I write this whilst on a train to the Royal Geographical Society in London. This time 12 months ago I made the same journey as one of the first cohort of RGS teacher trainee scholars. Today I make the journey to present my experiences of the last year to next year’s cohort.
Last year I lacked any real knowledge, understanding or experience of teaching. You could argue I am still in the same position as a NQT. I do though have ten months of experience of teaching, and it is this ten months that have inspired this talk. Ten tips from ten months of teaching, that I would offer to anyone in that same position I was just 12 months ago.
Teaching Fitness
I have spoken about this on a previous post. You will develop a teaching fitness level overtime. Those first few weeks/months will be tough. You will question whether you will ever be able to teach a larger timetable. But you will. Just stick at it. Your body will adapt to the strains of daily school life, and in a few months time you’ll wonder whatever the fuss was about… (he says still struggling with the 6am alarm).
Remember why you chose to teach
Remind yourself every now and again. This may be intentional. It may not. But reflect on why you chose to do this job. There must be a reason, something that inspired you to get into teaching. You will have difficult days, difficult weeks and possibly difficult months/years. Go back sometimes, and remind yourself why you chose to do this. It could be to inspire the next generation of geographers. It could be to reduce inequalities. Whatever it was, keep it in mind every now and again.
Use social media… to an extent
Social media can be a godsend. It can also be the complete opposite of what you need. It often represents an idealistic portrayal of teaching. I am guilty of this too. Teachers wont tend to post an image of their classroom, turned upside down after a write off of a lesson. They wont post an image of them still working at 8pm on a Wednesday night. They will though share great ideas, stand out moments and so forth. Which is great. But after a long tough day, it can sometimes feel like you’re doing something wrong. You’re not. The very best teachers still have terrible days, and terrible lessons.
Be organised…
If you do one thing, organise yourself. However that is best for you, do it, and early on. You will not believe the amount of information you need to retain. From simple tasks, through to the more essential, jot them down somewhere on a to do list. And then prioritise. Which leads me to the next point.
Draw a line…
That lesson that needs tweaking for the tenth time, but its 11pm and you really should be asleep? Leave it. Go to sleep. It’s not worth it. Either take it as a sign you need to organise yourself better, or if you are organised and you STILL feel like you need to replan a lesson, then trust me, you don’t. Go and deliver it. I’m 99% confident that it won’t be as bad as you imagine. In fact, many of my best lessons have either been the ones I put less effort into planning (GASP), or ones that have diverted completely away from the original lesson plan.
Build relationships. Build relationships. And then build more relationships.
It is imperative. Particularly if you are in a school that presents more ‘challenges’ than others. 8a3 behave impeccably for Mr/Ms X, but you can’t get them to sit still for 2 minutes? How must that be?
Well yes, I’m sure there are other factors that contribute, but I assure you that Mr/Ms X has a better relationship with those children than you. It comes with time. You won’t be able to create those truly deep relationships in 3 months on a placement. But try your best. Show them that you care. Sit down and talk to them. Not about geography, but about life. About them. Don’t sit in the staff room every lunch. It might not be you on duty, but go for a walk and see the students outside. Talk. Play. Interact with them. It will do you wonders.
Observe, steal, and mould.
Steal you say? Surely not? Well, yes. You cannot recreate the wheel. Watch other teachers. What do they do well that you would like to adopt into your own teaching style? Watch, steal, and mould to your own character. Do this again and again. Some things wont work for you. Some will. No teacher is identical, so develop your own mould.
This also goes for resources, and links back to my social media point. There’s a wealth of resources out there. Find them and adapt them. They’ve been shared for a good reason…
CPD isn’t just teaching related.
Love Island at 9pm? Yes please. You need it after a long day. But hold on, could there be some benefit to your teaching?
Well believe it or not, those students you see tomorrow morning also live outside of school. And yes, those students you see at 8.40 in form will have also watched this. And there’s your bridge to building that relationship.
But there really is some excellent additional CPD out there… DO READ!
It cant all be Love Island and the world cup I’m sorry to say. There are some excellent books out there. I’ve included three at the bottom of this list to get you started, but there are many, many more in existence that are also excellent.
Your course will deliver much CPD. But those books will be invaluable. They will challenge your perceptions. They will challenge your beliefs. Question yourself. Challenge your thoughts. You will improve as a teacher.
Above all. Enjoy it. It is just a job.
Number 10. The final point. And it’s an important one.
It is only a job after all. Enjoy it. Don’t kill yourself. Keep your work/life balance.
It may sound selfish but it’s not. If you do this, your teaching will benefit.
Books: (No affiliation. Just read and enjoy)
The Learning Rainforest. Tom Sherrington.
Mark. Plan. Teach. Ross McGill (Teacher Toolkit)
Visible Learning. John Hattie.