It’s customary, I know, to get students back into the swing of things with a swift run through the rules and classroom expectations. We’ve all seen powerpoint after powerpoint with lists of rules or, for the more open-minded, questions allowing classes to come up with their classroom expectations. I won’t be starting term that way. […]
Tag: #keepenjoyingtheholidays
Back To School Already??
So, it’s the last week of the holidays. I always start getting jittery with so few days to go. I worry that I’ll have forgotten how to teach, I worry about whether this year will be too busy, I worry about whether I’ll be able to work with all of the classes I’ve got. I […]
Round Seven: ‘Sweet Pea’ (Adult Crime Fiction)
With A Level dedicating an entire paper over to the crime genre, diving into the ocean that is psychopathy during the Christmas holidays seemed entirely academically laudable. During the season of goodwill a little dive into Skuse’s murky waters was just what I needed. It never ceases to surprise people that one of my […]
Last Night Nightmares – Dealing With Back To Work Blues
With weeks of holiday behind you, so many luscious meals, so much beautiful countryside, so many books and coffees, it’s hardly shocking that any of us are reticent to go back to the grindstone. Why is it that, no matter how much you love the job, the night before going back to school is one […]
Round Five: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Adult not YA)
This book is phenomenal. It’s easy to step into the oh-so-real world of Eleanor Oliphant, the office politics, the mundanity of the everyday, the desire for more… The characters are consciously well observed and created – I feel like I’ve met them all in so many places before. Their roles are laid out in so many […]
Round Four: The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder (Adult, not YA)
Having been lent this yonks ago, I’ve been feeling guilty about not reading it but, I’ll be honest, I find it hard to read fiction written for adults during term time. YA or novels I’ve read before, yes. Those I let myself read because I know that I can either finish them quickly or put […]
Round Three: Magisterium
For the entirety of this year, one of my year seven students has been telling me to read the Magisterium series. It started with her own excitement and a brief, “You should read this book I’m reading!” and became, as the year went on, much more insistent and much more disappointed as I failed in […]
Round Two: Skullduggery Pleasant
Recently, a colleague stopped me in the corridor. His face was a mixture of concern and outrage. Without knowing what was wrong or, indeed, what I had done wrong, I ploughed in with the question: “Is everything ok? Are you ok?” “Well,” he replied, “I thought that you were an English teacher.” “I am!” “But […]
First Day Backitis…
It doesn’t matter how much one enjoys teaching, the first day back is a real grind. Many of us find that we’re there, wide awake, at 3am thinking about all of the jobs waiting for us at our desks or in our classrooms. Even once we’re at school, it isn’t always plain sailing. Take today, […]
The Quiet Before The Storm…
Whilst firmly settled in the luxury of a massive sofa, enjoying all that the holiday has to offer in terms of time, coffee and calm, I thought that now might be the best time to think about behaviour management. Not so much how to manage behaviour but the principles behind it. The what and […]