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New blog, new beginning

At Christmas I left a job I’d been at for 10 years. Instead of jumping into another job, I decided to give supply teaching a go whilst I waited for the right thing to come up.  I feel like the right thing is working to improve schools, especially those in disadvantaged areas.

I’d like to think that I’m quite good at behaviour management, curriculum design, team leadership and I’m particularly interested in the role of metacognition and self-regulated learning in secondary schools.

I’ve started (another) new blog to try and articulate my ideas in a way that makes sense to others.  I find that writing blogs helps me clarify my own waves of thoughts and to wash out any hubris and my propensity to write haughtily.

I have developed a lot of expertise over the last 10 years and I’m determined to put it to use and help reduce educational inequality. 

And so I currently find myself supply teaching. Just day-today cover, though I’ve been in the same schools for extended periods. I’ve stuck with supply for a few good reasons - teaching supply makes you a better teacher. It sharpens the pedagogical tools like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. I also want to see if there is the potential for me to work in many schools helping them improve their curriculum. Supply keeps me light on my feet. It also gives me more time to think about ways in which I might be able to do any of the above. If I’m being really honest, after 15 years teaching I needed a break from always having to do things the way I was told to do them. I want to see if its possible to be a teacher and be self-employed.

So I’ve decided to write a blog. This will hopefully hold me to account whilst improving my writing, which is something I enjoy doing more than any other creative pursuit.  I’m going to try and write 30 posts in 100 days whilst investigating:

  1. Do my ideas resonate with an audience of like minded educators and leaders?
  2. How can the explicit teaching of self-regulated learning and study skills be integrated into schools in challenging contexts?
  3. How can supply teaching inform the practice of regular teachers?
Please leave comments and if you would like to start a conversation or work together, please get in touch.



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