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The new year is often equated with resolutions, new chances, and new beginnings. However, when you teach in a semestered high school with finals the end of January, your new beginning is a few weeks away --  and those few weeks are a little frenzied, to say the least. We need to get kids back on tr…

My dad often moans about the others in his nursing home. Those old folk.  He also worries about how well he’s going to cope with things in the future. Not now, he says, but when he gets old. He’s nearly 96. It's not him in the pic, and my dad plays the harmonica and not the accordion, I should …

Had a fascinating conversation over Christmas with my niece Trish who is a Primary School teacher. In her class this year are two children who live under the same roof. One is Sam, the family's real son. The other is Kellie, their foster daughter. The family have another child of their own, a d…

Yes, I know… you’re already an awesome, reflective, hard-working educator. In fact, your state or district might already make you jump through hoops to prove how effective or fantastic you are. The idea of setting (or failing) more resolutions might seem scary. And, truth be told, maybe maybe your …

So, that seems to be that, I think. Like the pathological darkness of these misty, dank days that span the end of one year and the beginning of another, the years of teaching in schools that have dominated my life gather together and hang in a veil of memories. I did not like school when I was obli…

The most unfathomable question in fostering is; exactly what should your foster child mean to you. With your own children it's a clear relationship, or at least it ought to be. Parenting your own child is the most important thing in life. You love them utterly. You want them to be okay, whatev…

When the schools are broken up fostering is a different kettle of fish. For foster children everything's "broken". Their home, their school. On a normal school week your brood are got up and out of the house Monday to Friday, with all the usual moans. No problem. From around eight/eig…

When teaching a novel, I love to mix things up and throw in a fun, creative, or collaborative activity that engages students as they analyze and interpret the novel’s theme, characters, symbols, or conflict. This allows me to enhance my students’ understanding of the novel, and it gives them a brea…

The song says that Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. If you mutter; "Humbug' they shout; 'Scrooge!' I don't care; much of it is humbug and for the foster carer it's the most challenging time of the year. First up, did you know that more children are taken in…

“If it bleeds, it leads”. It’s a great quote which the Executive Director of News at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation reminded me of in a presentation I saw recently. He reckons it’s wrong though.  He’s not saying bulletins have to be jolly -  because that’s a familiar argument and I'm not s…

By The SuperHERO Teacher As adults, we know the importance of setting goals, creating a plan of action to REACH those goals, and celebrating our successes.  However, many of our students struggle with intrinsic motivation and are not yet familiar with the concept of life planning.  I believe that w…