‘I predict a riot!’ Supporting your mentee to notice and deal with low level disruption*

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com Low level disruption (shouting out/ whispered conversations/ persistent clicking of pen lids/ ignoring instructions) in the classroom is the scourge of teaching and learning. It eats up time and energy and takes away learning opportunities from the wider class. There is nothing really 'low level' about disruption - it impedes learning. … Continue reading ‘I predict a riot!’ Supporting your mentee to notice and deal with low level disruption* →

I don’t like Mondays: Advice for beginning teachers on making a positive return to post-lockdown teaching

Photo by Max Fischer on Pexels.com As we stand on the precipice of returning to full classroom teaching after the most recent lockdown I’ve begun wondering how our beginning and early career teachers might be feeling. It seems I’m not alone in this thought. Indeed, shortly after having conversation with one of my own PGCE … Continue reading I don’t like Mondays: Advice for beginning teachers on making a positive return to post-lockdown teaching →

Writing job references for beginning teachers: Recommending Rahul, the Pandemic Edit

It is a tricky job writing a reference for a beginning teacher who may then be compared with more experienced colleagues, but where to begin in the middle of a Pandemic when their initial teacher education year has been so disrupted and unusual? I first wrote a blog about writing references for trainee teachers in … Continue reading Writing job references for beginning teachers: Recommending Rahul, the Pandemic Edit →

Finding your feet with remote (and online) teaching

Helping early career teachers and training teachers to move their lessons into a virtual space Photo by Yan on Pexels.com This week I was contacted by a former tutee who is an early career teacher. They asked if I could talk with them about the challenges they are facing moving to a live online classroom. … Continue reading Finding your feet with remote (and online) teaching →

Discovering Lego: Growing as an early career teacher

During the SHP Virtual Conference in July, I got into a Twitter conversation with a beginning teacher who, following Christine Counsell’s presentation on ‘The what, why and how of broadening historical content at KS3’, commented that he felt like a teaching toddler: This feeling of not having done enough or learnt enough or not … Continue reading Discovering Lego: Growing as an early career teacher →

The Many Faces of Lesson Planning: Part 2 of 2

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com In part 1 of this blog, I provided some of the context to why it is important for beginning teachers (those engaged in ITE programmes, NQTs and RQTs), engage in the lesson planning process. In this second part I will unpack the ways in which we try to take a … Continue reading The Many Faces of Lesson Planning: Part 2 of 2 →

Nurturing New Colleagues

As we pop into school in the next two weeks for results days, it's worth giving a thought to how we can support new colleagues (whether NQTs or more experienced teachers) joining our departments and schools in the new academic year. How can effective mentoring and induction support them and benefit your department?

Building your house: Teaching in the Long Term

Photo by Scott Webb on Pexels.com At the start of the PGCE I use a recurring image with my students of a house under construction. I set out that our aim during the ITE year is to dig and lay the foundations upon which their teaching career (the ‘house’) will be built. This process will … Continue reading Building your house: Teaching in the Long Term →

A Tale of Two Mentors: Mentoring with perspective

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com Fernando is a new mentor. He is enthusiastic and keen to be supportive and to work with the university based tutor. He is also realistic, and has taken time to understand his mentee and their needs and to become the ‘critical friend’ discussed previously in another post: Matey Mentor . … Continue reading A Tale of Two Mentors: Mentoring with perspective →