Teacher Top Tips

On Twitter recently I saw a post by @smithsmn where he had found a list of ‘20 things that Teachers do’ by Tim Brighouse which was described as ‘the essence of good teaching and learning’. I liked the list that Tim had created and my next step was to share it via the Twittersphere and to my colleagues in different educational environments as I thought it helpful to remember that at times we need to be intentional and set new working habits.

It also got me thinking, what might be my top tips, so with a clear ‘shout out’ to Tim (& @smithsmn) I humbly submit my list of tips for teachers, to start this new term as they mean to go on:

• In the morning, offer a welcome to every learner and colleague

• Notice people, call people by name and ask an intentional question

• Listen (really listen) to the answer, to the question you have just posed

• Create a past to reminisce about with learners and colleagues (even senior management!)

• Laugh, share a joke

• Remember, a birthday or event for your colleagues or learners

• Admire out loud ‘call out the gold’ honour someone’s work or just them intentionally

• Scold quietly and praise loudly, to both learners and staff- make praise the loudest thing heard in your classroom

• Seek out, the invisible learner, the ‘grey’ student, pay them a compliment, call them by name – it makes a difference

• Respect, family, history, culture- think about how you do this, don’t just do what you have always done

• Praise in writing, post it notes to learners, a note in their book or on their work. Email a colleague to say what a great job they have done, or how they dealt with a tricky situation well

• Share something, it could be sweets, crisps or a cake in the staffroom… reward people, be generous

• Promote, learners and colleagues, become a storyteller about other people, what they have done, how they have helped or worked through a situation (basically ‘big them up!)

• Acknowledge, someone for something they are better at than you

• Recognise your environment, and the work that goes into it, the wall display, the tidy classroom or the work of the cleaner or caretaker- what might you need to do differently?

• Pass something on, send a colleague a link, save a newspaper cutting (feel free to promote and pass on this blog post!)

These tips might feel small and insignificant, however what it might mean to a colleague or a learner when you take that time to connect with them. I know at this time of year things feel a little chaotic, there are new routines to be settled into, and perhaps you feel like you have forgotten how to teach, how to lead (I promise you won’t have forgotten that superpower is still there!). Just think, before you get back into the old groove how might you ‘start as you mean to go on’……

This was a blog originally posted on my previous blogging platform