Books, books, books.

For some reason I decided it was a good idea to pick up all my education books from their various shelves and put them on the floor.  I think it was in the name of organisation (failed)... or finding a book I wanted for my essay?  I'm not totally sure if I'm honest, but either way they're still right there on the floor where I put them a few days ago.

Looking at them has made me think about how the books I have bought have changed since the start of my PGCE, through my NQT until now the start of my MA.  The books I have could probably be grouped into four or five categories, and that is how I am going to talk about them.

Books from my PGCE reading list

1) Learning and Teaching in Secondary Schools - Viv Ellis
2) Issues in Modern Foreign Languages Teaching - Ed. Kit Field
3) Teaching Modern Foreign Languages at Advanced Level- Ed. Norbert Pachler
4) Learning to Teach in the Secondary School - Capel, Leask and Turner
5) Learning to Teach Modern Foreign Languages in the Secondary School

Did I read all of these?  Not a chance!  As far as I remember I read number 1, glanced at 2 and 3 once or twice and used 4 and 5 for my assignments.  Worth buying?  Nope, I'm not adding up what I paid for them...

Books I was given

1) Successful Induction for New Teachers - Bubb
2) The Dyslexia Friendly Teachers' Toolkit - Pavey, Meehan and Davis
3)Reflective Practice for Teachers - Sellars.

I was sent these three by Sage before I started my NQT year and asked to review number 1.  I did that and I had the intention of reading the other two but I never did.  I think at the end of my PGCE I was fed up of the word reflection anyway!

Books I bought during my PGCE and early in my NQT

1) Getting the Buggers into Languages - Amanda Barton
2) 100 Ideas for Secondary Teachers, Outstanding Lessons - Ross Morrison McGill
3) 100+ Ideas for Teaching Languages - Nia Griffith
4) Getting the Buggers to Behave - Sue Cowley
5) 100 Things Awesome Teachers Do - William Emeny
6) How to Survive your First Year in Teaching - Sue Cowley
7) How to Teach - Phil Beadle

These books were good references for ideas, suggestions and that boost from time to time when I felt like I didn't know what I was doing or why I was doing it!  One or two of them I'd consider useful to refer to again but they're not the sort of thing I see filling my shelves in the future.  I get most of this sort of support from twitter these days.

Books I am buying now

1) Teacher Geek - Rachel Jones
2) Don't Change the Lightbulbs - Rachel Jones
3) Teacher Proof - Tom Bennett
4) Why Don't Students Like School - Daniel Willingham
5) What if everything you knew about education was wrong - David Didau

I will admit that I haven't got round to finishing all of these yet, 4 I have had a glance at and then things got in the way and 5 I bought just as I needed to start my MA reading so all I have managed is the foreword!  These are much more like the sort of thing I am reading now, especially the latter three.  More critical, really thinking about teaching and education as opposed to just my classroom practice.  That said I needed a refresher and so have really enjoyed the first two books on the list.

Books recommended for MA lectures or for my assignment:

1) Seven Myths About Education - Daisy Christodoulou
2) The Expert Learner - Gordon Stobart
3) Knowledge and the Future School - Michael Young and David Lambert

Number one on the list could easily be in the previous category, I've been wanting it for a while and the fact that it was required reading for a lecture was just a great excuse!  The other two are by lecturers at IoE and being used towards my essay - which I don't intend to talk about until it's done.  All I will say is the module is called 'What is Education?' broad enough for a title?!

Then until now....

The picture somewhat gives the impression that I'm moving towards the light...

My #summer10

So I hadn't blogged for ages and now I'm writing again less than a week after last time.  This evening browsing on Twitter tonight I read this blog by Rachel Jones.  Having just finished reading her latest book I decided I'd join in too.  I won't explain it here, you can read the post yourself. Without further ado, here's my #summer10

1) Enjoy being a student again!  No, I don't mean the nights out, lie ins and takeaways... I want to get really stuck into my masters, especially these next two weeks of lectures.  I'm looking forward to learning again and getting back into studying education.

2) Read a book.  I know most of the reading I will be doing over these next 6 weeks or so will be to do with the Masters, but I would like to try and read something else just for myself.  Ideally I'll go for something not education related but I'll not promise that one!

3) Get clued up on Growth Mindset.  Having heard it mentioned loads at a conference last week I mentioned Growth Mindset to the assistant head for Teaching and Learning.  She's really interested and wants to meet me about it in September so I need to know what I'm talking about!

4) Do some exercise.  A while back I bought a collection of exercise activities for the Wii - dancing, yoga, cardio etc.  I've used them... once?

5) Learn more about photography.  I invested in a new camera last month, a step up from the last, but I don't feel I know enough about photography to get the most from it.

6) Get out and about with the camera.  I'll need to put the knowledge to good use!

7) I'll try and get more adventurous with my cooking.  Of late we're getting much better at the sorts of things we cook but I'd like to get better with ingredients and knowing how to do things.

8) Catch up with friends.  With so much going on I know I've not stayed in touch with my friends very regularly.  It's easier with some than with others but I'll be able to be a bit more flexible with my time for a few weeks.

9) Enjoy my holiday and explore.  I'm going on a cruise with my parents and we're stopping in a lot of Spanish cities.  Being able to speak the language gives me more confidence to explore and I should make the most of it.

10) Don't spend the whole summer thinking about September.  Obviously there are all sorts of bits and pieces that I will need to make sure I have ready for September, especially with the Masters and other things I'm getting involved in, but I need to make sure I don't spend my time worrying about or planning for September.

I'll blog again just before term starts to update you.  Please, if you blog - and if you don't then it's not too late to start, maybe try @staffrm - please join in with #summer10 !