Keeping lessons fun!

March 20, 2015 Brandon

Fact – children learn better when a subject is taught in a fun and exciting way. We all remember one or two specific lessons from our time at school that were particularly exciting. It may have involved a trip out of the classroom or even just something that was a little more practical than sitting and reading out of text books. As a teacher you will be expected to teach pupils a subject and that they will remember the information that you have given them and this can be very hard particularly with certain topics that are not necessarily naturally... Read More »

Getting a good reputation as a supply teacher

February 28, 2015 Brandon

There are several things to remember when building a good reputation amongst schools in your local area. It’s important to have a good reputation with teachers and heads if you want to be offered plenty of work. Make a good impression and you could be offered long term placements for things like maternity or sickness cover. Arrive early and dress smartly. It’s better to be overdressed than appearing scruffy. You can always tone things down once you get a feel for the place. Endear yourself with class teachers by sticking to any planning provided. Make sure you check the schools... Read More »

Teachers fear that text slang is ruining the English language

January 31, 2015 Brandon

The English language can be pretty difficult with spelling rules that don’t always apply, ‘silent letters’ appearing in words that are not pronounced and most words not being spelled phonetically. As such it’s easy to see that spelling and grammar can suffer if other influences such as text-speak are used more commonly in communication between young people. Teachers fear that this form of phonetic short hand can encourage children to pick up bad habits with writing, not only shortening words but completely misspelling them. For example ‘enough’ becomes ‘enuf’ and ‘later’ becomes ‘L8er’. Some text-speak is so influential that it... Read More »

Should the school day be longer?

December 16, 2014February 13, 2015 Brandon

There has been some debate now over whether the school day should be longer to closer reflect the average working day of 9 to 5. The argument for the idea is that it allows children to cover more of the curriculum throughout the day negating the need for homework after the school day has finished. It also means that terms could actually be shorter and holidays more evenly spread too. The problem with introducing this is that for young children it could be too much as they simply don’t have the attention span to be able to work for that... Read More »

Planning a school trip

November 27, 2014 Brandon

Teachers not only have to be able to plan lessons to carry out in a classroom environment but also need to be able to plan field trips to places of interest that will assist their learning. When choosing where to take children on a trip you not only need to evaluate the educational benefits that the students will gain from the experience but also the safety aspect. Teachers will be required to scope out all elements of the trip and make an assessment on the risks involved and if they are reasonable to allow the trip to go ahead. There... Read More »