic sentences: what they are and the role they play. This is especially useful if the text forms part of their revision for an upcoming assessment.Knowing that topic sentences are a thing equips pupils with a crucial tool for skim reading effectively, which has clear benef
Three Little Ideas for Better Day-to-Day Teaching (opens the original)
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1. LinesNot that type. Instead, this little tip helps you monitor the amount of work pupils are doing in your lesson while also motivating them. As you move around the classroom, draw a small pencil line in the margin of each pupil’s book, level with where they have got to. The next time you come back to them, you will be able to see how much work they have completed since your last visit. For those who need an extra push, draw an asterisk in the margin to show exactly where you expect them to h
The Revision Technique More Students Should Know About (opens the original)
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Make it clear to pupils that the best type of notes they can make aren’t really notes at all, but questions. Writing a list of questions instead of notes is an incredibly effective method for learning and revising material. There is learning in the writing of the questions, and once written, the list of questions becomes the revision.Pupils can then test their knowledge by asking themselves the questions and retrieving the answers (they don’t even have to write the answers down so long as they m
Giving Instructions at the Right Time (opens the original)
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If you need to tell the class some important information or preamble before they complete a worksheet, tell them it before you hand out the worksheet. Otherwise, you are choosing to actively divert their attention from your speech to the paper you have just placed in front of them. A good worksheet will consolidate the verbal communication you have just given. An even bigger distraction is choosing to give out the sheets as you speak. Don’t stress about the time it will take you to give out the
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