NQT – how to survive!

Now as the great saying mentions standing on the shoulders of giants, I offer my 5’9″ and bit stocky frame for you.  Gaze from those dizzy heights and marvel at my wisdom…of things I’ve stolen from people far better at teaching than me.*

*Disclaimer: I’ve generally found these out after messing up!

I imagine this list will start off with the big stuff, so lots of writing then dwindle off like a last lesson on a Friday.

1. Find your mentor.  No, not that person the gaffer says is your NQT mentor.  That is a label.  A pen pusher who will only make you jump through hoops like a performing dolphin. I mean a real mentor.  This person will go about their job without moaning all day, yet will ask the SLT to clarify stuff.  They will be a decent teacher who everyone respects – this person is your Yoda.  Watch them carefully, observe their habits, try not to stalk them as that’s just weird; this person knows the short cuts to how YOUR school works.

2. Always have sharp pencils.  Good presentation in books goes a long way – yeah, yeah, all that ‘It shouldn’t’ and ‘Kids content matters’ I get that but it is what it is.

3. Get an electric pencil sharpener.  (Told you it would be all the important stuff first).

4. If you can’t get one, get the kids to sharpen the pencils.

5. Listen to your NQT mentor. No, not the Yoda type, the proper one.  The one that will sit with you and try to teach you the right way how YOUR school does things.  You need to know that to be able to understand the short cuts and easy wins.  At times, your NQT mentor might wield the stick or the carrot.  If it is the stick, then shape up.  They don’t do this because they like being nasty, they do this because if you continue to need the stick it gets passed to someone who has a bigger stick.  The carrot isn’t often seen – those quiet words to the SLT that you’re doing OK all build up and often you end up with a permanent job.

6. Hit deadlines ahead of time. If you try to write your reports in a weekend then you’ll have an utter nightmare.

7. Be punctual. Teaching is in a bubble a lot of the time and to many staff being late is the only part they will judge you on.  Late for break duty is a sin.

8. Get out for the end of the day on time.  Hell have no fury like a horde of parents stood in the drizzle cause you’ve gotten excited about the last chapter of whatever.  THEY DON’T CARE THAT THE KIDS LOVED IT.  THEY ARE SOAKED!

9. Check out last year’s books.  Every school will have a bundle of books from the previous year, often they are stashed somewhere with some pizza menus with a sign saying: ‘In case of Ofsted break glass’.  Ask to see the year group that you are currently teaching, take photos, steal ideas as this is the best example that the person who taught that year had.  That standard gives you a starting point.

10.  Mark on the go. (Not sit there with a mountain of books while the kids watch Youtube).

11.  MATHS TIP – always, always, always have the answers worked out.  This makes marking quicker.  And I mean worked out as if you’re asked to model a question by one of the blighters, you better know how to do it or you look an idiot.

12.  Snipping Tool – Teacher’s best friend.

13. Photocopy the night before.  That poor, paper churning beast is battered each morning, give it and yourself a stress free start by going on a night when most don’t.

14.  Consider your body placement in the classroom.  Think like a mafia hitman – can you see the whole of the room from your spot.  If Timmy can stab you in the back with his pencil, then Amber can defo shove a crayon up her nose.

15. Don’t create War and Peace on meeting day.  If you know day x is always a staff meeting, then use ya brain and not work in every book that day.  You won’t have time to catch up on the marking after someone drones on until. The. Very. Last. Second. Of. The. Meeting. And Mrs B, don’t ask that question damn you!

*This rule counts for the nights of family birthday meals, etc.

16.  Allow time for the kids to tidy up and make them good at it.  Think of them as tiny elves making your day easier.

17.  Be nice to the caretaker.

18.  And Office staff.

19. And Cleaners.

20. And Dinner staff.

21.  Don’t get lashed at the Christmas do!

22. Easy to eat lunches – nothing too sloppy or it ends up on your top/the kid’s books.

23. Be shiny and new – your enthusiasm is what you bring, don’t be ashamed of that.

24. In assembly, sit the trouble makers apart.  Front and start of the line if you’re lucky just to have 2.  There is nothing more cringe than having the head call out your class.

25. Lists.  Lists can be endless but if done well they can be a life saver.  Rule number one of lists is to do something as soon as asked if it is a quick job.  It doesn’t go on the list and means you don’t forget/miss the deadline.  Rule number two of lists is to make sure you do the jobs that matter when you have time.

26. PPA – use this time well.  Don’t wander, don’t chat, get stuff done.  I once knew of a group of NQTs that all had their PPA on the same day – all that was missing was a pool table and flat screen TV to watch the footie. Oh, and work…that was missing as well.  Headphones help with this.

*Same applies at the end of the day; if you’re going to have a brew and hang about in the staffroom and chat until 5 then moan you’re taking home too much, you need to look at yourself.

27. Work at the right times.  My NQT Yoda used to stay on a Friday and get his work done.  At first I though this was odd, but as the Sunday dread became a thing I came to see how he must have left school work free for a weekend of chilling.  Thursday became my day to do this.  Find what suits but avoid weekends as best you can.

28. Seating plans.

29. For those books you’ve not got marked on the go, have them collected in open at the work.  Much quicker to mark later.

30. Enjoy it.  The job is the best in the world.

Most importantly, remember this: it isn’t a race.  The best NQTs often don’t see the course and are burnt out.  Some reflect and decide they can’t give as much as they once did to teaching, thus making changes that help them longer term.  If you’re hanging around, then it is going to be 20 years so don’t be so hard on yourself.  You can make mistakes, you will learn, you will improve and at the end you can turn around and help the next lot of victims…I mean teachers.

Reading: Witty Whole Class Reading title required!

As I trawl through the TV channels, I come across old episodes of Coronation Street.  Not a few weeks old, but proper old with Jim McDonald swanning about the cobbles.  While I chuckle to myself at the fact that people will watch any old rubbish, I find myself watching this very same old rubbish.

The reason why I’m telling you this isn’t in the hope that someone pays for an Amazon or Netflix subscription (please feel free to if you want), it is to illustrate that for everyone something can be doing/seeing/learning something for the first time. But also, they can be doing/seeing/learning rubbish so beware.

The title above shows exactly this.  I was an NQT without a clue.  Before Twitter and all that jazz – a simpler time when the LA gave advice on the latest cool ways to work.  On this advice, the assistant head got me a class set of the classic Revenge of the Toffee Monster (What?  You’ve never heard of it? I wonder why?  Oh, cause it is dreadful).  This was my introduction to whole class reading.

Why was this book picked out of the many that were kicking about in 2005?  Well, the reasons below are what was said to me:

It looks really fun! (It wasn’t.)

It looks great for boys.  (Nope, again it wasn’t.)

Kids love monsters.  (This class included a few.)

You will notice that I keep saying ‘looks’, this is because no one had actually read the book before spending the cash on it and dumping them in my class.

KEY POINT 1:  Read the bloody book.

Fast forward to now.  I’m a little less clueless.  And I read quite a bit.  And I went through the whole teaching reading cycle.  Guided reading, one to one, carousel, whole class – each have merits and when done well each can get the rewards us teachers need.

I will hold my hands up and state that as a Y6 teacher I feel the main way to address the needs of those children as readers is whole class reading.  The other ways are brilliant early on and I still use some with those readers who need more help.  This is a guide to why I picked the books I did.

I’ve written a previous blog about the need to pick the right books.  The main gist is not to pick bloody long books.  You lose interest, the kids do and it normally ends up unfinished.  I kick off the year with Harry Miller’s Run by David Almond.  It is dead short, links to the North East because of the Great North Run (this happens at the start of the term as well – it’s like I’ve planned it this way!) and has a nice gut punch at the end.  Gut punching kids will have your DBS revoked, but emotionally through books is fine.  Most kids don’t select books like these themselves, they just don’t. If you can grab the attention of a class with a story of an old fella talking nonsense to a brat, then you know it is a great pick.

KEY POINT 2:  Pick books they won’t pick for themselves.

Next up I go with The Middler.  Why?  Because it is as creepy as you need for primary school kids.  The fact that the author does an amazing job in distracting the reader with a minor danger, while hiding the sacrificing of children front and centre is amazing.  As a teacher, you’ve got to understand that kids often don’t get the clues as they know nowt.  As an adult, you make links to other weird fiction in movies, etc, that kids just haven’t experienced.  What is great about a book like this (if you remember KEY POINT 1) is knowing where is going.  In discussions, you can lead the children down the garden path and closer to the red herrings.  Doing this will build the shock levels and make the book even more memorable.

KEY POINT 3:  Use what you know to question better – not everything needs to recorded.

Then I like to rattle off the term with shorter books.  Why?  Cause at the end of the year I want the little blighters to be bloody proud of all the books they have read.  Owen and the Soldier is by Barrington Stoke making it an easier read to develop confidence yet still addresses bloody hard themes. And then it’s Christmas so ya know…Christmas books. On the serious side, each of these shorter – in the case of Coming Home and One Christmas Wish illustrated – stories are by authors with more challenging texts.  Method in the madness in getting them hooked.

KEY POINT 4:  Introduce them to quality authors anyway you can.

As the year hurtles on, try to remember that this is a year in their life as a reader.  It isn’t the end point regardless of those tests that are round the corner.  With this in mind, I like to share something quite complex.  I’ve spent the year building it up.  Easier books for confidence as a reader, interesting structures such as the story within a story of Harry Miller’s Run or the twists of The Middler.  Now they are ready.  In my class that means ready for Mortal Engines.  The full discussions about authors intent are excellent when you share a book with so many layers.  Why does he keep describing Hester as ugly? (Spoiler – it is for the moment she steals Tom’s heart through being a badass)  These are the things that you need to stress to a class.  As I said earlier, they know nowt.  The cool moment when Katherine is lied to by Valentine, the kids don’t understand how clever that is.  We the reader know someone a character doesn’t.  We see her actions differently from that moment on.  But this needs to be highlighted at that moment as it can get lost in the craziness of moving cities gobbling each other up!

KEY POINT 5 – Share that one life-changing, mind-blowing book (You know the ones).

Before you scream, but the tests.  Don’t worry, you can do the whole range of question types with the worst books ever (I did with Revenge of the Toffee Monster).  I don’t want the kids to just pass the tests, I NEED them to become lifelong, proper readers. Share proper books, explain why they are and let them have the rip of the library.

You’re the reading expert – pick the books better as any old rubbish just won’t do.

 

Hot topic: the wider curriculum

 

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Some pretty #remarkable learning here! 🌎 pic.twitter.com/8LUTRAbvIw

— North Ormesby Academy (@N_O_P_A) May 21, 2019

So the gaffer comes to me and says ‘Hey, you know our foundation subjects.  Well I think we are selling the kids short and I have an idea how to fix it’.  His plan had been hatched and involved expecting more from the children and more from me. In short, he dropped a huge gauntlet for my team to try and run with.

Now before you start screaming about a narrow curriculum then please chill out.  This wasn’t the case.  We had plenty of foundation work to show the mighty Ofsted when they came, but after they left we wanted to take the next step.  I’ll hold my hands up to being in the trade long enough now to see the good and bad in differentiation.  ‘Bottom’ groups that kids never could pull away from and a mass of workload, however removing the old fashion sense of it had left all the work looking a bit the same. Same lesson, same learning, same outcome….the same.  And if Nana Bog Standard had one thing right it is this: if we are were all the same life would be boring.

Our starting point was a lot of hard work ensuring the lessons weren’t just all gluing and sticking (I’ll leave that to the boss to explain in a more serious presentation or something.)  I was more concerned in ordering decent materials to use and the game changer that the gaffer brought in OVERSIZED books.

Secondly, we needed to decide what our outcomes should be and after a gander on Twitter at some fantastic efforts we came up with a simple idea.  Ownership.  That’s right, we wanted the children to own the creative process.  It was my job to guide them with a safe pair of hands but the focus on the children taking responsibility would allow each page, each outcome to differ so each child could stand alone and be proud.

How it works

 

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I use Seesaw as a platform to share ‘learning materials’.  By this I mean many of the tasks you would do such as labeling diagram activities, closed procedures, reading comprehensions, etc.  Basically lots of digital worksheets but instead of printing them out and adding to my workload, I get the children to create iBooks or bookcreator books as a place to store this knowledge. This repeating of the information provides them with a knowledge base for step two: planning.  Above are examples of the plans, both digital and written, and it is in these rough forms that the work produced starts to take shape. Verbal feedback and peer assessment forms the backbone of aiding this stage of the creative process.

Old School alongside New School

So confession time – I’m a techno caveman to the point that a casio calculator watch is considered cutting edge.  However to the kids at my school, tech is a breeze and as mentioned before partly a reason why we decided to try this project. Yet not everyone one is an amazing artist, in fact some are quite rubbish.  As a teacher it is my job to let them develop as an artist and that means finding ways for them to succeed.  Below are two examples of how digital art and traditional art can be used and be being relaxed in allowing the children to build up the confidence to be ‘arty’ has seen some crossover from ‘I can’t draw’ to ‘I’ll give it a go, oh that’s not that bad’.

 

Filling Space

The beauty of the OVERSIZED books was that there was plenty of space to work within.  The downside was that there was lots of space to fill. This meant that over time the children needed to become better at thinking of ways to fill the space with meaning.  A sea of plastic pollution facts is a great example of how some children did this.

 

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Thinking of different ways to present your understanding is quite a challenge for the little uns, but as with anything the more they repeat this process the easier it gets.

• crosswords
• poetry in all forms
• diagrams
• stories
• instructions
• non-chronological reports
• images
• graphs
• tables
• word-searches

These are some of the examples my class came up with but the list can go on and on.

Call in the Experts

 

As a teacher I like to steal other folks ideas and find ways to leach off their talent. Video tutorials are ideal.  Can’t draw cute looking animals?  Not a problem.  No idea how to make a pop-up volcano? Got your back.  Haven’t a clue how to create a cool looking title? Me neither! Luckily, someone did and gladly uploaded her tips online so even I could manage it. Sharing tutorials like the one below also opens up something like Youtube for your learners to use  in more positive ways, instead of watching cats jump in boxes.

Error, error in the book who’s work has no mistakes at all?

This way of working that removes the glass ceiling also can make it difficult to spot basic errors due to the vast array of ideas and creative ways the children present their work.  So as a bog standard teacher with only one set of eyes and dumpy legs to carry me around the class, we set about ways to embrace the mistakes.  If I’m honest some of the more ingenious flap creation can come from the need to cover up something that went WRONG! Here are some examples of this we had to find solutions to.  The top image shows a fantastic illustrated solar system but there was one little problem…a whole planet had been missed out. Idea needed: turn it into a missing question with the answer shown upside down.

Spelling mistakes are a swine for a teacher.  Too many pulled up and a history or geography task quickly becomes literacy lesson trying to SPAG the life out of the acutal learning, yet still we need to have have high standards. A child ‘added’ an extra ‘d’ to ‘Bodies of Water’ and with some quick verbal feedback we came up with adding a water drop character smiling away. Winners all round.  Lastly, the best example of teacher frustration is constantly reminding the kids about NOT using our special pencils as they go through the paper…and then coming across someone who has done exactly that.

 

Lessons learnt:

1.  Developing ‘learnt materials’ is the first step – if the kids don’t have the knowledge the creativity falls short.
2. Get them time – Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither can kids produce their best in a half hour before swimming.
3. Mistakes are ok – you may want to be wonderful in every way but let the children make mistakes.
4. Online tutorials are a must – someone out there knows how to do it.
5. Planning is a key stage.

On reflection I feel that we have removed the glass ceiling that had pinned our children down.  Those who felt trapped creatively now are able to show off to their hearts delight and those who just did enough and faced with the challenge of competing with their peers to produce amazing work, instead of ‘just OK’ work.

Wonderful learning from phase 3!!

Please let us know what you think – the children LOVE receiving feedback from Twitter! pic.twitter.com/XtjDf63U2S

— North Ormesby Academy (@N_O_P_A) May 22, 2019

 

Don’t Bloody Bore Them: A guide to picking books for your class

In a bog standard town there was a bog standard street

and in the bog standard street there was a bog standard house.

Inside the house lived a bog standard teacher who needed some bog standard bread.

Off he went to the bog standard shops and met another teacher.

As is the standard life for a teacher in the holidays (yes, it is the best part of teaching and those who say otherwise are fibbing), I bumped into a fellow teacher.  My heart swelled when I cast my eyes over his trolley which was basically alcoholic beverages and  some crisps.  Then of course we engaged in teacher ‘craic’.

BGT (Bog Standard Teacher): Spending the holidays wisely eh.

OF (Other Fella): Aye, BBQ today…well everyday.  Holidays – love em.

BGT: Looking forward to next year?

OF: Oh yeah…BLAH BLAH BLAH.*

BGT: Nice one.

OF: Oh before you go do you have any suggestions on books about Ancient Egypt.  It’s our topic and last year I tried to use Book X but the kids got bored as it took ages.  Oh, and I tried Book Z and they loved it but…ya know time constraints and that meant we didn’t get to finish it.**

*I was in the beer aisle – listening skills were dulled.

**Please note, this teacher wasn’t using books with such boring names.  To prevent book shame the titles have been removed to protect the names of these titles.  Thus ensuring no books were harmed in writing this blog.

I was taken by the last part of the conversation as his honesty highlighted a problem for teachers.  Just how do you pick a book to share with your class.  And I get those fine folk who stop everything to lash off 6 chapters at a total of 89 pages before hometime, but…well I have to teach other stuff.

EYFS/Year 1/Year 2

These lucky teachers have the world of books at their fingers tips and can luckily impact on making kids love books more than most.  Why I hear you ask?  Well, they can be armed with a mountain of picture books.  I taught Y2 for an age and quite liked it.  It was a time – on reflection – that I was able to be a massive book advocate before I even knew what one was. (Yes, we had these things before Twitter/Facebook).  The fact that picture books take next to no time to read are ideal.  Little secret: they are designed this way so kids don’t get bored.

Often I would get the children to pick and would always let the choice stand.  Read it before – no worries. Not linked to our topic – jackpot.  There is nothing better than reading Emily Gravett’s The Odd Egg and getting to the SNAP and making a class full of kids jump.

Tip 1: There are no wrong picture books to share…share as many as you can.

Tip 2: Routines help – before & after lunch and hometimes are ideal.  3 books in a day – what a time to be alive!

Tip 3: Let the kids pick.

Y3 & 4

This is probably the trickiest year groups for finding stories.  If you read the previous section and raged at the lack of chapter books that’s cool. Here is the tips for that.  When teaching these year groups I found that you feel the need to move away from picture books…DON’T.  However, now is the time to take a step back from much loved favs that kids pick to a more selective range. What are you teaching?  Is there a link? Mix of non-fiction and fiction. Books like Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World are amazing as the text is ‘grown-up’ enough for the kids and the double page spreads mean that you can dip in and out to please yourself.

There are lots of great books made directly for these children so go with that first.  Not a book you loved that have a zillion pages.  Time is a killer in schools so if you are going to get through a book briskly enough to keep the kids engaged while doing a million other things to keep all the plates spinning.  Books like Dirty Bertie and Wigglesbottom Primary are great as they contain multiple short stories.

Tip 1: Page count – anything over 200 is way too much.

Tip 2: Picture books still rock.

Y5 & 6

First off beware of books – ever seen a teacher have to speak to an angry parent due to a swear word in a book.  It is a fumbling sight of embarrassed pauses about ‘not knowing’ and ‘removing all the books’ that isn’t pretty before the register. So with that firmly in place know your class, know your book.  This extends to sharing books with mature content.  For that reason alone I’d stay away from great books such as A Monster Calls, Skellig and a host of others which are amazing: just not to be shared with a class.

Short chapters are key at this age.  Children should be able to sustain reading so you can be more able to opt to read chapters for homework or as individuals, but chapter length is a factor.  For me, page count still matters and this extends to the chapters.  If a chapter rambles and takes forever then interest can be lost. Remember this is for thirty people to enjoy, not one.  Authors such as Gareth P. Jones is amazing for his entertaining books that have short chapters. The likes of The Thornthwaite Betrayal and Death or Ice-Cream! are fantastic examples.  Even short books like The Firework-Maker’s Daughter works well as challenging language and character arcs are there to explore themes.

Picture books are again ideal. With time for reading stretched even more (Yes, I mean SATs) then sharing great books that can be explored in depth or enjoyed instantly is vital.  Examples such as those below are great as the tone is mature enough for older children to buy in while not containing images or language that would cause issues.

Tip 1: If you’d not use the word with the parent, don’t let the child read it.

Tip 2: Picture books ALWAYS rock .

Lessons learnt:

1. Always read the books – know them inside out before thinking of using them with a class.
2. Picture books are for big and little people alike.
3. . Page count matters – too long, too much.
4. 4.  Content, including language must be considered.

 

Total Teaching: How we didn’t mess it up!

Now let’s just be clear about this…the blog name gives the biggest clue to how I feel as a teacher.  I’m plain bog-standard.  I graft and do my bit.  But every once in a while the bog-standard step up and deliver.

Humble Beginnings

A day trip to Lead, Learn, Lancs 2017 was the seed.  In typical style (getting lost due to a dodgy SatNav, nearly missing the dinner order and a general lack of knowing who to see) the day was an unplanned success.  I got to see some fabulous educators while being made to feel ancient due to @Mr_P_Hillips  lack of music knowledge.  A fantastic event organised by  @LeadLearnLancs 

The journey home was an interesting conversation. In between the ‘not that left, the other left’ and general reactions to the football scores, @MrJenningsA  (Disclaimer: he slums it with me) and I did that thing were you decide to do something through giddy excitement and Total Teaching was conceived. Now the hard work began.

Beg, borrow and steal

Shy bairns get nowt – a phrase to live by in the North East.  I set about asking some folk I’d seen present.  Folk who I could listen to all day.  I was cheeky and shameless in my begging and used what little charm I had to secure some great people to share their practice.  For this I will be forever thankful to the likes the fore-mentioned Jack Phillips and @WatsEd .  This approach that served us well and shows how fantastically generous the edu community is.

Home is where the heart is

It was hugely important that Total Teaching championed the North East (what can I say, I’m envious of the North West Edu Mafia and all their events) so I had to pin down the likes of  @cazzash  @MrGPrimary  and @RachelOrr  to present. I told one person our intention to put on the event in Hartlepool, which is a coastal town with seagulls that would make great adversaries for dragons, and his response was that the geographical location meant it was going to be a hard sell.  Now my home town is somewhere I’m proud of warts and all, but Mama Bog-Standard didn’t raise a quitter and we pressed on.

Pressure well and truly on

After a trip to Primary Rocks 2018 it became clear that I was out of my depth.  Over 200 people, the great and good of Twitter and free ICE CREAM! – How was I meant to even come close to being this good? Doubts crept in.  Jobs began to build up. Days ticked away.  Now this is when being a canny mimic helps so I stalked the likes of @gazneedle  and  @MissSMerrill   to see how they approached the day.  In Gaz I found it was basically about being the fella who welcomes everyone in and makes them relaxed with ease while Sophie seemed to be ultra prepared and we stole her ‘to do’ list off twitter to ensure we got the basics right.

Trust folk wiser than yourself

The advert for Total Teaching above wasn’t what happened on the day.  A strength (or a weakness) of mine is the fact I’m generally laid back and when placed in the role of organiser you have to deal with changes.  Drop outs are part and parcel and although sadly missed, this opened the door for other to step through. @caroljallen  and  @ST3AMCo are both great examples of other folk stepping in and helping out based on the recommendations of people who know a lot more than myself.   Now every teaching conference needs some Carol Allen swear words and a rocket launch.

Lights, camera, action

Now for the day.  I paced about doing laps of the school hall and felt like the child who has sent invites out to his class knowing fine well that most would leave them in their trays.  It was all set-up, all ready and just needed an audience.  Guess what? They came. First some bad jokes and ‘hey these are the people to actually listen to’ was the last of my heavy lifting and the rest of the day was spent making sure everyone was fed and watered, knew where the toilets were and workshops ran on time.  I could just about do that.

The last lap was the thank you’s and handing it over to @smithsmm  to finish.  And my word what an excellent fella to bring the day to a close. Even if he can’t remember agreeing to it (shy bairns again).

Lessons learnt or a rough guide to doing your own:

• Steal from the best – yes that is Reading Rocks, Primary Rocks and Lead, Learn, Lancs – as there is a reason why they are so damn good
• Ask for help – No one succeeds alone
• Do the simple things right – badges, bags, books
• Find a decent partner in crime – Yes big man this means you
• Believe in yourself

The last point is the most important. Sometimes, just sometimes the ordinary can be extraordinary and the bog-standard can become better-standard.  Oh and new edu speaker in this little lady has set her sights on joining the circuit.

#PrimaryRocks2018

First up thanks to the troopers above.  Without a hint of irony, the day was a blast and the fact it was is purely down to you guys.

Nina Jackson or @musicmind kicked things off with what can only be described as Tom Jones combined with Peter Kay (All Welsh folk sound like the knicker magnet to me) as her keynote was laced with humour and FIZZ. Top tip for getting dragged up: wear something bright to dance.  Yes, I mean you Yellow Jumper man!  The importance of creating a buzz in your classroom is underrated in these times of data churning.  HIGHLIGHT No 1: @RoseEdmondson5 explaining about snot and the WHAT reaction behind me that the lumps are skin.

Workshop 1 was brilliant as I went to @Mrs_iPad_W to learn how to weave STEM into my curriculum through reading.  Little secret here, @Mrs_iPad_W is a bit bloody good at getting kids into reading.  So hearing how using a strength of reading within her school and an approach that includes all, Heather has put STEM are the forefront of her children’s learning while making an unbelievable amount of links via the lovely  @AliChristoffer.  Anyone one from the North West, seriously contact this lady now! HIGHLIGHT No 2: nabbing a free science kit to take home for my daughter (gifts keep the peace for father absence on a weekend)

Workshop 2 was something different all together. @jpembroke basically went about his business declaring that educational data is the Emperor’s New Clothes.  In a unique manner, he bemoaned the made-up nature of measuring progress and hightlighting how common sense has evaporated in so many schools in terms of how we ‘track’ learning.  KS2 writing – ‘For god’s sake man put it away, no one wants to see that.’ HIGHLIGHT No 3: swear words.

To end the day (apart from #primarybeers or #primarysoftdrinksforthoseofusdriving),  @Oldprimaryhead1 and @theprimaryhead were fantastic.  Like a low rent Morecambe and Wise, these gents summed up the room so perfectly.  Listening to them discussing Leadersh*t was a breath of fresh air.  Leadership books definitely leads to crappy token gestures that do more harm than good.  ‘Oh, that sounds easy to do and I will seem dead nice’ must be echoed around head’s offices up and down the country.  Fabricated award giving by heads is epic level falseness (I know as our school does it and the undercurrent among staff is slowly building).  YES, I hate Beryl as well the lazy cow!

Now to the ‘real’ best part.  The saying ‘Hi’ to folk who don’t look like they should.  Is it only me who thinks @Mr_P_Hillips  should be a sophisticated floating wig and set of eyebrows, instead of a buffoon with awful dress sense? I now look forward to @JacksShorts insights into education from now on.  Being tricked by @gazneedle  by him not wearing his conference uniform by him coming in something other than his grey cardigan and handed a banana by @leah_moo  are minor #primaryrocks celeb moments to remember.  Standard issue bear hug embrace off @chrisdysonHT  and bookshop encounter with @smithsmm .  Sweary chat with @redgierob  and @MissSMerrill  while learning something about paper types for SEN!  Saying hi for the first time in real life with @JennaLucas81 .Checking in with @WatsEd and many more.  Oh and what a lovely lady @cazzash is. These are the true best bits of #Primaryrocks.

A friend of mine quoted it perfectly: ‘If everyone at your school was like this, it would be awesome going to work everyday.’

World Book Day 2018

Twitter is a fantastic and cruel place in equal measure.  Discussion and debates can often be polarised on the most minor of issues.  World Book Day is cursed by this.  Across the country schools will be sending out letters informing parents of a ‘dress-up’ day and this seems to be the most talked about aspect of what should be a purely joyful, unashamed day of loving books.

Do your children experience a reading school each and every day?  Smashing!  Are you always encouraging your child to read a range of texts?  Fabulous!  Does your school interact with with authors to inspire learners regardless the month, let alone the day?  Awesome!  The fact is books are so important they need to be celebrated, championed and advocated for.  The idea is simple: put books front and centre.  I feel the same about my daughter pretty much everyday, but on her birthday we, as a family, celebrate her and fuss over her to the point of mild insanity.  Does this mean we love her less on other days?  Don’t be daft.

The extract below was from a great blog about reading.  And with lots of points I nodded sagely until the criticism of World Book Day.  Children may not select the classics and do be honest the range isn’t aimed at teens, but tens of thousands of children will own a new book by the week.

This leads some people to assume that if we motivate students to read more – maybe by having reading campaigns involving sports stars and the like, or perhaps by asking teachers to cast aside their dignity and wear fancy dress for world book day – they will select better books and become better readers as a result.

At a time when research shows that many homes simply lack books, this initiative must be supported and celebrated by schools more than ever.  Even the fact it is a book is even more important.  Reading via screen has increased over the years, yet explicit modelling of reading needs to seen by children.  Reading a book does exactly that.

Ways schools can get the most out of the ridiculous price:

The World Book Day has a range of ideas – http://www.worldbookday.com/ideas/ – so check these out.  Also why not:

• Class sets of books – in cash strapped times you can’t buy much for £1.  Last year I got a set of Blob by David Walliams and the kids loved having a new book to explore.
• Share an extract – @MrBoothY6   advocated using extracts so why not use an example from books to guide the children to bookstores to buy their favourite.
• Book posts – Sending the books home via posting (hand delivered if costs are an issue) is a great way getting books into homes and places responsibility of taking care of the books on the child while encouraging home reading.

The only issue I do have is the lack of non-fiction within the range. @andyseedauthor  highlighted the need to use such a genre to engage children to read for pleasure and I have to agree. 

So for the record…let the kids dress up, let schools have what ever theme, let them do whatever they want to celebrate the day because ‘books’ don’t get talked about enough.  And they should.

 

Poetry: open doors I’d rather stay shut.

Being a teacher is a strange job at times.  The number of pupils often mean that we are exposed to the side of life we’d rather not be.  When you look out at your class you are looking at victims of domestic abuse, young carers, people who live with addicts, dealing with bereavement or long term illness and sometimes you will know.  That’s the key point…you will only ever know a fraction of their lives.

This week I decided to teach poetry.  The blog idea came during the planning process as I feel I’m rubbish at teaching poetry so thought using the lyrics of songs would be ideal.  The witty self-deprecating blog didn’t manifest it’s self due to a single line.

Paramore was one of the bands I went with and the lyrics for the opening verses are below:

As I went through the process I thought of ways to break-up the poem to develop a better understanding with a class. I looked at how each verse had a focus: first the father and second the mother.  Then we looked at a word to encapsulate each line.  For example the last line on the first verse the word was ‘fix’. When planning it I thought the line ‘He broke his own heart’ would be interesting and thought the discussion on ‘cheating’ to be quite challenging.  If only it was that simple.

Yes, predicting where the learning would go is a vital skill for a teacher so it was no little surprise that ‘cheating’ was mention.  It was the 3rd and 4th points that I wasn’t quite ready for, or more the classes reaction to it.  One child mentioned alcohol abuse as the reason he broke his own heart, which led us to the path of substance abuse.  Another child said he might have gave the mother a ‘good slap’. At this point giggles emitted from a number of children. This is an area of life that is hard to understand – Why someone would hurt who they ‘love’? I have no doubt at all among those giggling would have been a poor soul who lives with this.  At this point, and I’m so thankful she did, my TA asked a simple question – What do you mean by a ‘good’ slap?  Can a slap be good?  This use of language and reaction almost highlights how the issue should be dealt with more in schools.  I took the black and white approach as discussions often mix the messages – It is never OK to hurt a person, let alone someone you ‘love’.

http://www.nationaldomesticviolencehelpline.org.uk/

Say what you see…

A picture is worth a thousands words…and in education using them correctly can be priceless.  I decided to give up a tiny amount of a reading session (previously shared here) to try using images to encourage the children to make inferences.  This was a reading skill which the children seemed to struggle with when compared with retrieving information from a text.

The removing the text was a start, a release for the nervous readers, a breaking down of the barrier that words can create.  Using the excellent Onceuponapicture website as a source for finding engaging, interesting images for my class.  Who doesn’t love a short cut?

The above image was the first I used.  The image is always shown without the arrows first and the children must talk.  Not talking prevents an idea developing so allow time for this.  Here are things the children discussed even before the arrows appear:

• There are missing adverts on milk cartons which led to the inference that it was based in America.
• The monster is black so it can hide in the dark.

At this point I had to tease more out of them beyond the basic ‘The monster is scary’ or ‘The boy is scared’.  This means that you tend to ask questions based on your own inferences.  Mine was ‘The monster is kidnapping youngsters and the boy is attempting to find his missing friends’.  Now to be clear, if a child take us on a tangent and backed it up with inferences then great, however I had to model the skill as we hadn’t really done much of this as a class.

Day 2 was much better.  This striking image is beautiful and led to a greater level of inferences.  Not only were the less confident readers more than happy to share their views (maybe being chatty is why they don’t read as much as others?), but the explanations were more detailed.  Again, here are some of the ideas the children had:

• The lady playing the violin is controlling the floating ‘islands’ and using the instrument as a way to projecting her power.  If she stops playing then the islands will crash to the ground.
•  Their planet has exploded because of a blackhole which they are now being dragged towards.  (This was based on the direction of the hair/dress.)
• They are angels who have lost their wings.

The discussion at this point showed improvement on the previous lesson which meant I was happy to move it on with a ‘known’ image.

As you can see this famous Grimm’s tale is obvious…unless you were in my class.  At least a quarter couldn’t tell me the story and the rest were shaking on the plot details.  Oh, and that’s Y5.  Inferences were still more fluid when compared to the first session, but were as I thought the link between the crow, the witch and the missing crumbs would have been identified.  The lack of ‘knowing the well-known tale’ prevented the inferences I expected.  Maybe ‘unknown’ is best.

Finally I shared this image.  The stark way it is presented was discussed at length in pairs and it was the image that generated the most views.

• The horse is possessed by a demon and has acted the camp.
• A huge storm has wiped out the forest and spooked the horse while it was pulling the carriage.
• The horse was used to transport ammunition during WWII, but the woods were bombed and the carriages driver was killed.

A long way from ‘The monster is scary’ or ‘The boy is scared’.  Maybe I’m quite decent at this teaching lark.

Things I learnt:

1. A range of interesting images are a must.

2. No marking, all oral feedback.  WINNER!

3. Picking out points to aid the children to dive deeper.

4. Let them…no MAKE them talk to each other.

 

Oscar! Or Twitter Person of the Year.

As part of @redgierob #3tofollow2018 I nominated @cazzash, @missb_teach and @RebeccaLucas due to their general awesomeness in different areas. However I did state I was staying away from the big dogs of Twitter. But since @smithsmm has asked for nominations for Twitter Person of the year I have decided to oblige.

First up is @redgierob, who is a titan of teaching while being a very down to Earth fella. Anyone who is wiling to meet a nobody and share a pint then the next day deliver CPD that actually changes how you teach is a special person indeed.

Next is @chrisdysonHT who welcomed me into his lovely school. I learnt so much off Chris in a single day that it is unfair to compare the experience to normal CPD. What he does for the kids in his care is nothing short of sensational as it is built on genuine love for those children. Make it all about them is the message.

The third nomination goes to @gazneedle. The least showy of the group. More Gregory Peck then Daniel Day-Lewis in Oscar terms. It’s odd declaring Mr Primary Rocks as less showy but it’s true. His understated manner is a measure of why a good  leader he actually is. Plus I went straight home after LLl17 and said that thee Gaz Needle said my book reviews were canny. Little does he know what that meant.

Finally, and in no great shame to the others, the winner. My person of the year. My twitter god. @smithsmm is an inspiration. Not due to his scary knowledge of picture books, or even the fact that he places reading at the centre of all he does. No… It is because of his humility. A pivotal podcast showed that even folk like Simon have found it tough. That the sailing isn’t always easy. After the year I’ve had, hearing that from someone I respect from afar only made me respect him more.

Thank you all… All of Twitter as you don’t really know how much you have helped.