“It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable.” Seneca I realise to post about behaviour management at this stage in the year is gloriously lacking in festive cheer. Let me for a brief moment fully embrace, in fact exalt the philosophy of the “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner,” Scrooge. This time of year is rather difficult, inordinately challenging to remain calm...
Read More
“For every minute spent in organising, an hour is earned” Benjamin Franklin Bursting with youthful enthusiasm I entered our delightful and demanding profession in 2010. I joined the 24,100 other fledging teachers at the heart of this BBC story that has been making such an impact over the past two weeks. Thirty percent of my fellow teacher graduate caterpillars, hoping to blossom into inspiring butterflies of learning, have now...
Read More
“I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way.” – Frank Sinatra I realise I am being a little harsh to our new Prime Minister with this rather unflattering image. Her fervent promotion of the grammar school agenda, however, results in a pretty swift loss of sympathy! Close inspection of the image reveals one striking feature of Mrs May: her posture is pretty poor,...
Read More
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting results.” Albert Einstein. A confession: PowerPoint has become the clothing of my teaching. It is there, draped over every lesson, always present. It exists in different manifestations: sometimes it is an ostentatious outfit, a three piece suit if you will. Sometimes it is a little more skimpy – the shorts and t-shirt variation....
Read More
Summer is fading: The leaves fall in ones and twos From trees bordering The new recreation ground. In the hollows of afternoons Young mothers assemble At swing and sandpit Setting free their children. Philip Larkin’s ‘Afternoons’ seems particularly relevant as September draws to a close. In all honesty this week has felt a bit more like a challenge: tiredness and irritability have set in, half term is still too far away and...
Read More
