Explore every episode of the podcast Diary of a Teacher

Curious about what happens to your students when they leave the classroom and start uni life? This episode covers some of the factors that impact on smoothness of school to university transition.

If you have a topic you would like covered, write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

In the last episode of season 4, I answer three listener questions and discuss the plan for season 5 of the podcast.

Enjoy, and happy new year!

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

I've got a system for writing report comments, but it takes forever and isn't particularly efficient. Naturally, my problem-solving brain starts looking for solutions during the school holidays when we're both meant to be resting. 

The result? I have a system to recommend. It still allows for tailoring of comments so that each student receives the bespoke comment they deserve. But it streamlines various aspects of the process to save me time. Win win.

Enjoyed this discovery? Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

Next year, I'll be moving to a new school. The process is bittersweet - whilst there is excitement at the prospect of learning new things, it has been hard to say goodbye to colleagues and students.

As you can imagine, these last few weeks I have spoken with many colleagues and friends about the move. Everyone seems to have their own unique view on this life event, based on their experiences. So, when do teachers move schools, and why?

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

In this episode I talk about two things I do to reduce my marking workload.

Automarked quizzes are a blessing but can be curse so proceed with caution. Exploit the good bits, and don't expect them to solve all your problems.

Peer marking in class is a winner if you set it up right. And if your students aren't too exhausted... like anything, you've got to have buy in if you want it to yield results.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

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In this episode I talk about the importance of letting students chart their own course, with guidance of course.

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School holidays are here.

Cue picnics in parks with people, sleeping in (c/o operation recovery from the term that was entirely on Zoom), and changing tyres. 

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

In this episode, I talk about some Zoom wins. Top of mind is the Zoom conference we held for Year 12 Science Extension students last week, where they presented their work to Year 11 students. Breakout rooms and shared screens were the next best thing to the in-person poster session we usually run.

This episode is dedicated to our beloved cat Sampson. May he catch many rays of sun wherever he's off to next.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

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"I hope this email finds you well sane."

In this episode, I'm talking about the joys of remote teaching. Again.

If you're sick of this topic, don't worry, so am I. 

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Lockdown continues. Zoom lessons continue. Things are busy, but manageable given that we know it's not forever.

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Reflections on two weeks of remote teaching (and hopefully remote learning).

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Title says it all. Lockdown, Zoom lessons, square eyes. Let's do this.

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Realisations and reflections on how to engage students who would prefer not to be at school.

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Helping students with ADHD isn't rocket science, they just learn differently. This week I reflect on my attempts and their merits.

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P.S. Hello Yr 12! I was wondering how long it would take you to discover this little project of mine :)

Reflection on term 1 and the school holiday spent horizontal.

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It's pretty much what the title says.

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In this episode I talk about supporting school counsellors. They are the hidden gems of our education system and they need our support.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

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Six weeks is a long time to spend doing nothing. This year, to avoid boredom, my school holiday survival plan for 2020/2021 has involved some new projects and experiments. A change is as good as a rest, and seeing as I'm not very good at rest, change suits me well.

Experiments:

- Vegetarianism / eating more plants

- Various iPhone settings aimed at discouraging usage

With all experiments, I think it's important to approach them without absolutism. At times, it can be tempting to apply unwavering rules and restrictions to our lives in the hope that they will improve, but rules hardly ever reach the root cause of discomfort, nor do they set a person up for improved self-worth. Curiosity is the aim of the game, not scientific rigour!

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

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What do you do when you have 'nothing to do'?

In this episode I talk about active relaxation, which basically involves doing stuff that isn't work but that is relaxing/meditative. Seeing as we've done Christmas/New Year and there are three weeks left of school holidays, I wanted to I talk about how I've tried to make the most of my time off, and how I plan to see the rest of the school holidays out. For me, napping on the couch all day is not the answer to curing boredom, though I admit there has been plenty of it.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

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Sarah from NZ (great name!) wants to know about what a university teaching degree doesn't cover. I have only done one degree in teaching, so I can only speak in depth about the university in which I was enrolled.

I've combined my experience and that of other junior teachers to answer this question.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

Welcome back for another season.

In this episode, I talk about how students enjoy spending time in nature (even though they'll tell you it's boring). 

Nature teaches students what is important; that much is clear. Whilst I expected students to enjoy their school camp (a much needed break from the city), I wasn't expecting them to become champions of environmental change in such a short time. They ended up teaching me about what we need to do to preserve our natural world.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

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This week I discuss my biggest teaching failure.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the discomfort!

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Throughout my first two years of teaching I have had an excellent mentor helping me to keep it together. As part of celebrating my pleasingly reduced need for mentorship this year, I've recorded this reflection on what made my mentor so supportive and helpful.

Are you mentoring a junior teacher? What do you find most effective when it comes to supporting them?

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

I'm erring on the side of studying part time being a smart move. So far, my part-time study has been really interesting and it keeps me in the student seat. I'm always going to want to be learning something, so this is a good way to do it in a structured format.

I'm still figuring out how to do both teaching and studying at the same time, with varying degrees of success.

There are a couple of strategies that are working well for me right now, and I mention both in this podcast.

Got ideas or questions? Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

I've enrolled in an Honours program at the University of Sydney, to find out the answer to a question I've pondered for a while:

How much do high school teachers know about university teaching? And how much university lecturers know about high school teaching? 

In this episode I talk about initial progress and preliminary findings, and how I'm finding a balance between work and study.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

We've all worked much harder than we were expecting to work this year.

For some of us, it's really starting to take a toll.

In this episode, I talk about general vibes in the teaching community around coping with workload this year, and how we're feeling at this point in 2020. Also discussed are some ideas to consider when talking with a colleague or friend who you think is approaching burnout.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

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Do you survey your students? If yes, how often? 

We've all been surveyed by the companies with which we interact. Surveys seem to slide into my inbox almost daily, but I ignore the majority of them. I'm too busy to respond to each one. 

With this in mind, how should we design surveys so that we get the information we need from our students without irritating them? I've got three ideas.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

This week I watched a program on Netflix called 'The Social Dilemma' and learned plenty about its current role in our society, especially for young people.

Well worth a watch if you're curious about how social media is impacting you and/or your students.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

2020 is a terrible year to graduate high school. So much has been cancelled due to COVID-19. However, there are still ways to make finishing school special for our senior students. In this episode I talk about a lesson that had students learning Physics and feeling special for making it to the end of their studies at high school.

Also in this episode: exams. Specifically, giving them back to students. How do you do it? Any tips for avoiding upset, and for getting important individualised messages through to each student?

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

This week, I discuss some PD opportunities I've had recently and how they've made me a better teacher. (I think.) 

A few of my friends absolutely despise PD. Whilst it can be dependent on topic and instructor, I think mindset is a big part of enjoying PD and getting something out of it. 

What do you think? Love PD? Hate it? A bit of both?

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

And just like that, we're back to school for another term. Before I pick up too much speed, I'm reflecting on my final week of school holidays, spent skiing by day, emailing students by night.

The levels of support my students needed during their school holidays were surprisingly varied. Some weren't in contact with me at all. Some just needed the odd bit of clarification. And some needed words of reassurance and opportunities to discuss stress levels at length. Pastoral support is hard to do over email, but I've been trying to help where I can.

What are your strategies?

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

In this episode, I talk about the time I've saved by documenting everything in my first year of teaching. It took a fair while to do, but having set up a system now, it's the gift that keeps on giving.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

In this episode, I give a general update on end of term, accreditation progress, life events etc.

Recently at school we have been helping Year 10 students with their subject selections for senior studies. In science, this involves the decision to study science or not, and if it's a 'yes' to science, we help students decide which scientific discipline(s) are the best fit for their future plans.

Asking fifteen-year-old kids what they wanted to do when they leave school feels a bit odd to me. Most of them don't have a clear plan, and that's totally understandable. At fifteen, I was so very green, and I had no life experience. My plans for the future were not well informed, and they changed dramatically at age 23 anyway. Should we be asking students what they want to do when they leave school? Is asking this question problematic in itself? Because if every adult in a student's life is asking them the same thing, we're collectively saying "this really matters, and you MUST have a clear plan."

What do you think? Is this conversation necessary at age fifteen? Should it be prefaced with "it's ok if you don't know..."? I don't know! Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

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As a university student, I had trouble staying mentally well, primarily due to the pressure I put on myself to succeed academically. (Answering the what-do-I-want-to-do-with-my-life? question was also a massive source of stress.)

Now that I am a teacher, I find myself wanting to use my experiences to help students navigate their own decisions, especially when those decisions stir up mental health challenges similar to my own. But there is a fine line between oversharing and providing targeted, relevant pastoral care. I talk about treading this line. Not easy, but doable - at least I think so. What do you think?

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

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In this episode, I talk about returning to school and teaching face-to-face again. School life definitely isn't back to normal (whatever that even is), but some aspects of it are starting to resurface.

A philosophical delve into the current set up ensues. It's not all bad, in my opinion. I'm getting more time to focus on the actual teaching part of the job. I'm using my time at home to explore new hobbies and get back to basics. I'm not running around like a headless chicken. I'm more relaxed and a bit less busy. 

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

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Paperwork. I'm doing hours of the stuff.

I wouldn't describe teacher accreditation as my favourite thing of all time, but it has its value, and in this episode I talk about navigating the process. I discuss what helps, and what hurts.

Also included are some random digressions into gardens and cats. For these are big parts of my life now. (Actually cats always were.)

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

When we're stretched thin at work, it can be hard to find time to do what we need to do to stay sane.

But it's so important to find that time.

In this episode, I answer a listener question about managing the daily demands on our time, as educators. How do we manage the extra demands on our time that come from students and their families right now? How can we make time for other things? (Including those all important commitments we make to ourselves such as don't eat a packet of chips for dinner because you're 'busy'...)

I also talk about working for free. And not to do this. Even though there is a pandemic on.

I hope these lessons are useful. I've taken ten years to learn them, so they are hard won!

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

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The whole working from home thing continues. Thankfully, so does the podcast. 

What's new? Not much. This week, I'm talking about isolation (#iso) and what it's like for teachers. I talk about the things I miss, and the things I don't miss. Because even though this set up isn't ideal, there is a silver lining.

Enjoy.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

We're at the end of our school holiday period (time flies).

I have been reflecting on my experiences as a learner. After a rather poor track record (i.e. for ages I was a rubbish learner), I'm doing better now. Being a teacher has made me a better learner - hands down.

I also discuss a good recipe for happiness. You may have others? Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

In this episode, I answer some questions from parents about how to navigate online learning.

How are children supposed to “keep up“ with the class? Some kids are doing the work and some are not.

What about those at school who aren’t being supervised/encouraged to do what everyone else is doing at home?!

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

We made it to the end of term! What a long term it has been.

This episode marks the first of many in diary-style format, as requested by listeners.

The changes I have been making to my lessons at school have been a big part of my focus over the last few weeks, so I spend most of this episode discussing those.

Also discussed are various other things going on, including sources of stress and how I'm managing them.

Enjoy, and stay safe.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

In this episode, I talk about how technology makes learning possible for students during a pandemic. Overnight, modes of learning have changed, and we teachers have made it happen. Go us.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

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In this episode, I talk about the changes I have made to my teaching practice since both students and teachers have been working from home due to COVID-19.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

In this episode, I talk about the preparations I am making for my students to learn at home, given that we are on the verge of school closures in Sydney, Australia.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

In this episode, I talk about the broad brush issue with professional development for teachers, and how we might differentiate PD to improve it for teachers.

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In this episode, I talk about strategies that I use to keep stress in check, why they work, and how things have changed since implementing them.

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In this episode, I talk about my top three lessons to date. The list is subject to change, but it’s important to acknowledge the wins and reflect on what goes well.

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How do you avoid giving boring lessons? How can we as teachers jazz up dry material? In this episode, I talk about how I avoid boring lessons, and I list the strategies I have used so far.

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

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Do you adjust what you teach to echo the interests of your students? Do you modify the focus of your lessons to reflect what is going on in the wider community, even globally? In this episode, I talk about my thoughts on teaching climate change in the classroom.

Article ref: https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/13/new-zealand-schools-to-teach-students-about-climate-crisis-activism-and-eco-anxiety

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

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How do you get students to submit their work on time, and completed? In this episode, I talk about the things I have tried to get this happening. In particular, I'll go through a strategy that has drastically improved homework submission rates for my classes. 

Write to me: hello@spongeeducation.com.

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.