Last November, @MartynReah , at a local #TMConnect, a delightful evening held in the Jane Austen museum in Chawton, which included a guided tour led by the curator, Martyn and Tania Harding (@taniaf77) offered insights into teacher wellbeing which had been their focus for a talk at Teaching and Learning Takeover 2015 (#TLT15) at Southampton University in October. The outcome was a decision to seek to promote wellbeing among teachers by developing #teacher5aday, a simple project that had the remit to encourage colleagues to put into a busy day some kind of dedicated personal activity, even something as simple as a 20 minute walk.
People up and down the country have taken part with many different and intriguing insights into individual personalities. By following the #teacher5aday hashtag, it is possible to catch up on these.
Reflecting on my own month, it has been something of a revelation. As a freelancer, with a number of (zero hours) links, I can either be extremely busy or face a blank diary. I know, some would like the luxury! However, it became clear that it was often very difficult to find “me” time. As the past few years I’ve also been blogging, I had to admit, in the middle of the month, that this has now to be classed as “me” time, taking over from time that I may have previously used for painting, or taking photos that might develop into paintings.
I did, however, make time to get the paints out during the month and these are the subject of another post.
In addition, since November, I have been running a small project, inviting colleagues to reflect on their experience and to distil the wisdom as if talking to an earlier self. The 1000 years of experience has grown, now up to around 600 years, with some delightful insights. I’ve tried to put words with appropriate photos, and that has to count as another personal project, so the whole doubles as my significant achievement for #teacher5aday.
Most people who have taken part have promised to continue. It is essential for teachers to do things for themselves. I always remember the words of a science inspector early in my career, who said that children like to see their teacher walking interestedly at the beach, or doing other such activities, as it shows you are human.
Be well.
People up and down the country have taken part with many different and intriguing insights into individual personalities. By following the #teacher5aday hashtag, it is possible to catch up on these.
Reflecting on my own month, it has been something of a revelation. As a freelancer, with a number of (zero hours) links, I can either be extremely busy or face a blank diary. I know, some would like the luxury! However, it became clear that it was often very difficult to find “me” time. As the past few years I’ve also been blogging, I had to admit, in the middle of the month, that this has now to be classed as “me” time, taking over from time that I may have previously used for painting, or taking photos that might develop into paintings.
I did, however, make time to get the paints out during the month and these are the subject of another post.
In addition, since November, I have been running a small project, inviting colleagues to reflect on their experience and to distil the wisdom as if talking to an earlier self. The 1000 years of experience has grown, now up to around 600 years, with some delightful insights. I’ve tried to put words with appropriate photos, and that has to count as another personal project, so the whole doubles as my significant achievement for #teacher5aday.
Most people who have taken part have promised to continue. It is essential for teachers to do things for themselves. I always remember the words of a science inspector early in my career, who said that children like to see their teacher walking interestedly at the beach, or doing other such activities, as it shows you are human.
Be well.
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