Learning Mentor @_LearningMentor

Teaching Assistants are the unsung heroes of our schools. They deserve fair pay, proper terms, and the recognition they've earned for shaping young minds.

This is the basics of reading. Gorgeous imitation by a baby.

Dan Wuori @DanWuori

3 years ago

It’s NEVER too soon to begin reading to your baby. ⏰ In fact, doing so while your little one is still in utero will begin familiarizing your soon-to-be newborn with the voices of the adults who will comprise their “circle of trust” after birth. Once your baby is born,

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❤️ if you agree

"..It usually took me until October half term before I knew them all – that was my target. After seven years in post I knew all the students in Y7-13 & it definitely helped me to form good relationships." This week's blog post: the importance of names jillberry102.blog/2023/11/01/how… 2/2

Remember, remember 🎆 You’re better off as a UNISON member! Check the benefits of being in a union ➡️ join.unison.org.uk

Great share on Instagram 🧡🖤 #romannumerals

Trauma that a young person experiences outside of school can greatly impact their behaviour and experiences in school. Let's keep this in mind as we work with our young people who come into our educational establishments with full cups.🧠🌱

Schools function on a lot of ‘good will’ from staff. Offering to do things like staying late, organising things last minute, going on trips. When staff are exhausted or start putting boundaries in place because they’re burning out it’s quite a shock for some people.

Taken all advice about making space for grief and memory. Went to a beautiful remembrance ceremony today. 44 years ago my Dad made some gates for the top of the church stairs so that kids wouldn’t fall - I only found that out today - so I went to see if they were still there

Love this! 🧡

If you know me, you know I have two daughters. If you know me, you know I wrote about Prophet Muhammad. If you know me, you know I like quotes that provide inspiration and perspective on our existence. If I may, let me encourage you to read more on what Prophet Muhammad said about having two daughters. Heartwarming for several different reasons. May our children live in a better world than we live in now.

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Every kid deserves a champion… …and so do parents. Sometimes the only way to reach a child is by reaching the parent first. Relationships are everything. #multiplyexcellence

You can tell a lot about a school's culture by walking through a school. Observe the office staff, custodians & staff/faculty in the hall, their demeanor & interactions with other staff & students. You can't fake a dynamic school culture. It is palpable!

Name it to tame it - by expressing the emotion and physical sensation causing havock inside us, we can reduce the power it has over us. Move it to lose it - by rhythmically moving our bodies, we calm our nervous system = ready to learn #RegulateRelateReason

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Baroness Casey speaks about how black and none white people are treated by the police in the UK.

every teacher education course in the UK should show this film and use it as a starting point to examine how the racism underpinning schools for the so-called 'educationally subnormal' in the 1960s continues into the 2020s. bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…

I met Albert before the school year started. I was moving some things into my office and I saw him shooting hoops by himself on our playground. He approached me and asked if I was the new assistant principal. I introduced myself and shook his hand. He then asked if I would play HORSE. I thought about the long list of things I had to get done and how far behind I was already, but I quickly decided that HORSE with a student trumped everything on that list. While playing basketball, he asked me several questions and literally spoke for 20 minutes straight without taking a breath. He was funny, interesting, and seemed very intelligent. When we finished playing, he thanked me for spending the time with him and he walked home. I went back in the building and started to tackle the many items that were on my long list of things to do. A few weeks later we had some back to school IEP meetings. One of them was for a student named Albert. I pulled the file so that I would be prepared for the meeting. To my surprise, this was the same Albert that I played basketball with a few weeks prior. He had a list of a dozen school suspensions, at least six DSM diagnosis listed, and was assigned to the self-contained classroom for 85% of the day. Something did not add up. The parents did not show up for the meeting but gave permission to conduct the meeting in their absence. This was the first IEP that I had ever attended where there was not one positive word spoken about this student. Even when they asked for any strengths, nobody around the table could share any. I spoke up and said that based on my 20 minute encounter with him I felt he had several strengths: a good outside jump shot, excellent communication skills, an inquisitive nature, and a big smile. I looked around the table and everyone stared at me like I was either crazy or talking about another student. The school year started with a bang. Albert became upset in class and ran down the hall and straight out of the building towards his home. I managed to catch-up to him before he crossed a major street and I convinced him to walk back to the school and into my office. Albert was crying and obviously frustrated. He said that everyone in the school was mean to him and that they all thought he was a bad kid. In my head, I thought that he was exactly right—certainly based on the IEP meeting participants. We had a nice talk and Albert seemed to calm down. I asked if he would like to join me outside for a game of HORSE. He gave me a strange look, but then said, “Are you sure?” I told him definitely and he enthusiastically agreed to play. Once we were outside, Albert asked if he was going to be suspended. I told him that we would forget about this one, but that if there was a next one, he would be sent home. We discussed some better choices for next time, as running out of the room and building was a real safety issue. I stressed that I wanted him to be safe, because I liked him, cared about him, and did not want anything to happen to the school’s best basketball player. He smiled at me and asked if it would be okay if he could come to my office when he got upset, instead of running out of the building. I told him that was a great idea. We played basketball for a bit and decided that it was time to go back inside to prepare for lunch. Albert turned his head, looked me in the eyes and said that this was the nicest thing that anyone at school had ever done for him. Albert kept to his word. There were several other times that he got upset and frustrated, but instead of running out of the building, he ran to my office, sat in a corner, and cooled off. Each time it would take a few minutes before he was ready to talk and process what happened. Albert never got suspended that year and staff regularly shared some positives about him. Amazing what one small act of kindness can do to help a student be successful. Join us at the “Maslow Before Bloom” Facebook group; Facebook.com/groups/maslowb…

Teachers and parents of KS 1&2 children…here’s a bucket full of non screen writing and reading activities to keep kids engaged over the summer from the wonderful team at @HeyPobble 👌🏻

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