When life gets in the way I find I have no time to sit and look at the simple things. Look at the patterns on the prayer mat, so intricately intertwined, after praying; the shadows cast over the garden by the trees, a temporary mark on the face of the world; the look of [...]

Remember Little Jimmy and his comma?  Well, he’s back and this time it’s personal!
As it happens, teachers have fewer rights than I once thought.  It seems that Little Jimmy, not content with questioning the marking of his poorly punctuated piece of prose (and I use the term “prose” loosely) has taken it upon himself [...]

So we had a residential at work this weekend.  The main objective I guess was to complete a lot of work with the new head of department – now known as the CDL (don’t ask what the acronym stands for!  “Ciddle”?)  So the Ciddle, the rest of the English department and I set off for [...]

So to keep you updated; I went, I applied, I conquered.�
 In the same shcool I might add.  Possibly the only way I could get a teaching job in the North East of England is a strange case of nepotism.  Having taught for a year in a school rife with its own problems, I was deemed [...]

So you like to believe there is no such thing as institutionalised racism?  Or even a subtle form of discrimination?
So would I.  In fact, I often defended schools are wholly inclusive institutions, against charges of racism levelled by my brother-in-law - the family Maths teacher.
That was until I applied myself.  Alhamdullilah I have nearly completed [...]

The best lessons are varied and interesting. This means make your lessons different with a number of activities. Yes, this take a bit of planning, but sometimes, just gettin your students moving around the classroom helps keep them motivated. We will start with the four-part lesson plan.
The Four-Part lesson plan:
Starter: warm up activity; it does [...]

Today, as an irate parent had called my head of department, claiming that her daughter was scared of me, and scared to come to school as a result, I found myself being falsely nice to this girl!  It shows how much power children wield in the classroom and it’s scary.
This particular girl had lost [...]

Most of you won’t know about my love-hate relationship with teaching.  Leaving aside the misgivings or the “Islamicity” of teaching in a mixed gender secondary school, there are many other issues with putting your life on the line for the sake of the next generation.Â�
I have recently discovered, that relationships with collegues can be based [...]