The Twenty-Sixth Republic -Half Term Horror?

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What's the cut off for their definition of "older pupils"? If it's year 10 and up then I may as well not bother with the commute and work full time from home. I only have one lesson a week with younger pupils than that. I do also have a year 7 form, but I'm sure that could be sorted out.

I wonder this too, MrsAD. I exclusively teach y10 upwards and my connection at home is way better than at work if lots of us are trying to live teach.
I know the Head won't agree to it though because some people would take the proverbial.

Taking things in a new direction for a moment.. a lovely former student, who is now training to teach primary, has asked me a question I can't answer. I'm hoping the hive mind here can help!
In a year piece of work, would you expect modal verbs? If they weren't there, would you take that to mean they're working below ARE? Or would the use of adverbial such "make up" for that?

In my mind, year 5 writing at this point in this year is likely more akin to speech than formal writing, so modals probably wouldn't appear naturally.
Any bright ideas? This is way out of my experience!!

My year 5 daughter says she is expected to use modal verbs in her writing. I had to ask her what a modal.verb is though

Thanks, why. I hope her explanation was clear and helpful 🤣
I used to teach modality at A level. I now teach it at GCSE. Soon I won't have to teach it at all!!

She said quite often the learning objectives say "such and such piece of writing using modal verbs"

Her explanation was very clear thanks she has, however, continued to be unsuccessful in her attempts to describe what a fronted adverbial is. I end up being like Charlie Brown and hear blah blah blah blah

It's an adverb at the start of a sentence. I don't know why we need all this fancy terminology

I would only use modal verbs if the piece of writing called for it. God KS2 is stupid.

Don't get me started on noun phrases!!

The only grammar I was ever taught came from the little Latin and French I did. I don't think I was ever explicitly taught this sort of thing in English. I was crap at English though and hated my teacher, so probably my fault

@TheHoneyBadger

I used to be a scuba diving instructor and the PADI method was basically that you: tell them what you're gonna tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them.

Basically the NASA training model.

Also all teaching started with a 'contact' eg. if you were talking about pressure you ask them what would happen if you shook a can of coke then opened it. That probably has stuck with me - I'm always look for metaphors that kids will get and get experiences they have that new learning can easily connect with and hook onto. Dare say that has a fancy name too.

Think it's called the Hook at my school or the big question.

What happens if you trump in the bath etc?

I didn't think that was what a fronted daerbial was.

T'internet has examples such as :

Quick as a flash
Without a sound
Before she knew it

Not one of these phrase has an actual adverb in it. They are 'how' phrases at the beginning of sentences.

They are only now beginning to get findings from research about how this teaching actively damages creativity in writing!

Have any of you claimed the tax rebate for working from home during the pandemic?

My friend has just rang to say he has done it and they apply for the whole year?

Is it £6 a week or £6 that isn't to be able to be taxed so 20 percent of £6?

Those examples are all adverbial phrases rather than stand alone adverbs. Which is partly why all this terminology is problematic. It's no surprise that it stifles creativity though.
Phillip Pullman once gave a conference speech in which he mentioned all the verbs in the NC for English. "Enjoy" didn't make the list.

Oh I hope it doesn't always stifle creativity both my daughters are prolific readers and are always writing their own stories and comics.

If they read anyway, they'll write better without needing to be told.
Thanks for the reminder Riga. I've just emailed my accountant get me! to ask that question.

*Think it's called the Hook at my school or the big question.

What happens if you trump in the bath etc*

I talked a lot about farting in the corner of the lab to teach diffusion - hooks for kids are generally vaguely inappropriate and highly memorable. It's actually part of why I found Science a pain to teach because it doesn't hook brilliantly into kids experiences (or at least not easily from my non specialist perspective) and I seemed to be teaching in a vacuum of context.

Talking about 1914 Europe led to me talking a lot about if Billy is annoying but he has a big brother in year 11 who is scary as hell are you more or less likely to bully Billy? Humanities is full of hooks thankfully.

MrsH that means they used to forget all about them after A'level, then after GCSE and now they forget all about them by year 7 Sorry for my cynicism. I'm just not convinced 'doing something younger' and younger = better.

'Hesitantly she opened the door'?

Neither am I! My year 12 haven't yet grasped that commas are neither for breathing or holding sentences together and I'm sure they've used them for a while 🤷‍♀️

@TheHoneyBadger

'Hesitantly she opened the door'?

Yes.

And what's a modal verb?

@TheHoneyBadger

And what's a modal verb?

I've forgotten already You know how some stuff just slides from your brain.... ?

One which expresses obligation, necessity, or possibility - so might and could and should and must etc.
There are four types - but I save those for a level
What I still don't get is surds...

I have a brain slide strategy. You put the index finger of your non writing hand in your ear do stuff can't get out. I can even get y13 to do it.

omg why is it necessary to know that those words are called something eg. in a category? Surely using them confidently and competently is important which requires no need to know what they're called? Not in your own language surely?

Yeah I couldn't be a year 6 teacher.