A great Getting to Know You activity for your classroom takes a group of students who have just met and builds a sense of community. I remember sitting in front of my very first class. 28 Year 5 and 6 students, all sitting quietly, nervously on the mat, looking around at each other and then…
I don’t know about you, but in planning the first week of school I always preferred to be overplanned and overprepared – you never know what can happen! The beginning of the year is so exciting – setting up your classroom, preparing resources, and looking forward to getting to know your new students. One step…
When I surveyed trainee teachers on topics they would like advice on, the resounding and clear winner was tips for Successful Parent-Teacher Communication. From memory, this topic wasn’t something covered when I was going through teacher training. However, there are so many benefits for parents being active in their child’s education, and clear communication will…
A common question I see regularly in teacher Facebook groups is “What is a good classroom read-aloud novel?” so I’m here to help. In fact, I knew just WHO to ask to help. Melina from Galarious Goods is passionate about books in a way that can really not be described. She is a fountain of…
It has been great to see the response to our Beginning Teachers series. In this blogpost, the fantastic beginning teachers share their teacher tips. Grab a pen and paper and take some notes – there is a lot of gold here! Teacher Tips from a First-Year Teacher Make a to-do list that encompasses task, resources,…
I am conscious of the fact that while many graduates are successful in gaining employment right away, others will spend time relieving at the beginning of their career. Others may choose to relieve at different points in their career for a myriad of reasons, so I wanted to provide some relief teacher tips and tricks!…
Learner Agency (also known as student agency) is key to providing opportunities for the development of key competencies and the application of learning. In this guest blog post, Kate Friedwald explores resources to support learner agency. Ensuring learners have a choice in their learning not only raises engagement but also supports the learning of vital…
We have all heard the importance of teacher self-care, and what screams self-care more than an Ultimate Teacher Survival Kit!? I asked my email subscribers what they would put in the Ultimate Teacher Survival Kit and they did not disappoint! Perhaps you could make a teacher survival kit for a teacher who needs a pick me…
In this guest blog post, Chelsea Donaldson shares a fantastic way to develop a positive classroom culture. I first saw Chelsea speak about this passionately on Instagram and I knew I wanted her to share the project on my blog. I am sure you will get a lot of great ideas – enjoy! It’s for…
I previously published a guest blog post by Sarah Tohill that examined the mentoring relationship of mentors and beginning teachers. Now, my fantastic group of beginning teachers will share their experiences of working with a mentor teacher. Some PCT (beginning teacher)/Mentor relationships are really positive, some could be called “interesting”, and unfortunately, some just don’t…
As part of our beginning teachers’ series, I wanted to look at using the beginning teacher release time. The way that beginning teacher release is used and allocated in primary schools around New Zealand is varied. I would go as far as to say that some schools do a poor job of allocating this to…
When I asked beginning teachers to share with me the biggest challenge of their first and second year of teaching, the answer was clear. Managing the teacher workload was something that every beginning teacher mentioned. In this blogpost, my wonderful beginning teachers will share their experiences of managing their teacher workload. There are lots of…
Welcome to a new series of blog posts looking at the experiences of a group of first and second-year teachers. In this blog post, these fantastic teachers explore the expectations versus the reality of beginning teaching. I hope you are able to gain some useful insights into the reality of a teacher’s life from this…
With a large number of NEW teachers completing their studies, I thought a great new addition to our Beginning Teachers Series would be a blog post on how to write a teacher CV. In this guest blog post, Gill from ep.education sets out the dos and don’ts of teacher CV writing. I know you will…
Setting Up A Spelling Programme How do you set up a spelling programme? Now that’s a topic that could get you 50 different, passionate responses! Interestingly, it is also a topic that is not practically covered in many teacher training courses. This blog post explains some practical ideas for setting up a spelling programme because…
In this guest blogpost, Sarah Tohill explores the mentoring relationship that all beginning teachers will experience during their first two years in the classroom. There are great tips and advice for both beginning teachers and their mentors. Read on! When you qualify as a teacher in New Zealand and you’ve finished all those assignments, readings,…
Utilising The Positive Note Home is a simple and effective way to encourage positive communication between school and home. Why The Positive Note Home? Communication is key! One way to promote positive communication between school and home is by sending home simple and brief positive notes. Consider this: some parents have only had negative experiences…
Beginning Teacher tips: Setting Up a Reading Program (Year 3-Year 8) Welcome to the second in our series of blog posts to support beginning teachers. When I studied teaching at University, one of the things I was most surprised with was the lack of practical advice given to teachers about the day-to-day workings of actually…
Welcome to the first in our series of blog posts to support beginning teachers. The following tips for beginning teachers have been sourced from teachers in New Zealand, Australia and around the world. I surveyed teachers and asked them a simple question: What do you wish you knew when you were starting teaching? They had a…
Effective Classroom Management is a goal of every teacher, so I thought it would be a great focus as part of my Beginning Teacher blog post series. If you are going to read one book about classroom management, then I wholeheartedly recommend Managing Challenging Children by Gerard Gordon – this is not an affiliate link…
A huge part of the Back to School season is ensuring that your students feel comfortable and connected in their new classroom environment. These tips will help you to use Getting to Know You activities to build a positive and inclusive classroom culture from day one. I remember my first day of teaching like it…
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