Mike Gershon’s Knowledge Base
Develop Your Skills, Knowledge and Insight Today
400+ Articles, Guides and Blogs to Help You in Your Classroom
Including Insights, Strategies and Tools From Multiple Bestselling Books
Welcome to my Knowledge Base 👋
Here you’ll find hundreds of articles, blogs and guides sharing key ideas and practical strategies.
I’ve adapted ten of my bestselling books so you can use my insights to develop your classroom practice for FREE. 😁
My goal is simple.
I want to share my expertise with teachers and leaders like you in an instantly accessible format.
Giving you ideas, techniques and strategies you can use in your classroom or share with your staff.
For me, teacher autonomy is crucial.
Teacher’s flourish, teach better lessons and enjoy their work more when they have the freedom to make decisions based on their expertise and professional insight.
The Knowledge Base plays into this.
I’ve edited, revised and rewritten all the content from my bestselling How To … series of books.
You’ll find 400+ teacher-focussed blogs, articles and guides you can use to develop your knowledge and skills, spark your creative thinking, and simplify your lesson planning.
Most of the blogs are short, sharp and to the point.
Practical ideas you can quickly adapt and apply.
If you want to go deeper and develop your thinking further, you’ll find blogs and articles clustered together in groups.
Reading a group is like reading a chapter of one of the books, giving you scope to dig deep into a particular topic.
The Knowledge Base is divided into ten areas, each focussing on a key aspect of teaching and learning.
You can use the quick access menu to instantly jump to the areas that interest you the most.
Your Knowledge Base Quick Access Menu
Everything within the Knowledge Base is written with teachers in mind.
You’ll find some theory and some conceptual material.
But, mostly, you’ll find practical strategies, activities and techniques you can use to develop your practice, reflect on your teaching and innovate in your lessons.
And if you want a hard copy of any of the bestselling books that provided the original material for the Knowledge Base, you can buy them all on Amazon.
Below, you’ll find snapshots covering each section of the Knowledge Base.
For all ten areas, there’s a specially designed homepage, giving you instant access to the relevant blogs, articles and guides.
Making navigation as easy as possible.
I’ve also indexed everything and made it part of my blog.
Meaning you can search for specific things you are looking for.
To do so, visit the Blog homepage and use the search box.
And don’t forget, my FREE resources go hand-in-hand with the Knowledge Base.
I’ve rewritten, redesigned and fully updated them for 2026.
Giving you everything you need to develop your thinking around classroom practice.
P.S. If you want to go a step further and take control of your career, your classroom and your future, join me on my professional development platform, Mike Gershon’s Effective Teaching and Learning.
This is professional development that prioritises teacher autonomy.
Giving you the freedom to grow and develop in a way that meets your needs.
Helping you to achieve your goals, not someone else’s.
Explore Mike’s Knowledge Base For FREE
Expert Insights and Practical Guidance For You and Your Classroom
Dissolve the Complexity and Enjoy the Powerful Simplicity of Effective, Targeted AFL
Explore 32 blogs adapted from my bestselling book How to Use Assessment for Learning in The Classroom: The Complete Guide.
Develop your practice around this essential aspect of effective and efficient planning and teaching.
Make your life easier, and help your learners make swifter progress.
Assessment for Learning Knowledge Base
Key Sections
- 🎯 How to Make Sense of Assessment for Learning
- 🎯 Eliciting and Using Information
- 🎯 Mastering Peer-Assessment
- 🎯 Effective Self-Assessment
- 🎯 Speeding Up Your Feedback
- 🎯 How We Make Judgements
- 🎯 Overcoming the Barriers to Effective AFL
Turn the Focus Inwards and Make Sense of How Our Minds Have the Power to Shape Our Behaviour
Here you’ll find 29 blogs adapted from my bestselling book How to Develop Growth Mindsets in the Classroom: The Complete Guide.
Discover how to think about growth mindsets from a practical perspective.
Cut through the clutter, and the myths, surrounding growth mindsets, and see the potential it has for your learners.
Growth Mindsets Knowledge Base
Key Sections
- 🎯 Key Growth Mindset Ideas and Why Language Matters
- 🎯 Rethinking Mistakes and Failure
- 🎯 How to Effectively Target Learner Effort
- 🎯 The Fundamentals of Giving Great Feedback
- 🎯 How to Get Learners Thinking About Thinking in Your Classroom
- 🎯 Creating a Challenge Culture That Works
- 🎯 What You Can Do To Prioritise the Process of Learning
- 🎯 Engaging Parents with Growth Mindsets
- 🎯 Zero-Planning Growth Mindsets Exemplar Questions
Transform Learning in Your Classroom by Taking Control of How You Deliver Feedback – And How Learners Use It
There are 59 blogs ready for you to explore, adapted from my hugely popular book, How to use Feedback and Marking in the Classroom: The Complete Guide.
Develop your practice and think critically about this core feature of quality first teaching.
Adapt the exemplar questions and targets to speed up your marking.
Feedback Knowledge Base
Key Sections
- 🎯 How can we think about feedback in the classroom?
- 🎯 Giving Effective Feedback to Your Learners
- 🎯 Marking That Has The Impact You Want
- 🎯 Verbal Feedback Techniques
- 🎯 Written Feedback Strategies
- 🎯 Targets and Target Implementation
- 🎯 Further Feedback Techniques
- 🎯 Marking Strategies
- 🎯 Exemplar Questions
- 🎯 Exemplar Targets
Become the Teacher You Want To Be
I’ve put together 32 blogs for you, adapted from my popular book for new teachers, How to be an Outstanding Trainee Teacher: The Complete Guide
Each section is split into a series of linked articles, helping you to dig deep into the nature of teaching.
Reflective questions and activities are also included, so you can develop your practice and become the teacher you want to be.
Training to Teach Knowledge Base
Key Sections
- 🎯 What is teaching all about?
- 🎯 What is learning all about?
- 🎯 Becoming a Teacher
- 🎯 Understanding Learners
- 🎯 Unpicking the Lesson
- 🎯 Facilitation vs Instruction
- 🎯 Sustaining Pace and Challenge
- 🎯 Learning from Yourself, Learning from Others
- 🎯 Communicating
- 🎯 Creating the Environment for Progress
Throw Off the Shackles of Traditional Approaches to Differentiation and Free Yourself to Teach Differently
The Knowledge Base features 38 blogs adapted from my bestselling book, How to Use Differentiation in the Classroom: The Complete Guide.
Find strategies and techniques you can use to personalise learning for your learners.
Make differentiation easier, simpler and more effective, without an increase in workload.
Differentiation and Adaptive Teaching Knowledge Base
Key Sections
- 🎯 Differentiating Activities
- 🎯 Using Questioning to Tailor Your Teaching
- 🎯 Things You Can Ask Learners to Do or Use
- 🎯 Things the Teacher Can Do or Use
- 🎯 Differentiating Words and Writing
The Most Powerful Teaching Tool There Is. Period.
The Knowledge Base features 42 blogs adapted from my bestselling book How to Use Bloom’s Taxonomy in the Classroom: The Complete Guide.
Explore the origins of the taxonomy and discover why it retains its power today.
Use Bloom’s to embed challenge throughout your planning.
Bloom’s Taxonomy Knowledge Base
Key Sections
- 🎯 Understanding Bloom’s Taxonomy
- 🎯 Knowledge and Comprehension
- 🎯 Application and Analysis
- 🎯 Synthesis and Evaluation
- 🎯 Developing Objectives and Outcomes
- 🎯 Planning Activities and Products
- 🎯 Bloom’s Taxonomy and Questioning
- 🎯 Using the Taxonomy in Assessment
- 🎯 Stretch, Challenge and Bloom’s Taxonomy
Put Yourself in the Mind of Your EAL Learners and Understand How to Help Them in Any Lesson You Teach
The Knowledge Base features 43 blogs adapted from my hugely popular book How to Teach EAL Students in the Classroom: The Complete Guide.
Understand how to give EAL learners in your class the best chance of being successful.
Feel confident that there are many ways you can support your EAL learners through whole-class teaching.
Teaching EAL Learners Knowledge Base
Key Sections
- 🎯 Supporting EAL Learners Through Whole-Class Teaching
- 🎯 Speaking and Listening Strategies for EAL Learners
- 🎯 Using Visuals to Support EAL Learners
- 🎯 Things the Teacher Can Do to Support EAL Learners
- 🎯 Supporting EAL Learners with Words, Reading and Writing
Strap Rocket Boosters onto Your Questioning and See Where It Takes You
The Knowledge Base features 34 blogs adapted from my bestselling book How to Use Questioning in the Classroom: The Complete Guide.
Dig down into the nature of questioning and reflect on why questions work like they do.
Develop your questioning toolkit with dozens of strategies, techniques and ready-made, easy-to-apply questions.
Questioning Knowledge Base
Key Sections
- 🎯 How do questions work, and why do we use them?
- 🎯 Questioning Strategies and Techniques
- 🎯 Questioning Activities
- 🎯 Bloom’s Taxonomy Questioning
- 🎯 Subject-Specific Stingray Questions
- 🎯 Zero-Planning Plenary Questions
Make Behaviour Management Easier, Simpler and More Enjoyable
The Knowledge Base features 48 blogs adapted from my hugely popular book How to Manage Behaviour in The Classroom: The Complete Guide.
Think critically about the nature of behaviour and how to manage the social space of the classroom.
Unlock a huge range of techniques you can use to make behaviour management an easier and more enjoyable part of teaching.
Positive Behaviour Management Knowledge Base
Key Sections
- 🎯 What is behaviour?
- 🎯 Norms, Values, Roles and Status
- 🎯 Rules, Boundaries and Consistency
- 🎯 Planning for Learning
- 🎯 Using Praise
- 🎯 Eliminating Low-Level Disruption
- 🎯 Creating Engagement
- 🎯 Building Rapport
- 🎯 Solving Common Behaviour Problems
Turn Your Classroom into a Crucible of Meaningful Talk
The Knowledge Base features 61 blogs adapted from my hugely popular book How to Use Discussion in the Classroom: The Complete Guide.
Analyse the nature of discussion, oracy and classroom talk, and why it matters.
Explore dozens of strategies and activities any teacher can use to bring the benefits of discussion into their lessons.
Talk, Discussion and Oracy Knowledge Base
Key Sections
- 🎯 How to Think About Talk, Discussion and Oracy
- 🎯 Talk, Discussion and Oracy Strategies to Use in Your Classroom
- 🎯 Discussion Activities You Can Weave Into Your Planning
