The best thing about being a teacher...

In my work as a lecturer to pre-service teachers I have the privilege of working with the first year Masters of teaching students. 

In our Masters course, students come from a huge variety of professions. I have taught chiropractors, lawyers, architects... all of whom have heard the calling to begin teaching.

Each year, I am in awe of the passion, commitment and bravery these students show to completely change career.

It got me thinking about how lucky we are to be involved in our profession.

While it is hard, relentless work being a teacher, no one can say it is boring!

We are changing and shaping little people's lives every day. We get to see their smiles, laugh at their jokes and for many we are the most stable, reliable, trustworthy thing in their lives.

I usually share something about maths in my emails- and in a way this email is about maths- because BEFORE we can teach any content, we must form a relationship, and show them they can TRUST us.

So in this post, I encourage you to slow down (which is hard, I know because there is so much to get through)...

but take a few extra moments to have a chat with individuals in your class... it might be as they are eating lunch, or as they are waiting in line, or while you are on yard duty... because I guarantee the stronger your relationships are, the more maths (and everything) your students will learn this year!