All my Edexcel IGCSE revision booklets written (so far) are available here - for free: Eng Paper 1 Q1-5, Unseen Poetry, Comparative Poetry, Of Mice and Men and the newest one An Inspector Calls sites.google.com/view/engteac...

Lessons on Liza Donnelly. Done. The pairing of Szymborska with Banksy and Donnelly is just sublime. Lessons to be learnt from first time round but definitely a combination I am keeping.

1st revision booklet written.💪Interesting going through mark-schemes (1st time teaching exam AIC in 8yrs) + seeing mostly, tier 2, vocab. Of course, mark-schemes are aimed at adults but concepts underpinning words need to be taught. For 2nd lang learners, there's a lot of vocab.

So I really wanted Knowledge Organisers to be my IB focus this year but for a number of reasons this isn't possible. This morning P1 of a 2 page KO for AIC. I'm even more convinced that these are the backbone of a good, clear and consistently applied curriculum...maybe next year?

Happy New Year from Vietnam 🇻🇳🥳 Year of the Horse 🐎

Read this yesterday - very affirming with moments of reflection. Being HOD is best job in the world.

Supposed to be heading to Taiwan but it's been a term and I am knackered. A week at home and if I feel energised I'll pop somewhere closer like Hoi Anh or Phu Quoc next week. Meanwhile...

Had such a fab social week, which was well needed ❤️

EVERY ppl in Y12 has chosen 1 piece of work from 1st term in IB that they're most proud of + reflected upon how it's helped them to develop IB Learner Profile attribute, ensuring every pupil is seen, celebrated and all progress, no matter how great or small is recognised!

Tomorrow Y12 will be doing an interpretation relay to help them develop an understanding of a poem. They will work in groups. 1 person will come + collect an interpretation of the poem from me. They will then discuss and evidence the basis for this interpretation in their groups.

A lot of our CPD recently has been focused on starts of lessons. I am utterly boring. And content to be so. I start every lesson with 5 ish retrieval qs. As yr goes on these are layered up with prior learning in far past + prior learning in more recent past so that knowledge is interleaved.

IB hw to promote thinking. Pupils are studying one poem at home by themselves. Wk 1 - post your reflection on the poem onto the padlet and then respond to 2 other people's thoughts. Wk 2 will be on impactful language to support key message of poem so padlet posts will layer up.

Ppls will explore a variety of topic sentences constructed for essay just written + identify which are strongest + why + which need improving, collectively working together to make improvements. Visually seeing (+discussing) helps pupils understand how to move forward.

Had a fab day connecting with female educators across Hanoi yesterday.

We are looking for a Teacher of English! Come join us here in Hanoi! www.tes.com/jobs/vacancy...

With HODs we have discussed reflection + lang of reflection + consistency of use. Using CAS learning outcomes, we have established key words + focus areas to aid reflection, creating sentence stems that will help ppls, across all yr groups, to produce quality reflections.

I'm being a rule breaker on my work day + joined friends for brunch!

Teaching and Learning playbooks - who has one, what do they look like and how do you use them?

The Correspondent and Broken Country are 99p on Kindle today!

Gone for a walk - it's a gorgeous day 🌞 I can't believe the difference in 3 yrs where i live. Vietnam is building!

Y12 will be looking at some of Banksy's work connected to conflict tomorrow. I will model a recap of how we analyse art, before ppls in 3 groups complete a harkness discussion on the work they were given for HW and then draw comparisons with the Szymborska poems studied.

Academic wider reading is a focus for Y12. Introduced Topic Tues, whereby ppls present on an article they've read that has piqued interest. I've gone through our SORA database + collated magazines we subscribe to against subject group with aim pupils will read 1 article a wk. A start.

I've never really got on with Bluesky so haven't been on - is there still a teacher community here?

Y11 IGCSE Edexcel Lang Lit homework booklet. An interleaved (interweaved, never quite sure) revision tool Each week, three tasks 1. Paper 1 Reading practice. 2. Quotation drills for OMAM 3. Essay practice for OMAM but will translate into other areas sites.google.com/view/engteac...

Today starting on the first of 2 IG homework booklets...these are strategically put together to support skill development and retention

Fabulous Korean BBQ last night with friends...

It is scorchio today 🌞🫠

Currently reading The Artists Way which advocates an artist date a week. Today patchwork and sewing. I made a Coaster. Not bad as a beginner!

IGCSE Edexcel English Language pupil guide complete and available here - overview of course, AOs and assessment criterion for each part of both papers - we are exam only next year! sites.google.com/view/engteac...

Working on subject guides this morning...I do love these for clarity - not just for me but for the kids and parents too.

Time to do some goal setting - or as my friend called it my own self development plan. What are your own goals? Especially away from work!

New nails 💅

Working on IB Assessment Starter Packs for each subject today. Majority of staff are new to the IB so clarity + support essential. Incl: assessment standards, policy, past papers, marking grids, grade boundaries etc etc. Our job as leaders is to make the life of our staff easier.

Ppl guides are a really good reference resource. My IB Lang Lit SL guide has an overview of core IB components as well as a breakdown of our course + all the rubrics. Going to do one for IG too once Assessment INSET is planned. IB SL Pupil Guide available here sites.google.com/view/engteac...

First job sorting out the calendar / diary / planner. I keep mine electronically. Super easy. Add in all lessons - type in lesson detail + bold when the lesson is planned. Add in all meetings, key deadlines etc. I've put a blank one here: sites.google.com/view/engteac...

Back in the Nam. Weird. And it's 32 feeling like 48 degrees.

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A morning I'm Suomenilinna ☀️☀️

Walking the streets of Helsinki ☀️

Helsinki is glowing in sunshine and I'm getting stuck in to some traditional food!

Today I travelled over to Helsinki - the sun is shining and the parks are full. People are smiling and I have four days here to enjoy myself!

Leg 4/5 coming to an end. Everyone raves about Tallinn and it's nice (especially when the sun is out) but Vilnius still has my heart. Tomorrow we see what Helsinki has to say for itself!

After three hours of Toddle DP training, I am even more appreciative today of my hotel's chocolate hour -- yes, that is a thing!

It was a beautiful morning in Tallinn this morning

Fab walk round Teliskivi this morning - a cool arty area of Tallinn.

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It's a cold spitty day so a chance to stop sit still and start this. Some deep questions for consideration here!

When in Estonia, go for Vietnamese. It's pretty darn good - albeit 5 times the price.

Morning strolls through Tallinn. Not as huge a fan of Tallinn as I am of Vilnius but all personal choice. Some pretty streets and a fair few tourists!