Recommending Rahul: writing references for fledging teachers

Considering how we approach reference writing for those at the beginning of their teaching career

Matey Mentor? Creating the right environment for our beginning teachers

Photo by freestocks.org on Pexels.com What are the conditions required for a beginning teacher to thrive in their training year? Since writing my blog on ‘Bewildered Beryl’, I have been pondering upon the idea that ‘the student teacher needs to develop quickly a feeling of friendship with, and trust in, the mentor’, the key assertion … Continue reading Matey Mentor? Creating the right environment for our beginning teachers →

Pulling Priya through the plateau: supporting your mentee to continued progress

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Pexels.com For Priya, whilst it didn’t feel like it at the time, Teaching Practice 1 was a time of steady progress and success. Teaching Practice 2 started well; it’s been a long term and she’s tired, but she is also grateful that her classes are mostly cooperative and seem to … Continue reading Pulling Priya through the plateau: supporting your mentee to continued progress →

Keeping Toby flying: How to avoid clipping your new mentee’s wings

The first of a series looking at the different 'types' of teacher training students we may encounter, and how teacher educators can seek to support them in their development

Helping a new PGCE Mentee to start well

A cup of tea and a listening ear Standing outside my son’s primary classroom this week, I observed his teacher deep in conversation over a cup of tea with a new member of staff. When the door to the classroom opened just a few minutes later, this young woman stood (with the class teacher hovering … Continue reading Helping a new PGCE Mentee to start well →

The Calm Before the Storm

On the eve of a new adventure a strange sort of calm often descends; a calm punctuated by the butterflies of excitement, of seas yet to be sailed and lands yet to be explored. As we await the arrival of our new cohort of beginning History teachers for 2018/19 I too feel that sense … Continue reading The Calm Before the Storm →