Who are you planning for?

Hi all,

I wanted to talk about something quite controversial today, planning. Love it or hate it, as teachers, we all have to plan, and while different schools have different rules and regulations for planning, the most important thing to be sure of is who you are planning for.

Let's get one thing straight, Ofsted can't, and won't, ask to see plans. So why are they such a big part of school life? The most logical, and reasonable reason I can see for writing detailed plans, is so that if for some reason you are not teaching your class and someone is covering, they can see what you have done and what they need to do.

NQT's also tend to need to plan a lot and in detail (I know I did), making sure they know what they are teaching, what resources they need and being bale to refer to differentiation, particularly with a new class. I fully support NQT planning, but what about for more experienced teachers?

Often, when you have a dreaded observation, whoever is carrying it out, will ask to see your plan, and in these incidences, it is always good to have one, but for the everyday? How detailed do your plans really need to be?

Planning has become a bit of a box ticking activity for a lot of teacher, I find myself writing several different plans for each lesson I teach. For example, a weekly plan for myself, showing the lessons I plan to teach, and a weekly plan laid out the way SLT want it, which I personally do not find helpful. If this plan is unhelpful to me, as the teacher, why in the world am I forced to complete this each week? Completing plans solely for the purpose of it being 'policy' seems pointless to me, and not only that, but also a waste of time.

Saying this, you need your plans, they can support you when you want to prove your curriculum coverage or your differentiation. Although, this leads on to another question, why do teachers so regularly have to prove themselves? Why aren't they trusted?

These are the big questions we need to be asking, and for now, I don't have the answers and I don't know who does.

Until next time

Miss C

Evening routine

Hey!

Every morning is made the night before, so I thought I would share my productive evening routine so you can see how I manage to prepare my days in advance.

6:00pm I make it home from work and usually start cooking dinner straight away. I try to make big dinners that will do for lunch the next day and maybe for a few days after as well.
7:00pm It's eating time! I tend to relax while I eat and watch some Netflix on the sofa with my boyfriend. This is the main time we spend together mid week, especially as I am up so early on other days.
8:00pm I clean up, wash up and make sure that my bag is packed for the following day. This is also the time that I stop looking at my phone for the evening. I get out my gym clothes for the morning and put everything that I will need in one place so I can get up and go.
8:30pm If it's been a long day, which it often has, I'll take a bath and read for a bit to unwind.
9:00pm Bedtime. Once I'm in bed I might read a little more, just to make sure I am properly tired. Check my alarm is set and spend a little time writing in my journal.

And that's it. I never work at home if I can help it and I find that going to bed early and waking up early really is the best for me.

Until next time

Miss C

Morning routine

Hi everyone,

I feel like I have managed to achieve (after years of trying) a balance between my work and life.
This starts in the morning. I feel as though without my set morning routine I would be floundering, I would have no idea how I am starting the day and I would definitely be getting to work later. So, I thought I would share, as when I was looking for teacher inspiration, I couldn't find any.

5am- I know it is early, but this is when my alarm goes off.
5.15am- Gym. I'm lucky to have my gym just over the road from my house, but honestly, it really is the best way for me to start my day. I get my workout done and take the time to think about nothing but work
6.15am- Get in from the gym, shower and make coffee (caffeine for me is mandatory)
6.40am- pack lunch, makeup, get dressed, eat breakfast, and complete any small household chores like putting away laundry and cleaning
7.15am- leave for work. I get the bus at the moment, but I used to cycle and want to get back to it
7.30am- arrive at work. I like to make sure my day is fully laid out for me first thing in the morning, all resources ready, books prepared, desk looking tidy and kids tables ready. After I feel I am ready, I try to get ahead of myself, preparing homework, cleaning, writing up reports, updating assessment etc
8.30am- my team arrives and I brief them on the day. I like to make sure everyone in the room knows whats going to happen to we can work together.
9am- The kids arrive and the fun begins!


This works for me, it may not work for you, but what ever does, keep doing it, and what ever doesn't, change it. I hated my days when I woke up at 6.30 and dragged myself to work but now I am happier and more productive.

Until next time

Miss C

Sunday self care (it does not involve planning!)

Happy Sunday everyone!

Sundays for teachers tend to go one of two ways, you either relax or spend the whole day planning, marking and preparing for the following week. Now, the lady planning used to be me. I would spend every weekend working at home, making sure my week was prepared, and not getting any rest. Let's be honest, I ended up burning out. I could barely make it to the end of a term because I hadn't taken a minute to rest. Something had to change.

Sunday has now become my self care day. I pack my bag for work, prepare food, then just rest, read and do any small chores I need to do. How did I reach this point? Well, here's my how.

1. Monday-Friday are my work days, I start early, end late, but then ring fence my weekends, making sure that no matter what, I'm not working there.
2. I plan ahead. I make sure that by Thursday, I know what I am going to be teaching on Monday, and try to get my resources ready, this way I can chill knowing that Monday is done. 
3. If I do end up with work to do, I try to get this done in a morning, that way I know that once it's done, the rest of my day is mine and I can do what ever I want with it.

These are my top three tips to having more relaxed Sundays (and weekends in general). Try them out for yourself. They may take a while to get in to, but once you are rolling, you really will be more free.

Miss C

Here I am!

Hey everyone,

Just a brief introduction to me. I'm a primary school teacher living in London and currently working in a special needs school. I love my job about 75% of the time and have started this blog as a platform for sharing my top tips, advice and even bad days for all the regular people teachers out there who want a better work life balance, more time for sleep and mostly to just make the lives of the kids we teach better.

Hopefully I will be posting here once a week, so come back and see what I've been thinking about

Miss C