Beyond Survival: The New Teacher Podcast

In this episode, Colin talks to Kirsty Hair of the University of Strathclyde about her fantastic contribution to The Essentials in Learning to Teach by Jamie Thom and Colin McGill. Kirsty gives excellent answers to the following questions: What do you think are the biggest challenges facing early career teachers? In your contribution to Essentials in Learning to Teach you talk about resilience - can you tell us a bit more about why resilience is important? You've written about the importance of professional dialogue. Why is it important that early career teachers get involved in professional dialogue with colleagues? Most student and early career teachers struggle with curricular knowledge. How can ESTs go about developing and strengthening their curricular knowledge? What advice do you have about getting involved in the wider life of the school?

Today is the publication of Colin and Jamie's new book 'The Essentials in learning to Teach'. The book is all about how you can thrive and succeed in your year of learning to teach.  In this episode they discuss what motivated them to write the book, and begin to share some practical strategies from the ten essentials that the book is made up of.  If you would like to order a copy of the book it is available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Essentials-Learning-Teach-Thriving-secondary/dp/1398387479. 

In this episode Colin McGill interviews Kirsten Colquhoun to explore some top tips for teachers at the start of their careers. Kirsten is an education consultant, author, and Pastoral Lead with nearly two decades of experience working in schools. The questions they explore in this interview are:  What do you think are the biggest challenges facing early career teachers? What advice do you have for planning lessons? How can novice teachers manage their classroom environment? How should novice teachers be using the support mechanisms available to them in schools? How can novice teachers fulfil their pastoral responsibilities? Hope you enjoy the episode - if so, please do pass it on! 

This episode explores the role that gratitude plays in education. It looks at ways you can express thanks to shape positive attitudes and effort in your lessons, and how it can overcome the negativity bias and help us to feel positive about the work we do in education.  I mention in this episode about wanting to here from listeners, please get in touch via email: jamiethom123@aol.com

Today’s episode is the 100th episode of the podcast! Great to reach this milestone, and thank you so much to all the listeners for the support.   On this episode I am joined by Dr Kathleen Forbes. Kathleen is a senior consultant clinician for Place 2 Be, a mental health charity. For the past seven years Place 2 Be has been working with new teachers to improve their wellbeing and reflective capacity.  In this interview we answer the question: how can new teachers make their relationship with their mentor work?  In answering that central question we also answer:    Could you tell listeners about the work Place 2 Be does with new teachers?   From your experience, what are some of the challenges new teachers can face in working with mentors?    What work can new teachers do to prepare themselves for the mentor-relationship before it begins?    What general strategies do you think will help a student-teacher during the mentor relationship?  Thank you for listening, please do pass it on! 

This ten minute talk explores the role that focus has in being a successful teacher. It looks at how we can role-model focus for young people; how we can improve our capacity to focus on young people and relationships; and some practical ways to avoid multi-tasking in the classroom and build our 'focus' muscles. 

The guest on this week's episode is Oliver Cook. Ollie is an experienced teacher, who is currently a Pupil Support Leader in a school in Scotland (this is the equivalent of a pastoral role in other parts of the UK and further afield) In this conversation we explore relational behaviour management, with practical tips for teachers to implement this style in their classrooms. Ollie also answers the following: What is a relational approach to behaviour management? What do you feel the strengths of taking this approach are?  What advice might you give a teacher who finds it challenging to regulate their own emotions when managing behaviour?  How do you feel a teacher could make a restorative conversation work with a young person?  I hope you find it helpful, if you do please pass it on! 

This ten minute talk explores the vital role that emotional intelligence has to being an effective teacher. It breaks down Daniel Goleman's five key components of Emotional Intelligence: self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, effective communication and motivation. Looking at practical ways to implement all of them in the classroom. 

This week's episode explores how to be the best possible mentor of new teachers. The guest is the wonderful Rachel Alexander. Rachel is a former English teacher and author, who now runs the English PGDE at Moray House in Edinburgh University.  In the episode, which should also be useful for new teachers who are working with a mentor for the first time, we explore:  1. What do you enjoy about mentoring new teachers? 2. What do you feel are the qualities of a really good mentor?  3. For anyone who might be listening who is new to mentoring, what advice might you give them?  4. What are some common mistakes that mentors make?  We also explore some case studies: How to support a new teacher who is struggling with their mental-health How to support a new teacher who is disorganized How to support a new teacher who is overwhelmed with feedback.  I hope you enjoy it and find it helpful. If so please do pass it on to others! 

Today is the fourth episode in the A-Z of teacher skills series. This ten minute talk explores the importance of being driven as a teacher, and why your own ability to model drive and enthusiasm for young people is vital for success in the classroom. It also gives some practical tools to help you to motivate and encourage young people. 

This week we have a vitally important topic that we hope all listeners will benefit from. Colin McGill interviews Lynn McCann and Catrina Lowri on how we can best support neurodivergent teachers to thrive in school.  Lynn McCann is an Autism, ADHD and PDE Specialist teacher and author. She is the owner of Reach out ASC, which is a team of neurodivergent teachers working to support autistic, ADHD and PDE young people in schools.  Catrina Lowri is the founder of Neuroteachers. She is a neurodivergent teacher who has over twenty years experience as a SENCO, special needs and advisory teacher.  In tackling this question, they explore: 1. What are the specific issues faced by neurodivergent teachers?  2. Why is it important that we have neurodivergent teachers in the teaching profession?  3. What can mentors/school leaders/ITE lecturers do to support neurodivergent teachers and student teachers?  4. What advice would you give to a neurodivergent student teacher about to embark on a school placement?  5. What can we do to improve the retention of neurodivergent teachers? Thank you for listening. If you find the episode useful, please do pass it on! 

Today is the second episode in the A-Z of teacher skills and focusses on c: calm. It explores why being calm is such an important skill for teachers to try to sustain. It then goes on to give some practical tools for how you can remain calm in the work you do in your classroom and schools. 

The podcast returns this week after a bit of break. Colin and Jamie have been busy finishing off their new book 'The Essentials in Learning to Teach', which you can pre-order here and which will be out in February.  This episode explores how you can make a really positive impression in schools. It breaks this down into how you can manage the stress of starting in a school, how you can build positive relationships with staff members, and how you can start to form really positive relationships with students.  We hope you find it really useful and look forward to sharing regular episodes with listeners from now! 

Today's episode is fantastic conversation between Colin and Hayley Guy. Hayley just completed her PGDE (teacher-education/training) year in Scotland with us at Edinburgh Napier University. In this practical and helpful conversation Colin and Hayley discuss: What was the most important piece of learning during your PGDE? What advice do you have for managing the PGDE workload while raising a young family? What was the biggest challenges you faced during your PGDE and how did you overcome them? How has your PGDE year prepared you for being a probationer teacher? If you could go back in time to August 2023, what advice would you give yourself? Thank you for listening, please do pass on the episode to others if you found it helpful. 

Today is the second episode in the A-Z of teacher skills and focusses on b: belonging. It looks at why creating a culture of belonging is a vital teacher skill. It then goes on to give some practical strategies for how you can ensure young people feel they belong in your classroom. 

This is the first in a new series, which explores the A-Z of teacher essential skills. Each short, ten minute episode will be recorded by Colin or Jamie, and give an overview of the particular skill that coincides with that letter in the alphabet.  Today's episode is about assertiveness. It unpicks what exactly assertiveness means in the classroom, and how it needs to be balanced with respectfulness. It then gives some practical strategies on how you can be more assertive, looking at both non-verbal and verbal tips.  We hope you find it useful in your practice! 

Welcome back to Beyond Survival: the new teacher podcast! Colin McGill, my wonderful new co-host and I, are delighted to welcome you to season three.  This episode looks at new starts, exploring the following: 1. What are some of the aims of the podcast in series 3? 2. How can teachers make the best start to a new academic year?  3. What are some important routines to introduce at the start of the academic year?  4. What are some of the intentions you can set at the start of the year to support your well-being and work-life balance.  We hope you really enjoy the episode. Jamie's new running coaching business, Run With Company, that he mentions in the episode can be accessed here: https://www.runwithcompany.com.  Thank you for listening!

This talk gives a brief overview of an online event on Thursday May 23rd from 4 o'clock to 5 o'clock 'A Teaching and Learning Masterclass'.  All the money raised from this event will go directly to charity. For just five pounds you can support the brilliant charity 'Health in Mind' and have an hour of practical guidance no how to improve your teaching from one of the UK's best authors, education consultants and Headteachers Bruce Robertson. You can see all of Bruce's brilliant books here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Bruce-Robertson/author/B0CK2MJ2RV?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1715939722&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true You can buy a ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-teaching-and-learning-masterclass-tickets-906718578677?aff=oddtdtcreator Any donations for my marathon run for Health in Mind would also be massively appreciated: https://www.justgiving.com/page/jamie-thom-1714850068670. You can read more about Health in Mind and the services they offer to support mental health here: https://health-in-mind.org.uk As always, thank you so much for listening and supporting the show. We will be back in August, so have a wonderful summer! 

This week's guest is Alex Quigley. Alex is a former English teacher and school leader, who know works for the Education charity Education Endowment Foundation. He has written many best selling books, including his latest 'Why Learning Fails'.  Alex's website is: https://alexquigley.co.uk In this episode we answer the question: why does learning fail? In answering that central question , Alex also answers: What inspired your new book Why Learning Fails? What role does 'patchy prior knowledge' have in learning and what can teachers do about it?  What role does 'overconfidence' have in learning and what can teachers do about it?  What role does an inability to work independently have in learning and what can teachers do about it?  What advice might you offer teachers at the start of their careers to enjoy a positive career in education? I hope you really enjoy the episode, if you do please do pass it on. You can get in touch with me via my website https://jamiethom.co.uk

Today's episode of 'Beyond Survival: The New Teacher podcast' is the monthly episode with Colin McGill. Colin is my colleague in the PGDE at Edinburgh Napier University, and is the programme leader. You can follow him on Twitter @colinmcgill. Today we are answering the question: what feedback will really help my learners? In answering that question we also answer: What is the purpose of feedback?  What are some mistakes teachers make in giving feedback? What makes verbal feedback effective?  What makes written feedback effective?  How does whole class feedback work and what will help give it impact? I hope you enjoy the episode! Colin and I are both running the Edinburgh Marathon in two weeks for a brilliant charity Health in Mind. Any sponsorship for us would be massively, massively appreciated! Jamie: https://www.justgiving.com/page/jamie-thom-1714850068670 Colin: https://www.justgiving.com/page/colin-mcgill-1706570297927 Thank you so much.