The Best Education Blogs of 2014


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Ross Morrison McGill founded @TeacherToolkit in 2010, and today, he is one of the 'most followed educators'on social media in the world. In 2015, he was nominated as one of the '500 Most Influential People in Britain' by The Sunday Times as a result of...
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This blog is a summary of all the best educational blogs across the UK. *According to Education Panorama during 2014.

It is also my 300th blogpost …

Education Panorama:

For the first 3 months, I hosted my newsletter on Tiny Letter. You can see my 3 monthly editions here.

  1. Education Panorama (April ’14)
  2. Education Panorama (May ’14)
  3. Education Panorama (June ’14)

Education Panorama Newsletter by @TeacherToolkit.

I then decided to bring my newsletter ‘in-house’ and host Education Panorama on my own blog. This naturally gave me full access to data and copyright. Since then, my monthly newsletter has not only improved my own knowledge of what is going on across the UK, but has been able to inform others. You can see from the links and statistics below:

  1. Education Panorama (July ’14) by @TeacherToolkit – 981 views
  2. Education Panorama (August ’14) by @TeacherToolkit – 3,881 views
  3. Education Panorama (September ’14) by @TeacherToolkit – 10,815 views
  4. Education Panorama (October ’14) by @TeacherToolkit – 9,101 views
  5. Education Panorama (November ’14) by @TeacherToolkit – 13,282 views
  6. Education Panorama (December ’14) by @TeacherToolkit – 6,210 views

In total, these blogs have accumulated over 44,000 views between them. When clicking any of the above links, a disconcerted reader may wonder ‘how on earth one can read over 50+ blogs per month?’ and keep track of countless others. Regarding how I manage to do this, my answer is here, which is then tracked using this function.

Best Blogs 2014:

Since bringing my own newsletter in-house, I started to identify which blogs (from the 40-75 I listed) were notable to me. There was no other criteria for this selection, other than what stood out during that particular month (according to social media). What I have listed below, and in no particular order other than chronological history, are 2-3 blogs per month which I consider noteworthy.

These are my Best Education Blogs of 2014: Tweet this list.

Oscar Award Gold

Image: Celebzter

 

  1. A wonderful article by Chris Husbands: Nicky Morgan: time to read and reflect, consolidate and build consensus. In this blog, Husbands says Morgan has two huge advantages. The first is that almost whatever the secretary of state does, children arrive at school and teachers teach them: the system goes on working irrespective of government changes. The second is that for someone starting a new job, she has arrived just as most of the workers and clients disappear for their summer break, so she has time to read, talk and think before the new school year.
  2. A wonderful article by @DavidMcQueen from Diary of a Dad | A Sense of Identity which discusses how influential he is around his daughters sense of wellbeing and identity. If you read the blog, make sure you watch this
  3. Disappointed Idealist shares some interesting information in Harris the Hero which highlights ‘Where the money goes. Everything else is smokescreen and guff.’ There is also a write-up about Mossbourne Academy : the model for us all?
  4. All Change Please, @TristramShepard writes; “At the end of the day/lesson, the debate should not really be focused on whether traditional teaching is any better or worse that so-called progressive teaching, but simply whether traditional and more progressive methods are being applied well or badly in the classroom.” He goes on to describe a traditional and progressive classroom in One Small Step.
  5. Emma Kell who tweets at @ThoseThatCan writes a wonderful article and a tribute to [a friend], colleague and Headteacher of Hendon School, Kevin McKellar who died on Sunday 24th August 2014. Losing Your Head is a fitting tribute to the headteacher who encouraged others to not be complacent or defeatist.
  6. All Change Please (again), @TristramShepard quotes; “The problem with teaching as a profession is that every single adult citizen of this country thinks that they know what teachers do. And they don’t. So they prescribe solutions, and they develop public policy, and they editorialize, and they politicize. And they don’t listen to those who do know. Those who could teach. The teacher.”  Sarah Blaine. Read Learn First, Teach Later.
  7. More on Marking by @MaryMyatt is a must-read for all school leaders and teachers! It puts workload all into perspective …
  8. I have countless references to @headguruteacher each month, but 10 Silver Arrows: Ideas to Penetrate the Armour of Ingrained Practice is a must read and presents a set of ideas that potentially make a great teacher. There is a resource by @EducatingMiss to summarise his blog here.
  9. Tom Sherrington aka @headguruteacher (again) shows off all his hard work, celebrating ONE MILLION views on his blog, with Thanks A Million!
  10. @DebraKidd quotes; “an exploration of why it is that a small number of privately educated men seem to think it’s alright to personally attack women they deem to be strong …”  Read her blog; Woman Know Thy Place.
  11. On another note, @Sue_Cowley writes off-piste, and a must-read for all teachers-come-authors. Sue puts book writing all into perspective; “Suck it up or suck it down, and then get on with writing the next one.” Read *BAD* Review.
  12. And finally, Andy Tharby reminds us Why A Growth Mindset is Not Just for Christmas!

Tweet this list.

The Best Education Blogs of 2014


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