Lessons Learnt

As lockdown eased I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to teach Year 12 for 3 full days. The classroom was prepared for 'socially distanced' learning and I carefully planned every minute of the day wanting to ensure they had a positive experience in the midst of so much uncertainty.  The one thing I hadn't thought about was how social distancing would make class questioning so different from before! I have always been an avid user of 'think, pair, share' and using that time when the students are discussing provides an invaluable opportunity to circulate the room, listen in to their conversations before taking student's responses. I found myself feeling trapped behind my desk, asking a question and just taking an answer straight away from anyone that volunteered themselves - which, let's be honest, is always the same exceptional student... So I went away thinking I had to change something the next week. I found myself reaching for the classic 'T...

So here I am, after only returning to teaching from maternity leave for a few weeks before schools closed for COVID, I have found myself mindlessly scrolling on my phone for more hours than I am willing to accept in the last few months. With the reality of returning to the classroom approaching I began to think I could be using this time more productively!  During (my now toddler's) nap times and evenings, I’ve been reading our School's ‘touchstone texts’; Teach like a Champion 2.0 by Doug Lemov and Teaching Walkthru’s by Tom Sherrington & Oliver Caviglioli; or completing CPD webinars with The National College but I wanted to make my ‘mindless scrolling’ a useful learning time too! As a Lead Practitioner in Teaching in Learning I want/need to make sure I’m ready for the return to the classroom (Twitter: @teachingreturn ) so I thought a blog might be a useful way for me to reflect on my practise and hope I can help others along the way.  So here’s to making that mindless sc...