6. I have a rather dry sense of humour. More like Martini Extra Dry, in fact…

7. I’m not great at geography. Unlike my wife Hannah, who has top-down maps of places in her head, I can still get lost using a combination of my Sat-Nav and GPS feature of Google Maps on my iPhone. On the other hand, at any given time I could probably tell you pretty accurately which way is North, South, East or West. Bizarre.

First, the passion quilt meme. The idea is to post a photo that sums up what inspires me in education. It’s certainly not this. Don’t tell anyone this, but if it wasn’t for having a family to support, I’d teach for half the money I’m on now…

No, what inspires me in education is hard to define in a picture. It’s the positive energy surrounding thinking and grasping towards answers. It’s promoting self-reflection and learning-to-learn in young people. I’m going to cheat and post 3 images, all of which present aspects of what I’m trying to get at:

This image is rather aptly entitled Considering a Digital Future. I like the way that the boy seems to be lost in thought and looking away, even though there’s something massive that should be taking his attention in the background.

Too often in education we don’t allow young people time to reflect and think. I don’t think large class sizes are conducive to this, and it’s something perhaps somewhat beyond my control.

This picture is simply entitled Leadership. At 27, I’m fairly young – even in the eyes of students – and so can be a role model to them. I take this aspect of my job very seriously, although it presents itself in a slightly offbeat and quirky view of the world.

This might look like a bizarre inclusion. After all, I can’t surf and that’s certainly not a picture of me and my son Ben!

The reason I’ve included this one is because it symbolises the idea a ‘teachers as lifeguards’ that I’ve discussed before.

And now for the other meme. This one’s about readers finding out more about the blog author. Here goes:

1. What was I doing 10 years ago.

Erm… I was 17 and half-way through my ‘A’ Levels in Maths with Mechanics, Physics, English Literature and History. I dropped down to an ‘AS’ level in Maths as I found the ‘Pure Maths’ element very difficult. Taking 4 ‘A’ Levels was slightly unusual when 3 was the norm. To make up for the half an ‘A’ Level I dropped, I took General Studies ‘AS’ Level. It was the only subject for which I didn’t have timetabled lessons and the only subject in which I got an ‘A’! Of course, it didn’t help my Grandma dying on the morning of my European History exam…

2. Five things on my to-do list for today

I’ve actually done most of them! But they were (using Remember The Milk):

1. Plan ‘How to attack a castle’ lesson for Year 7. (I look for resources in advance, but plan at the last minute to make sure I respond to learner’s needs and interests)
2. Pick up Ben from nursery. (my wife, Hannah, works on a Wednesday and a Thursday. To make her life at school easier for her I take our son to nursery and pick him up – at least on a Wednesday)
3. Hand in cover sheets. (I’m presenting at the Schools History Project Conference with Nick Dennis on using new technologies in History teaching – as we did last year. Also, I’m attending a standardisation meeting for the Edexcel AS-level History exam paper I mark. Consequently, I need time off school in the coming months…)
4. Book ICT rooms. (the new ‘online’ booking system at school didn’t work properly. Hence, when I thought I was booked in for one lesson per week with both my Year 11 History classes using my new Y11 Revision wiki, I wasn’t!)
5. Email my publishers. (Nick Dennis and I are working for a publishing company, producing interactive resources to go with their range of Key Stage 3 History textbooks)

3. Snacks I enjoy

Chocolate. Cheese. Things with peanut butter on them. Spicy stuff.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire

Set a good example to other rich people by paying off my mortgage and then giving the rest away. And I mean that – you can hold me to it if I ever win big! (not that I gamble…)

5. Three of my bad habits

1. Biting my nails. (I don’t consider this a ‘bad habit’ – but others, including my wife, do)
2. Being overly sarcastic and dry with my humour.
3. Spending too much time online. (again, it’s only others who tell me that it’s a bad habit of mine!)

6. Five places I have lived

Not very inspiring or exciting, I’m afraid – they’re all in England:

1. Nottingham (it’s where I was born, despite neither of my parents being from there – a bit like Ben being born in Doncaster, really)
2. Ashington, Northumberland (where I grew up, and once the largest ‘coal mining town’ in the world)
3. Sheffield (where I went to university and met Hannah)
4. Gateshead (whilst Hannah and I did our teacher training)
5. Doncaster (where we live now)

7. Five jobs I’ve had

Erm. Do these count?

1. Paper boy (when I was about 13/14 years old – didn’t exactly do wonders for my posture…)
2. Assistant bookseller in Oxford (summer after my GCSEs)
3. Sales assistant at HMV in Meadowhall, Sheffield (part-time whilst I was doing my BA in Philosophy)
4. Bookseller at Waterstone’s in Newcastle (part-time whilst I was doing my MA in Modern History at Durham)
5. Teacher of History and ICT (schools in Worksop and Doncaster since I was 23)

8. Five people I want to know more about

All of you! If you read this, consider yourself tagged – link back to this post please!