tickedoffteacher Teacher Tips

Struggling to relax over the summer holidays? Tips for teachers who still can’t unwind

Still lying awake thinking about your planning? You need our help!

Most teachers in the UK have been on holiday for a few weeks now. However, if you’re anything like the Ticked Off Teacher, you’re still struggling to slip into full holiday zen mode. Today we’ve gathered up some tried and true techniques for making the most out of your time off.

1) Get away early and have a change of scene

If you’re lucky enough to be going on holiday, try to suppress the urge to keep working and get yourself straight on a holiday. The change of scene can really help to put distance between you and work. Try to go somewhere with no visual reminders of school or children, think adults-only resort! If you’re planning on staying at home, do your best to remove cues that are going to remind you of school. Leave your teacher bag in the cupboard for at least a week so you can begin to unwind.

2) Unplug

It can be tempting to relax by spending those forbidden midday hours scrolling mindlessly through your phone. However, you’re bound to come across posts from a teaching group, an update from a colleague, or yet another classroom ‘inspiration’ picture to drag you mentally straight back to work. If you have time, perhaps think about creating ‘teacher’ social media to keep your personal and professional scrolling separate. Try and spend the time doing things you wouldn’t normally have the time to do and making the most of places being less busy midweek.

3) Routine

You have sleep to catch up on right? Yes, but try to keep yourself in a somewhat regular routine of sleep, eating and exercise etc. otherwise you can find yourself becoming more groggy and exhausted! You will spend the first weeks of term getting the children in a good routine, now listen to your own advice!

4) Indulge in some self-care

Bubble baths, gardening, walking, whatever it may be. Make time for the things that make you feel good and you don’t normally have time for. Try making a list at the beginning of the break and seeing how many you can tick off. It can be useful to schedule things in advance and try to hold yourself accountable to stop self-care from being something else to put off to tomorrow.

5) If you must work…

Some people benefit and feel more relaxed by getting things done. Try not to get yourself into a cycle of finding yourself work-related jobs to do to keep yourself busy. This can sometimes feel easier than thinking and organising things that you actually want to do. As with self-care, try and make a list of tasks that actually need completing and days you’re going to block off to complete them. Make sure the tasks are meaningful and productive and not an excuse for not having found anything better to do.

Overall, enjoy yourself! You have worked very hard all year and deserve this break. Come back in September rested and refreshed and ready for another round!

Signed,

What works well to help you relax? Comment below.

tickedoffteacher New Teachers

How to Prepare Over the Summer as a New Teacher

Ideas for new teachers/ NQT/ ECT/ PGCE students to get their heads around over the summer to give a flying start to the new year

School’s out for summer! At least for the kids… This time of year can be a nerve-wracking countdown for new teachers. Your ticked off teacher is here to give you the advice they wish they’d been given to help you get ahead on the new year’s planning, while balancing a break.

1) Get your space organised

It’s tempting to spend your summer scolling through Pintrest and dreaming of that perfectly decorated classroom. Fast forward to a few weeks in and you suddenly realise you want to swap everything around and your beautifully curated displays are already looking ragged. Focus on getting your room clutter free. You’d be amazed at the things you’ll find in the back of the cupboard, but get ruthless. Check with the previous teacher that they have fully moved out and then get to chucking. I promise no one is going to come looking for those spelling tests from 2004!

Make sure that things are organised and arranged the way YOU want them. This is your space now, feel free to get rid of things that aren’t useful to you. You’ll create enough of your own clutter throughout the year without holding on to inherited rubbish. The only things you need to be bringing in to add to the space are a few essentials for your cohort – coat peg labels etc.

2) Put down the IKEA family card

Following the first piece of advice, it can be so tempting when looking at inspiration pictures to want to buy lots of fun little ‘bits’ and ‘essential’ organisation systems. STOP! Remember that those classrooms you are viewing have been built up over years, no one is expecting a new teacher’s classroom to look like that. Many Pinterest classrooms are also in America where there are different expectations for decoration and how much a teacher is to provide themselves for the room. Don’t bring extra clutter into the room before living and teaching in the space for a few weeks. You’d be amazed both at what you find in storage rooms in schools, and just how much those ‘incredible’ and ‘essential’ bits of teacher tat will get in your way.

3) Start some planning

Whether or not teachers should work or plan over the holidays is a divisive topic, especially as you are not yet working at the school. My advice is to make sure you’re au fait with any schemes of work that they use, and have been given access to any shared planning. Further than that, getting your head around the term dates and weeks can be one of the most helpful things. From there, working out how many of each lesson you’ll be teaching and then planning out L.I.s can be useful if you are responsible for planning. Walking in in September with the general shape of the scheme of work and curriculum can be really useful in helping you feel more confident and knowledgeable.

4) Make some (teacher) friends

Hopefully you will be coming into your first year of teaching with some friends from your training route and have had the opportunity to meet your new colleagues at a transition day. However, I can’t suggest making friends with other teachers completely out of your circle highly enough. While a little old fashioned, Facebook seems to be the mainstay of the teacher social life. Try searching for a group that reflects your new role, ‘Year 3 and 4 teacher’, ‘Primary teachers in the North East’ etc. You will find thousands of groups on there. It is perfectly acceptable in these larger groups to merely lurk, although people are always very supportive and want to support new teachers if you would like to introduce yourself. These groups regularly share resources, advice and grumbles, so are a great place to feel less alone and score some inspiration and free resources.

5) Relaaax

You had a life before teaching, you’ll have a life after teaching. Taking on your first role in class can be exciting, scary, and daunting. Try not to view this summer as a ticking time bomb. Do as much as feels exciting and helps you feel more prepared. However, if you’re wondering if you’re doing too much, the answer is probably yes! Teaching is a demanding profession and you’re doing no one any favours if you turn up already overworked and exhausted in September. Getting to Christmas can definitely feel like a marathon, so make sure to relax and look after yourself first. You’ve got an exciting and challenging few months ahead so forget ‘perfect’, ‘Pinterest’ and ‘prepared’, turn up YOUR best self in September, you’re going to be great!

Signed,

Comment your best advice, what you wish you would have known, or questions for a future post below.

tickedoffteacher reading

5 Easy Ways to Get Your Child Reading

Top tips from your ticked off teacher to make summer reading as painless as possible

Ticked off with your children for refusing to read over the holidays? Research suggests that children lose an average of two months of reading skills over the summer (1), start their year off right by keeping reading over the summer. Here are this teacher’s tips to help you be less ticked off.

1) Stop the bribery

We all do it. It is so tempting to offer a reward in return for your child’s cooperation with reading – however, you might be setting yourself up for an uphill battle. We don’t reward children for doing things they enjoy, so by enticing them with a reward, you are associating reading with being an unpleasurable activity. That’s exactly the opposite attitude of a life-long attitude to reading. Sorry, but the iPad time and chocolate buttons are out!

2) Timing is key

Think about when your child is most pleasant and productive. For 90% of children, that’s early in the day, before they’re too tired. So many parents stress themselves out trying to force their children to read before bed when they’re already overtired. Reading needs to be part of the consistent daily routine, how about trying for 10 minutes each day after breakfast instead? That way the minimum amount of reading is done and neither of you are dreading the battle at bedtime.

3) Imitation, imitation, imitation

Be honest with yourself, how often does your child see you read? There is a plethora of research to support the importance of children seeing their parents read (2). Think about it, would your child sit and calmly eat a plate of broccoli if you nagged them to while watching you eat a greasy pizza? The same principle applies here. You have to walk the walk to show your child that you not only value reading but find it a pleasurable activity. Make sure that your child ‘catches’ you reading and try to plan reading time as a family. Try the DARE approach, ‘Drop Everything And Read’, to make reading a fun family activity.

4) Mix it up

Children have access to well-structured reading programmes at school, but it is hard for a teacher to take 30 childrens’ interests onboard when planning the curriculum. At home, you have the opportunity to investigate what your child enjoys reading and allow them to take the lead. A trip to a local library to flick through different books and give your child the agency to pick their own reading material can be transformative. Alternatively, you can try websites like LoveReading4Kids where there are hundreds of first chapters of books that you could read together before finding and ordering a book that interests them most.

5) Don’t forget non-fiction

Think about your own preferences as a reader. Many adults read non-fiction the majority of the time. However, we often put pressure on our children to exclusively read fiction. When dealing with a reluctant reader, reading anything for pleasure is a great start! Explore traditional sources of non-fiction, e.g. books at the library, FirstNews, The Week Junior, Newsround. Newsela is a great source of non-fiction articles that can be adjusted for different ‘lexile’ (similar to reading age) levels.

Good luck and remember to keep trying. Share your tips and comments below.

Signed,

Sources

  1. https://teach.mapnwea.org/impl/MAPGrowthNormativeDataOverview.pdf
  2. https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1838357/seeing-believing-encouraging-your-kids-read-wont-work-if-you-dont

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