I just love this comic to show the D.I.R.T acronym in a nutshell! If you are wondering what DIRT stands for you are in the right place! Read on to find out how you can get your DIRT on, in teaching… D.I.R.T is an acronym that stands for Dedicated Improvement and Reflection Time. It’s the time you allocate for pupils…
Teachers love to teach but you know you’ve been teaching for too long when… 1. You go out in public and get an uncontrollable urge to correct other children’s behaviour. 2. Everything makes sense once you meet the parents. 3. You get your life back during holiday time. 4. You want to slap the next person who says to you,…
Child neglect is a form of child abuse and is a deficit in meeting a child’s basic needs. The UK government’s statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’, defines neglect as: The persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. It can occur in different…
When used effectively, a teaching assistant can bring about an improvement in a pupil’s reading of between three and six months. If you are like myself, so used to managing on your own for many years, using a teaching assistant most effectively can be a challenge. A 2015 report from the Education Endowment Fund (EEF) on making best use of Teaching…
Those of you who have read Carol Dweck’s work on changing mindsets, it may have made you wonder about your own. You will have probably found that like most people, you are a mixture of both a fixed and growth mindset, depending on certain situations. In order to create a classroom environment that allows shifts in pupils’ mindsets, teachers themselves…
Reports help parents see their child’s progress. As a teacher, you will need to highlight any concerns you may have but also take the opportunity to congratulate the child’s efforts. It is important that a school report is truthful, diplomatic and paints a true picture of the child’s strengths and weaknesses. It is important to communicate the way forward to…
Teaching has moved away from a strictly traditional teacher orientated class, where the teacher talks and the pupils are expected to only work individually and independently. Pupils are required to develop skills that help them work well in a team. Setting groups and giving children the opportunity to work together for a common goal helps strengthen their relationships and develop…
The national curriculum wants children to learn poems by heart. Having recently done a great poetry lesson, where the children had so much fun trying to learn ‘Tomcat’ by Don Marquis, it got me thinking about the immense benefits of such an activity. Read on to find out five ways children can benefit from learning poetry by heart. Increases brain’s…
There is nothing more important than for children to feel safe in a school environment, so that they can be open to learning. Creating a positive classroom environment, is the first step in ensuring that everyone brings out their best. If you’d like to learn how you can do this, then read on! Here are some tips to help you…
Teaching in December can be challenging. For all those teachers on their winter break, here is a fun post for you enjoy during your much deserved break! Teachers on Christmas break be like… Going to bed over the Christmas break and remembering that you don’t need to set your alarm clock until January! 2. Going to the restroom whenever you…
