Andy Smart 💙

Baring the soul ...

@DoctorSam7 Oh how I wish that Dr Sam (I speak as a BlueSkyer) Might one day become an ex-X And instead become a butterflyer. (Fully acknowledging that I have not yet quit this monolettered platform yet!)

In today’s blog, I discuss the Hechingger Report on comprehension and make the case that comprehension strategies can and should be taught directly. We need to spend more time TEACHING comprehension! doctorsam7.blog/2025/03/22/my-…

Absolutely brilliant letter.

@fundypost @LBFlyawayhome And what is the collectiom of things on the coffee table? The man's two pipes. His wallet? What besides?

@LBFlyawayhome The man of the house has the one comfy chair.

Enjoy this just-post-war illustration of a modern home from The Puffin Picture Book of Furniture, 1947. (Gordon Russell, Jacques Groag)

@nelsabbey Enjoying your contributions 🙂 but I was wondering what Jor-DAN was. The country name of Jordan rhymes with the name Gordon not with the name of the country Sudan. (In Arabic, the first syllable is also the one that's stressed... Al-Urdun الأُرْدُن.)

If you're awake and fancy starting your Saturday morning with a slew of my cashmere thoughts, I'll be on the BBC World Service from 6:30am until 9am. I'm speaking about everything from Russia to cocoa priced to Badenoch to Lagos' Airport. Tune in here: bbc.co.uk/programmes/w17…

Twitter do your thing and make him famous.

I'm looking forward to speaking at this webinar. I'll include recent work on textbooks in Tonga, working with #CurriculumFoundation @NISSEM_SDG4 @matthewchjukes @maryamakmal @APCEIU @TVandenbosch @Esthergoldschm

@karekenj @ZackPolanski There was no line of police officers across the street. Therefore it could not be crossed. The lines of police were alonside the Whiteall buildings, allowing protestors to walk normally from Whitehall into Trafalgar Square.

@ZackPolanski Thank you for admitting you crossed the police line. Who was with you? Can you provide names, please?

"Forced through." I was in this group of people carrying flowers - and the police had stepped aside to let us through. For the police to say that a group had "forced it's way through" is simply inaccurate & seeks to stoke division from a peaceful protest.

@LearnusUK Thanks. I can now see MHIY's talk there. 🙂

thanks @AndySmart2. Our Learnus Annual Lecture 2023 "How We Learn: Why brains learn better than any  machine..... for now" Speaker Professor Stanislas Deheane, French cognitive neuroscientist is on the @LearnusUK website learnus.co.uk home page

@LearnusUK @USCRossier @UCL_IOE_PHD @Cambridge_Uni I was sorry to miss this (I didn't hear of it thanks to twitter being so poor these days... please join BlueSky!). I'm looking forward to watching the recording. (The videos of past annual lectures only seem to go up to 2019?)

Heartfelt thanks to Professor Immordino-Yang for her powerful and inspiring @LearnusUK Annual Lecture last night. It was brilliant, mind shifting and thought grabbing. The video will be available on our website in the next few days. @USCRossier @UCL_IOE_PHD @Cambridge_Uni

Netanyahu was wilfully wiping out thousands of civilians. If you want to argue that was justified, that’s up to you. But there’s no longer any doubt that he did it.

🎥 Nina Simone looking for David Bowie at her show in Montreux (1976): "David Bowie, are you here man?" ⚡️ David Bowie drew other musicians in and attempted to soothe their troubles by letting them know they were not alone. If he saw someone feeling held down by the pressures of the industry, he was quick to remind them that their unique artistry was a strength, not a burden. At least, this is how his friendship with Nina Simone started: after attending the same member’s club one night, he called her up to remind her of her power. As Simone recalled, “He said, ‘The first thing I want you to know is that you’re not crazy—don’t let anybody tell you you’re crazy, because where you’re coming from, there are very few of us out there’.” Bowie went on to describe her as “gifted”, telling her that her “genius overshadows the money”. He also admitted that he was never a genius, he just wanted to be a “rock and roll singer” who found out “the right formula”. In his view, Simone was the real deal whose artistry deserved to be shared with the world. Afterwards, Simone found Bowie to be the most authentic person she ever crossed paths with. “He’s got more sense than anybody I’ve ever known,” she explained. “It’s not human—David ain’t from here.” Although the ‘Starman’ would later pay homage to Simone by recording a version of ‘Wild Is The Wind’, it’s clear that he regarded her as a true visionary. In his eyes, the world needed her artistry more than it needed his science fiction-infused creativity, and he was keen to draw it out of her with positive encouragement and uplifting compliments. Bowie may have frequented the stars, but to him, Simone was the North Star.

With our children being our future and our long-term societal #Wellbeing depending on them, @ProfKEPickett & @ProfRGWilkinson explore the impact of socio-economic #Inequality on #CAMH in this fascinating podcast. bit.ly/49rWoiI

@cbokhove Thank you. If you have a moment, could you kindly post a couple of recent links on this?

I fear that some have been persuaded by the incorrect statement that motivation does not lead to achievement, but (only!) vice versa, when it's reciprocal.

Linking curriculum to exclusions not warranted; that is behaviour. Reactions against 'enjoyable' too negative, though, because a good curriculum and enjoyment (or accessible or engagement) not mutually exclusive.

No Qualms even as things get worse…and worse? Poems by Michael Rosen jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/no-qua…

This is powerful.

Slaughter on an industrial scale. Harrowing report as locals reveal the site of a mass grave thought to contain over 100,000 people. The healing that Syria and Syrians will need to go through is beyond human words.

🔬 'Strong research evidence suggests that all teachers can learn to interact in ways that improve the quality of pupils’ motivation' @Ambition_Inst assistant director, Steve Farndon buff.ly/4iz96jS

@VictoriaCoren @chrismccausland Totally agree and his partner Dianne is amazing as well - he has shown that dance really is for everyone - what a man!Here's Andrew - who has Down's syndrome and moderate/severe deafness - doing his favourite Chris/Dianne dance!

@bbcworldservice Day after day, World Service and other presenters interview Syrian respondents who pronounce the name of Bashar al Asad with the stress on the 2nd syllable of the 1st name and the 1st syllable of the 2nd name. Day after day, the presenters do the precise opposite

This is Raghid Al-Tatari. He is a Syrian Air Force Pilot who refused to bomb the city of Hama on Hafez Assad orders in the early 1980s. He was freed today from Saydnaya prison after 43 years of jail. #Syria.