...Managing Pressure

Every year, since I began teaching, I've found the approaching winter break brings as much pressure as it does festivity. In fact, I've not once experienced a 'winding down' toward the end of a term. Instead, I tend to feel particularly wound up. Well, this post is concerned with professional pressure, whenever it occurs - and how to manage it.

...Interview Strategy

We held UEL's Recruitment Fair yesterday. The day was organised to provide trainee teachers with all the information they needed to secure an ECT post by the end of their PGCE/School Direct programme. Having interviewed many candidates for training places and teaching posts, I was asked to contribute to a session entitled 'Answering Interview Questions'. This post shares a summary of the guidance I gave, a copy of the presentation I displayed (using Prezi), and a video I used to emphasize the need for decent preparation.

Rather than just dwelling on the questions that potential employers were likely to ask, I decided to discuss the interview process in broader terms and to provide trainees with a strategy for success. Apologies if some of the advice seems fairly obvious, but I've seen first hand the effect that a lack of forward planning can have on interview day... Get to work!

...Beating Stress

Photograph: Alamy

It's the nature of the job, isn't it? Inspections, ever-increasing expectations, and so many tasks to juggle, including planning, assessment, reporting and resourcing... The pressures on teachers, which seem relentless at times, amount to a genuine occupational hazard.

The pressures of the PGCE in particular are widely recognised. The learning curve is very steep for most trainees. The regular observations of your teaching practice, and the need for getting to grips with the necessary theory, subject knowledge, tasks and assignments make for a highly demanding 11 months. Current fee arrangements serve to add an unfortunate level of jeopardy for many.

It is with this in mind that Nane Steinhoff's blog in The Guardian caught my eye. Now, I know that dealing with stress is far from simple, and that a handy list of prompts is unlikely to be of any help for sufferers with acute symptoms. But, I shared the blog with a small group of trainees and it seemed to resonate. So, here it is - reblogged:

...Podcasting for Learning (PfL)

Last night I headed to Hackney Community College, to attend the TechCity TeachMeet. The remit was 'share your A-Z Tech Toolkit that has worked for you in 2013, & what tech you plan to use in 2014.' I decided to renew my interest in using audio and podcasting by sharing my initial, tentative use of Soundcloud as a learning tool. I shall mention a number of ways in which podcasting can support learning, and at the end of this blog I'll share my 5 intended actions for the new year. 

...Critical Incidents

This post discusses David Tripp's approaches to the analysis of incidents, and how the practice he describes can help teachers to develop their professional judgement. I'll start off by describing what we mean by critical incidents, and why they matter. I'll then share my understanding of Tripp's main strategies for effectively analysing our experiences. Hopefully I will help you to understand and employ the approaches, to broaden your professional awareness of the complex and sometimes emotionally charged events which occur in your school.

First of all, let's determine what a critical incident is not. Imagine you are undertaking a cold January playground duty, shuffling from foot to frozen foot. You hear a sudden shout from behind the emergency exit, and the head teacher falls headfirst into the playground. She slides a good 12 feet across the ice forming beneath the leaking water fountain, before bowling over a group of children from class 3b... 'What a critical incident!' you cry. Except it's not. Not by Tripp's definition, at least...

...Demo Lessons

I have written this post with pre-service trainee teachers in mind... Naturally, a key consideration for you during your training is likely to be one of securing a job (and a salary) by the end of it. However, as one might expect, many head teachers are reluctant to recruit new staff without first seeing them teach.

And rightly so. Recruitment itself takes time and money. And the stakes are high for school leaders for whom the quality of teaching is usually a prime concern.

Also, teaching is a complex, dynamic profession. It requires intelligent, flexible, responsive individuals to make effective use of a range of strategies for ensuring that the pupils in their classes make progress. By observing you teach a lesson, and witnessing your practical abilities, a potential employer is in a much stronger position to confidently make you a job offer.