How I First Heard The Term I came across the phrase "adaptive teaching" while completing the assessment-only route to QTS earlier this year. In my first meeting with an assessor from the provider — an interview that followed their audit of my practice — I raised the idea of differentiation, which I'd always understood to be a good, standard part of teaching. The assessor stopped me. Differentiation, she explained, isn't really a term (or an idea) that's looked upon well i

A few weeks ago, I stood in front of the Grade 8 graduating class and gave a speech in two languages. I started in Mandarin, then switched to English. It wasn't a party trick — it fit the theme of their graduation, "Charting the Unknown." I told them that learning Chinese this year had meant making mistakes constantly, feeling uncomfortable more often than not, and doing it anyway. I told them that high school would feel similar. That they'd need to take risks, get things wro

As educators, we often talk about creating a culture of learning for our students. We want our classrooms to be places where students are curious, ask questions, explore ideas, and learn collaboratively. But creating a culture of learning among adults can be surprisingly difficult. This year, I learned that culture cannot be mandated. It cannot be created through a policy, a meeting, or a well-intentioned initiative. Culture is something that is lived. It grows slowly thr

I picked up Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team because I'm stepping into a new role next year as my school's PD coordinator, and I wanted to start building a small library of leadership reading before I'm responsible for actually managing anything. I didn't expect a book about a fictional Silicon Valley startup to make me think so hard about staff meetings, department culture, and why some school initiatives quietly die a year after they're rolled out. The F

I recently finished the book “Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-Creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations” by Sam Kean and REALLY enjoyed it! It made history feel human again. Too often, the ancient world is reduced to dates, kings, empires, and artifacts sitting silently behind museum glass. Dinner with King Tut does something very different. It recreates the physical reality of the past — what people ate, how they slept, how t

The classroom after the students leave — where much of the reflection, planning, and thinking behind teaching actually happens. In my last post, I shared that after than a decade of teaching internationally, I finally decided to formalise something I had already spent years doing professionally: becoming a licensed teacher through QTS. When I first started looking into the Assessment Only Route to QTS, I honestly did not fully know what to expect. I had read a few blog posts,

After more than a decade of teaching internationally, I finally decided to formalise something I had already spent years doing professionally: becoming a licensed teacher through QTS. For years, I’ve taught successfully without holding a formal government-issued teaching licence. I do hold a CELTA, but that is designed for ELT rather than mainstream school teaching. In many schools around the world, especially in the international sector, teachers can build strong careers w

One of the ongoing challenges in teaching is finding the right balance between intellectual challenge and accessibility. This tension became particularly clear to me while teaching a lesson based on Jared Diamond’s The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race , an article that presents a provocative and evidence-rich critique of the Agricultural Revolution. The article is powerful, but it is also demanding. It contains dense academic language, unfamiliar disciplinary

A couple of weeks ago, I organized a field trip to an Indian restaurant in Ningbo, for high school students from Grades 9 to 12. On the surface, it was a restaurant visit. But in practice, it was a larger project that used food as a lens for history, geography, culture, and human connection. I’ve always loved food — not just eating it, but thinking about it. When I lived in Bogotá, I even started a small business focused on Indian food. It involved catering, delivery, and c

I love reading. It’s one of the few activities that is deeply individual yet collaborative when shared through a book club. Over the years, I’ve started book clubs with friends and colleagues, and the experience has always been worthwhile — as long as the book is good and the members are committed. Earlier this year, while preparing for a professional development session I was to lead on AI in teaching, the idea resurfaced. I had bought a small selection of books to inform

A couple of Saturdays ago, I led a PD workshop for our teachers at AIAN on the theme of AI. The goal of the session was not to provide a list of tools or tips, but to start a meaningful conversation about how we, as educators, can use AI thoughtfully and creatively in our work. Before the workshop, I had reached out to staff to learn how they currently use AI. The responses were diverse—some teachers use AI for lesson planning and feedback, others for generating assessments o

Summer holidays are over and we head back to school next week. I am excited to start this new academic year because I’ll be returning to...

The AP Microeconomics and AP Macroeconomics exams are over. Looking back, the past year felt like a constant race to cover all the...

Last week, I taught a lesson on the essential vocabulary in AP Microeconomics Unit 2: Supply and Demand. Vocabulary is foundational in...

Earlier this year, I was asked by our principal to lead the organization of International Day, an annual event that celebrates the...

This year, I started a new role in an international school in China. I am a middle school social studies, but also teach an elective to...