Why saying the wrong thing in class isn’t all bad

So, it’s finally Christmas, and although it will be an unconventional seasonal period, wine shall no doubt flow in many a teaching household. As such, my mind will inevitably turn to a particular Year 7 class I taught many years ago – and the blunt lesson learned about going off on a narrative tangent in the classroom.

I had recently attended a wine-tasting course at night school. This was back in 2001-02, when night school was still a thing.

I was in my NQT year and for some reason – I now genuinely have no idea why – I began telling the pupils about the process of wine tasting: the ...