As term ends and our minds start to wonder what the brave new world will look like in September, there are a lot of questions.
Where will students sit? How will I mark their assessments? Where will I get my morning coffee?
For many of us, the new landscape will mean we will have to rethink our set-ups and rely on fewer possessions to deliver the same quality of education.
Essential equipment for a teacher
These are the bits of teacher swag I simply couldn’t live without:
1. Visualiser
As an early-career teacher, I had a visualiser plonked on my desk and was told to “have a go”. Little did I know that this would revolutionise how I worked in the classroom.
I started using it to demonstrate practicals, the first ever being alkali metals reacting with water. Students loved it and it allowed me to pull out the learning, rather than just the awe of the spectacle.
I would say I have forgotten how to teach without a visualiser now. It allows me to make my thought processes explicit to my students, verbalise my thinking and provide them with real-time examples.
It is a platform for explanations, questioning and providing feedback, allowing the whole process to be interactive, dialogic and dynamic. This will really come into its own in the coming coming year, when direct contact with students’ work may be impossible. Our superhero visualisers will fill the void.
2. Fine liners
When modelling using a visualiser, I love my fine liners.
The ink is vivid, consistent and is really visible when projected on to the board. This is particularly important for me, as my penmanship is definitely an area of professional development. I hope to achieve that target before retirement.
They provide a precise tip, which is useful when demonstrating graphing to students, where accuracy is key. They are also great when demonstrating multi-stage processes: for this, I like to use a colour code, which allows students to follow the process more easily and can guide their annotations.
3. Notebook
To say I am forgetful is an understatement, but I refuse to feel guilty about it. As teachers, we are making multiple minute-by-minute decisions in a changing landscape, where a lot of voices are competing for your attention. This can lead the most agile mind to cramp.
Allow me to introduce you to The Notebook. Hardbound, with an aesthetically pleasing cover, A5 in size and ruled, of course. These have been my lifesavers. A list of things to do, remember, random thoughts, ideas and promises I’ve made that I need to keep. Without it, the disorganised chaos of my true self would be revealed. With it, I live to fight another day.
4. Teach Like a Champion
There is no book that has influenced my teaching quite like Doug Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion. It’s like a breath of fresh air every time, with advice on behaviour, planning, lesson structure, questioning, writing and more.
It has a firm place on my desk, filled with page markers, sticky notes and annotations to help me when I am struggling and reinvigorate me when I am in need. It will stay close to me when I am journeying around the school site, working during PPA and after-school planning. My guidebook to traversing the rocky road ahead.
5. Thermal cup
Caffeine and I are close acquaintances. Our relationship runs deep. Running from classroom to classroom, you’ll find me with my thermal cup, keeping my warm brew of caffeinated nectar close to my heart.
It brings a soothing, medicinal quality for my larynx and is a comfort blanket. I owe a professional gratitude to my thermal cup and it will reign high in my esteem next year.
6. Painkillers
Picture the first week back in September. We are all full of excitement. We can teach again! In a proper classroom! We don our new school shoes, throw on the blazer, and spread smiles across our faces.
But by lunch, the shoes will be rubbing, the adrenaline high of the morning will have left a throbbing headache in its place and there will still be five hours of the working day to go.
Those painkillers are going to see you through. They will soothe your aching feet, relieve you of that headache and enable you to be the best you can be that afternoon. A must for your teacher stash.
Things will be different next year. It will be a world of new rules, risk assessments and regimes, but your teacher treasures will be your constant. Keep them close and they will keep you calm, collected and comfortable.
Louise Lewis is a research lead and deputy head of science in a Yorkshire secondary school. She tweets @MissLLewis
