Tuesday 16 June 2015

Teaching Tips: Facebook Groups

Hello Everyone! 

I haven't done a teaching post for a while so I thought I would use my spare time to write about something I use on a daily basis. Now Facebook is portrayed as something that can work against teachers, however when used correctly I've found it can open up many opportunities to share teaching ideas and resources. Hopefully in September I'll be starting serial days as my new placement school where I'll be training in Year 1. It will be my final placement before I graduate so I do want to do well to ensure I am able to secure a good job.

I trawled through Facebook looking for groups and I saw that one of my friends had joined the 'twinkl KS1 group'. I joined as I thought it would help me get creative when finally beginning to teach in Year 1. Groups like this are so helpful and it's really nice to be able to share ideas and talk to other teachers who have a range of different experiences. I've found everyone is so friendly and happy to offer advice and share planning in order to ensure that we are all, as teachers, performing the best we can in our classrooms. It's about sharing strengths and helping others with issues that we also might be facing. It's an extra support network to expand the one we already may have with colleagues at work. I think it's a wonderful opportunity as not all teachers are from one area of the world. Some are in different places of the UK meaning that their schools are different from the ones I am used to here in Yorkshire. Whereas in some cases there are some teachers who are from international schools sharing their own experiences and ideas.

I have definitely been in situations before where I've struggled on how best to tackle a certain lesson to make it fun and engaging for my class. This can be for a number of reasons, one being that it simply isn't a strength of mine. I've seen people use this group to ask for the members ideas on how to tackle a lesson and they get a number of responses each with a new and imaginative idea. I have saved many of these ideas and I will most likely end up using them should I choose to use this topic in my class.

If you're a trainee teacher, NQT, RQT, or have even been teaching for many years it is never too late to join one of these groups. There are groups that are specifically aimed at Year Groups so don't just write the idea off because I've just mentioned the KS1 group!

Whilst I'm on the subject of Facebook groups I will mention the benefit of Teaching Resources for sale. This group has a lot of benefit too as some teachers clear out book/games etc which are great to have if you're starting to set up your new classroom. It is also helpful for trainee teachers who are starting degrees and looking for second hand uni books off the reading list as many NQTs are selling their books after finishing their degrees. These books are still in excellent condition, but with a discounted price that won't hurt your purse/wallet too much!

I'll leave some links to the groups I have joined. Let me know if you find them helpful or if you have other teaching groups that you'd recommend! Just click on the names of the group and it should take you to the group.

LINKS: 

KS1 Teachers - specifically Year 2

Primary School Librarians Group

Teacher resources for sale

Twinkl KS1 Group

KS1 teachers - specifically year 1!

Hope you enjoyed this post, please let me know what you think! I'd really love for you to recommend any other groups that you find helpful so that we can learn and help each other!

"The rest is still unwritten"

Megan 

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