Phil Beadle's Teaching Tips

Following on from Julian Girdham's review of Phil Beadle's "How to Teach", here is a short video of Phil outlining his "Top Tips for Teachers". Just a quick few words on Phil Beadle - he's an English teacher, a former United Kingdom Secondary Teacher of the Year in the National Teaching Awards, and a double Royal Television Society Award winning broadcaster for Channel 4's 'The Unteachables' and 'Can't Read Can't Write'. He writes a column called 'On Teaching' for Education Guardian. How to teach is his third book. His first was serialised in The Telegraph and his second has been used by Liverpool and Manchester United football clubs. He has been on Richard and Judy twice - now that's and achievement! I currently reading "How to Teach" and enjoying every sentence.

Guest Post - Phil Beadle's "How to Teach" Reviewed

To celebrate World Teachers' Day 2010 Julian Girdham, from the award winning SCC English blog, has prepared a guest post for More Stress Less Success reviewing Phil Beadle's wonderful book "How to Teach". Julian's blog won the International Edublogger Award for Best Group Blog in 2008 (coming third in the same category in 2009), picked up nominations for the prestigious Golden Spider Awards in 2008 and 2009 and has been nominated for an Irish Blog Award in 2009 and 2010. It's an essential tool for the modern English teacher. Visit www.sccenglish.ie or www.twitter.com/sccenglish  and explore!

It feels appropriate to be writing a quick review of Phil Beadle's How to Teach on World Teachers' Day. One month into the school year, the new teachers to whom it is directed may already be feeling besieged and panicky, and old lags like this reviewer may have found that that giddy post-summer-holidays-everything-is-going-to-be-different-this-year feeling has dismally trickled away. The very title of Humphrey's blog suggests that one of the key things that teachers have to combat is stress of different kinds: well, no better way to do this at the start of October than to treat yourself to Beadle's book.

First of all, behind the bland dull title (surely not the author's own), this is a several-laughs-a-page read. It's also hilariously cynical, brutally honest and helpfully practical about the profession. The chapter headings are also dull - 'Management of Students', 'Methods and Organisation' and the like. But then you start reading. If you're a new teacher, you're delighted to hear a voice that isn't ridden with educational jargon or management-speak. If you've been in the classroom for some years, you chuckle and nod, knowing that he's so often simply right. In fact, you'll nod so much your head might fall off. The book has been written for the British market, and bears the scars of his deep frustration with a system which has messed those teachers around for decades, but Irish teachers shouldn't be complacent. Our inspection system might still be relatively benign, but things can change, and current economic and public pressures see Irish teachers under increasing externally-imposed pressure.

Reading Time - Ian McEwan's Solar

One of the best things about being a teacher are the holidays - no one will deny that. But I feel they are a just reward for putting up with smelly snotty nosed teenagers for nine months of the year. Most of my friends  are envious of my holidays but still wouldn't do my job even if the pay was doubled. Holidays are the only time I get a chance to read (something other than over priced textbooks anyway) and having just received my well earned holidays last Saturday, I quickly got stuck into my first novel of the summer - Ian McEwan's Solar. 

I'm not a prolific reader but I do try to tackle a few during the intermittent breaks over the year. When I do get a chance, I generally keep it light. However, McEwan's novel is both light and dark, and it is a testament to his writing talents that he manages to pull this off. His most potent tool in accomplishing this is humour, but not in your face short snappy humour but much more subtle dark and drawn out humour.