"We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist." James Baldwin

Today’s reading

Today’s reading

@openingdoors.bsky.social @englishassociation.bsky.social @natecommunity.bsky.social It is so often the artists, the writers who see and speak to tyranny whilst the rest stay quiet

Join NATE, the UK’s leading subject association for English teachers. Get inspiring resources, stay up to date with the latest thinking in English education, and join a supportive community — from just £5/month (£1 trainees, £3 ECTs). mailchi.mp/nate.org.uk/...

NEW BLOG: Metaphor, Oracy, and Real Speech learningfrommymistakesenglish.blogspot.com/2026/01/meta...

NEW BLOG: Metaphor, Oracy, and Real Speech learningfrommymistakesenglish.blogspot.com/2026/01/meta...

English teacher? 5 mins to spare? Your view is essential! How is poetry being taught in secondary schools today? We’re mapping the national picture in England & will report on it. 5 minute survey: tinyurl.com/238cz6mu Supported by Christ Church's Tower Poetry Development Grant​

Here are almost 40 of my favourite #MiddleGrade reads for 2025. A fantastic range from wild fantasy, to gritty realism, historical adventures and more than a few scares. What a brilliant year its been for children’s books

NEW BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS: learningfrommymistakesenglish.blogspot.com/2024/06/read...

The English Strand at TTR Connect 2026! So far, we have announced eight speakers with many more to come! Check them out here: www.ttradio.org/english26 and get a free ticket here: www.ttradio.org/connect2026

*NEW* for AQA Lang P1 from June 2026 onwards: ✅ The Day of the Triffids Specimen paper and a PPT slide deck with resources, scaffolds and model answers, like so 👇 Repost and help yourself 😊 www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/bd6qg...

*NEW* for AQA English Language Paper 1 from June 2026 onwards: ✅ The Woman in Black Specimen paper and accompanying PPT slide deck with resources, scaffolds and model responses, like so 👇 Help yourself 😊 www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/qu9to...

This was terrific - every English teacher and everyone involved in education policy should listen!

I’m wondering if any children’s publishers need a freelance writer to write reading scheme books for them or branded picture books etc? I’ve written reading scheme books for Star Wars and Disney before! Any shares would be amazing! #BookSky #KidLit

Today’s reading. A third of the way in and I am not feeling it.

The Occasional 10: excellent newsletters. open.substack.com/pub/juliangi...

NEW: Good schools make good trachers If teachers don’t always improve with experience, the problem isn’t them. It’s the environment. Schools that get better do so because they make feedback clearer, practice more deliberate, and culture more trustworthy. open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

It is that time of year. Not Christmas. The book token competition. hiddenbooks.nationalbooktokens.com?utm_medium=p...

Cracking blog on English homework

Love being reminded to do this every year. It's a win/win all round

NEW BLOG: A question of homework in English learningfrommymistakesenglish.blogspot.com/2025/11/a-qu... @carousel-learning.bsky.social @adamboxereducation.bsky.social

Women writers of WW1: three poets and four poems ⤵️ www.douglaswise.co.uk/.../women-wr.... Many Sisters to Many Brothers, by Rose Macaulay Munition Wages, by Ida Bedford The Shadow, by Rose Macaulay The Sisters Buried at Lemnos, by Vera Brittain

NEW BLOG: A question of homework in English learningfrommymistakesenglish.blogspot.com/2025/11/a-qu... @carousel-learning.bsky.social @adamboxereducation.bsky.social

Richard Aldington's Epilogue to Death of a Hero. Always worth revisiting on Remembrance Sunday.

In WW2 a 19 year old sent his mother a poem. He sadly died; but the poem endured. It’s a long term favourite with our schools via ‘OD to Quality Writing 10-13’ .I’ve just heard it read out at the British Legion Festival on bbc. John Magee lives on! www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/157986...

NEW POST This time on school leadership substack.com/inbox/post/1...

Today’s reading and listening.

A nice found today. Dead Poets Live website. Quite a few resources and modern actors reading out poems. deadpoets.live

I just remembered I wrote an ongoing saga of trying it out last year! Didn't get as much out of them this year analysis wise, but only on week one! wp.me/p2RMjH-lv

This week I've used this poem with my Yr10s (most of which haven't done poetry analysis for a year +) as inspiration for their art project on 'Nature'. It's amazing how quickly they slip back into it and much more familiar place to see themes used to represent other meanings 😍 poets.org/poem/magalu

One of my favourite things to do as homework is get students to find a poem they think should be studied is lessons. Today, a student brought this poem and the class loved exploring it. Things I Have Stolen by Caleb Femi

My poem in this collection of Bonfire Night poems is from a dog's pov. If you have a dog and have to think about their well-being when all the bangs go off and the sparks fly, your children might enjoy my doggy viewpoint! (Lots of fab human views there too!) brian-moses.blogspot.com/2024/10/nove...

Join me for a webinar on Race and Colonialism in Literature, focusing on texts taught in the UK.Perfect for English teachers. Event taking place 25th November (online) at 7pm. Tickets: £15 Link: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/race-and-c... Please repost and share with your networks.

👀👀📚📘📕📖👀👀 ⬇️

If you are a fan of the eerie and the weird, you will want to make your way to Cotesbach in the East Midlands. This is going to be brilliant.

Just over a week until publication of my new book on the joys and power of curiosity - the perfect gift for someone interested in maths or politics or archaeology or physics or art or poetry - also ideal for anyone not yet interested in those things who should be.

READING RECOMMENDATIONS TERM 2: This term's version of reading recommendations. Follow the link and click to download. learningfrommymistakesenglish.blogspot.com/2024/06/read... #Engchat #Engchatuk

READING RECOMMENDATIONS TERM 2: This term's version of reading recommendations. Follow the link and click to download. learningfrommymistakesenglish.blogspot.com/2024/06/read... #Engchat #Engchatuk

I will be running something called MIDDLE-GRADE MONDAYS over on Instagram. I’ll be inviting a middle grade author to come onto a live chat with me so we can talk about their books! I’m very excited to announce that the first author will be the amazing SF Said on 3/11 at 12.45! #PrimaryEduSky

A pictures worth a 1000 words, right? But when words and pictures pull in different directions, learning falls apart. My latest piece looks at where dual coding goes wrong and how to make visuals actually help students think. open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

❓️If English is reduced to a weekly spelling test & monitored minutes of reading - what messages are being sent home about the value of literacy? ✨️ Read my glimmer in full for further thoughts 👇🏻 open.substack.com/pub/lauraspa... @justimaginecentre.bsky.social @openingdoors.bsky.social #EduSky

Today’s reading

🚨 NEW POST 🚨 ‘Dyslexia: Issues with definitions and diagnoses’ “The nature of a definition can fundamentally change how we respond to a special educational need. Dyslexia has been prone to changing definitions, shifting symptoms and different diagnoses.” alexquigley.co.uk/dyslexia-iss...

Fortnightly 194: @inotenews.bsky.social '25 | AI in schools | CPD with @clanavtra.bsky.social: 'Macbeth', @carlhendrick.substack.com & the science of learning, | Anne Enright interviewed by Martin Doyle | @oldfortunatus.bsky.social on Hamlet. And more. juliangirdham.substack.com/p/194-begin-...

More of this! For Eng teachers, professors, or teacher educators looking for related research & resources creating connections: A) Buy Dan/Johanna’s book. I was fortunate to get a review copy & it rocks B) Check my 🧵 of resources & researchers. ⤵️ C) Support disciplinary literacy policy/initiatives

13 Eng Lang Paper 1 exam papers: ✅ The Landlady ✅ The Silent Patient ✅ White Fang ✅ The Monkey’s Paw ✅ King of the Castle ✅ Enduring Love ✅ Dracula ✅ To Kill a Mockingbird ✅ Hound of Baskervilles ✅ War of the Worlds ✅ The Pearl ✅ Whole Town’s Sleeping ✅ The Birds www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/bd6qg...

Decided to delete my Twitter account. Might return one day.