The teaching is the point

When you’re in the throes of the school term it’s easy to think about the next holiday. To look forward with excitement to that dreamlike last ringing of the bell signalling the time to pack up and go home. Of course, that’s normal. Teaching is a hard job. It’s relentless and frustrating. It’s easy to …

Five reasons not to work during the holidays

During any holiday season, there always seems to be a big split amongst the teaching community on social media. There are those who are using the time to get ahead with their marking, planning or even going into the classroom to get things organized for the first day back. Then there are those who believe …

“I haven’t got time for that” re-thinking time scarcity

  "I haven't got time for that." "There just aren't enough hours in the day?" How often have you used one of the above phrases? I would guess, knowing the pressures of modern life, especially those for us involved in education, it's fairly frequent. It seems to be a symptom of our modern age that we're …

Set boundaries to protect your creativity

  In modern times the idea of boundaries have picked up a bit of a bad rep. You wouldn't be blamed if images of a glass ceiling, elitism or even xenophobia came to mind when boundaries were mentioned. This is the notion that there is a boundary stopping you,  holding you in, or keeping you …

Five ways to relieve burnout

Over the few weeks before the Christmas break, I was feeling burned out. To an extent, I know that's normal - the evenings are getting darker, work's busy, and I put myself under pressure to get things done. The result though wasn't nice, I felt irritable, unfocused, tired, lethargic and apathetic. If you've read my …

Staying creative in cold, short days

The winter can be hard for anyone. Getting out of bed, it's dark, by the time you get to work dawn is just breaking, but then as you walk back to your car after the day, it's closing in again. As a creative person, I find this particularly difficult. To be creative I need to …

Teaching, what’s all the stress about?

The world can be a pretty stressful place and stress is a natural thing. It exists to sharpen our senses, allowing us to can act quickly, get out of danger or do something important. The problem comes when people are stressed all the time. When stress is compounded upon stress like a giant balancing act …

The Healthy Teacher Project 9 – Mal Krishnasamy

What is The Healthy Teacher Project? Mal Krishnasamy is an education consultant and leadership coach. She has worked as the head of history, been part of a school's senior team and the management team of a multi-academy trust. I love talking with people like Mal who have stepped away from classroom teaching because their perspectives …

Helping your targets stick

I love setting targets for myself. When I'm relaxed over a holiday or at the start of term, it's great to think about what I would like my life to be. The challenge comes when I'm back into the thick of teaching, planning and marking and the targets I set have to take a back …

The power of taking a social media break as a teacher

Social media is great. Scrolling through Twitter today and seeing resources, advice and excitement being shared is inspiring. However, over the holiday, I've not been on it at all - and I've loved it. As someone who checks my Twitter and Instagram at every available opportunity, it was strange to start with - but I …