The Teaching Space

What is Batching? (This section is adapted from my book, The Productive Teacher). According to business productivity expert, Michael Hyatt, batching, or batch processing is the grouping of similar tasks that require similar resources to streamline their completion. You probably batch tasks already. For example, cleaning or making freezer meals. Why is Batching a Good Idea? Batching is the extreme opposite of multitasking. To understand why batching works, it’s worth remembering why multitasking doesn’t. Multitasking, or more accurately, task switching, is not a productive way to work. Our brains are simply not wired to multi-task and need to focus on one thing at a time. Every time you are distracted by another task (the task switch) it takes time and energy. Doing this constantly will drain you and stress you out. Focussing on one task means you are not task switching and allows you to get into a state of flow. Flow is an amazing state to be in because you work better and faster. Batching for Teachers and Tr

Episode 64 of The Teaching Space Podcast shares a new approach to lesson observations. Welcome Welcome to season two of The Teaching Space Podcast. I have decided to start classing each academic year’s worth of episodes as a season to make it easier to keep track of where we are with the show. I started recording the podcast back in December 2017, so I am classing the episodes between then and June 2018 (episode 27) as season 0. Episodes 28 to 63 (the last academic year) were season one. So that means today’s episode marks the start of season two. I wanted to kick the new season off with a meaty episode, that’s why I’ve chosen lesson observations. If you’re listening and thinking “this doesn’t apply to me as I am not in a school environment”, keep listening. Remember, I am not in a school environment either. You’ll find I am going to talk more about professional development than anything else. Background I work in the further education and skills sector. Like most Colleges, in recent history, our approach to

Episode 63 of The Teaching Space Podcast outlines a simple strategy to help teachers and trainers plan a relaxing but productive summer break. 1. Visualise First, think about where you want to be, both personally and professionally, by the end of the summer. Write it down. 2. List Next, list all of the steps you need to take to achieve that overall aim. 3. Highlight Grab a highlighter pen and mark out your top priorities. This will be helpful when you start mapping out what you will do when later on. 4. Balance Check This is the most important part of the process. Check that what you are planning is balanced. Your requirements will be different to mine, but for example, I would be ensuring my plan is balanced between: rest/health home improvements friends and family personal projects Where tasks don’t contribute to a decent balance, and are not a priority, strike them off. 5. Plan Now grab your calendar and plan out each week’s to-do list. Housekeeping This is the last podcast for my academic year - I will

Episode 62 of The Teaching Space Podcast explores time blocking as a productivity strategy. When You’re Really Busy When I am really busy and there's potential for, what I like to refer to as "a wobble", I do three things: I stop (and usually grab a cuppa). I ensure my list is totally up-to-date (in other words, that everything I need to do is on my list - if I don't know what I need to do when, I cannot get things done). I time block my days. What is Time Blocking? There are probably lots of different definitions, but for me, it is planning every single 15 minute block of my day (this includes rest, breaks etc). Every. Single. Thing. Goes. On. The. Calendar. Seriously. Stuff on the calendar gets prioritised. It gets done. My Calendar Setup I use Google Calendar. Did you know you can set up multiple Google Calendars under one email address? I do this to categories and easily colour code my activities. It’s also helpful to be able to toggle certain categories/calendars on and off. My calendar list looks some

Introduction Today’s podcast topic is something a little different. Quite a few people have asked me what goes into making a weekly podcast, so today, I am pulling back the curtain! General Organisation I work full time so it’s necessary for me to bulk record podcast episodes during my breaks, otherwise I’d spend a considerable chunk of my weekend on podcasting. Over the past year, this has worked extremely well for me. The only downside is that I can’t react as quickly as I’d like to current topics as I’ve usually got 6 weeks' worth of content already created. But this is a minor disadvantage. I map out my podcast planning in Notion on a Kanban-style board (very similar to Trello’s set up). My main columns are: To be recorded In progress Queued Published Misc I have a virtual assistant, Tilly, who collaborates with me on this board. Ideas Under my ‘To be recorded’ column in Notion, I have a card for each episode (containing the episode number and due date). When I come up with an idea for an episode, I add

Episode 60 of The Teaching Space Podcast delves into active reading. Introduction Last year I read 100 books. I know. It’s a crazy number and it’s not something I’m planning to repeat any time soon (I chat about this in episode 47). While I have run no official statistical analysis on my 2018 reading list (surprised?) I’d estimate 90% were audiobooks. I’m a huge fan of audiobooks, but one downside for me, is I don’t fully absorb everything I hear. While this is usually OK for fiction, it’s sometimes problematic for non-fiction, particularly if I’m reading for professional reasons (e.g. study). This has lead me to explore active reading, and that’s what I will talk to you about today. What is Active Reading? According to the Open University website, active reading is “reading something with a determination to understand and evaluate it for its relevance to your needs”. When I’m listening to an audiobook or a podcast, I’m listening but I am definitely not evaluating at a high level. The closest I come to evalua

Episode 59 of The Teaching Space Podcast explores my current productivity app setup. Introduction Now, I’ll be the first to admit, I LOVE a productivity app. You’ll have heard me geeking out on this subject in episode 56 of the podcast when I interviewed Francesco D’Alessio. I want to point out that my setup changes regularly. While I do try to make most of my podcast content pretty evergreen (in other words, it does not date too much) this episode probably will date. I will likely record an updated version in the future. Martine’s Top Five Productivity Apps Ok, so here are my current five favourite productivity apps, in no particular order: Todoist I’ve probably used every task management app out there but right now, I am thrilled with Todoist. It’s powerful enough to manage complex projects with lots of different tasks due on different dates, but it’s also sufficiently lightweight to work as a idea inbox. If I get a random idea at an odd moment, it’s easy to just dump it in my Todoist inbox and file it late

Episode 58 of The Teaching Space Podcast explores Monday morning anxiety. Introduction Back in March I wrote an email to my TTS Extra subscribers about Monday morning anxiety. I was surprised that so many people responded to it, so I thought it would be a good idea to record a podcast episode on the topic. What is Monday Morning Anxiety? I guess for some, it is technically Sunday Night Anxiety. For me it’s a sinking feeling in my stomach, a mixed sensation of anxiety, anticipation and worry about the week to come. Ahem... I also have physical symptoms, but you need not know about those! The thing is, I’m happy, I love my job and manage my stress levels extremely well. But Monday morning anxiety is something I have struggled with for over 30 years and it won’t quit. It’s definitely got to the stage where it is far more physical than mental, but even so, it’s there and it is a pain. That being said, I have developed a few strategies to manage it. How I Manage MMA One of the most important strategies I use is sw

Episode 57 of The Teaching Space Podcast explores imposter syndrome. What is it? “The imposter syndrome is a psychological term referring to a pattern of behavior where people doubt their accomplishments and have a persistent, often internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud.” (Psychology Today, 2018). My Recent Experience I experience imposter syndrome ALL THE TIME. This often comes as a surprise to people as I present as an extroverted person positive about their broad skill set. I’m actually an introvert (I get my energy from being quiet and on my own). I have a broad set of skills, but as a result, I usually feel I lack expertise in anything; "jack of all trades, master of none". I recently signed up for a series of lunchtime lectures on conducting research because it’s something I’m interested in, but know little about. At the start of the first session, the lecturer asked us all to explain why we came to the session. I was in a room full of Master’s and PhD students... I’m not working towards, nor

Episode 56 of The Teaching Space Podcast discusses some tools for productivity in an interview with Francesco D’Alessio. Introduction Hello and welcome to the Teaching Space Podcast. It's Martine here. Thank you so much for joining me. Martine: Today I am thrilled to bring you an interview with productivity expert Francesco D'Alessio. Francesco, welcome to the show. Francesco: Hello, Martine. Yeah, good to be here. I'm very excited. Martine: Not as excited as me. I'm a bit of a fan girl. I can't lie. I've been listening to your show for a while and following you on YouTube and things like that so it's a real pleasure to have you here. Could I ask you to introduce yourself to the Teaching Space listeners? Francesco: Yeah, I know that, it's great you've been following for a while and obviously I've seen you in the community so much helping others, which is amazing. Martine: Doing my best. Francesco: Definitely. Yeah, no, for the viewers out there, my name's Francesco. I run a YouTube channel called Keep Product

Episode 55 of The Teaching Space Podcast explores 10 ways to deal with negative colleagues. We’ve All Been There Unless you work on your own, I am sure you can relate to the disruptive and wide-reaching effect a negative colleague can have on a team. If I reflect on my experience, I can remember a particular colleague who could walk into a room and the overall mood and feeling would drop dramatically. She didn’t have to say anything. It was a superpower! I don’t know if it was her body-language or something even more subtle than that. You could just sense it. Negativity is contagious and it can have a terrible effect on your mental health and wellbeing. I’m not suggesting you transform into a superhuman constantly happy person. We all have off days. But what I would like to do is share some simple strategies to help you deal with negative colleagues in such a way that the impact on your mental health and well-being is minimal. 10 Ways to Deal With Negative Colleagues Remember: the only person whose behaviour

Episode 54 of The Teaching Space Podcast will help you learn to prioritise self-care even when you have no time. Teachers are so Busy Teachers are the busiest people I know (I wrote a book about it!) The vast majority of them are awful at prioritising themselves and self-care just doesn’t form part of their day. I understand why. Our job is all about our learners. They come first every single time. I get it. The problem is this: If you do not look after yourself, you are not best placed to look after anyone else. It’s just like when you are on an aircraft and they do the safety announcement. In the event of an emergency you are expected to put your oxygen mask on before you help anyone else with theirs. Now, I am not comparing teaching to a plane crash - I promise. But you take my point. If you need me to phrase it this way, I will: you have a professional responsibility to care for yourself. I don’t want you to do it because your job demands it. I want you to do it for you. If you have ever thought of self-c

Hello and welcome to The Teaching Space Podcast. It's Martine here, thank you so much for joining me. Today, I'm excited to bring you an interview with a very nice man called Andy Sammons. Martine: Andy, welcome to the show. Andy: Hi, nice to be on. Martine: It's very nice to have you here. Why don't you introduce yourself to the listeners? Andy: I've been teaching for seven or eight years in secondary school as an English teacher. I've been a main scale teacher, worked towards being a lead teacher, a lead practitioner. I've coordinated from key stages three up to five, I've worked as a second in English, as well as now as a head of English. Everything was pretty much plain sailing for the first few years, it was fantastic. It was only last academic year where things really got difficult for me, and that's what's let me down this path of focusing more on well-being and teacher psychology, and things like that. As a result of that, I decided to put my ideas down into a book, and luckily someone's been mad enou

Episode 52 of The Teaching Space Podcast investigates how to get teachers excited about professional development. My Job Part of my day job role this year is heading up professional development for my College. When I took it on, I knew one challenge would to get (some) teachers excited about professional development. In this episode I will explore why teachers sometimes aren’t the most enthusiastic recipients of organised PD and what I’ve been (trying) to do to change that. The “Why” Before The “Why” Before we look at the “why” in terms of why we need PD. Let’s be honest, we all know we need to do it, but let me re-frame the "why" for you in a slightly different way. Would you be happy being operated on by a surgeon who uses 10-year-old methods? Would you be happy allowing a builder to work on your house if they had not updated their knowledge since their apprenticeship 20 years ago? I think I know the answer. Surgeons and builders are professionals in the same way that teachers are. PD and professionalism go

Episode 51 of The Teaching Space Podcast explores the difference between equality and equity and why, as educators, we must understand both. Why This Episode? Why Now? My professional development focus for this year is equality and the promotion of diversity. I am focusing my research on trainee teachers as that’s they are the people I teach most. Working with people at the start of their teaching career might just have the most impact. I have become increasingly frustrated with the idea that putting a token piece of clip art in a presentation featuring a person of colour who just happens to be a wheelchair user is enough - box ticked. It’s not enough. Where’s the conversation? Where’s the genuine understanding? My starting point for exploring this theme is the language we use when we teach and learn. That’s where the idea for this episode came from. I’m fully aware that you might feel this is going back to basics with teacher training, but I’m OK with that. Definitions of Equality and Equity According to dic

Introduction An extract from The Productive Teacher by Martine Ellis: Teaching is the hardest job I’ve ever done. You have to play the part of the expert (because teaching feels like acting sometimes) , even if you really don’t feel you deserve it. You have to know the answers, even when you don’t. You are in charge, even when you don’t want to be. My journey into teaching wasn’t a traditional one. I left school after my A levels and worked in a variety of industries from lending to recruitment. I settled in the finance sector because I found a company I really liked (this helped mask the fact that the job was dull). They recognised my potential and fast tracked me to a senior leadership position. I became a director at 29. On the surface, everything looked great. I was earning a high salary, and I drove a convertible (and I wasn’t even 30). But things weren’t great. I wasn’t happy in my work. I felt that what I did wasn’t important. The other problem was that no one really understood my work. Do you remember

Introduction In last week’s episode (48 How to Start a Book Club for Educators) I mentioned my book club’s first title choice, Atomic Habits by James Clear. It was a great read and has inspired this episode. While I will highlight my main takeaways from the book, I still recommend you read it as there is much more to it than what I will cover in ten minutes. Before we start though, let’s consider why a teacher or trainer should think about the science of habit formation. Why Should We Care About Habits? “A habit is a behavior that has been repeated enough times to become automatic” - James Clear Let’s focus on you first: most forms of self-improvement start with establishing positive habits. If you’ve read my book, The Productive Teacher, or you have been listening to this podcast for a while, you know I place great importance on self-care for teachers and trainers. Teaching is an exhausting job at the best of times, frequently you are responsible for the welfare of other humans. You cannot possibly give th

Introduction In the last episode (47 How to Make Time to Read More) I mentioned setting up a professional development book club at my college. This week I will walk you through the process, step-by-step, hoping you might consider doing something similar. Before we delve into the practical aspects of setting up a book club, let’s consider why it’s a good idea. Why Set Up a Book Club? Towards the end of last year, I took on a new role at my college: CPD Manager and Scholarly Lead. One of my responsibilities is coordinating professional development for all staff (teaching and non-teaching). While I expected some resistance to PD activities, I was a little surprised at the level of resistance some colleagues demonstrated (this is will be covered in a future podcast episode). For me, professional development is at the heart of the teaching profession. How can we be great teachers without loving learning? Does any teacher or trainer genuinely think it’s OK to teach in exactly the same way they did 10 years ago and

Here are the show notes for this episode. Introduction Last year I managed to read over 100 books. That’s a crazy number, right? This list comprised fiction (some complete trash) and non-fiction. I tend to read fiction for relaxation and non-fiction for personal and professional development. Reading is, to me, both relaxation and learning. I happened to mention how many books I read last year to a few colleagues (in a completely non-bragging way, I promise) and many were a little stunned. Quite a few didn’t believe me! Many confessed they wanted to read more but just didn’t have the time. In response, I set up a book club for my colleagues. This podcast episode will hopefully help too. Here are my 14 tips to help you make time to read more. Consume audiobooks - it’s not cheating! Understand that it’s OK to leave a book unfinished. Remember - there is no test at the end. Start or join a book club. Find a reading buddy. Wake up early to read. Go to bed early to read. Keep a book in your bag. Have two books on

Episode 46 of The Teaching Space Podcast explores 30 Edtech Tools taken from a blended learning session I ran recently. Introduction This episode’s audio is taken from a video I created for a blended learning session called 30 Edtech Tools in 30 Minutes. Below you will find links to all of the tools I mentioned, as well as a copy of the Google Slides presentation I used in the session. Presentation Tools Used Loom Diigo Emoji Copy TES Teach with Blendspace Quick, Draw! Google Keep Padlet Noisli Voice Typing in Google Docs Just Press Record QR Code Creator Canva Streaks Wakelet Edpuzzle Pocket Adobe Spark Bit.ly Google Forms/Quizzes Answer Garden Flipgrid Insert Learning Trello Random Name Selector Audible TED-Ed Google Hangouts Rewordify Day One Giphy Wrap Up I hope you enjoyed this episode. Please check out my new book, The Productive Teacher at theproductiveteacherbook.com.