Making Friends (and Alienating People) by @thatboycanteach

Name: None given
Twitter name: @thatboycanteach
Sector: Primary
Subject taught (if applicable):
Position: Assistant VP
What is your advice about? Making Friends (& Alienating People)

1: Don’t befriend everyone on Facebook (other social media sites are available) before you’ve even started working at a school. Enough said.

2: Be you. You will attract people who like you the way you are. Share your interests – turns out other people are into the same geeky stuff as you are.

3: Be friendly (duh). But not insufferably – read other people’s feelings and emotions and take it easy (Rome wasn’t built in a day).

4: Be sincere about your job. Generally teachers like teachers who care about teaching – it’s a good look.

5: Don’t be the staff room whinge. No one really likes that guy – they’re not listening or silently agreeing, they’re just plotting their escape.

Leaving the Building by @thatboycanteach

Name: None given
Twitter name: @thatboycanteach
Sector: Primary
Subject taught (if applicable):
Position: Assistant VP
What is your advice about? Leaving the School Building

1: Decide when you are going to leave. Leave at that time give or take 10 minutes – whenever you get to a natural finishing point in the job you’re doing.

2: Think carefully about what you need to take home. Only take work that you know you have time to complete; it’s demoralising biting off more than you can chew.

3: See to any pressing business before you go. Try to avoid leaving niggling jobs until tomorrow – tomorrow will have its own set of little tasks to see to.

4: Don’t deliberately announce your departure to others, particularly the SLT. Say goodbye to the people you work closely to and leave.

5: Don’t feel the need to give an excuse for your departure. If you’re outside of directed hours then you’re free to go – you have a life to live!

Work/life Balance by @thatboycanteach

Name: None given
Twitter: @thatboycanteach
Sector:  Primary
Subject: All subjects
Position: Assistant Vice Principal
5 Bits of Advice About: Work/life balance

1. Prioritise – what really needs doing and what can wait? Concentrate on doing one or two things well on any given day – the ones that obviously need doing soonest.
2. Organise – make time by planning ahead. For example, only set written work if you know you have time to mark it.
3. Maximise – make the most of the time you’ve got. Using those little bits of time in the day, even just to make one phone call or mark a couple of books, is worth doing.
4. Collaborate – nurture a good working relationship with other teachers. Ask for help if you need it and see if anyone else has pre-prepared lesson ideas or resources.
5. Rest – productivity relies on rest. At the same time as planning ahead, you should also think about using the natural breaks – and make the most of them.