Three Things You Can Do: Care, Care and Care
Become a better teacher with Substack #8
✨ I learn a lot from my colleagues and I’m sharing that here on Substack through my newsletter, How to be a Teacher. However, this post is all about other educators and how you can learn from their wisdom.
🫶 If we don’t care, we don’t do our jobs. Below are some terrific people who do. Give yourself 15 minutes this evening to find new ways to show your students how much you care about their education and about them as people.
📖 Three magnificent reads this week.
Walking the talk
()Here, Laura shares a tonne of strategies that you can implement in an instant to create the right environment for your students. Wait until you read the balloon idea - it’s absolutely gorgeous. Is it too late for you to implement it this year? If so, stick it to the top of your list for next year because it’s just wonderful. A lot of very lucky children have had the fortune to learn in Laura’s classes.
Nel Noddings - On Care
()I occasionally watch the famous ‘Every Child Deserves a Champion’ TED Talk by Rita Pierson, just to stoke the teaching fires in me and seek inspiration to go the extra mile. If you haven’t seen it, you must - it’s incredible.
LIkewise, David’s impassioned ode to the care we teachers put into our education - something our children, and the industry on the whole, desperately needs - should be in your inspiration bank. On days where you question the direction education is heading (data, data, data), read what Nel has to say, and David’s interpretaiton of it, to remind yourself of what an incredible privilege it is to be a teacher.
There’s a story in there about children not being allowed to speak at lunchtimes. I can feel a similarly draconian attitude developing in my own educational setting and this has given me the impetus to try and challenge it next week.
What will it unlock for you?
Assessing the Foundation Subjects
()When Queen Mary speaks, you listen.
You may be familiar with age-related expectations in reading, maths and writing and exactly what they are. But what about the rest? If you question whether outcomes - and I quote - ‘need a number’, you’ll find Mary’s latest post full of alternative ways to measure outcomes that add meaning to students and give them a variety of opportunities to demonstrate their growth, some more suited to them than a written test or essay.
Caring about our students isn’t just giving them a hug when they’re struggling; it’s about making learning as meaningful as possible. You’ll be able to do just that when you read this post.
👋 Writing on Substack and reading the incredible wealth of other talented educators has made me a better teacher. If you’re a budding educator like me, subscibre below to make sure you get all these tips and more sent straight to your inbox. You’ll get better at what you do with every post, I promise.
Every Child Deserves A Champion is one of the best TED talks. Have watched it many times.
Thanks for sharing my buzz and kind words Jack. Yes, I too often refill my tank with Rita's words.