The Hopefully Helpful Teacher @deputygrocott

Imagine the scenario: a child has been taught regular online safety lessons by their teachers. So often the lessons go something like: ‘you mustn’t have a social media account until you’re 13’ ‘You should never send pictures on social media or as text messages that you wouldn’t want your gran to see’ ‘you can’t do this...never do this’ we focus a lot on the ‘legal’ side of things and the ‘don’ts’ but perhaps we need to think about the potential impact of this. This is something that came out of a conference I went on today. I’m not saying don’t teach them the don’ts but let’s think some more... So, why could this be a problem? Imagine the next scenario: the same child who has been taught the ‘do nots’ for years and years has been caught up in the moment and through peer pressure or just through exploration has sent a picture online they shouldn’t have done. Is that child going to come forward and talk to their teacher about it to try and get help? The answer is no. Remember, they’ve ...

I like to think of myself as a fairly forward thinking teacher. I love new technology, new ideas, amazing new resources. I try them in my class regularly. If they work then great! If not, I drop them. As much as I love shiny new things and can see how teaching and learning can be made better through using them, I still use some ‘classics’. Here are my ‘old school must use’ resources that I think still work just as well as the shiny and new: Mini whiteboards One of my most used and, for me, most effective resources used in my classroom are mini whiteboards and dry wipe pens. I use them every single day. A great way for children to show their understanding during main teaching as well as many other uses. I love writing on the tables but there’s something lovely about the proud moment a child writes down an idea or answer and throws their hand up in the air while holding the board up against them so nobody can see (sometimes resulting in rubbing off their answer). Cheap and a...