You wake up, you go to work, you have the life-force drained from you by Year 9, then you go home, do some marking and go to sleep.
In an effort to enliven the average school day, one teacher has set up a blog in which he will itemise 101 things that every teacher should do.
The first entry, posted on New Year’s Day, suggested shopping on eBay, the online auction site. “Occasionally spend pound;1.99 on a resource that might save you hours of preparation,” he advised. “Seems like good sense to me.”
His second suggestion was to go dancing. He wrote: “What could be better for relieving the unquestionable pressures of the job than dancing the night away in a carefree fashion?”
With 99 entries still to write, he has been canvassing The TES online staffroom for suggestions. Several contributors focused, like the original blogger, on ways to make their teaching life easier. Primary teachers recommended accumulating piles of potential classroom material, from yoghurt pots to worksheets and spare confetti at weddings. One said:
“Collect hats. Collect tins. Collect socks. Collect anything.”
Others discussed ways to ensure that they were not crushed by weight of the teaching day: “Keep a journal of good bits, such as when a pupil has a lightbulb moment, or a respected colleague praises something you’ve done.”
Others suggested exploiting the full variety of activities offered during the school year. “Lead the Macarena at the school disco,” one volunteered.
Another suggested: “Hide the marking you haven’t done and say your hamster ate it.”
Then there are out-of-school opportunities: “Run to your corner shop just before it closes, to buy more wine (even though you’ve had more than enough), in your most ridiculous-looking pyjamas. Be greeted by parents who are also school governors.”
Which lead one contributor to suggest a rival blog: 101 things not to do as a teacher.
* 101-things-to-do.blogspot.com
www.tes.co.ukstaffroom
