Mrs Humanities

Because I'm married to the job

Category Archives: wellbeing

#Teacher5aday Pledges 2017

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#teacher5aday

If you are interested in supporting the fundraising I will be undertaking whilst I walk (I really mean hike) my 300 miles over the year, please visit my fundraising page https://give.classy.org/300for30th to contribute. Thanks.

Best wishes for the 2017!


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Proud Moments from Twitter

As I spend some time reflecting on the year, despite all the downs I’ve remembered there have been a number of ups. I thought I’d share with you some of the more positive parts of my teaching year.

  1. DIRT sheets went international… here’s a message I received from China

2. Attending and presenting at TMHistoryIcons

along side many great historians and history teachers…

3. Setting up Magpied Pedagogy

4. Attending and presenting at #PedagooHampshire…

…where I got to meet many of the greats for the first time (or again) and take part in a number of interesting workshops/presentations.

5. Setting up #Teacher5adaybuddybox and being able to support so many great educators. From the first one…

…to having over 400 participants in a year….

 … that have sent loads of fabulous boxes…

…with extra big thanks to all those that sent a back to school surprise box or two

Get involved…

I’ve been really lucky the last year to have connected with so many incredible educators and academics as a result of twitter. They’ve kept me going through the darker days of teaching and have helped me to remain in a job that I love (well when it’s just me and my classes, forget the politics and data, along with progress tracking and the covering your back paperwork etc. etc.)

So what we’re your proudest moments of 2017? Let me know.

I hope that 2017 leads into lots of positive teaching experiences for all.

Best wishes for the year ahead.

Mrs Humanities


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PedagooHampshire16 – Starting the Conversation on Marking

PedagooHampshire

Originally posted on http://www.pedagoo.org/

I’ve no doubt we all understand the role and importance of effective marking and feedback in student progress but how can we deliver this without detriment to our work/life balance?

As part of my #PedagooHampshire16 learning conversation I’ll be sharing many of my own tried and tested ideas as well as tips that can help to reduce the amount of time we spend providing feedback without compromising its quality.

In addition I’ll be encouraging discussion around the topic of ‘Marking with a Purpose’ where there will be an opportunity to explore the issues and solutions surrounding the provision of feedback.

To get you thinking in advance of the session, below are some questions to help inspire your thoughts.

  • – How does marking and providing feedback impact upon your work/life balance?
  • – What is the biggest issue for you associated with marking and feedback?
  • – Does your schools marking policy impact upon your work/life balance? If so what could be change to ensure they are not detrimental to our work/life balance?
  • – What other ways are there that we can provide high quality feedback without the consumption of vast amounts of time?
  • – What other formats of feedback can we give to achieve the same outcomes?
  • – What marking and feedback techniques have worked for you to maintain a work/life balance?
  • – How do we make verbal feedback as valuable as written feedback? Should we be evidencing it?

Feel free to suggest other questions for us to ponder and discuss on the day.

If you’d like to attend you can sign up for free here.

Thanks to @martynreah who is hosting this years great line, click here to find out more about some of the great learning conversations that will be taking place.

To find out more reasons why you should attend check out these posts

Julie Hunter – Pedagoo Hampshire 2016

KERRY MACFARLANE – Pedagoo Personalised CPD

Jenna Lucas – Personalised CPD @PedagooHampshire

Lesley Munro – Why I’m going to PedagooHampshire16

Amy Jeetley – Why am I going to PedagooHampshire16?

Hope to see you there!

Mrs Humanities


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#Teacher5adaybuddybox

The end of January saw the introduction of the #teacher5adaybuddybox . It’s been a great success so far with over 70 volunteers.

The best part by far has been seeing the amazing boxes people have sent out, each with a range of things to brighten up the day of their #wellbeing buddy.

Here are some of them so far

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Even seen a teacher or two enjoying their well deserved treats

And a few sneak peeks to get excited about…

 

I’m truly flabbergasted at the generosity of those taking part. Not only are they spending money on their buddy but they’re spending time thinking about them, connecting with them and volunteering their time and effort on someone that (in most cases) they don’t know in person. Very generous.

The hour or so I spend on a Saturday morning matching people up is definitely worth it, especially when I see the tweets from those that have received their bit of wellbeing snail mail and are truly delighted.

Thank you so much everybody that has sent a #teacher5adaybuddybox so far, I’m incredibly grateful as are your buddies.

Thank YOU (1)

If I’ve missed anyone off that has tweeted a picture of a box they have sent or received, please do let me know I’d hate to miss anyone.

And remember if you’re tweeting about please include #teacher5adaybuddybox so I can add new tweets to the post.

If you’d like to join in, it’s not too late. Read this post to find out more and head here to sign up. 

Again thank you to everyone that has taken part so far, you’re truely awesome!

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#Teacher5aday Wellbeing Buddy Box

buddy box

Update: we now have a #teacher5adaybuddybox dedicated website. Head over to http://teacher5adaybuddybox.wordpress.com to find out more, sign up and to see boxes that have already been gratefully received. 

After mentioning the idea last week, I’ve had a number of comments from people in regard to wanting to get involved. That’s awesome.

So shall we get started?

Who can get involved?

The scheme is open to teachers, educators and other member of school staff that are concerned with improving their wellbeing and the wellbeing of others.

It’s particularly awesome if you still love sending and receiving snail mail and are happy to volunteer.

What’s the idea?

The #teacher5aday wellbeing buddy box sprung to mind after I took part in Perfect Strangers. The theme was winter warmer; I loved that each component of the box was carefully thought out to bring a bit of warmth to their life. It was completely voluntary and it felt good to spend that decision time thinking about what might make this perfect stranger smile.

box

I wondered if we could develop something similar through #teacher5aday – an occasional snail mail surprise to brighten your day.

It’s quite simple. You sign up and get matched with a wellbeing buddy, you make contact with them. Swap addresses. You send each other ‘buddy boxes’ throughout the year. They receive their ‘buddy box’. You make them smile. Easy.  The hardest part is deciding what to send.

First steps

To start with sign up here

What happens once I sign up?

You can sign up anytime but may have to wait for a wellbeing buddy to be available for you to be matched with. Once your buddy has been found you’ll be informed by email/Twitter and you can take it from there.

Swap addresses, send your ‘buddy box’, make each other smile.

How much you spend on your wellbeing buddy is up to you, suggested maximum per box/package would £10 though.

What should go in the Wellbeing Buddy Box?

The ‘buddy box’ can consist of anything from letters of positivity such as ‘open when…’ letters to open throughout the academic year to small gifts like candles, socks etc. to help your buddy look after themselves. Of course a bit of stationary never goes a miss and perhaps something personal just to show you care.

If you wish you can even make your box follow the 5 components of #teacher5aday with something to help your buddy to notice, connect, exercise and learn. Volunteering is covered by sending a buddy box in return.

If you need ideas why not check out Abbie Mann’s Wellbeing Bags for Inspiration or my pinterest board.

When should I send my Wellbeing Buddy Box?

When you send your ‘buddy box’ is up to you. When you sign up you are asked how many you would be willing  to send throughout the year. I will try to match you with someone that is willing to send a similar number as you.

Since we all have those times of year which we find more difficult than others, so when you sign up you’ll also be asked which time of the academic year you would appreciate receiving a buddy box the most; your buddy will be informed of this so they can plan appropriately to help you when you are most likely to need it.

What happens once I recieve my Wellbeing Buddy Box?

Well first of all I’m sure you would like to thank your wellbeing buddy. You can share your posts on twitter with the hashtag #teacher5adaybuddybox.

This is an ongoing process, so make sure you check up on your wellbeing buddy now and then even if you only signed up to send the one wellbeing buddy box. It’s nice to be remembered.

So what are you waiting for? Go and sign up.

Please note…

Remember this is completely voluntary, it is your responsibility to contact your wellbeing buddy and to send out your “buddy box”.  You must cover all costs involved.

This is completely based upon all participants wanting to sign up and take part out of the kindness of their hearts. I’m afraid I nor anyone involved in #teacher5aday can accept responsibility if you do not receive a buddy box in exchange. Therefore please only sign up if you intend to send. Thank you.