Diary of a Teacher

What do you do when you have 'nothing to do'?

In this episode I talk about active relaxation, which basically involves doing stuff that isn't work but that is relaxing/meditative. Seeing as we've don…

Sarah from NZ (great name!) wants to know about what a university teaching degree doesn't cover. I have only done one degree in teaching, so I can only speak in depth about the university in which I …

Welcome back for another season.

In this episode, I talk about how students enjoy spending time in nature (even though they'll tell you it's boring). 

Nature teaches students what is important; that …

This week I discuss my biggest teaching failure.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the discomfort!

Write to me: [email protected].

Visit the website: https://www.spongeeducation.com.

Throughout my first two years of teaching I have had an excellent mentor helping me to keep it together. As part of celebrating my pleasingly reduced need for mentorship this year, I've recorded this…

I'm erring on the side of studying part time being a smart move. So far, my part-time study has been really interesting and it keeps me in the student seat. I'm always going to want to be learning so…

I've enrolled in an Honours program at the University of Sydney, to find out the answer to a question I've pondered for a while:

How much do high school teachers know about university teaching? And h…

We've all worked much harder than we were expecting to work this year.

For some of us, it's really starting to take a toll.

In this episode, I talk about general vibes in the teaching community aroun…

Do you survey your students? If yes, how often? 

We've all been surveyed by the companies with which we interact. Surveys seem to slide into my inbox almost daily, but I ignore the majority of them. …

This week I watched a program on Netflix called 'The Social Dilemma' and learned plenty about its current role in our society, especially for young people.

Well worth a watch if you're curious about …

2020 is a terrible year to graduate high school. So much has been cancelled due to COVID-19. However, there are still ways to make finishing school special for our senior students. In this episode I …

This week, I discuss some PD opportunities I've had recently and how they've made me a better teacher. (I think.) 

A few of my friends absolutely despise PD. Whilst it can be dependent on topic and i…

And just like that, we're back to school for another term. Before I pick up too much speed, I'm reflecting on my final week of school holidays, spent skiing by day, emailing students by night.

The le…

In this episode, I talk about the time I've saved by documenting everything in my first year of teaching. It took a fair while to do, but having set up a system now, it's the gift that keeps on givin…

In this episode, I give a general update on end of term, accreditation progress, life events etc.

Recently at school we have been helping Year 10 students with their subject selections for senior stu…

As a university student, I had trouble staying mentally well, primarily due to the pressure I put on myself to succeed academically. (Answering the what-do-I-want-to-do-with-my-life? question was als…

In this episode, I talk about returning to school and teaching face-to-face again. School life definitely isn't back to normal (whatever that even is), but some aspects of it are starting to resurfac…

Paperwork. I'm doing hours of the stuff.

I wouldn't describe teacher accreditation as my favourite thing of all time, but it has its value, and in this episode I talk about navigating the process. I …

When we're stretched thin at work, it can be hard to find time to do what we need to do to stay sane.

But it's so important to find that time.

In this episode, I answer a listener question about mana…

The whole working from home thing continues. Thankfully, so does the podcast. 

What's new? Not much. This week, I'm talking about isolation (#iso) and what it's like for teachers. I talk about the th…