Andrew John Davis

Introduction to my novel Planet Meno: The Origin of Species published February 21st 2025 youtu.be/L9mZrTI2RR0?si…

@MichaelRosenYes @EMCTeach @greeborunner @SWLiteracy @tombennett71 That couldn't possibly happen! The DfE would never be influenced in their reading policies by individuals or agencies that stood to make lots of money offering a one size fits all 'method', especially when a key representative has actually affected the National Curriculum. No no!

@EMCTeach @greeborunner @SWLiteracy @tombennett71 What if there was evidence that people who publish the schemes have been in an official position of advising the government to subsidise the schemes that they the publishers publish? Could you imagine a situation like that? Far-fetched? Unlikely? Improbable? What do you think?

Enjoying text and being fluent with text are not mutually exclusive, but if you can't read well then you won't enjoy reading very much. And what is being described here is the lovely experience of being read to, which is fantastic, but is not itself reading. A tiny minority of children might learn exclusively like this, but many/ most need expert instruction to become proficient.

@MichaelRosenYes @tombennett71 And some more comments about the home situation.

@tombennett71 In the home situation (NOT applying this to school situation), I don't accept a binary between 'being read to' and 'learning to read'. 100s of times with 6 out of 7 of my children/step-children, there was a continuum between 'read to' and 'learning to read'.

@AdamHighcliffe Surely you know that a toddler can't enjoy walking until he or she has been taught how to walk using the best evidence-based teaching methods. See Rosenshine, Sweller, that book called 'Walk like a Champion' etc.

Is this the worst take on reading ever? Discuss. x.com/tombennett71/s…

@AuthorGFAllen It's a common human trait (weakness, if you like) to dislike reading something that's forced on you. OK - not everyone is like that, and some of us look back and are glad we were 'forced' to do Shakespeare, Dickens, George Eliot, etc. But it seems such a sad idea to force Tolkien

@ded6ajd Why would that increase hatred?

I think everyone should be required to read Lord of the Rings so they know what real adventure looks like.

@Rokewood @AlexJQuigley Don’t miss my free course on reading for nausea

@AlexJQuigley Since it’s 50yrs this year since I left school, I’ve been thinking about this. I don’t recall my primary or secondary teachers talking about RFP. I do recall their passion for our *reading*. All kinds of reading. From classics to Jackdaw historical sources. Guided by them

🚨 NEW POST 🚨 'What should we do about 'reading for pleasure'?' "Reading really matters. In the final miles of secondary school, after years of failure, promoting reading for pleasure is not likely to be the place to start with Rebecca." alexquigley.co.uk/what-should-we…

@MichaelRosenYes @PaulBushen It’s axiomatic that if you’re not something or you have left it then you know nothing about it. So I’m not a child so know nothing about children..not a doctor so know nothing about medicine ..not a Reform member so know nothing about Reform..refugees and refugees etc

@PaulBushen 1. TB's comment was an absolutist axiom, not qualified by age group, situation or time frame. 2. I am a university teacher who works with teachers teaching reading, devising projects to help children read. 3. There are many reading for pleasure programmes, for all ages.

So all the millions who've sat reading 'Dear Zoo' and 'The Gruffalo' with their pre-readers don't realise that their pre-schoolers should really be waiting till they're taught how to read before they 'appreciate' the books. Lols.

@dylanwiliam @MathsladyScott @joboaler Shock horror! You worked with Jo Boaler. But surely she has been a toxic influence on all maths education everywhere in the world and should be burned at the stake! I once really appreciated something she wrote about her research and had to go to confession.

@MathsladyScott Definitely what @joboaler and I found in our setting study. The same teachers were often better when teaching mixed-ability than sets, because they KNEW they had to address the range of achievement. When teaching sets, they often assumed they did not need to do this...

I was HOD and introduced mixed-ability grouping with the blessing of my HT - it worked really well. Now I believe that whatever system you believe in you are essentially always working a mixed-ability grouping in mathematics as no two minds are alike 🤔😀

@MichaelRosenYes And see Chapter 7 of my "A Critique of Pure Teaching Methods and the Case of Synthetic Phonics" - all about early reading at home and before much in the way of top down teaching of reading.

Anyone who has sat reading to and with their babies, toddlers and under-fives knows that this comment below is nonsense.

@MichaelRosenYes Yes.. it’s strange given that trying to remember user names and passwords is my current curse..

Question for over 70 year olds: can you remember your home phone number from when you were a kid?

@soigomaa Some of those interested in this might enjoy this sci fi novel. It's nicely researched. amazon.co.uk/Difference-Eng…

The first computer programmer wasn’t a Silicon Valley genius. It wasn’t even a man. It was Ada Lovelace. In 1843.Ada was the daughter of Lord Byron — the same poet from Mary Shelley’s storm that night. She was fascinated by math when women weren’t supposed to be fascinated by anything. She studied Charles Babbage’s “Analytical Engine” — a machine that didn’t even exist yet.And she wrote the world’s first algorithm for it.She didn’t just understand the machine.She imagined what it could become.She said it could compose music. Solve problems. Think. That was 1843. We built what she described in 1940. They called her notes “translations.” Downplayed her work for 100 years. Her name was almost lost entirely. The mother of computing never saw a computer. But every computer you’ve ever touched runs on her idea. I share stories about women daily…

Modern warfare is horrendously expensive. Do the participants ever properly consider whether a fraction of the money could have been used in a positive way to support peace and lessen the likelihood of death and destruction?

@jan_murray Gender neutral toilets, unlike men's tend to have sinks inside the toilet cubicle. Because of my chronic medical condition, I always need a sink - and preferably hooks, surfaces etc for clothes, equipment etc. Without gender neutral places I have to find a disabled loo. Just me?

I ducked into Brick Lane market to use the loo today. The only option I could find was labelled “gender neutral.” It was mostly women inside. I encountered two men - who were entitled to be there - but that didn’t automatically make the experience comfortable. When I came out of the cubicle, I found myself washing my hands next to a man coughing up sputum into the sink. My daughter said she could hear him too and stayed inside her cubicle as long as possible to avoid standing next to him. At the same time, a young man ran out of his cubicle and straight out the door without washing his hands. He looked like he couldn’t get out quickly enough. It didn’t exactly feel dangerous. But it didn’t feel comfortable either. Because when the usual boundaries around shared spaces shift, the atmosphere shifts too. I don’t object to inclusive facilities. But I do think women should retain the option of female-only space in busy public venues. Choice matters.

@MichaelRosenYes @TomFranklin @AlexJQuigley @teach_well Indeed.. you could even argue that a letter sequence isn't yet a word until used *in context*. B4 that, you may not know what it means (tear & tear), it still lacks a syntax (and possibly pronunciation abuse & abuse). Letter sequences are necessary but not sufficient for language

@TomFranklin @AlexJQuigley @teach_well No. Language is not words. Language is the linking of words in meaningful sequences. Words is a necessary but not sufficient condition for language. A list of randomly chosen words is not language.

A full room for @teach_well on teaching vocabulary at #rEDBRUM. Vocabulary matters - but how to address it is a challenge.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were first cousins. Just saying..

@indiegirl1509 @UK_Republic You'd be OK, then with *elected* parasites?😀

@ded6ajd @UK_Republic Why do we need unelected parasites to open building through? Local councillors or MPs could do that.

With rumours about King Charles’ health growing, who else feels that we urgently need a referendum on the monarchy, before his lazy son becomes king by default?

There seems to be a groundswell of opinion that justice hasn't been done because ..of what? That the diagnosis is wrong? How would lay people know that? Do some people simply not 'believe' in such severe psychiatric disorders? 3/3

My unease rather relates to the paranoid schizophrenia diagnosis. If this diagnosis is appropriate, it surely does mean that Calocane belongs in hospital (for ever?) and should not be held to be *criminally* responsible for his appalling actions. 2/3

Am I the only one to find aspects of the public inquiry into the Nottingham UK attacks troubling? I can't imagine the devastation for victims' relatives and friends. I also appreciate that potential failings by the police and other agencies need to be scrutinised rigorously. 1/3