Group items tagged

"Maybe it is something to do with starting something new, but when I started thinking about my new role as Head of Science, I thought I should write a blog. This led me to re-discover the blog I had wanted to start before starting teaching. Unsurprisingly, I failed to keep going with the blog during the first chaotic years of teaching, but now I think it will be really useful and so I am going to stick with it this time! Since the previous post was 5 years ago, I thought I would start with a very general blog about five of the big lessons I have learnt since starting teaching."

"Reflecting on what has been learnt (or not learnt) is vital for our pupils to know where to focus their efforts next. In the same way, reflecting upon one's teaching craft is vital to improvement. Yet too many of us feel we do not have time to reflect because we have to move onto the next lesson or admin task. How can we create the time to pick apart our lessons and what are the best methods to do so?"

A few months ago I went on a Mental Health First Aid in schools course. We learnt about the stress bucket. So it goes like this. Basically we all have a stress bucket. If it gets too full as the stresses of life flow in to it, it will over fill and over flow and we will begin to feel overwhelmed. Coping strategies are like a tap on the bucket and should be used to allow some of the stress to be released and will prevent us from becoming overwhelmed. If our stress bucket gets too full we can suffer from mental ill health. Some life events such as bereavement, illness etc. can cause our buckets to overflow quite quickly but sometimes small life stressors can build and accumulate also causing our buckets to fill...

A fabulous language site with sections for French, Spanish, German and Chinese. Learn language topics and play quizzes to test what you have learnt. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Languages%2C+Culture+%26+International+Projects

"In an ideal world lessons would be learnt, progression would be made and everyone would get along. However, whether low-level comments or open warfare, conflict can impinge on the learning of pupils. And that is just when the teachers are arguing! In this session of UKEdChat we will discuss how to avoid conflict in the classroom, the staffroom and in the playground. Don't argue… just be on #UKEdChat at 8pm(UK)."

"My teenage years were brilliant, and one of the reasons for this is that I was involved in so many active clubs and hobbies. I was an army cadet, I did karate and I even tried hockey and acting for a short while. The Extra-Curricular Activities (ECAs) I did as a kid shaped my character more than my lessons in school. I can say that with conviction. In my ECAs, I made new and lasting friendships and learnt cool skills (such as how to start a fire with potassium permanganate, and how to disarm an attacker with a pistol)."

Now that I am venturing into my second year as a trainee teacher (yay me!), I've learnt a lot, I've made a lot of mistakes, made friends, made enemies, delivered some brilliant lessons and some so bad, I've wondered if maybe, just maybe I'd be better off sitting in the class, rather than teaching it.

The British government is proposing that Twitter is to be taught in primary (elementary) schools as part of a wider push to make online communication and social media a permanent part of the UK's education system. And that's not all. Kids will be taught blogging, podcasting and how to use Wikipedia alongside Maths, English and Science.