February was cold, dark, wet and miserable. Which probably explains why I go so much writing done. Here are all of my posts from lat month in one convenient digest.

Learning about learning: What every teacher needs to know A report from the US National Council on Teacher Quality reveals the ‘big six’ strategies we should all know.

More guff on creativity There really people who believe that being creative means you don’t have to remember stuff!

Reading difficulty is a teaching problem not an intelligence problem If a child leaves school unable to read it is the school’s fault.

Romanticism & the Enlightenment: Meta-beliefs in education An exploration of the unexamined beliefs which shape our thinking and actions.

What’s the starting point for all learning? A reaction against the over blown rhetoric in praise of questioning.

On bullshit: the value of clarity, precision and economy The comments section reveal the extent to which some people really do want to obfuscate their meaning.

Learning is liminal What happens inside students’ heads is largely mysterious and unpredictable. This post seeks to explain why liminality is so important to the learning process.

Who is dyslexic and why does it matter? Are all children who struggle to read dyslexic? Or only special ones who are otherwise intelligent?

Taking responsibility for predictable problems Why it’s wrong to just exclude the most vulnerable students whose misbehaviour is entirely predictable.

When planning fails… what to do when behaviour breaks down Some brief advice on how to prevent predictable problems.

Just give me one good reason to use a tablet in the classroom There’s a lot of silliness about iPads, and be happy with just one good reason to spend all that dosh.

The Learning Styles myth debunked on the back of an envelope A four-step debunking of the Learning Styles myth.

One more nail in the Learning Styles coffin… Why preferences seem to matter but in fact don’t.

Why do edtech folk react badly to scepticism? Part 1: Vested interest It’s not just edtech folk who behave like this, but they’re vested interests are more obvious than for most of us.

Just semantics? Subtle but important misunderstandings about learning styles, modalities, and preferences A gust post by Yana Weinstein explaining the subtleties of her envelope.

Why do edtech folk react badly to scepticism? Part 2: Confirmation bias More on why edtechies struggle to debate the value of ed tech politely.

What every teacher needs to know about… rote learning My article for Teach Secondary.

What are they learning? Why what students are learning is much more important than whether they are learning.

Why do edtech folk react badly to scepticism? Part 3: Sunk cost fallacy Why it’s hard to give up what we’ve invested in.

The role of teachers is not to make managers’ lives easier Solve workload issues by allowing teachers to just teach.