Hello everyone!

First of all, thank you to everyone who attended the seminars yesterday. It was such a lovely day. I really enjoyed talking to you all and I learned so much from all your suggestions too! For those of you who paid for a ticket but couldn’t attend, please email me and I can send you on the slides from the day.

I was quite nervous about the seminars as I wouldn’t be the biggest fan of public speaking. My first time speaking to a crowd of people was back in January when I had to have a questions and answers coffee morning with the parents while I was doing the DIP. I found it so stressful and I actually felt like I was going to pass out! However, hard and all as it was, it helped me overcome my fear! The next big thing then was the 6th class graduation, again, I had to address a whole roomful of people! Stress! But then, I thought of a plan to help me get through these occasions. I simply close my eyes for a second and pretend I am addressing a class of children, and that I am the teacher. That really helps!

I thought yesterday would be much harder than it was. I never thought I would be able to stand in front of a roomful of people and deliver a presentation, but I did! The lovely crowd I had helped immensely, thank you for that.

The presentations for the seminars were about creating a CV, subbing, the standard application form, and the DIP. We also spoke a little about summer camps, grinds, and classroom management.

We had speakers from EDCO and Folens, who very kindly delivered a presentation about their new Irish programmes , Bua na Cainte and Abhair Liom. They all gave me lots of samples to raffle!

I had lots and lots of books, planners and prizes to raffle off and as far as I know everyone went home with something.

Here are some photos of the lead up to the seminar and the seminar itself!

I will be in Galway on Tuesday in the Salthill hotel for the next seminar. If anyone can’t attend, please let me know so I can give you a refund and offer your ticket to someone else.

Edco kindly donated fifteen planners per seminar!

Folens donated a goodie bag for everyone in the audience!

We had loads of samples, I was in book heaven!

Mol an Oige donated prizes.

One of the slides from the DIP presentation

More samples. No one left empty handed!

Claire, the EDCO Rep and former primary school teacher, speaking about Bua na Cainte.

We love Bua!

Myself and Claire, the EDCO rep.

Thank you Muireann, my friend, former colleague and fellow 5th class teacher, for helping me so much on the day!

Camille from Folens, literacy expert delivering her presentation!

Folens rep talking about Abair Liom

These puppets and loads of other resources come free with the Abair Liom license!

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Mr Price is the ultimate treasure trove for teachers. Many of us will be spending the last few days of our holidays stacking up on art supplies, storage containers, posters, rewards, certificates, pens, pencils, all types of stationery, the list is endless! The cheapest place to buy these is Mr Price. I usually go to the Terryland one in Galway and it is AMAZING. I was there last week and took some photos to share with you. There art supplies in particular are excellent. My art box is also now full for the year ahead, and for very little cost too. And the storage containers- reduced to 1.50! They also stock lovely colourful borders in a variety of styles for only 1.99! I stocked up of course!

Keep an eye on the website for details of special offers Mr Price

So have a look and see for yourself..

I bought loads of these colourful baskets!

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Hello everyone,

This is a blog post for those lucky teachers starting their probation this September!

If you are doing the DIP, you will need three folders, one for your long term plans, one for short term plans and one for assessment.

Your assessment folder will need a section for each child in your class. You can divide the sections with dividers stating the child’s initials only.

In each section for each child, you will need to show the child’s formal assessment results from last year (i.e. Sigma/Micra/Drumcondra) , a sample of child’s work , observation notes, tests results etc.

Try include a variety of assessment methods for each child. I would highly recommend checklists. Print out a pile of them at the start of the year leaving the objectives section blank. You can fill it in as you go then. Checklists can be kept in their own section at the front of the folder, not in the individual sections. I scribbled down notes too as the children were working and put those in. When you put their tests and results in the folder, make a note on the test if the marks were out of the ordinary. If they were unusually low or high, make a comment as to how you will help the child going forward, will you have them do some extra work on that topic? Will you mention it to parents in PT meeting? Don’t just correct, make a note too.

Remember your assessment of and for learning!

I would usually include:

Formal test results *maths, tables and spelling tests

Teacher observation notes

Checklists

Samples of learning logs

I am sure many other teachers used many more forms of assessment methods, but that is all I used and it sufficed.

Hope that helps, any more questions just contact me on Facebook or here

Valerie

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Hi everyone,

I hope those of you who have gone back to school are enjoying the first few days! I am not back until Tuesday, hurray!

I had my Galway seminar on Tuesday of this week. We had fifty people in attendance and it was a lovely day. It was great to be in a room of passionate, enthusiastic and like minded teachers. Thank you to everyone who attended, and don’t forget to email me regarding the lesson units! Here are some photos of the day, as you can see we had lots of books and prizes to raffle off. We had a lovely guest speaker, Fiona from Folens Publishing who spoke to us about the Abair Liom programme and gave us samples too! Mol an Oige, Prim Ed Publishing and Activate Speech also has some sample goodies for me to raffle off.

Thanks again everyone! I have been getting emails about doing another seminar. I won’t have time with school now for a while, but hopefully next Easter, and I will try get to Munster next time!

Valerie

Hi everyone,

As promised, here is a blog post on my art supplies for the first term! There will be more in the school, and I have my recyclables of course, but these are just the bits I bought myself.

I got these borders from Scholastic online. Here is the link:     Scholastic

I will use these for my borders for my display boards.

These are from Mr Price

The planet border was only 1.99! It would easily do two display boards, depending on size. I will use the blackboard vinyls for our quotes of the week, which the children will choose. I know the sixth class girls will love that job! The wrapping paper will be my backing paper for the boards. I bought the roll of backing paper too but I like this one for the polka dots!

I absolutely adore buttons for art. If you do a quick search on Pinterest you will see all the amazing art work you can do with them. These are also from Mr Price.

These can be used for any art lesson! I had them last year and used them all the time. I plan on using them in September for the creation of our Viking ships.

I got these in Mr Price too for display purposes.

These paint trays are excellent. I got it from Premier Stationery but they are in Mr Price too. The paint trays in most schools are way too big and the paint always goes to waste.

Pipe cleaners- again Mr Price (where else!) The options are endless, see Pinterest if you don’t believe me!

Lollipop sticks! Not only useful as materials for art, but maths too! Another art supply I used a lot last year.

I always try to buy art materials which I know I can use for many projects. If I can’t get at least five art lessons from them, I don’t buy them. I also use recyclable materials for a lot of lessons, which I will do a post on later!

Premier Stationery  supply most of the stationery and art supplies to Mr Price and it is really good quality.

My top three places to buy art supplies would be:

Mr Price

Powell’s (Galway)

Dealz (sometimes)

Hello everyone,

We spoke a lot about probation/DIP year during my three seminars this summer. I have typed below some more advice and tips I have thought of/discovered on-line. Try your best to stay calm regarding the DIP. You are a teacher now, not a student and you know what you are doing!

I have written posts in the past on this topic, Probation,  Assessment and Probation  

and I have sample weekly plans in my store as a free download.

If your workbooks give you schemes or long-term plans then don’t be afraid to use them, it makes sense!

Do corrections while the children are working on independent work, it will save you a whole lot of time in the evenings.
Project work is an excellent idea, particularly during the DIP. Try do as much project work as possible in SESE.
Always save everything, email it to yourself and have your folders in school at all times.

Do your weeklies every week, they check the dates!

If the inspectors make a recommendation, then follow it! They will be expecting to see it in the next visit!
Make sure the children know about the displays that are on the wall, and about the plans you said you taught. The inspector does question them!
Have specific labelled areas on the wall for the different curricular areas, maths,Irish, English, art and SESE.
Do 2 weekly plans every fortnight. It saves time!
Group work – get the kids used to it so they know the procedures and how to behave.
Teach your class a nice song or poem that can say/ sing for the inspector.
Have set routines and ensure the children know exactly what is expected- when giving out materials, getting ready for pair/ group work.

Here’s a little post on my first week back to school. Back to school time was made much easier for me this year because I am back in the school I was in last year, which makes things immeasurably easier. I also have 5th and 6th again. This is great, because I have my old fifth class, and I know their abilities so well I can just hit the ground running with them- so that’s another big help. I am quite lucky really. I love teaching the senior classes and I have a really lovely bunch of children.

We had a nice first week back. The usual was covered over the first day- rules, procedures, sorting out books, seating arrangements etc. We started into work then first thing Tuesday morning, even getting a little homework!

I had photos of my classroom on the facebook page, but they won’t upload to my blog. I have lovely new notice boards in my room. I have one outside for art. Inside, I have a maths, Irish, English and SESE board. I have two more which have to be put up, and I have my slider press which can be used for display purposes too!

So here is a little tour..

This is my door.

This is my maths board. It look a bit sparse, but it will be adorned with the children’s work soon. I downloaded the maths problem stages from Realta Ranga.

Yes, dear teachers, I have rows in my classroom. ROWS!!How could I? For those of you who asked, there is research in place to show children in the senior end of the classroom work best in rows facing forward. I pull the tables together for group work almost every day. I much prefer the rows, less distraction, more focus, and group work is far more effective when they only sit in groups for part of the day. This is what works for MY class and I am sticking to it!

We love quotes in my room! Well I do, and the 6th class girls do!  We also have a positive quotations wall, which I think sends very important messages to my class.

This is the early finisher’s table. It isn’t complete yet, but so far I have card games, books, prompt cards and a couple of games.

Our classroom rules:

Here’s one of the activities we did this week. We made clipboards to use on outdoor trails. The clips for the top are from Tiger, and it only cost 1.99 for twelve clips!

English:

1. Writing:Diary entry from viewpoint of a Viking invading Ireland, what did they think of Ireland? Which monastery did they invade, what did they steal etc.
2. Reading: comprehension piece on the Vikings and answering questions. ( ideas on website linked below) Mr Donn
3. Oral language: presentations of research on Vikings to the class. (questions and answers)
4. Writing: ( I am currently teaching narrative as a genre, so the children will practice by writing a narative based on the Viking invasion)
5. Writing: write a secret message using the Viking alphabet.

Maths:

I will integrate my theme into maths via general word problems. e.g. Eric stole 16 chalices from the monastery and sold them on for 15.50 each, how much money did he make?

Irish:

Mé Féin vocabulary, describe the viking on the whiteboard.

(tenuous link but it’s something!)

History/Geography

Group projects on the Vikings

group 1: Vikings background

group two: Vikings clothes

group three: Viking transport

group four: Viking settlements and homes

Science:

materials and properties/materials and change

Design a suitable outfit for a Viking using the materials available

or

Design a longship using the materials  available ( will use fair test in the sink to see if their creations are sea worthy!)

or

Make Viking bread!

Viking bread

Art:

My original plan was for the children to design and construct longships using recyclable materials.

There are so many ideas though, including:

1. Make longships in pairs using clay. Use lollipop stick and paper as sail.

2.Design Viking shields and crests for their ships.

3. Draw and design Viking jewels and creations.

Drama:

Warm Up:

Is it True: e.g. is it true that you invaded Ireland?

Hot seating: Once child will play the Viking, Eric, and the other children will ask him questions.

Improvisation:

I will be reading a couple of chapters from a novel based on the Vikings to my class. I will have them improvise and reenact the scene I read aloud. They will improvise in groups by changing the ending of the chapter.

Music:

We will try attempt to make our own Viking style musical instruments!

See link for more informtation on these!

website link: Viking instruments

Useful websites for Viking info:

Vikings

BBC Vikings

Viking videos

Here are some photos of Viking art from pinterest. They’re a bit too simple for my class but may be nice for the middle classes?

DEAR Time:

I try to allow for ten/fifteen minutes a day of dear time. This doesn’t always happen unfortunately as I run out of time, but silent independent reading is an absolutely integral part of the day in the senior classes. It may be the only bit of reading they do, so I will try do it every day from now on!

I ordered these books from Scholastic for DEAR time. Some of the children in the class are reading books at home themselves and I allow them to continue reading those. Some others don’t have a tremendous interest in reading, and that is why I ordered these! They are the horrible histories, science, geography and horribly famous sets. They are easy to read, have pictures, the text is broken down into almost comic style format, and they seem far less onerous a read for those less enthusiastic readers!

I set up a class library system for these books. I pick two children a week who hand out the tickets, which state who borrowed the book and the date it is due back. It is a nice classroom job to have, and it gives them more ownership over their classroom library.

Comprehension Strategies:

I use the Prim Ed comprehension box twice weekly. The children can work independently on this. They each receive a staged story, ( staged according to ability) and move on through the levels as they progress. I tend to use stations for comprehension work, but both work.

Grammar/Punctuation.

I spend fifteen minutes daily on punctuation and grammar. Since returning to school we have revised verbs, nouns, adverbs, adjectives, capital letters, and conjunctions. I will be giving a short Friday test on the grammar we have covered from this week on wards. Constant revision is the key to retaining and understanding grammar.

Whole Class Reading:

I am still waiting on my class novel to be delivered, so in the mean time we are reading comprehension handouts together as a class. This is not ideal as it is more difficult to differentiate but it is only for this week.

Oral Language:

The first fifteen minutes in the morning are oral language time where we share news, stories, riddles etc.

Writing:

This week we are integrating out writing with our poetry. I hope to start narrative writing on Wednesday, and we will spend a few weeks on this.

My writing activities will also be based on the class novel once they arrive!

Poetry

I will be doing a poem a week with my class. They will also be exploring and writing through different styles of poetry.

Free Writing:

I do free writing twice a week. I use my Prim Ed prompt box and the children write a story based on the prompt, or out of their own imaginations.

Spellings:

The children learn ten spellings a night and write ten sentences based on the spellings. The spelling test on Friday then consists of twenty five words. Samples of my spelling sheets can be freely downloaded from my site.

This book by Folens  is great for literacy too.

That is a brief overview of how I approach English in my classroom with 5th and 6th. I may change it all again next week but I am satisfied with it thus far.

Due to the positive responses from my post yesterday on how I approach English, here is one for maths! Maths is way easier to plan for as it is not as dense/broad as English.

I teach maths in the morning, always. We do one page of handwriting or free writing first thing when we come in, then at 9:45 or so we start maths.

I always try to start with a maths game of some sort, and I always use my target board too. The maths games are usually mental maths ones but I will start using interactive whiteboard games more.

I then move on to our word problem of the day. Many children struggle with word problems. I have a power-point with a variety of word problems, and we do one a day. We try to work through it together if it is a difficult one. If we run out of time I ask the children to write it down on a piece of paper and they can come back to it later in the day if they finish their work early.

I then start teaching the new topic. We spoke about this a lot at the seminars over the summer. HOW to actually teach a maths lesson.

I follow this layout:

1. I do: I teach the topic/introduce the topic on the maths. I do the problem step by step, using different colours for different steps.
2. We do: We do the problems together. The children come up to the board and try the problem.
3. Closure: I close the topic on the board.
4. You do: The children do their assigned problems without teacher assistance. I let the very able children work away. I move between my differentiated groups, and repeat everything I did on the board with them using a small whiteboard. I give more challenging maths problems to the early finishers while I work with those who may find it difficult to grasp the topic.

That is what I do from Monday to Thursday.

Maths on Friday consists of a short maths test to assess their grasp of the topic, and maths stations.

This week will be my first week of using the stations, so I will write a more detailed post on them next week.

As an aside, I teach multi-grade. If you do too, then this may help.

I teach all the children together for the first part of the lesson. Then 5th class branch off into their tasks. I then extend the board work for 6th class. When we have done this, 6th class start their tasks, while I go work with 5th class groups. I then move back and over between the two classes for the final stage of the lesson where I help the weaker groups.

Teaching of Gaeilge.

As requested, this is a post pertaining to my teaching of Gaeilge in the senior classroom.
Monday: Reading and Introduction
I introduce our new vocabulary at the start of the lesson via flashcards. I then play a quick vocabulary game, e.g. Deir Muzzy/Focail Leadog/ Verb Race etc. I use a power-point based on the theme we are doing which is usually based on a story to introduce vocabulary and tenses. I prepare the reading for the week with the class. I take them in groups of five and we go through our reading. Our reader is Am don Léamh, which has nice short stories, so we would do two a week. I give reading only for homework on Monday night. As we read through it we circle the verbs and new vocabulary.

Tuesday: Grammar and Reading:
I listen to the reading from the previous night and we go through the questions. I assign their homework based on the story. We then start our grammar class. I try to cover one area of grammar a week. I usually give work based on verbs for homework.

Wednesday:

Wednesday we start our second story, we go through the reading/new vocabulary etc. I read the story, they read it aloud together and then I pick people to read a sentence or two each.
We also do listening work on Wednesday and something fun, like this week we made menus, next week we’ll be decorating and making ‘House for Sale’ posters.

Thursday:
Thursday we revise the vocabulary we learned and also the grammar. So, the children might come up to the board and try make sentences using our new verbs and vocabulary.

I give the children flashcards and they write a verb they learned during the week on the flashcard and decorate it. We also have comhrá on Thursdays. The children speak in pairs to each other using the new phrases and vocabulary, so far we have been doing Mé Féin. I circulate the room asking questions and prompting.

Friday:
We only have a short Irish lesson on Friday. We have our test, and then some Irish games.

That’s it, nothing too exciting but it is one area I really want to work on and make more fun this year!

I use the posters from Béal Beo for oral language at the start of every lesson. Their interactive resources are excellent too and I use these Monday-Wednesday.

I’ve a weather map on the board too and each day a child comes up to say the forecast. I haven’t done this yet as I keep running out of time but will do tomorrow!

France Theme:

Geography: Human Environments: Country study on France. We will complete projects on France, including information on the history of France (French Revolution), Natural features facts, e.g. highest mountain, longest river, landmarks (Eiffel tower and history of) French food, French schools, etc.

History – history will integrate with our project above. We are fitting the French Revolution in under the strand of stories. I can’t wait to teach about this, it’s a fascinating time in history!

Science- Construction: The children will make Eiffel tours using spaghetti and marshmallows, lollipop sticks, straws, and pasta. (Each table group will use a different material)

SPHE: Citizenship, the EU and France.

Art: The children will explore the work of Monet. We will make Monet’s lily pads using paper plates and crepe paper.

Music: We will listen and respond to the composer Camille Saint Saens.

Drama: We will play drama games and act out a scene from the French Revolution.

English:Reading: I will write up a short story based on the French revolution. The children will read it and answer questions on it. We have already started our novel ‘Private Peaceful’ which doesn’t link, so the only way I can link is through my own comprehension sheets and oral language.

Writing: We are working on the genre of recount presently, so we will write a recount based on a holiday to France. We may also write post cards from France if we have time.

Abair Liom and Bua na Cainte

Hello everyone,

A lot of you had asked my opinions on these two resources. I am not an infant teacher at the moment, so I do not use either of them. I did however ask the respective book companies, Folens and Edco for a trial of these resources to enable me to do a fair review for you all.
I also attended the Edco Expo on Bua na Cainte last spring. Edco attended my seminar during the summer and their rep Clare McKenna gave us a demonstration of the programme. Folens also attended to give a demonstration, so I saw a little bit of both programmes in action.

I will begin with Bua na Cainte. Bua na Cainte is a complete Irish scheme for junior infants- second class. My sister teaches junior infants- second class and she has started using Bua na Cainte this year. She absolutely loves it, and says it is the best scheme she has used to date. She says it really brings Irish to life in the classroom. I would be inclined to agree. I found it to be very accessible when I was trialling it. The teacher resource book is excellent. It is very comprehensive and has very detailed plans. It literally tells you what to teach step by step! The programme is broken down into themes. Each theme has a task at the end to revise the content of that theme.
Bua na Cainte is a complete on-line digital resource, as in you can teach the whole Irish curriculum without buying the student workbooks at all. Everything you need is in the online content. It also comes with flashcards, pictures, communicative cards, bingo cards, masks and finger puppets, and a wide array of posters.
The main selling point for me with this programme is the colourful and eye catching digital resources, and the characters. I love them! There is a lot of repetition too in the stories which is so important in Gaeilge. I also love the songs and games. There’s a wide selection of songs and poems for each theme. I would recommend keeping an eye out for the next Expo to see a demonstration of the programme, as this is what piqued my interest in it.
Abair Liom:

Abair Liom is Folen’s newest Irish programme, and this it’s first year so it is still in its infancy. I was lucky enough to be given the teacher resource book for this plan. It is huge! It has yearly plans, monthly plans, fortnightly and daily. It is so very detailed. These are available in editable format online too. The plans show you what to do step by step for each lesson. It also comes with two lovely little puppets which I have!
Abair Liom gives a unit per week, which I like as you don’t need to stretch out a topic over a few weeks with it.
The posters and pictures in Abair Liom have lots of detail and give huge scope for discussion, questioning and oral language.

Abair Liom also have a feature where there is a link to a website for parents where they can listen to the vocabulary and structures that the children are learning to encourage greater involvement at home.

Both resources are quite substantial in my opinion. I would need to actually use them in class really to see the children’s reactions to them, but just from using them myself at home I would rate both programmes quite highly.

Personally, I prefer the characters in Bua na Cainte, and the games, but then Abair Liom has the puppets which are great for extending the lesson outside of the online resources.

I would recommend going to expo’s on both before buying a license for your school, then you can make an informed decision.

Abair Liom:

Bua na Cainte:

More information on both resources can be found at the websites below:

Folens Abair Liom

Edco Bua na Cainte

Hello everyone. I recently asked Simon Lewis, principal of Carlow Educate Together , and author of Anseo.net and Mash.ie, for advice on what a principal looks for in an applicant when interviewing for jobs. I received some excellent advice, and Simon has been kind enough to share it on my website with you!

Since I started my job as a principal in 2008, I have had to interview for teachers every year. Valerie asked me to write ten things I look for when I’m looking for a teacher. Before you read these, keep in mind that every principal is an individual and the following are just some of the things I look for when I’m reading job applications and interviewing. Principals look for different things and there are features I look for in a teacher that might not be important to another principal and vice versa. For example, many principals will not interview a teacher if there is a spelling error in their application whereas I am not too concerned about this, as long as the application isn’t littered with them! Anyway, here are my top ten tips.

Be yourself

Of all the advice I would ever give to anyone looking to work in a school, this is probably the most important. There is no point pretending to be someone you are not in an application form or interview as it’s bound to backfire. If you get a job by not being yourself, you’re going to have a difficult time in the school.
Personalise your application

Yes, I know you’re probably applying for every job in the country and it’s easier to have a generic application that goes to each school but this is a real bugbear of mine. I want teachers who want to work with me, not just anybody and anyone who makes the effort to personalise their application to my school is at an advantage. I don’t mean just scanning the web site and picking one or two things that might look like it’s personalised, I mean really personalising the application. In my opinion, it is better to send 5 really good applications than hundreds of generic applications.
Apply even if you think you have no chance

I’ve often heard people say they didn’t apply for a job because they thought they had no chance. This is particularly true of NQTs who don’t bother applying for permanent positions because they think they are going to go to probated teachers. Over the years, our school has taken NQTs over teachers with lots of experience. We base our decisions on the interview and often an NQT can impress us much more than the teacher with loads of years experience. You never know, you might just fit in.
Don’t follow a template

There is nothing more depressing than reading through 500 job applications and reading the same stuff over and over again. When you apply for a job, take a risk and give us something a little bit different to make you jump off the page. That doesn’t mean to type your application in hot pink text or to litter it with emoticons. Try to divert from the usual boring template that your college has given you.

Be prepared to move:

While you might love living in your village, sometimes you’re just going to have to suck it up and go to where the work is. While this might not be applicable to teachers with commitments, if you’re a single person with no mortgage, there’s really no excuse. You never know where you might end up and perhaps, who you might end up with! I certainly didn’t expect to end up in Carlow but it has opened up so many opportunities.
Be modest:

There’s a difference between being confident and being cocky. Telling me how great you’d be for my school turns me off. There’s a adage in writing called “show don’t tell.” Your application should show me that you’d be great for my school; there’s absolutely no need to tell me that you feel you’d be an asset to me. I’ll be the judge of that!
Be interesting:

Everyone has a talent. If you don’t, find one. It makes you interesting. It helps you jump off an application form especially when there are hundreds of generic ones floating around. Even if you don’t think your hobby is relevant, you should put it in anyway. You never know, your gold medal in the Irish tiddly-winks championships might be just what peaks the interest of your interviewers.
Don’t think qualification is enough:

Anyone who is a teacher has a teaching qualification. It’s the bare minimum. It isn’t a passport to a job. You need something more. Maybe it’s an outside interest or talent? Maybe you’ve volunteered in an interesting organisation. Perhaps you’re involved in a youth group. You might even be involved in sports, music or anything really. The more interesting or unique your experience is, the more interesting you will be to me.
Don’t learn answers off by heart:

If you get an interview with my school, I understand you’re going to be nervous. Therefore, when we ask the first question, (most interviews start with “tell us about yourself”), it’s understandable that you have the answer prepared. However, it really grates on an interview panel if all your answers are learned off. We’re trying to get to know the real you. (See: Be yourself!)
Be nice:

This might sound obvious but interviews go much better when there’s a nice, friendly person on the other side of the table. Some people think they have to be some sort of ice-queen or king in order to appear professional. Smile. Lean forward. Be nice.
Don’t rave:

If you are asked a question in an interview, answer it. Don’t go on and on and on. Keep to the point. There is nothing more head-wrecking than having to listen to someone go on for several minutes when a simple sentence would have done the job just as well.
Volunteer:

If you aren’t having any luck and you really want to work in a particular school, consider volunteering. By doing so, you get known to the school and you never know where it might lead. Many a teacher has started off this way and has ended up with a permanent job.
Remember, it’s never personal.

There are lots of reasons why you might not get a job in a school. Don’t take it personally. There are a myriad of reasons why you didn’t get a job, even if you think you deserved it more than the person who did. It’s best to take it on the chin and keep going.

Homework! A much debated topic among teachers and children. How much homework do you give?

Here’s my homework strategy:

Maths: Last year, I used Mental Maths for homework.It is an excellent book but I think it is better suited to the classroom. I now give the children ten minutes to do Mental Maths in the morning. Instead, I give homework based on whatever topic we are learning about in school. I know some teachers give both, but I don’t. So for example, this week we are doing lines and angles in maths. On Monday, I gave the children a worksheet with the following questions:

1. Draw a parallel, perpendicular, oblique, vertical and horizontal line.
2. Draw an acute, obtuse, right, straight and reflex angles.
3. Draw an angle of 80, 160, 75, 340 degrees.
4. What is the missing angle in this triangle if two of the angles are 65, and 43 degrees respectively?

I also use the maths enrichment book which comes with the ‘Cracking Maths’ scheme, or just questions from their Cracking Maths text book.

English: English varies. I give a cloze procedure once a week. I use the Prim Ed cloze procedure disc and print them off that. They are challenging and the children really dislike doing them but I think one a week is really good practice for them! I also give writing.We have been doing recount writing for the last while, so their homework has been to edit, draft or write a recount.

Spellings: I was giving ten spellings a night and ten sentences based on the spellings, but I have recently lowered it to six spellings a night and six sentences. I may put it up again, not quite sure at the moment.

Gaeilge: I give a page of Irish reading a night, and an activity based on the reading two nights. The others days I usually give verb work, such as writing sentences using new verbs, or new vocabulary.

SESE: I don’t always give SESE homework. When we do projects (every second week) their homework is to research the project area, so last week it was France.

I do differentiate homework for some of my pupils, and they have a different system again.

Regarding copies, the class have two homework copies. So when I am correcting one set, they have the other. It works well for me and ensures I can keep up to date with corrections. If the homework is of a very high standard, I give a sticker. If a child reaches 20 stickers, he or she gets a homework pass.

That’s it! Not a lot but enough to let me see if they are keeping up with the teaching and learning in the classroom.

Hello everyone!

Are we all hanging in there, counting down the days until Friday?! I love the run up to Halloween in school. Here’s what we did today if you need some ideas!

Irish: Oiche Shamhna- exploring Halloween vocabulary.

English: Procedural writing: How to turn your best friend into a frog! (got some hilarious pieces of writing back!)

Oral language: ghost stories.

History: The Salem Witch Trials- ( there’s lots of power-points on Slideshare)

Art: I set up three stations.  One station made paper chains, one the skeletons and one the contrast ghosts. Then we swapped over. We only had forty minutes if even and got all this done, so it is a quick and effective art lesson if you’re stuck for time!

That’s the only bit of integration I fitted in today, but tomorrow I hope to fit every subject in under Halloween.

Tomorrow’s plan:

Maths: Data: Bar charts and trend graphs exploring our favourite Halloween movies, games and sweets.

Irish: writing an invitation to a Halloween party

English: Narrative: I downloaded a variety of Halloween writing prompts from Teacherspayteachers. The children will write their ghost stories and edit them.

English Reading: I found another free resource on TPT which is just a short reading comprehension and questions.

English , Oral Language: We will continue the ghost stories we started today.

SPHE: Fireworks and personal safety at Halloween.

Art: I did Art already today but I am going to try squeeze in a short twenty minute lesson to do more Halloween art.

History: I downloaded a lovely power-point from teacherspayteachers for free which describes the history of Halloween in different countries.

Music: We are going to start learning the Monster Mash!

Links to free products I will be using this week:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/History-of-Halloween-Articles-and-Questions-1509129

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/History-of-Halloween-99267

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Halloween-Activities-1390047

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Halloween-Spooky-Tales-Writing-366499

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Gaeilge-Halloween-Oiche-Shamhna-Flash-Cards-Luas-Cartai-1673937

I got the Halloween stickers from http://www.prim-ed.com/ , and got next day delivery!

Monster Freeze Dance

Put on some Halloween tunes and have the kids dance until the music stops when they have to freeze.

Halloween Feel Box

Make boxes with slimy food and household items and have the kids feel their way through the box, identifying what the items are!

Wrap the Mummy

Kids work together in this game to wrap a classmate with toilet paper. The first group to finish wins!

Pass It On Ghost Story –

A pass the ghost story lesson-great for oral language.

Rice Relay Race:

Designate a starting line and a finish line. Set out a bowl full of rice or some other food stuff for each player at the starting line and an empty bowl at the finish line. The players must use a large spoon to scoop rice out of the full bowl and then carry it to the empty bowl and fill it. They cannot spill any rice or use their hands! If any rice falls off the spoon, they must immediately pick it up and bring it back to the starting line bowl and start over with that scoopful.

Halloween Memory Game

Children use their memory to remember what Halloween items were on the table before they were hidden while teacher removes one item at a time.

Scarecrow Races

A fun relay race is the basis for this fast-paced Halloween party game for kids. The kids race in teams to dress a scarecrow – one article of clothing at a time. ( We have a scarecrow in school so I am looking forward to this game!)

Guess The Sweet Jar:

Very simple! Fill a jar with Halloween sweets and have them write down a guess as to how many pieces are in the jar. Everyone only gets 1 guess and the person who is the closest gets to take home the jar.

Hello everyone!

As you may know, last week was one of tremendous excitement for me. The Irish Blog Awards were on Thursday night and I was a finalist for best Education and Science Blog. It was a 1920’s burlesque style theme, and it was a sensational night. It was all quite overwhelming really to be candid about it. It was an achievement to be there on the night in itself so I am not too disappointed to have lost out on the much coveted accolade of best educational blogger! Thank you again to whoever nominated me and to all who voted to get me to the finals! I appreciate it so much.

Valerie.

First of all, thank you to all 980 or so of you who responded to my post earlier this week about my permanent job offer. I am completely overwhelmed by all the advice I received from fellow teachers and principals in the lead up to my interview, and by all the well wishes I received after being offered the job.

A few people have asked me how long I have been teaching/subbing etc for. I will give a brief synopsis of my teaching story thus far here.

I still cannot believe I have a permanent job really! I mean this is it, what I have been working towards for the past three or four years. I need something new to work towards now, for in the words of Dewey- ‘Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another’.

I trained with Hibernia College. I did English and Law in NUIG as my undergraduate degrees. I had finished my LLB degree and had been offered a place on two masters courses- one in journalism and one in law, technology and governance. The deadline for accepting a place was looming and I didn’t know what to do. In the final hour, I declined both places and sent off my application to Hibernia instead. I was offered a place and began studying with Hibernia in March 2012.

This time last year I was subbing away on a daily basis, and I was delighted with myself. I was working away, mostly in one school, but between three schools altogether. Then, one cold, stormy November morning, I decided to take a day off. I had become  very complacent at that stage. I was really happy in the school I was subbing in and hadn’t applied for any jobs which were being advertised. I was planning on subbing for the year in the hope of a job in that school coming up the following year. My sister however, kept texting me urging me to apply for jobs for something more long term.

So to keep her quiet more than anything (Sorry Elaine!) I applied for two jobs that day, one in my current school and one in Blanchardstown. I was offered an interview for both schools. I had the Blanchardstown interview which I didn’t get, so then I absconded and went home because it was coming near Christmas. I received a text a day or two later inviting me to interview in Kilcoskan, and I wasn’t even going to go! I was at home and at that stage I was just tired of interviews. I had no connection with the school and I had never subbed there-so I thought I was just called to make up numbers for interviews. Thankfully, Dad forced me to go up for ‘practice’ – and I did! I think I did a good  interview because I was so convinced I wasn’t going to get the job,strangely enough. So that was that, until 11 o’clock that night when I got the phone call offering me the position!

I was exultant at the thought of having my own classroom, it was the best Christmas present ever! It was a truly transcendent time.So one thing led to another, I re-interviewed this summer and was successful. I started this September being so grateful and pleased at the thought of being back in the school for a full academic year. Then this happened! Who would have thought it-from subbing to a permanent job in the space of a year! And funnily enough, it took such persuading for me to move to Dublin. I wanted to stay at home where all the schools knew me, as I thought that was the safer bet. In the end I changed my mind and moved up, and I am so happy I did. I really didn’t like city life at first. I found the schools too big, the traffic too busy, some elements menacing, the list goes on! By Christmas however I had settled in, and now I like it here.

I think finding the right school is so important. I know some of you may roll your eyes or scoff when I say this, but I do enjoy going to work every day, I really do. The possibilities and the stuff you can get done with a group of 21 enthusiastic children is both staggering and spectacular.  Maybe I am just spoiled with my lovely class, maybe in ten years I will be sitting here saying I despise teaching and want to do something else, but I sincerely hope not! I do think I am limited in some sense though- for example I don’t know how I would fare in a one on one teaching/learning support role. I just thrive on the energy you get in the classroom- but maybe I would like it. I suppose to be a well rounded teacher you need experience in all areas of the school.

So, if you are subbing at the moment then don’t lament! This time last year that’s exactly what I was doing, while many of my friends had jobs for the year.Now here I am, a permanent fixture in Kilcoskan National School. Remember, circumstances can change over night!

A few people have asked me how I organise my classroom. It is organised chaos at best most days, but here’s how I sort my books and resources.

I have one of those sliderobe storage units which is just excellent for storage. There’s loads of room, the books are out of sight, it reduces clutter and the front of it doubles as display boards.

I have all the children’s books on one side, and my books on the other.

Kids books:

There’s loads of room for our board games too , and our mini whiteboards. ( They are the most used whiteboards ever- excellent for maths)

These are some my books which are on the other side of the unit.

These are our classroom rules which we refer to when necessary.

The children in my class love their quotes, no more than myself! These boards are their space to hang up any quotes they really like.

Literacy area:

The literacy box from Prim Ed is an a superb resource if your class need work on comprehension skills.

Early Finishers Area:

A girl contacted me on my blog and asked could she send this game ‘Chase Across the Square’ for me to review. I haven’t had a chance to play it myself yet but the children in my class love it and they told me ‘it is great for maths skills’!

Our science wall:

Children’s work:

The children have two plastic folders each, one for homework and one for school. They have their poetry anthology for poetry, their science journals, an English, Irish, maths and free writing copy. They have two homework copies which we alternate so I can keep up with corrections.

Behaviour Management:

Not the fanciest of regimes but it works! The winning team is the first to get to 50 points, and that team gets a homework pass. The points are awarded for tidy tables, speaking lots of Irish, participating, answering questions, being kind etc etc.

This is the front of one section of the sliderobe, and it is my second Irish display board.