Yesterday, I posted on my Facebook wall, expressing my fears and uncertainties before the first day back at school after schools were closed to all but the children of essential key workers. I think that it’s important that we talk about our feelings and are part of a community, after all this is physical distancing […]
Tag: #whatisfreetimetoateacher
This Has Been The Strangest Week In My Career.
When I started teaching, there were so many things that I expected. I expected to find that behaviour management was a struggle at times. I expected to work hard, work late and work at home. I expected meetings, parents’ evenings, detentions, marking, marking, marking and more marking. I even expected that every time I moved […]
This Makes The Reader Read On: Every English Teachers’ Nightmare.
With assessments moderated and marked, one thing screamed out to the English department I’m a part of: the inference is missing. It wasn’t that student answers weren’t long enough, often they were. It wasn’t that quotes were missing, mostly they were well selected and supportive. It wasn’t that they’d missed the steer. It was […]
How Can My Displays Improve Behaviour? And, Yes, They Really Can.
With our open evening looming, strict instructions came our way to tidy up our rooms and make sure our displays are on point. Having just moved to a new school, lots of the displays weren’t mine and, as such, weren’t really me. Don’t get me wrong, I love an attractive, informative display as much as […]
Some Days In Teaching Are Sh*t, But Teaching Is Definitely NOT.
Some days in teaching are sh*t, aren’t they? They really are. There are times when you come home, barely able to drive safely or hold an entire sentence together. Days when your year nines have run rings around you, break duty caused endless admin after there was an ‘incident’, multiple meetings drag on and achieve […]
Why I’m Not Going To Lay Down The Law As The First Lesson Back.
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. […]
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 […]
Stop Working, Get Out and Do Something! School Will Survive…
When was the last time that you: Went out and saw a movie during the week? Took an entire evening off without staying late for a meeting or working once you’d put the kids to bed? Binge read a book in an evening? Spontaneously just went out for a meal? Went to see a play […]
200 Word Challenges: Making The Most Of Every Opportunity
Perhaps 200 word challenges may seem like last week’s fad. Old news in a constantly changing environment. I can’t help but think, though, that good can come of them if they’re done well. During observations, these have been some of the best and worst lessons I’ve seen. At worst, it’s just an excuse for the […]
Idealistic, but not Ideal.
Idealistic, yes. That I definitely am. Ideal, I am not. One of the greatest drawbacks of teaching is that we are never done. Nothing is ever done perfectly. When my family are working their nine to fives or their shifts, I am either in school or working from home. When they can measure their performance […]