Debs Richmond

Why you can remember every word of a song from 25 years ago – but not why you walked into the room Forgetting why you walked into a room isn’t a sign of cognitive decline. It’s your brain doing exactly what it evolved to do.

Most reassuring thing I read over the weekend.

Thanks for signposting this Tom. This quote resonates: "If a student cannot voice their opinion in public, do we not have a responsibility to attempt to teach them how to do so?" which is pretty much how I continued the discussion with my ECTs, followed by how we might do so.

What makes an expert teacher? Evidence from 45 studies A meta analysis of 45 studies shows where expert teachers differ from novices. Less in knowledge, more in skills and classroom judgment.

This was an interesting read. Experienced teachers and novices differ but exactly how? It's not much to do with knowledge and everything to do with judgement and decision making in the classroom. From Pedro De Bruyckere. theeconomyofmeaning.com/2026/02/27/w...

What are we really doing when we let students opt out? How low expectations protect adults and diminish children

I was facilitating an ECT session this week and the topic of 'should we avoid cold-calling anxious/nervous students?' came up in discussion. @didau.bsky.social addresses this complex issue very eloquently.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

The benefits of paraphrasing in a tricky conversation.

Exciting new AI project A couple of years ago, Carousel worked with over 50 teachers and researchers to investigate the use of AI in auto-marking student work. That project resulted in the publication of a peer-reviewed pape...

EXCITING OPPORTUNITY

We are looking for teachers to help us with a Top Secret AI project. It will take 35 minutes only, and it should be pretty interesting!

If you teach science, geography, DT, English or psychology (KS5) and can help out click 👇

forms.gle/c1gvLrz7Cfah...

The psychology of SEND labels What if your child struggles and falls behind their peers? When it comes to the topic of children struggling in school and education, parents can experience profound feelings of fear or worry, or hope...

🚨 NEW POST 🚨

‘The psychology of SEND labels’

“Receiving a diagnosis with a name and a status that medical experts validate can give children and adults a story, and an explanation, that renders their experience comprehensible.”

alexquigley.co.uk/the-psycholo...

Liking the reflections in @thosethatcan.bsky.social book 'Real Lives of Teachers'

"Perspectives on Change: How do you feel about change in general? Do you thrive on it and seek it out? Do you accept it and take a pragmatic approach? Do you need time to process information before you respond to it?"

Why do we treat writing as the only ‘proper’ evidence of learning? ‘You don’t get better at writing by doing more writing’ - a quote from a Headteacher that has never left me. This is a bit of a long exploration of writing but I hope you will stick with it...

Why do we treat writing as the only 'proper' evidence of learning? While this is a post based in a primary setting, there is much to consider from a secondary perspective. open.substack.com/pub/coolcurr...

It absolutely comes through. There’s a depth and practicality to the blogs that definitely comes from working so closely with so many beginning teachers. I always come away reflecting on my own mentoring after reading. 😊

Stand Still, Narrate and Stop: Small Classroom Changes with Big Impacts Forget the lentils and stopwatches. From frontloading to the power of 'we,' here are some tiny, intentional changes that can transform classroom culture.

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...

I really enjoy these blogs from @victoriacrooks.bsky.social I am an experienced ITT mentor but reading these blogs always adds a little something to my practice.

Setting the albatross free: Teaching without PowerPoint Photo by Katerina Holmes on Pexels.com As a young teacher beginning my career just after the turn of the millennium, my first classroom was fitted with the ultimate in modern technology – a roller …

We're getting to that point when #ITT beginning #teachers start moving away from #planning as their lessons ramp up. This means it's time for a reminder that they may not be putting their efforts into the part of the lesson that really matters.

uonhistoryteachertraining.school.blog/2022/04/22/s...

🚨 Giveaway! 🎉 5 copies of my new book Questioning for Teaching & Learning. 💡 To enter repost this post! 🗓 Winners announced Monday 5th January 2026 at 6 pm UK time. Happy new year all. Here's to a healthy & happy 2026!

The practice of writing cards (saying thank you, better) One of my former bosses would, every time he visited my school, make a clandestine card drop on my desk, which I’d discover only when he was driving off into the sunset. The card was simple, the ha…

New Post: ianfrosteducation.com/2026/01/01/t...

I just wrote this for a project I am working on and it basically sums up the last 4 years of my life working in school improvement

‘The right colleague working alongside you is a delight. They add capacity, lighten the load, bring joy, create flow and make you feel anything is possible.’ - I love this @raesnape.bsky.social The Headteacher’s Handbook.
❓Who on your team does this?
❓Which leader do you do this for?
🧵5/n

Top ten names that would make a decent baby name if it wasn’t already the name of a medical condition or medication…

10. Amnesia
9. Rubella
8. Codeine
7. Malaria
6. Paxil
5. Alopecia
4. Bonjela
3. Aphasia
2. Typhus
1. Chlamydia

Survey of teachers and accents EMC's Dan Clayton explores the implications of a survey looking at teachers and accents

I’ve written a long blog here that comes out of various things that I’ve worked on with other people this term. It’s about accents... again! Sorry, not sorry.
englishandmedia.co.uk/blog/pride-a...

A shape-sorter understanding: Why mentees find changing teaching placements so hard We’re approaching that time in the ITE year when our students prepare to move to a new school setting for their second teaching practice. Having just settled into their placement school, havi…

My @uonsoe.bsky.social #ITT #historyteacher s visited their new Teaching Practice schools today ahead of starting properly after the holiday. Enjoying hearing their reflections on moving placement & having a pupil perspective from my eldest who met one in their lesson today!

Chlorine is Green, Zoos Have Life and Kings are Killed: Using Etymology in Science It started with a happy accident. I had finished a lesson with my Year 8s and, surprisingly, we had powered through the material with 15 minutes to spare. My plan for the next lesson was to introdu…

New Blog Post 📝

Etymology in science usually stops at just photosynthesis, but I use it almost every single lesson.

Here are a few stories of some of my lessons and the impact teaching etymology has made on pupil understanding and literacy.

inquestion.co.uk/2025/11/28/e...

Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning Apply metacognitive strategies in the classroom.

The @theeef.bsky.social has released updated guidance on Metacognition & self-regulated learning - one of its most widely used evidence resources.

Explore the update here: educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-ev...

When teachers thrive, students do too. Explore the blog on staff success and how to support your team 📘⬇️
https://www.innerdrive.co.uk/blog/staff-success/

Lesson Planning Is Not the Basics: Why We’re Training Teachers Backwards I’ve been teaching secondary school students for over a decade, and in that time, I’ve dived deep into many aspects of teaching.

Cracking blog here on one of my bugbears. The standard practice of expecting trainee teachers to plan *and* teach lessons is not a good way to train people. #Edusky

open.substack.com/pub/dremanue...

Setting granular targets for beginning teachers Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels.com Saima’s teaching practice placement is well underway, and she is getting used to the pattern of her teaching week and her regular mentor meetings.  Things …

🚨BIG day on the BLOG🚨

MY 100th POST‼️

Never thought I'd get to 10, let alone 100.😮

A new blog for #ITT #ECT #mentors #coaches on setting meaningful targets for their #mentees. Particularly helpful for #ITAP follow-up!

uonhistoryteachertraining.school.blog/2025/11/03/s...

#TeacherEducation

How the teaching of adults varies from the teaching of children. More specifically the teaching of teachers i.e. teacher CPD. "... adults bring prior knowledge, seek relevance and want agency in their learning"

What do others do... Meaningful Meetings - Rachel Johnson The good, the bad and the ugly  Meetings matter because they tell the people in them something about our priorities, our character, our attitude to them (and their time) and how brave and bold we are....

www.racheljohnson.org.uk/articles/wha...

How to make meetings meaningful by @rachelpixl.bsky.social

Recalibrating Your Teacher Identity: When Your Past Success Doesn’t Fit Your Current Experience Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com I feel like a failure At some point every year I will have a conversation with a beginning teacher who confesses that they feel like a total failure. “…

And another on the challenges some #ITT beginning teachers face when #TeacherTraining is not quite what they expected and they don't feel how they anticipated they would feel about their new endeavour...

uonhistoryteachertraining.school.blog/2025/10/08/r...

#TeacherEducation #EduBlogUK 2/2

Unlocking the Power of Mentor Meetings for ITT Beginning Teachers Photo by Los Muertos Crew on Pexels.com Mentor meetings are the cornerstone of support for beginning teachers, shaping their early experiences and helping them make sense of both the theory behind …

I'm in a bit of a blog writing frenzy atm. Here are two new ones today for #TeacherMentor s working working with #ITT beginning teachers in this early phase of their #TeacherTraining year.

First up, Effective #Mentor Meetings: uonhistoryteachertraining.school.blog/2025/10/08/u...

#EdublogUK 1/2

The government has swung the axe on teacher training incentives – including cutting funding for shortage subjects such as maths and foreign languages

schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-swings-a...