Product reviews for Oops!

Reading Hywel's book has been a pleasure. As a primary teacher for over twenty years, with the additional role of - 'Creativity Coordinator' tagged on for good measure, I was - 'hooked' by the first sentence of the foreword: - 'Good teachers are great liars'! I immediately wanted to know more, and especially as I've been lucky enough to hear Hywel present training to teachers, the - 'preferably read it with a Barnsley accent' had me intrigued.

The last thing I need is book about teaching theory; no busy teacher needs that. We get enough theory and hoops to jump through from senior management, Government initiatives and the continual pressure of the inspectors arriving to give ourselves more reading for reading's sake. Hywel's book is not like that. Yes, it contains theory, it talks about learning and child-centredness but it is also inspiring, easy to read and is filled to the rafters with practical application; things I can steal and adapt for my learners and for me; things that actually work and will invigorate my teaching practice without it once making me doubt my own ability. Things that have made me go - 'hmmmm?!'.

As I read through the book (literally from cover to cover) I was struck by the cleverness of the - 'Lists'. Hywel writes lists and bullet points throughout. - 'Top 10s' and - 'Top 5s', Lists of the Bests and the Worsts, Things-to-do, Things-not-to-do, bullet-pointed action points and superb summing-ups. All of these appeal to me, and are RELEVANT. Relevance is a recurring theme. The book contains simple, effective illustrations, brilliant - 'sliding scales' to provoke thought and reflection on who and where I am as a teacher and I acknowledge to myself now that I will be recommending Hywel's book to so many of my colleagues: from students and NQTs who will absorb and adapt the suggestions without resistance, to the older switched-off colleagues who have arrived at the point of forgetting what the point is in being the teacher and lead learner. The book offers something for everyone engaged in education, whether that engagement is currently active or not. It is for those of us who love teaching and are instinctively creative in what we do but always want to be better at it. It is also, most importantly, for those who are not sure how to be creative, or how to liven the classroom and the learning for which we are responsible. And for those who may have accidentally switched to standby, waiting for something or someone to reactivate them, this is that switch.

I would regard myself as BRAVE (read the book to find out what Hywel means by this) but I will go back to this for inspiration and to refresh my teaching over and over. I would like to thank Hywel on behalf of my future pupils, who will undoubtedly pass through my classes and accidently learn more than they would have if I had not read this book.