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Alistair Hamill

@ahamill.bsky.social

1.7K followers 710 following 620 posts

• Geog HoD • SLT (T&L) • Shared Ed • GIS enthusiast • Plate Tectonics Geek • Mainstage presenter Esri UC '19 • GA Excellence in Geog Leadership 24' • Edtech50 UK '21 Award • RGS OS Award '22 • PQH • ResearchED presenter • Author • Landscape Photographer •

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Reposted by Alistair Hamill

Dr David Preece @doctorpreece.bsky.social · 5d

Delighted and grateful that Secondary Geography in Action is now published and on sale with @hachettelearning.bsky.social as part of @teacherhead.bsky.social's "In Action" series.

www.hachettelearning.com/geography/se...

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Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · 26d

It's Thursday, so late night opening of the shops. Take a wander round the city centre. Victoria Sq is worth a visit. Cathedral Quarter has plenty of eating out options.

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Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · Aug 9

My thoughts exactly! Do you have any recommendations re the VPN?

On the plus side, maybe you'll learn some Swedish?!?

Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · Aug 9

Anyone have any views on or experiences of the age verification process on here? I guess it's inevitable now, but should I be concerned about the storage of my personal data?

Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · Jun 9

GCSE Fieldwork day! It may have been a bit rainy, but the spirits of my Y11s were anything but dampened!

Great to get out exploring geography in the real world!

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Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · Jun 6

#HowIUsedGISToday

Prep for GCSE fieldwork on Monday meant using the Chromebooks to allow the pupils to explore the area we'll be visiting to familiarise themselves with the geology.

Embedding GIS as the norm involves little moments like this when I choose GIS over paper.

Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · May 12

I saw that! Crazy, isn't it?!

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Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · May 5

Seagull Island at the Giant's Causeway, with some gorgeous painterly light.

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Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · May 5

The glorious Lacada Point at the Giant's Causeway. It's quite the scramble to get here, but the views are always worth it!

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Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · May 5

This is the aurora you've been looking for.

Star Wars Day aurora around 23.35 on May 4 2025, beating both the twilight and the bright moonlight.

Reposted by Alistair Hamill

Kit Marie Rackley MCCT (Geogramblings) @geogramblings.com · Apr 30

🌳 Explore meaningful local climate action through the #Geography curriculum, like mapping trees in Lurgan, championed by @ahamill.bsky.social, in our special #CoffeeGeogPod episode from #GAConf25.

WATCH: youtu.be/PMwo_b3E8nU #ClimateAmbassadors #GeographyTeacher

Coffee & Geography 5x15 Climate Action at the Geog Association Annual Conference 2025 #GAConf25

A special on-location episode recorded at Oxford Brookes University for the Geographical Association Annual Conference 2025 (https://geography.org.uk/events-cpd/ga-annual-conference-and-exhibition/). Part of our season-long special focusing on #ClimateAmbassadors, Kit Marie explores the multitude of

youtu.be

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Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · May 1

Excellent day yesterday on 6th form fieldwork around Belfast. We started collecting river data along the Colin River. It was great to see the pupils enjoying geography in the real world on the warmest day of the year so far!

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Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · Apr 20

I like to zoom in and zoom out a lot, too, as it helps build the schema. I'll look at how I can weave that into my analogy more explicitly.

Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · Apr 20

...in providing that cognitive cohesion. I'm then including in each chapter about the substantive knowledge the relevant Big Ideas that can be explored there. So perhaps that empowering explanation element will come out more fully in that context.

Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · Apr 20

Then I go on to discuss the challenge in geography of the fact that there is not one agreed route through the topics, so it can mean that pupils struggle to see the connections between all the topics we do. Finally I discuss the role of Big Ideas as part of geography's disciplinary knowledge...

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Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · Apr 20

Thanks, Lee. There's lots that could be said about Big Ideas, including their explanatory power. Where this sits in the flow of the chapter is that I start by discussing the dangers of teaching unconnected, "factoid" knowledge that fails to build strong schemas & connect with prior knowledge.

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Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · Apr 19

As I continue to write my book, Teacher Hacks: Geography, I'm drafting something on the role of Big Ideas in creating geographical meaning, exploring the metaphor that knowledge had a topography.

Thoughts and feedback welcome!

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Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · Apr 18

Check out my video showing how Tectoglob3D can help you take fieldtrips to the mantle.

This is the presentation I made as part of the @gasigict.bsky.social session at the GA Conference this week.

docs.google.com/videos/d/1kL...

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Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · Apr 17

Now that's one I would definitely love to have been at! Alongside yours, too, of course! Talking of which, I'd love to hear more of what you shared.

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Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · Apr 17

I was delighted to be able to share the story of my Climate Change Citizen Science project as part of @geogramblings.com's #GAConf25 session.

It's a powerful story of agency in action, inspiring hope.

Here's the video youtu.be/tTWvYb4tJlA?...

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Reposted by Alistair Hamill

Benjamin Hennig @geoviews.bsky.social · Apr 16

A whole new volcanic hazard map for the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland has been published by the Icelandic Met Office (Veðurstofa Íslands). Find out more about the redesign at en.vedur.is/about-imo/ne...

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Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · Apr 16

Cheers, Conor.

Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · Apr 16

Thanks, James!

Reposted by Alistair Hamill

Paul Bierman @paul-bierman.bsky.social · Apr 15

And...geology matters to public health. Support science. It helps us all🧪

Volcanic ash is a silent killer, more so than lava: What Alaska needs to know with Mount Spurr likely to erupt theconversation.com/volcanic-ash...

Volcanic ash is a silent killer, more so than lava: What Alaska needs to know with Mount Spurr likely to erupt

When volcanoes like Alaska’s Mount Spurr erupt, the ash can damage people’s lungs, smother crops and kill animals, and the harm can continue to spread long afterward.

theconversation.com

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Alistair Hamill @ahamill.bsky.social · Apr 15

Cheers, Dominic!