New Blog Post 📝 Revision. It is seemingly a thing that every teacher feels like they need to do for their pupils to be successful. But why? If you've taught it well, why do you need to do anything? Surely its now their responsibility? open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

New Blog Post📝 For years I have had my PowerPoint and at the start of my career it was my crutch I found it difficult to deviate from. Now, I have changed my planning and found less of a need to stress over a PowerPoint. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

New Blog Post 📝 I have relatives of mine who have recently become teachers and the most common questions they ask is how do I plan a lesson and why does planning take so long? It doesn't have to. This is how I do it. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

New Blog Post 📝 Science is formed through recall of knowledge of people long since passed. Creating classrooms that allow pupils to deeply 'understand' and discover science does not make a scientist. Allowing them to recall it does. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

Are you familiar with the collated _Stories from Physics_ on the IOP Spark website, from Richard Brock at KCL? No registration or paywall. spark.iop.org/stories-phys...

New Blog Post 📝 Using stories in your science lessons can help build a students understanding of science, even if its not on the curriculum. This is Hinterland. Here I discuss some examples in science and how to implement them into your lessons. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

First blog post from an amazing colleague on the hard work needed to build the literacy of our pupils. A great read on how implementing a strategy and changing culture takes time and effort. researchschool.org.uk/bradford/new...

New Blog Post 📝 Did the internet change education? I don't think it did. Will AI change education? I don't think so. The internet and AI do not change the motivation to learn. We have access to more info now than ever before but that doesn't make us smarter. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

New Blog Post 📝 Did the internet change education? I don't think it did. Will AI change education? I don't think so. The internet and AI do not change the motivation to learn. We have access to more info now than ever before but that doesn't make us smarter. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

New Blog Post 📝 Over the years I have received a lot of terrible teaching advice, but I have also had some brilliant pointers. Some of the best advice I have had has been seemingly insignificant changes to my practice. Here are five examples. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

New Blog Post 📝 Over the years I have received a lot of terrible teaching advice, but I have also had some brilliant pointers. Some of the best advice I have had has been seemingly insignificant changes to my practice. Here are five examples. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

Great teaching starts with great subject knowledge - @joel120193.substack.com shares how brushing up on electrolysis made him a better educator and why you should dedicate time to improving your chemistry knowledge 👇 edu.rsc.org/endpoint/kno... #iteachchem #chemed

Really good blog by @joel120193.substack.com on etymology as a tool for learning complex scientific vocabulary in science lessons (not just a one-off photosynthesis filler/explainer). open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

I enjoyed writing this post. Subject knowledge is such an important factor into becoming an effective teacher. There should be much more of a focus on this when designing CPD. Take into account your individual departments when planning.

Sometimes local press isn't always a school's best friend, but this post about our recent Ofsted is such a lovely read. Really goes into the journey we have been on as a school. www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpo...

This is something I am incredibly proud of. Working in a turnaround school is tough and whilst we do not work for Ofsted, it is amazing to have our hard work recognised. Every single member of the school community has worked so hard over the past three years to achieve this.

The AQA specification is currently 200 pages long. English Lang is 26, Maths is 44, Geography 40, Art 42 pages. Yes, these subjects are not the same, but there is a difference in the expectation of knowledge in science when compared with other subjects. joel120193.substack.com/p/science-na...

New Blog Post 📝 With the sheer amount of decisions a teacher has to process in a day, our brain often relies on fallacies. This is a look at 10 educational fallacies that often take place in school, what they manifest into, and what we can do to avoid them. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

If you're still inputting QLA data onto a spreadsheet or worse, making your colleagues do it - read this! Excellent from @joel120193.bsky.social

The football is so turgid that im sat here laughing at @joel120193.bsky.social blog in what feels like a masochistic manner. Like sorry what is this and why have we all had to do it?

1970s: UK running out money, received a bailout from IMF. UK economic growth rates: -2.4% Student loans: Free 2020s: UK economy 6th largest in the world. UK economic growth rates: 1.1% Student loans: £30,000. Don't tell me we can't afford it.

That's accurate. Also of interest is that there's transparent advice from police to help ensure that things do or don't get escalated up to them. bsky.app/profile/9000...

Speaking with a primary school teacher who mentioned that students are coming to school in nappies, a lack of both fine and gross motor skills, not able to hold things for long periods of time, struggling to see, and is having discussions about what a book is. It's dark times.

These have a chokehold on male teachers!

New Blog Post 📝 Everyone is entitled to their opinion. However. As teachers, its important that we keep our opinions to ourselves and offer a balanced view. The balance is difficult, but in an increasingly political world, we could have undue influence. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

Finally, it's definitely time to ditch QLA as @joel120193.bsky.social argues effectively in this excellent piece. Luckily, this madness is less common in primary but I saw it once and my head nearly exploded with the pointlessness of it. joel120193.substack.com/p/death-to-t...

"all behaviour is an unmet need"

People seem to ignore the fact that many events occur in school that, if taken place outside of school, the child would be arrested. This is not just about their age. A child assaulting someone in the street at 14, will be arrested. Assaulting someone in school may not.

Everyone with a Plan 2 student loan has known it was a poor deal. For a large portion of the population the marginal tax rate is 9% higher. They aren't student loan payments if interest makes it so it never stops. It's a graduate tax. Stop calling it anything else.

The government is making a bad decision. Students need to be suspended. If a student comes to lesson and disturbs the learning of the rest in the classroom, the teacher have given them multiple opportunities to improve, and they choose not to, that student should be removed.

Totally agree with @joel120193.bsky.social All the QLA shows you is how well they've answered that specific question, phrased in that particular way. Much more benefit annotating a paper as you do the marking, noting common errors and then feeding back based on that.

Good article, I stopped doing it for similar reasons. You might also like this (if you don't know it already) www.cambridge.org/insight/blog... there is a part 2 aswell.

New Blog Post 📝 I hate QLA. Originally due to the time it sucked out of my PPA I now know that QLA documents do not provide the information we think they do. I go over the justification for why I ditched QLA and the reasons why you should get rid of it too. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

New Blog Post 📝 A fair amount of conversation is happening surrounding the causes of poor behaviour, however, what I wanted to highlight is the impact the poor behaviour of one pupil has on the other 29. Even just a few minutes has, collectively, a large impact. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

New Post 📝 Throughout the years, I have seen a smorgasbord of sometimes non-justifiable asks of a teacher in a 60-minute lesson. Here I show some of what I have been asked in the past alongside a plea to leaders to consider the cognitive load of their teachers. Link Below

New Post 📝 Throughout the years, I have seen a smorgasbord of sometimes non-justifiable asks of a teacher in a 60-minute lesson. Here I show some of what I have been asked in the past alongside a plea to leaders to consider the cognitive load of their teachers. Link Below

Student loan interest is back in the news again, and rightly so. About 18 months ago, I wrote a blog post about the impact student loans have on take home wages and how it's getting worse. Back then, I said my student loan debt was £70,000. Today:

New Science Story Post 📝 Would you swallow a pathogen to prove the medicine wrong? From smallpox to the "accidental" discovery of the cure for ulcers, this is the story of the scientists who used their own bodies as a lab. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

I can’t “like” this enough. When we focus on the small number who don’t behave, making adjustments, constantly accommodating them and allowing them to take all the attention, we are failing the others. The other children matter.

New Blog Post 📝 A fair amount of conversation is happening surrounding the causes of poor behaviour, however, what I wanted to highlight is the impact the poor behaviour of one pupil has on the other 29. Even just a few minutes has, collectively, a large impact. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

For those ~25% of teachers, January is usually a good time to have a look at TES. There are better schools out there. tes.com/jobs

As a science teacher, I like to tell stories from the history of science to enrich our classrooms with stories that complement the curriculum. I’ve always believed that to truly understand science, we have to look at the stories that live in the margins of the curriculum.

Some schools do a test at the end of every topic. For some, this can mean 10 tests a year, not including end of year. This may be trying to game the testing effect, but this isn't increasing outcomes as much as you may think. We test three times a year. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

** Announcing ** We are delighted that the brilliant Joel Kenyon will be speaking in the Science Strand at TTR Connect 2026! More Science strand speakers to be announced soon, join us in Manchester on Saturday 14th March 2026 here (for free): ttradio.org/connect2026

Since the downfall of EduTwitter, I now have many accounts that I use e.g. LinkedIn, Substack etc. Some I follow on one, but not the other. Can people post their profile to their accounts so I can follow you on them. I feel as if I am missing out. RT would be appreciated.

Some schools do a test at the end of every topic. For some, this can mean 10 tests a year, not including end of year. This may be trying to game the testing effect, but this isn't increasing outcomes as much as you may think. We test three times a year. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

First Substack Post📝 In order for me to identify where I could have improved in a lesson, I have created my own vision of my perfect lesson. Here I narrate through my perfect lesson and why I use it as a measure for all my lessons. Link below.

First Substack Post📝 In order for me to identify where I could have improved in a lesson, I have created my own vision of my perfect lesson. Here I narrate through my perfect lesson and why I use it as a measure for all my lessons. Link below.

Hi #EduSky! I am early with my #Saturday3 this morning whilst my family guests recover from jet lag. First up, is this post from @joel120193.bsky.social on using etymology in science which I meant to include last week. bsky.app/profile/joel...

✨Science teachers✨ What is one piece of science equipment that is expensive, but you think it's worth the price? E.g. Rubens' tube, cloud chamber etc.