Skip to content

  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Home
  • Teaching
  • Creating
  • Exploring
  • About

Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert for 2020-2021: My Microsoft Journey

Posted on 05/08/202005/08/2020 By Mrs. Wilson No Comments on Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert for 2020-2021: My Microsoft Journey
Teaching
Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert for 2020-2021: My Microsoft Journey

I was so excited to learn yesterday that I have been chosen as a Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Expert for the 2020-2021 school year. I didn’t realise how much I wanted to be a part of this incredible community of educators until I saw people on Twitter posting they had been selected last Friday – and I hadn’t received an email yet. I noticed they were all in the US, and I hoped the UK decisions were coming later – and it turned out I was correct. Now, I can’t wait to start this year of learning, innovating, and sharing.

Over the past year, I become a huge Microsoft fan. It was a process and took time, but when the pandemic forced school closures, I dived head first into the world of Teams and never looked back. 

Initially, I was hesitant. OneDrive, Teams, and Windows 10 were all introduced at the start of the school year, and we were told that we were moving away from Google Drive and associated tools. I was skeptical. I love using Google Drive to plan lessons – especially as I have an old MacBook Air at home with memory issues, so the cloud based format made preparing materials a lot easier. I’ll admit, I dug my heels in the ground for a while and was really reluctant to change.

And then there was Teams. When school started last September, I didn’t understand Teams, it’s purpose, or how helpful it could really be. To be honest, I don’t think the school had a clear idea or plan either, and part of it was the endless emails about being added to a new Team. Since then, we’ve worked out better parameters for setting up Teams, and I’ve grown very fond of the class Team and Teams meetings since we’ve been engrossed in pandemic teaching.

As I started to move away from using Google Drive products, I took a fresh look at PowerPoint, and I was impressed. I love the design ideas for each slide to help make each bit of info pop. It looks very slick and professional, and nothing like the PowerPoint of 10 years ago. 

Once in person school closed, I started using Teams and Stream. I am a huge fan of both, and Stream is particularly useful for safeguarding students, their data, and following GDPR. It makes it really easy to upload lesson videos, and using PowerPoint’s audio and video recorder has made it easy for teachers to create these lesson videos from existing resources. Not only that, I discovered it is possible to screencast from PowerPoint!

My last big delve into Microsoft this year has been OneNote. Now that I understand how it works and all the possibilities that surround using it (like Class Notebooks and Staff Notebooks), I really love using it. I even made a complete digital teacher planner that I can’t wait to use this year.

Through all of this, I’ve been an early adopter at school. As I’ve become comfortable using these different tools, I’ve shared with colleagues in trainings, videos, and being there to help. I’m now known as the Teams Guru or Queen of Teams at school. It’s really nice to be able to help others understand how to use these tools, and I am also part of a group that will be shaping our school’s IT vision for the future.

So now I am really looking forward to diving even further into the Microsoft world. Being part of the MIE Expert cohort will open so many professional development opportunities and connections, and I can’t wait to learn more incredible new tools to use with my students and colleagues.

(Below, you can see the self-nomination I created as part of my MIE Expert application. I created it using Sway, another Microsoft tool.)

Have our students lost their voice?

Posted on 02/07/202002/07/2020 By Mrs. Wilson 3 Comments on Have our students lost their voice?
Teaching
Have our students lost their voice?

I went into school on Tuesday to teach some year 12 students in person. Walking into my classroom was like walking into a time capsule. The date on the board still read Friday, March 20, 2020. In some ways, the reality of how long we\’ve been away from school only really hit me then. And as the extended time of being away from traditional schooling continues, I am only starting to realise the long reaching effects of this trauma our students are facing.

I started doing live video lessons as soon as my school opened this up as a possibility, which was in May before half term. I met with my exam group classes (a year 10 triple chemistry class, a year 10 combined science class, and a year 12 chemistry class) as well as my year 7 form/tutor group.

From the beginning, my form group were mostly comfortable with chatting and having their cameras on. It was a great time to see each other, catch up, and check in on each other. My triple year 10 class, which have always been a very boisterous and animated group started out with some discussions, and my other two classes were pretty quiet.

Now a few months later and after doing several lessons with all groups, I\’ve noticed a trend. The students are speaking less and less. They rarely turn on their cameras or microphones. Some will interact, but only in the chat box. It\’s so erie teaching lessons when you can\’t gauge the room. I thought perhaps this was just due to them being tired of online lessons. I know how draining my meetings can be, and I hoped with the return to school for years 10 and 12 it would be better.

On Tuesday, when I was working with the students I was teaching, it wasn\’t any better. The students are so quiet. It\’s like they have forgotten how to interact with each other, how to carry conversations. The silence is uncanny. Getting students to answer questions was difficult.

In speaking with my colleagues, I\’ve found that my experiences are not unique. Some of our most talkative students aren\’t speaking at all. Not to us, not to other students. Students have started communicating solely using text means via apps, phones, X-Box, etc. 

When we started closing everything down the message was all about social distancing. Staying home. Keeping away from others. It was absolutely necessary to keep people as healthy as possible, but the long reaching effect of these acts are going to take some time to address, to help us heal.

When we return to school in a much more normal fashion, hopefully in September, I think we\’ll find that our biggest obstacles have nothing to do with teaching content. It won\’t be about \’catching up\’. We will need to help our students process what has happened and how it has changed them. We need to help them feel comfortable being around other people again. We need to help them find their voices.

As school staff, we\’re already having these conversations on how to best support our students. We know it\’s going to take time and effort, but we also know it\’s very important. I certainly don\’t have all of the answers, but I know I am going to have to work with my students to get them more comfortable being together, being in school, being in groups. Talking.

What have your experiences been? Have your students lost their voices, too? What ideas do you have to help them find their voice again?

Bright Future 2020-2021 FREE Digital Teacher Planner for OneNote

Posted on 28/06/202024/08/2020 By Mrs. Wilson 31 Comments on Bright Future 2020-2021 FREE Digital Teacher Planner for OneNote
Creating, Teaching
Bright Future 2020-2021 FREE Digital Teacher Planner for OneNote

I am so excited to share my OneNote teacher planner with you! I have designed this planner so I can switch to digital planning next year for my teacher planner but still have the look and feel of a ‘pretty’ paper planner. I decided to use a Mid-Century Modern theme as it feels so bright and hopeful with an optimistic view of the future. I created all of the graphics for the planner with some inspirational help from images found online.

 

Background

I have taught in the US and England, and I have done my best to make this planner adaptable for teachers. I do teach secondary, and I have based the planner on my own experiences. If you teach elementary/primary, you might find you need to make some adaptations. The first planner I received from my school in England had daily planner pages, which seems to be the norm. I much prefer a weekly overview, and that is what I have incorporated into this planner. I have also tried to create stickers and pages that will be useful to a wide audience. This means you might find some parts that don’t apply to you. If this is the case, just delete the pages you don’t need.

Why OneNote?

I know a lot of traditional digital journaling is done on tablets using apps like GoodNotes and Notability. I love using GoodNotes, but it’s not practical for my daily teacher planning as I am not always comfortable with bringing my tablet to school with me. With OneNote, I can access the planner on my school laptop, and school desktop computers, as well as my personal devices like my iPad. I can easily type in notes but also draw and write if I’m on a tablet. Additionally, my lesson plans can contain links directly to my teaching resources housed on OneDrive. If you use Office 365 apps at your school, it just makes a lot of sense.

What does it look like?

For each month, there is a monthly overview calendar and weekly planning pages. The main part of the planning pages have a horizontal weekly layout, but there is a vertical weekly layout option available in the template section of the planner if you prefer this style of layout. The weekly planning pages are built into a table, so the space will expand as you type giving you as much space as you need for your planning. The planner also includes sections for yearly overviews, school information, student information, notes, stickers, and templates. 

Here are a few screenshots to give you an idea of content and design, but the planner has over 200 pages, and it would be impractical for me to give you a screenshot of all of them. Instead, why don’t you follow this link to have a look through the planner before deciding if it’s for you?

Bright Future 2020-2021 FREE Digital Teacher Planner for OneNote
Bright Future 2020-2021 FREE Digital Teacher Planner for OneNote
Bright Future 2020-2021 FREE Digital Teacher Planner for OneNote
Bright Future 2020-2021 FREE Digital Teacher Planner for OneNote
Bright Future 2020-2021 FREE Digital Teacher Planner for OneNote
Bright Future 2020-2021 FREE Digital Teacher Planner for OneNote

Downloading the Planner

You have two options for downloading this planner depending on whether you use a personal version of Office 365 or a school version of it. Follow the directions for the version you are using. Not sure? If you’re account ends with a school domain, it’s a school version. If you account ends with @outlook.com, it’s a personal account.

Personal Version

  1. Download the OneNote Bright Future planner file.
  2. Unzip the file.
  3. Log in to your OneNote account.
  4. Go to the OneNote notebook importer.
  5. Find the location of the unzipped planner folder, select it, and click open to import it.

School Version

You will need OneNote 2016 on your computer to import and open this file. If you do not have OneNote2016, you can download it for free here.

  1. Download the OneNote Bright Future planner package file. New! If you teach Sunday-Thursday, here’s a version for you!
  2. Open OneNote 2016 desktop app.
  3. Find the location of the planner package file and click to open it.
  4. When prompted in OneNote 2016, make sure you save the planner file to your OneDrive and not your local hard drive. This is what will allow it to sync across all of your devices
  5. Save the planner, and it will start loading. You should be good to go.

Unfortunately from what I have read, OneNote package files don’t play well with Macs. If you are using a Mac, you might not be able to open the file initially. You might try the steps above on a PC. Once you have your planner saved to your OneDrive, you will then be able to open it on any device, including your Mac.

Please let me know what you think!

I have spent hours creating this planner, and I am sharing it freely as I know how expensive teacher planners can be. I also know it can be scary to take the plunge to digital, especially if a cost is involved. So I would love it if you could provide feedback on the planner after you have had a chance to start using it. Here’s a quick form to fill in and all fields are optional. I will use the feedback to improve the planner and to also create new pages as needed/requested. If there is something missing that you would absolutely love to see in the planner, please let me know, and I will do my best to create it. If you absolutely love the planner and are looking for a way to say thank you, you can buy me a coffee.

Technical Difficulties?

I hope you don’t have any technical difficulties accessing and installing this planner. However, if you do have any issues, I will try to assist you as my time allows. Just send me an email.

Doodle Notes

Posted on 17/10/201917/10/2019 By Mrs. Wilson 2 Comments on Doodle Notes
Teaching
Doodle Notes

A few years ago, I tried using sketchnotes with my high school students. You can see some of my previous posts here. At the time, I was working with very high ability students who I had known for several years and who were used to me challenging them try new things. Also, sketchnoting as a classroom strategy was pretty unheard of at the time. I could find little examples of other people using it in the classroom.

Since that time, sketchnoting and doodle notes have taken off. I still absolutely love the idea of visual note taking for students. The idea behind doodle notes is to provide students with a scaffold until they are comfortable with creating their own.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve tried a couple with my students. The first was a revision (study guide) for my year 7s (like 6th grade) to prepare them for an upcoming test. They seemed to enjoy the homework, but I won’t know how effective it was until I see the test results.

The second was a lesson on mass versus weight with a year 9 class (like 8th grade). We did it as part of our follow up to note taking, and my students LOVED the exercise. They loved being able to colour, and eagerly completed the work. It was definitely a strategy they enjoyed. 

As I continue to create this, I plan to share as there are so few resources our there. For now, here are the ones I made for mixtures and separation and mass versus weight. Feel free to use with your classes. There are two versions, one with a dot grid background and one without. Let me know what you think!

 

Doodle Note Files

Mass v Weight w background

Mass v Weight without background

Mixtures with background

Mixtures without background

Breathe

Posted on 21/08/201921/08/2019 By Mrs. Wilson No Comments on Breathe
Breathe
Creating

Heart pounds.

Breath catches.

Thoughts run

oneafteranotheratafrenziedpaceandIcan\’tkeepup

Stop.

Just breathe.

Deep breath in,

Hold.

Deep breath out.

S    L    O    W        D    O    W    N

Just breathe.


I have been doing some clearing out the past few days, and I found this poem I wrote back in April. I must have been feeling anxious/panicky at the time. It seems quite apropos as I consider how all of my year 11 students must be feeling tonight on the eve of their GCSE results. Sometimes, I just have to remember to breathe.

Welcome to the all new Mrs Wilson Science site!

Posted on 16/08/201916/08/2019 By Mrs. Wilson 1 Comment on Welcome to the all new Mrs Wilson Science site!
Welcome to the all new Mrs Wilson Science site!
Creating, Exploring, Teaching

I am so excited to unveil the all new Mrs Wilson Science site! There’s not a whole lot here yet, but in the days and weeks to come, I plan to post regular updates relating to my interests of teaching, creating, and exploring. If you previously following Stretching Forward, you may find there’s a bit more of mix of professional and personal information.

If you’re used to seeing this site as a classroom site, it obviously looks a lot different. If you’ve found your way here looking for a resource from a broken link, please feel free to post a comment letting me know what you’re looking for, and I see if I can send you what you are looking for.

Finally, I hope you like the site design. I started using a digital bullet journal this year as I love to draw, but I’m trying to simplify my life. Having physical notebooks can cause quite a bit of clutter. So I started drawing and journaling digitally on my iPad. I love the look of it, so I thought I would bring that feel to my site. I hope you like it!

Turning 40

Posted on 07/05/201726/10/2020 By Mrs. Wilson No Comments on Turning 40
Exploring

birthdaymeSomehow, today I turned 40. I don’t know what I was expecting. I don’t feel 40, but what does 40 even feel like? When you’re a child, you think people who are 40 must be old and grown up. I don’t feel old or grown up.

On the other hand, I do feel like I’ve had more than my share of amazing experiences in 40 years. Sometimes though, I feel like an 18 year old who has just had an extra 22 years of life experience. Although my hair is changing from brown to gray, a few fine lines are appearing around my eyes and forehead, and my joints sometimes feel a little sore, I still don’t feel old. (Maybe the joints shouldn’t count since I had broke an elbow twice and had two knee surgeries before I was 18 – not to mention countless sprained ankles!) Maybe our spirit never feels old. Perhaps it’s just our earthly bodies that slowly wear out (not that mine feels very worn out, either).

I also never could have imagined I would spend my 40th birthday celebrating in England because I live here. It’s been a little difficult being so far away from the rest of my family. Last year, I spent my birthday hanging out with my sister and a lovely evening meal with my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and nephews. Although my husband was far away in England. This year, I’m the one far away from them but here with my husband.

I thought I wanted/needed to do something big and spectacular for my birthday, but I couldn’t figure out what. Yesterday, we went to the White Cliffs of Dover chasing the sun expecting today to be cloudy and wet.

But today ended up beautiful and sunny and I spent a blissful day in England from church to brunch to Stowe Landscape Gardens with my husband and dog, ending with a lovely meal at Jamie’s Italian. It was lovely; a great way to spend a birthday weekend. Maybe it wasn’t big and spectacular, but it was a beautiful day.

And so now I am 40. I can’t wait to see where the adventure of life takes me next!

Gardens, blue sky, and a lovely dog
Gardens, blue sky, and a lovely dog

Birthday coffee and GF brownie in the sunshine
Birthday coffee and GF brownie in the sunshine

Weekend walks in the country

Posted on 03/05/201726/10/2020 By Mrs. Wilson No Comments on Weekend walks in the country
Exploring

bluebell walkWe tend to spend a lot of our weekends exploring the countryside these days, especially if it is a sunny day. Back in Georgia, we didn’t do much walking in the country mainly because it was really hot most of the year, even in the higher elevations. In England, the main problem is rain, so if it’s a sunny day (or even a cloudy one with little chance of rain), it’s a perfect excuse to get out and do something.

We have membership in the National Trust, which allows us to visit over 500 places across the country ranging from historic chapels to country manors and coastal walks to countryside rambles. This past weekend, we drove towards the southeast coast not entirely sure where we would end up. Along the way, we decided to go to Bateman’s, the home of Rudyard Kipling. Most National Trust properties have a lot of land with walking trails, so we chose a two and half mile loop to explore. We found a range of sites from rolling hills to ancient woodland covered in bluebells.

walkingbootsSince we’ll be walking around a lot more, I decided it was time to buy some proper walking boots. I soon learned you also need proper walking socks. I had no idea what I wanted when I explored the shop, but I had a very knowledgeable gentleman helped me. I thought I needed an ankle high boot, but it turns out there not usually necessary for the types of walks I’ll be doing. Trying everything on and humming and hawing over it all reminded me of the first time I bought a pair of running shoes. And then found out there are running socks. And that some running socks are specific for the right and left feet! (Speaking of which, it’s been almost two years since my last pair of running shoes, so I’m overdue, and I actually have right and left footed socks these days!)

Walking through the countryside is really fun as you climb over stiles, pass through kissing gates, walk across fields of cows, horses, or sheep, and feel a million miles away from civilization. It’s definitely a great new way to pass the weekends, and it’s one of the things I’m really enjoying about England.

Day by day: Comparing US and UK school schedules

Posted on 01/05/201726/10/2020 By Mrs. Wilson No Comments on Day by day: Comparing US and UK school schedules
Teaching

In the previous post, I shared some differences in the yearly school schedules.Today, I want to compare what I’ve experienced schedule wise in the US versus UK on a daily basis.

One of the big differences is that in the US we refer to the school schedule, our daily schedule, students have schedules, etc. We like the word schedule. In the UK, everything is referred to as a timetable. In a sense, they are the same thing. However, a student’s timetable in the UK is much more complex (that’s the case for teachers, too).

US Daily School Schedule

Firstly, I taught for ten years in the US, and we tweaked the daily schedule in major or minor ways every year. There were also some significant differences between middle and high school. In middle school, students took four academic classes (math, science, language arts, and social studies) every day and two connections classes. Our discussion on the middle school schedule included things like length academic classes vs. connections classes, lunch times, who had connections at which time of time (sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students stayed together for connections, and the length of time for homeroom. Ultimately in middle school, students took four academic classes every day along with the two connections. The schedule for a particular student would stay basically the same throughout the year with a rotation of connections classes each nine weeks. Academic teachers would have planning periods while the students were at connections. This meant that all grade level academic teachers had planning at the same time allowing for meetings to take and planning to take place. Most recently for me, academic classes were 70 minutes in length.

The two years I taught at high school were quite different from each other. The first year, we were on a traditional non-block schedule. Students had seven classes each day including four core academic classes and three electives. Classes were 55-minutes each, and there was an hour for lunch. Teachers had one 55-minute planning period per day.

The following year, we switched to an A/B block schedule. Students had eight classes total, attending four classes each day in addition to a 25-minute academy time for project work. Class periods were 85-minutes in length, lunch was 30 minutes, and teachers had one planning period each day. So as a teacher, I taught three longer classes each day. Although I am not there this year (obviously) I did help shape the schedule for this year, which is a tweak of the previous schedule. We still use an A/B block, but Monday students go to all classes for shorter periods of time. Students are back to taking 7 classes instead of 8, and there is a full block of academy time every B day (Wednesdays and Fridays). You can see what the schedule looks like for Mondays, A days, and B days below.

Monday Schedule

A-day Schedule

B-day Schedule

It might look confusing at first glance, but after a week or two, all students and teachers have their own personal schedule memorized. One interesting thing to note is that you see the same classes at the same time each day. This is pretty common in the US. It’s incredibly different in the UK as you’ll see below.

UK Daily School Schedule

The basic schedule at my current school is the same each day. We start with 20 minutes of form/tutor time. This is similar to homeroom in the US. We then have 1st and 2nd periods followed by a 15 minute break. This 15 minute break is awesome. Teachers have duty one day each week, but the other days it is a break for students and teachers alike to grab a snack and a cuppa. (How very British!) We then have 3rd period. Fourth period is longer as it’s the lunch period, and it’s followed by 5th period, the last class of the day. There are review sessions for an hour after that, mainly for students in exam groups. It rotates by content area, and science does ours on Wednesdays. Otherwise, teachers often have meetings during this time period as the majority of students have gone home after 5th period.

Hazeley schedule

Now here is where the big differences come in. Instead of a student’s schedule repeating daily or every other day, at my school now, a student’s schedule repeats every two weeks. It’s the same for the teachers. Students don’t have the same classes at the same time each day. Depending on the grade level, students have a different number of science classes over that two-week period (generally referred to as a fortnight).

Since the schedule only repeats once a fortnight, it is really difficult to remember the schedule. I have mine written down to refer to at all times, and students write their timetable in their planner. If a student loses their planner, they usually need to get a copy of their timetable in order to know where to go when.

One perk to this schedule is that I see a class group at different times of a day throughout the fortnight. It becomes really apparent how time of day affects learning and behavior. I have one class in particular that are really amazing when I have them period 1 or 2 and that are a complete handful period 4 or 5. If I only saw them in the afternoon, I might think they were all just poorly behaved. However, since I also see them in the mornings, I know a lot of it has to do with time of day (not that I’m excusing poor behavior, but I think all factors should be considered).

Here’s a glimpse of my current timetable noting weeks A and weeks B. When I initially received my schedule, I had to color code it in order to help me see what classes I had when.

currentschedule

Since I’ve been teaching in England for less than a year, I’m not sure how a timetable/schedule like this evolved. From what I’ve seen, I believe other schools operate similar schedules. I also don’t yet know what my preference is between the US and UK. The only stand out is planning. I’ll talk about this more in another post, but planning one lesson to teach 4-5 times in the US system is much more efficient use of teacher time (in my opinion) than planning 4-5 different lessons to teach one day with no repeats. It also doesn’t allow for that perfecting of the lesson throughout the day that I used to love. There’s a lot more to share about differences in how lessons works, so I’ll save it for another post.

Finally, you might have noticed there was not a new post on Friday. My initial aim was to post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I may have to rethink this schedule, as I find I’m quite exhausted on a Friday afternoon!

Throughout the year: comparing US and UK school schedules

Posted on 26/04/201726/10/2020 By Mrs. Wilson No Comments on Throughout the year: comparing US and UK school schedules
Teaching

Office Calendar School Purposes Desktop DairyOne of the big adjustments I’ve had teaching in England has been with the school schedule – both when school is in session and the day to day scheduling of classes. There are some significant differences between the two students. Today, let’s look at the big picture yearly calendar. Next time, we’ll look at the differences in the day-by-day schedules.

Yearly Calendar

I know there are several school calendars around the US varying from state to state and district to district, and it can vary quite widely. I’ll be speaking from my own experiences. In terms of the UK, most schools operate on the same general system with a few differences in where the breaks are.

US School Calendar Basics

This is based on my experience working in Gwinnett County Public Schools. You can see this year’s calendar here.

  • 5 Teacher Preplanning Days before the first day of school
  • First day of school in early to mid-August
  • Two semesters: August to December and January to May
  • Bank holidays: Labor Day (first Monday in September), Martin Luther King Jr., Day (third Monday in January)
  • Other days off: Election Tuesday in November on major election years; day in February and a day in March unless there is an inclement weather day to make up (these days can vary a bit from year to year)
  • Teacher Work Days (students off while teachers work): one in October, one in January, one in February, and one in March
  • Longer breaks: Thanksgiving week (full week off the week of Thanksgiving), Christmas break between semesters (usually two full weeks but can be a day or two shorter), Spring Break (first full week in April)
  • Last day of school the Wednesday before Memorial Day (the last Monday in May)
  • 2 Teacher Post-planning days to wrap up the year, finalize report cards, move rooms, etc.

UK Calendar Basics

This is based on my personal experiences at The Hazeley Academy. You can see this year’s calendar here.

  • Two staff inset days before the first day of school (similar to preplanning days in the US)
  • First day of school beginning of September and not all students start on the same day: year 7s (like 6th grade) start Monday, years 8-11 (like 7-10th grades) start Tuesday, year 13 (like 12 grade) start Wednesday, and year 12 (like 11th grade) start Thursday
  • Three terms: Autumn September-December, Spring January-April, Summer May-July
  • Bank holidays: Easter Monday (day after Easter) and May bank holiday (first Monday in May)
  • Teacher Inset Days (like work days): one in October, one in January, and one in June
  • Longer breaks: One week break halfway through each term at the end of October, middle of February, and end of May; two week break at the end of each term in December and April
  • Last day of school around July 20th
  • No post-planning days

As you can see, there are several differences between the two calendar systems. I really like all of the planning days we have in the US system – especially before the start of school. Two days to get ready for the year that were mostly meetings made it a challenge to be ready for the beginning of the year. I haven’t experience the end of the year yet, but I am having trouble fathoming finishing on the same day as students.

One thing I love about the UK system so far is all of the breaks throughout the year. I’ve long thought year round school would be a good idea. The UK system is similar to year round school, and the breaks definitely help. There were time when I was teaching in the US, when we would go from mid-January to spring break with hardly any extra time off. It was tough. Then once we returned from spring break, there were less than 30 school days left. The US summer is longer (about 10 weeks for students compared to 6 weeks for student in the UK), but research has shown that students regress during the summer. I believe a shorter summer isn’t a bad thing and having additional breaks throughout the year is a much better way to go. I know it would be difficult to change this in the US since parents would have to rearrange schedules much more, but I still feel like it’s a possibility that should be explore more.

What school yearly calendars have you experienced? Do you have a favorite? I’d love for your to share in the comments! Then don’t forget to come back on Friday and hear all about how daily schedules differ in my experiences because there are some huge disparities that might surprise you.

Posts navigation

Previous 1 2 3 … 11 Next

Post Calendar

April 2023
S M T W T F S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30  
« Nov    

Categories

Tweets by janellewilson

Tags

About altrealitystories AprilBlogaDay career CreekstoCoast daremightythings EdBlogaDay EdTech home learning Lessons Limitless MakerEd PBL Planner SpaceCamp STEM TeacherAtSea Testing welcome YouTube
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Archives

  • Home
  • Teaching
  • Creating
  • Exploring
  • About
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

Copyright © 2023 Mrs Wilson Science.

Theme: Oceanly Premium by ScriptsTown

 

Loading Comments...