Book


The journey:

You can read about my book journey here and the reviews at the bottom of this page.

Take a look inside:

Click here to preview some of the content and here to see images on Twitter.

Review:

Here is a most recent review by @MaryMyatt – HMI advisor. You can read more reviews at the foot of this page. Mary also said: “Thoroughly enjoyed it. Solid, useful as well as inspiring stuff in it. Well done!”

Cracking ideas!  - click to open tweet
Cracking ideas! – click to open tweet

Where to buy?

You can purchase the book directly on Bloomsbury Publishing.

Buy 100 Ideas on Bloomsbury
Buy 100 Ideas on Bloomsbury

About 100 Ideas:

for Secondary Teachers: Outstanding Lessons.

Conflicting government diktat and changeable Ofsted frameworks means that navigating the path to an outstanding lesson can be challenging. However, the integrity of an outstanding lesson will always be the same. From the moment you walk into any classroom, you can (with experience) almost immediately see, hear and feel an outstanding lesson taking place. This book attempts to bottle that formula so that you can recreate it time and time again.

100 Ideas Book cover
Click to enlarge – 100 Ideas Book cover

Ross Morrison McGill aims to equip all secondary teachers with a toolkit of approaches that can be picked up 5 minutes prior to the lesson and put into practice just as they are, or embedded into your every day teaching to permanently make your classroom an outstanding learning environment.

His ideas are original, off-beat and creative and in his light-hearted, warm writing style he talks you through the strategies he uses to make lessons outstanding and inspiring, and offers invaluable tips and advice, whether you are an experienced and successful teacher, or someone who has little practical teaching experience.

Ideas include: activities for the start and end of your lessons (Monday-morning-mantra); strategies for outstanding lesson planning (The 5 minute lesson plan), tips for assessing your students (Covert press-ganging!) and managing their behaviour (Smiley faces!).

With a fresh, new, accessible design, this dip in, dip out, guide is a must read for all secondary teachers everywhere.

Reviews:

Phil Beadle (English teacher, education consultant, author): “A decade ago Ross and I were both up for London Teacher of the Year. We drew, and settled it down an East end boozer over a game of darts in which I fluked a lucky double top. We were struck that night by the degree of intellectual similarity between us: a preference for going in the side door rather than simply doing things we were told to do by people who were bored of what they did for a living.
In the ten years since that evening Ross has become a new media phenomenon; and this book is redolent of his happy relationship with emerging and emerged technologies. While it is conventionally published, it includes a deal of unconventional thought, and that thought is expressed in a way that takes in every possible media for conveying ideas and information: there are hashtags, weblinks, ideas for taking things forwards, links to videos he has made. In short, it is Ross’s greatest hits.

Where a talented teacher might come up with a couple of groundbreaking ideas over a career. Ross Morrison McGill has ten before breakfast: some are more conventional and massively influential (the five minute lesson plan, and pose, pause, pounce, bounce) some wilder and more in keeping with the guy I met at the oche: (hopscotch calculators and paper plates for AfL strategies).
All-in-all though this is a book of ideas: the manifold ideas of an experienced and talented campaigner, who keeps himself up-to-the-minute with new technologies, who still plays in the classroom every day, and who knows the value of quirk. I wish he was my teacher!” (more below).

Heather Leatt (School Improvement Advisor): “As you would expect from its author, Ross Morrison McGill aka @TeacherToolkit, has produced a book, brim-full of creative and sparkling ideas to help make teachers’ lives easier.  Covering everything from the ubiquitous #5MinPlan, to hints and tips on behaviour and practical ideas for lessons, it is easy to dip in and out of and is bound to be a hit.  So if you need inspiration to help you plan outstanding lessons, you need look no further – this gem of a book is for you.”

Kenny Frederick (Retired Headteacher): “This book is written and produced by an excellent well respected practitioner and I know it will fly off the shelves!  It’s a collection of 100 ideas for planning & delivering outstanding lessons, not occasionally but consistently. Every secondary school teacher in every school needs their own copy of this practical and useful book – it will change their lives and make their lessons even better. Teachers can use this book as individuals planning their lessons or they could use it when planning jointly with colleagues. There is something in here for everybody!

I would advise secondary head teachers to purchase a copy for all their teachers and to introduce it on an INSET day then let them loose in teams to get on with planning. Revisit it as a school or  a team every term and ask teachers which tips they have used and how they helped make their lesson even better. Ross Morrison McGill is very well known and well respected through his @TeacherToolkit and Teachmeets which have put teachers in charge of their own CPD – which is exactly the way it should be. I recommend this book (and Ross) without reservation.”

Professor Kay Stables (Head of Design, Goldsmiths College): Pending.

Other:

https://twitter.com/lesleymuriss/status/386514452138700800


17 thoughts on “Book

  1. link to EPUB version (Kobo . Kindle) doesn’t work. Takes you to the the respective website but says the item not found.

    Is there an electronic version?

  2. Pingback: #Pygmalion teacher expectancy-effect by @TeacherToolkit | @ TeacherToolkit

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