How could a ladder and a box help elevate your history lessons?

An overview of my talk at the Nottingham Roosevelt Memorial Travelling Scholarship this week. It was such a pleasure to talk about my experiences in America to nearly a hundred guests at this year’s virtual Thanksgiving event.

This is a huge opportunity to approach culture and heritage in a brand new way in Newark – especially considering the restrictions currently in place and the uncertainty within museums surrounding physical public engagement at the moment. 

If, when studying history, you don’t come across things that make you feel uncomfortable, upset and/or angry, you’re not doing it right. History is not a comfort blanket, it is chequered with the good, the bad and the grey areas of humankind. – Rachel Smith

Would Shakespeare be a good grief counsellor? How would Ignatius Sancho respond to racism in Britain today? What would Mary Shelley tell us about her experience as a female horror writer? This new video series could answer all of those questions.

I hope I supported the festival in a small way and brought a smile to somebody’s face. Even if they were just wondering ‘who is this idiot?’

Vikings had to be creative with their cooking. They required a balanced and nutritional diet to prepare them for battle.
Each of these simple recipes is based on Scandinavian dishes developed over centuries. These are simple enough to prepare in a school or to bring into a classroom to give your class a taste of Viking life.

How can subtle changes to our own language allow us to encourage conversations about mental health in a highly anxious and worrying time of education?

Each of our resources serves its own purpose. We should aim to find multiple uses for them, but we shouldn’t stress and spend too long trying to fit round pegs in square holes. 

History education has (quite rightly) been under serious scrutiny this past week. It’s something I have been studying over this past few months since evaluating the education system in the USA and their approach to the story of thanksgiving, which is deeply troubling.

Shakespeare’s STD and the colonisation of USA. Which parts of history can we afford to lose when condensing a piece of history?

I’ve always found images to be a lot more memorable than words. The amount of detail that can be crammed into a single image can be so much greater and emotive than language alone. Combining images (particularly using this overhead camera rig) with voiceover was a bit of an experiment to see how much more effectively I could remember facts when there was a logical narrative and visual stimulus throughout.

Picking a name that suits your character is crucial. Yet, the opposite is true as well: characters can be built from something as simple as a name.

The Coronavirus has introduced some truly unexpected side effects to learning. Aside from missing those crucial final months of the academic year, it has forced teachers to reconsider teaching techniques and the impact of learning from home. This will be summarised in three categories: digital resources, exams and transitions, and learning environments.

Most of the time, I look for interesting approaches to topics that are done in almost every classroom every single year. However, this is one topic that you are probably less familiar with, and definitely don’t teach to your class.

Many teachers spend too long focussing on how to keep every child in their class engaged in their lessons. If they switch the focus to finding new ways to keep themselves (the teacher) engaged, the class will follow. Enthusiasm is contagious.

Tom and David have been training in Sherwood Forest to improve their storytelling skills and history knowledge.

A new collaboration with Miner2Major project will see Lord Byron making a return to primary schools across Nottinghamshire. 

Preparations are underway to make 2020 even bigger and better. A new range of props and costumes are being introduced as part of our ‘School Takeover’ series.

The final video of our Bloop series was released this month. The responses to the videos has been overwhelming and we are so pleased to hear that they are being used in schools across the country.

New for 2020! Live Encounters for the whole school. Following the success of our award-winning Live Encounters series, we have made them bigger so every class can experience it.

Lord Byron had numerous love affairs across the world. He was irresponsible with money and landed himself in masses of debt. So what can we learn from him?

Tom returns to his old college to speak to students about teaching opportunities and career options once they’ve finished their A Levels.

WBD is always a highlight of the school year. It’s your chance to get your class excited about reading. Many schools and parents are restricted by budgets as the prices of children’s books seem to be increasing.