Mr B
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theengagingteacher.bsky.social
Mr B
@theengagingteacher.bsky.social
Teacher, trainer & cake-baker. Avid reader, sporadic juggler &wannabe cunning linguist. Edu-blogger, bad-guitarist & overly fond of the rule of three.

https://creatingengagingclassrooms.blogspot.com/
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/tb9605
Fuel for all night election results watching:
pistachios, pimms, cava, crisps, ice cream, champagne, Irish coffee.
July 4, 2024 at 7:09 PM
📚 Really enjoyed "The Ninth House" by Leigh Bardugo. Very different in tone to her Grishaverse books (which I also liked); much closer to Donna Tartt's "A Secret History" or even David Mitchell. Recommended.
March 11, 2024 at 3:59 PM
📚Greatly appreciating that Holly Bourne exists. Making it my mission to get her on the English curriculum. I've already told my kids that "Girlfriends" will be mandatory reading before they are allowed to attend a party/festival. Also: deeply uncomfortable reflections on my own teenage years.
February 25, 2024 at 11:13 AM
Really enjoying the "Rivers of London" series by Ben Aaronovich. Just finished book 4 (below is the first in the series). Imagine Neil Gaiman doing police procedurals. In fact, they should do a crossover involving the cast of Neverwhere.
February 24, 2024 at 7:06 PM
📚 Just finished "The Running Grave" by Robert Galbraith. Phew! Hard to think of a novel that I've found more disturbing. Well-written, great story, but a tough, tough read, especially at 900+ pages.
February 21, 2024 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by Mr B
"A Novel Is an Empathy Engine" by Cecilia Tan. A great article about what happens in our brains when we read fiction:

www.uncannymagazine.com/article/a-no...
February 10, 2024 at 8:40 AM
📚Really want to do a book boost, but the last four books I've read have all been disappointing. Not terrible, but just not worth trying to persuade others to read. Can't remember such a duff run before. Luckily, a student has just lent me "All the light we cannot see" which should break the pattern.
February 8, 2024 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by Mr B
LGBTQIA+ readers, rejoice: it’s Queer Your Bookshelf day! Find your next read (or two!) among 300 books for $0.99 each in multiple genres—sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, #romancelandia.

(If you don’t know where to start, SILENT KNIGHT by Layla Reyne is one of my male/male romantic suspense edits. 😉)
Queer Your Bookshelf
queeryourbookshelf.com
February 2, 2024 at 3:22 PM
Reposted by Mr B
For my friends interested in poetry, here's a zoom event on February 12 you many enjoy, with Ria Di Peeples and ME! And there is open mic, too. Details on the Facebook page www.facebook.com/events/33173... Register at us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi... #writingcommunity #writerscoffeebar
January 27, 2024 at 5:19 PM
#UKed
How do your department heads approach moderating marking with NQTs? Is it best to provide them with marked scripts for moderation (so they can see your annotations and how you derived the marks) or let them mark them blind?
January 27, 2024 at 5:02 PM
Mocks + colleague being off for a week = perfect storm of cover and marking.

Love teaching!😶
January 24, 2024 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Mr B
💙📚 I agree with this ⬇️ but it's important to point out that shelves of books aren't enough to create a library.

The essential ingredient is a librarian
www.theguardian.com/books/2024/j...
‘Every school should have a library’: Philip Pullman calls for new UK laws
The novelist has joined fellow children’s writers Michael Morpurgo and Julia Donaldson in a plea to ministers for action
www.theguardian.com
January 21, 2024 at 11:42 AM
💙📚
So, this was amazing.... "Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Best Sci-Fi since The Expanse. Powerfully political yet never preachy. Add it to your "must read" lists.
January 17, 2024 at 6:55 PM
Reposted by Mr B
🌐 What is your favorite "study strategy" to share with students or colleagues #EDUsky?

📘 NEW on the podcast today!

🚀 I share a handful of favorite tech-friendly study tips and digital tools perfect for students and lifelong learners.

classtechtips.com/2024/01/16/s...
Study Strategies for Students & Lifelong Learners - Easy EdTech Podcast 250 - Class Tech Tips
Explore study tips and digital tools in our podcast. Elevate learning with AI apps and study strategies for students and lifelong learners.
classtechtips.com
January 16, 2024 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Mr B
Celebrating women engineers poster, available at this link 🙂
#ITeachPhysics #WomenInSTEM
education.theiet.org/media/akwjwz...
January 14, 2024 at 9:32 AM
Reposted by Mr B
Science teachers. If you have students interested in engineering, this site has lots of nice, appropriate articles on many areas
www.ingenia.org.uk
#ITeachPhysics
January 14, 2024 at 11:11 AM
I've read so many books with queer protagonists lately (by Madeline Miller, Becky Albertini, JC McNeilly, Seth Dickinson, Laura Pearson) that when I picked up Colleen Hoover recently I was wierded out when the female protagonist turned out to be straight: it felt odd! Anyone else get this?
January 14, 2024 at 11:53 AM
Reading recommendation: Ian Gilbert's "Essential motivation in the classroom"
creatingengagingclassrooms.blogspot.com/2024/01/reco...
Recommended reading: Ian Gilbert's "Essential Motivation in the Classroom"
A review of Ian Gilbert's "Essential motivation in the classroom"
creatingengagingclassrooms.blogspot.com
January 9, 2024 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Mr B
Making an "In/Out" list for my AP kids on our first day back.
Is there anything you would add or change?
January 4, 2024 at 5:17 PM
We woke up this morning to watch a forest fire burning across the valley. 4 helicopters and a plane had it under control by lunchtime. This was on January 6th. January!

This summer is going to be hell. 😟
January 6, 2024 at 2:51 PM
Ten writers of whom I've read more than five books:
Terry Pratchett
Margaret Atwood
Brandon Sanderson
William Shakespeare
Holly Bourne
Jane Austen
Charles Dickens
NK Jemisin
Isabel Allende
JK Rowling
(That is a very white list, Jemisin aside! Naipaul, Achebe and Thing'o were close. Must diversify.)
Ten writers of whom I've read more than five books:

Terry Pratchett
Diana Wynne-Jones
Louise Erdrich
Octavia Butler
Kate DiCamillo
Helen Oyeyemi
Amy Tan
Haruki Murakami
Salman Rushdie
Margaret Atwood
Ten writers of whom I’ve read more than five books:

Terry Pratchett
Stephen King
Robert Heinlein
Mercedes Lackey
Anne McCaffrey
Catherine Coulter
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Louisa May Alcott
Terry Brooks
Jean Auel
January 4, 2024 at 4:14 PM
Reposted by Mr B
Four Things Every YA Writer Should Know About Teens, by Samantha Cameron

janefriedman.com/4-things-eve... @janefriedman.bsky.social #writing
January 3, 2024 at 11:39 AM
📚👍🏼 "Parallel" by Lauren Miller. A fun YA play on the sliding doors concept (except the doors keep sliding). A really interesting exploration of female friendship: there were male romantic interests for the protagonist, but it was the (alternate) relationship(s) with her best friend that gripped.
January 3, 2024 at 5:41 PM
📚👍🏼 "Imogen, obviously" by Becky Abertalli. Loved it, obviously (I'm a total sucker for a happy-ending). But, I think it'll be a great addition to any school library because of the way it unpicks and shoots down some of the toxic discourse around sexual identity.
January 3, 2024 at 2:35 PM