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📝 Weekly Report #1

This is the start of a new weekly blog post I am putting together, reflecting on my own teaching and highlighting some of the great podcasts, books and blog posts I have learnt from during the week.

👨‍🏫 Teaching:

This is where I will reflect on the successes and challenges that I have had during the previous week. I will also look forward to the following week and identify a key focus for the week. Hopefully this will help other teachers in a similar scenario and give some guidance as to how I aim to continue to support student learning.

As I write this I am putting together a few resources ready for starting back up on Monday. We have 2 INSET days this year and then Wednesday with just the new year 7s, then back into teaching fully from Thursday. I'm hoping we can get back to normality and have a disruption free year from COVID. This year I also officially begin my new role as second in charge of Maths so I am sure to be reflecting on my challenges and successes I have this year. 

🔊 Listen:

Over the lockdowns I’ve listened to a wide range of podcasts both teaching and non teaching based that have really resonated with me so I am looking forward to distilling the learning that I have gained from them.

An episode I want to recommend for this week is from the Modern Wisdom podcast where Chris speaks to Cal Newport on how to master email overload. I know as teachers we can get sent a lot of rubbish so this may be useful to getting started on the right foot this year. Check it out here.

📚 Read:

This section is going to briefly reflect on the current book or blog post I am reading and any key learning I take from it. I do read some teaching books, however the majority of what I read isn’t from a teaching background and I enjoy trying to apply principles from other industries to the world of teaching.

This week I have been finishing up Sun Tzu's, Art of War. Obviously we aren't going to war with students however it does say "excellence lies in defeating the enemy without ever fighting". It makes me think about what I can do to avoid students misbehaving before they even get the chance, being proactive rather than reactive. For example having all my desks in rows and facing the front reduces the chance students have for turning and talking in class. It's a short read but very interesting, especially considering it was written a long time ago but the lessons are timeless. Get your copy here.

📺 Watch:

Every Tuesday at 5pm I am uploading a video to Youtube on my own teaching practice and what I am continuing to learn from others. Hopefully this positively impacts teaching on a wider scale and is easily digestible. Take a look at this week's video 5 Behaviour Management Tips for the Classroom

This is a new challenge for me using YouTube and blogging weekly so any tips or feedback would be appreciated. Looking to learn and grow every week. 

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