Hello and welcome!

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to come by my new blog. My intention for it is to discuss my pedagogical practices whilst also reflecting on my teaching. I hope that, in time, it will act as a journal for my progress as a teacher and a professional person, as well as being a sounding board for ideas, methods, successes and failures.

So, a bit about my background. I completed my PGCE in Secondary English in 2010 at the University of Portsmouth. I began my NQT year at a school in Colchester but, for personal reasons, I chose to come home and take a break from teaching. However, I took up my NQT year again in Portsmouth last September. I have just completed my NQT year and I am really excited about starting my first year of fully-qualified teaching!

Arguably, my strengths lie in a predominantly modern teaching style: I have gained a reputation for the use of ICT and media in my teaching, as well as being enthusiastic in my use of innovative pedagogical methods. I have played about with the use of Kagan strategies, Socratic Circles, group work, and AFL strategies, amongst other things.

I try to take a holistic view of teaching and whilst my subject is English, I work with the idea that we, as teachers, should be shaping young minds. It is not enough to just teach a child to read any more; it is crucial that students learn to read for meaning, learn to look below the surface of the text, learn to question what they read and develop skills which will protect them in an ever-increasingly media-driven world. The importance of English is not just to fit in with the National Curriculum and teach students about Shakespeare; it is much, much more than that.

I hope that this blog will act as a way of charting my progress, and might go some way to helping other young teachers with potential problems they're experiencing or even just offering up some ideas.

Thank you for popping by and I hope you'll continue reading...