Background

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My name in Neil Commons. Welcome to the my website.  This site has been designed to tell the word a little bit about myself and most importantly to house my blog “Commons Sense”, where I try my hardest to make sense of  world I find myself in.  This world tends to revolve around education as I am a Science teacher with a Physics specialism presently teaching in London.

In my classroom you would expect to see a range of pedagogical styles in action but often with inquiry based learning at its heart.  I really enjoy teaching middle school science. Crucially I find students at a magical moment of maximum curiosity and capability so helping them learn can be an enlightening experience.  This is also due to the fact that I use the criterion based learning of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) which I really do feel best prepares students for the real world.  In my high school physics classes an expectation of mastery is explicitly present alongside the use of reverse learning/flipped classroom.  As you might guess from the website I am comfortable with Information technology and integrate development of such skills into my teaching.  Much of this has been inspired through my completion of the Certificate of Overseas Technology And Information Literacy (COTAIL)

Outside of the science laboratory I want to help empower students with the confidence and skills for life.  I feel the pastoral role of the teacher is also vitally important.  Thankfully I also have a lot of fun helping students take on greater challenges and growing from these experiences.  For me the best example of such whole child growth takes place when students are being challenged not only by the requirements but also by the setting.

I do have a world away from school but rarely away from young people as I am a father of two young boys – Aidan and Gabriel – and volunteer to support Scouting in my local area.  This also means that outdoor education plays a central role in my life.

 

 

 

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