What one thing do you do in your classroom that has a positive impact on learning? I ban certain words. Students aren't allowed to use them. Stuff, things, up, right, down, impossible. Some words are semi-banned like people, pollution and tsunami. Definitely ban Africa and America. How did this come about? A random thought during my first year of teaching in around 2003/4. I noticed that the quality of pupils' wirting lacked detail and specific vocab - it was all rather general, waffly faff. How do I know when it's working? Students written and verbal answers are much better. they are concise and reference geographical terms. This is something that I use from lesson one of year 7. It's habit forming. I see words like 'increasing gradually' instead of 'going up' to describe the trend in household income since 1977 and 'government minister' instead of 'peopl...
Sharing stories of pedagogic adventures.