Blog

When I started my training, I was no stranger to the classroom. However, I might as well have been because it definitely took me the first few weeks to adjust and make that mental jump from teaching assistant to teacher. The first two weeks of teacher training for me felt like breaking in a brand…

I’ve been a full-fledged member of the 5AM club since I was 14. It’s arguably the best part of my day – waking up early gives me time to stretch, enjoy a cup of tea and to listen to the birds chirping outside. I did this as I prepared for my first day of teaching…

The Final Countdown My mum passed away four days before my teacher training interview, going to and preparing myself for that interview was one of the most difficult things I had to. I was told by so many of my friends and family that I should have rescheduled, however, I’ve always been the type of…

“Pause for five minutes to write down your answer, and when you’re ready, restart the video.” Perhaps that phrase, or one quite like it, is familiar to anyone who taught remotely this year. Pre-recording all my lessons, it was a phrase I said a great many times myself. A few technical glitches meant that some…

A Bad Case of The Burn-Out Lockdown has been difficult for everyone. A pinch of social isolation, a splash of Netflix binges, and a sprinkling of pyjamas bottoms is a recipe for a cocktail I do not want to be sipping on anymore. Due to school closures, my shaken-up not stirred cocktail had a new…

PLS Teacher Blog 12 – Esther Have you seen the film The Prestige? It’s an action-packed movie directed by Christopher Nolan, about magicians. Stick with me on this one, it’s relevant to teaching, I promise. I re-watched it over the glorious Christmas holidays, probably while ticking off my online-shopping list of all the exciting new…

‘The Trials and Tribulations of Narrated PowerPoints’ Like most people, I hate the sound of my own voice. Even worse, I hate listening back to a voice note of my own voice. Apparently, so many people hate the sound of their own voice that there is now a name for it- voice confrontation. I read…

PLS Teacher Blog 10 – Maxine It’s crazy to think that 60 years ago the mere thought of online teaching may have sounded completely foolish. In many ways, it still does. The impersonal lessons can get extremely difficult for those listening in and those teaching them. You are not able to read your students’ faces…

PLS Teacher Blog Number 9 – Megan The Trainee Teacher Survival Guide It is sometimes very easy to fall into what I call ‘the stress pit’. The stress pit is a mythological place that lives deep in my mind, I often imagine it as a deep, fathomless hole where light does not reach. It doesn’t…

PLS Teacher Blog Number 8 – Maxine New term. New classes. More work. It’s strange to think that the notion of having more work can actually bring forth excitement. A new set of faces to recognise and personalities to get to know. After two weeks of isolation, I was extremely worried, and I felt that…