Why I love reading David Walliams to my class (5 Reasons Why #1)

I like to spice up my blog content to keep things fresh so recently thought about doing a 5 reasons why post every now and then with a topic of my choice.

First up are reasons why I love reading David Walliams to my class. My current class (20 week days left with them… 😦 ) are between 7-9 years old.

This school year we have read:

1. They make them laugh out loud. David Walliams is funny.
2. His stories (particularly The World’s Worst Children) have inspired some fantastic writing (and drawing!)
3. The children genuinely enjoy his writing.
4. It’s a logical step up from Roald Dahl. Walliams writes in a similar style.
5. Lots of his stories have heart. Quite often they carry with them a lovely message. When we read Gangsta Granny recently it particularly touched one child who had gone through a similar thing (no spoilers) with her grandparent. The story brought tears to her eyes!

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A Week In The Life Of A Primary School Teacher- I’m on the move again!

Every Sunday (hopefully) I shall be posting a personal post about my life as a primary school teacher. I currently work at a primary school teaching Lower Key Stage 2. My training posts on this subject were really successful and so therapeutic for me, therefore I’ve decided to continue posting on the topic. I will not be naming any children, or the school where I work. If personal posts aren’t your thing then feel free to skip these posts. I won’t mind! Bookish goodness returns as normal Monday-Saturday!

I returned to school this week after a week long break. It’s coming up to that time of year, that most people think teachers will enjoy. However, a lot of teachers don’t! For me, it’s full of packing in parts of the curriculum that you haven’t covered yet, it’s full of assessment, the children are getting rattier with each other having spent nearly a year together. They’re ready to go up a year and think they’ve outgrown their class! Ha. That said, the children have been delightful this week. They’ve worked exceptionally hard and I’m pleased with them. I wonder if they can keep it up?

It feels like I’ve been back for ages as I’ve had so much going on this week. I’ve been formally observed (every teacher is twice a year) and I’ve went to another school for writing moderation. My lesson observation went really well which I wasn’t expecting at all. It’s given me a confidence boost.

I have been told that I will be moving down a year group next year. Back to Year 2. At first, I had my reservations. I really enjoy junior teaching. I’m trying to see the positives though. I’ll be returning to my first ever classroom with what looks like a great bunch of children. Having completed a year in Year 2 before, I know exactly what the expectations are. I feel like I can hit the ground running! I’ve also been told that it’s not forever and I could return to juniors at some point. I guess I’m in the unique position of being able to teach Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 and enjoy both of the age groups. I should be happy with that! So many people have a preferred age range, but mine is Year 2-3 so it does cross the Key Stage boundaries. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll be meeting my next class (my third class!) in 4 weeks!

A Week In The Life Of A Primary School Teacher- A crazy, busy week!

Every Sunday (hopefully) I shall be posting a personal post about my life as a primary school teacher. I currently work at a primary school teaching Lower Key Stage 2. My training posts on this subject were really successful and so therapeutic for me, therefore I’ve decided to continue posting on the topic. I will not be naming any children, or the school where I work. If personal posts aren’t your thing then feel free to skip these posts. I won’t mind! Bookish goodness returns as normal Monday-Saturday!

This week has been super busy, but flown by at the same time. I don’t know how I packed every single thing that I did! It’s been non-stop!

The children managed to write a story and complete a unit of fractions work. How they did that is beyond me! 😀 I felt like I buzzed through everything at super speed. I do wonder if they actually picked up some quality teaching but time will tell. The reason why we raced through was because we had a school trip at the end of the week. School trips can be super stressful. I know I’m always responsible for the children, but taking them out of school and not in that contained environment can be a little worrying. However, as always, I need not have worried because they were superstars. They always behave impeccably outside of school, leaving me wondering why they can’t behave that well at school. I guess I’d prefer them to behave well when we’re in the public eye!

Next week, seems to be as full on but in many different ways. We have a woodwork project and some outdoor activities all week. I’m going to be even more tired than I already am! I didn’t know that was possible!

A Week In The Life Of A Primary School Teacher- A very up and down week!

Every Sunday (hopefully) I shall be posting a personal post about my life as a primary school teacher. I currently work at a primary school teaching Lower Key Stage 2. My training posts on this subject were really successful and so therapeutic for me, therefore I’ve decided to continue posting on the topic. I will not be naming any children, or the school where I work. If personal posts aren’t your thing then feel free to skip these posts. I won’t mind! Bookish goodness returns as normal Monday-Saturday!

This week has been a bit of a weird one. The children in Year 6 (10-11 years old) have had their end of primary school tests (SATs) which has meant keeping my class very quiet every single time they walked past the hall. It also meant quite often their break-time was delayed- which for my very hyperactive class was not great for them! I think that’s why I’ve felt their behaviour has been very up and down! It has…

We’ve got an incredibly busy week coming up. I’ve got to pack in three days of curriculum subjects and then we have yet another school trip. It’s going to be a tiring one. I can’t believe the week after that is our last week of this half term. A week off is calling and I can’t wait! 😉

A Week In The Life Of A Primary School Teacher- Prioritising

Every Sunday (hopefully) I shall be posting a personal post about my life as a primary school teacher. I currently work at a primary school teaching Lower Key Stage 2. My training posts on this subject were really successful and so therapeutic for me, therefore I’ve decided to continue posting on the topic. I will not be naming any children, or the school where I work. If personal posts aren’t your thing then feel free to skip these posts. I won’t mind! Bookish goodness returns as normal Monday-Saturday!

This week I’m writing this post on the second weekend in a row where I haven’t brought school work home! What is this thing called a work-life balance? I didn’t think I would be able to ever do this, when I started teaching last year. Don’t get me wrong, there are things that I definitely should be doing right now, but I have prioritised… my books can be marked on Monday morning- they don’t need to be marked this weekend. Go me!

Having a work free weekend, means I can spend time doing things I actually want to do! I have been able to read instead of spending hours working on school stuff. My sister has also been visiting this weekend and it’s nice to spend time with her instead of being stuck to my laptop all day.

I’m not saying that this won’t continue, but right now I’m a very content teacher. I know I have stuff to do, but I’m not pushing or forcing myself to work. It’s about looking at what desperately needs to be done, should be done and could be done! Luckily for me this weekend, I have nothing too pressing! Here’s to more of the same!

A Week In The Life Of A Primary School Teacher- A surprising turn around!

Every Sunday (hopefully) I shall be posting a personal post about my life as a primary school teacher. I currently work at a primary school teaching Lower Key Stage 2. My training posts on this subject were really successful and so therapeutic for me, therefore I’ve decided to continue posting on the topic. I will not be naming any children, or the school where I work. If personal posts aren’t your thing then feel free to skip these posts. I won’t mind! Bookish goodness returns as normal Monday-Saturday!

I feel bad even typing this, but something has happened to my lovely (but naughty) class. They behaved themselves for the whole week! I don’t know whether it was the 2 week break, or whether they’re finally starting to want to better themselves! They’ve worked incredibly hard this week in all areas of their learning.

I’ve had some great fun with them this week and I’m hoping that they learn that if they behave themselves, fun will happen! 🙂

I’m having an unexpected no work weekend this weekend, as I left my assessments at school. Oops! 😉 My books and my friends await… I’m looking forward to seeing if my classes good work and improved behaviour continues.

A Week In The Life Of A Primary School Teacher- It’s time for a 2 week break!

Every Sunday (hopefully) I shall be posting a personal post about my life as a primary school teacher. I currently work at a primary school teaching Lower Key Stage 2. My training posts on this subject were really successful and so therapeutic for me, therefore I’ve decided to continue posting on the topic. I will not be naming any children, or the school where I work. If personal posts aren’t your thing then feel free to skip these posts. I won’t mind! Bookish goodness returns as normal Monday-Saturday!

I did it! I got to the finish line! I managed to crawl my way to the end of the term. My class were actually really lovely this week. We finished our class book Gangsta Granny which they absolutely loved. More about that later on the blog. We’ve already voted for our next book. They’ve gone for a David Walliams book again. This time, Grandpa’s Great Escape. I haven’t read that one, so I’m intrigued to see what it’s like!

I only have one more term with this particular class left. That’s 12 weeks! It’s really quite scary how fast time flies when you’re with a class 5 out of 7 days a week. I’m hoping the summer term brings some progress for my class. I’m going to work hard to ensure they’re where they should be for the next year of their school life. It’ll be a tough slog for some of them, but I’m determined! 🙂

I’m really looking forward to a 2 week break. I’m hoping to get some decent amount of reading and blogging done. I spent my last week holiday writing reports, so I feel like I haven’t stopped since Christmas. I worked yesterday and today so my plan is to actually have some time off.

I won’t post another one of these diary posts until I’m back at school, so look forward to some bookish goodness coming your way!