I was thinking about teaching today and I am pretty sure after 25 years I’ve got it *mostly* nailed.

1. Keep your classroom very calm apart from moments of *organised* chaos (important to establish self regulation of students)

Never ever underestimate the power of routines and practice. This underpins all learning that *sticks*

3. Do not use a one size fits all behaviour approach but also maintain consistency and transparent *fairness* this is not contradictory but needs more than a tweet.

4. Be yourself in the classroom. Allow the children to know you and what makes you tick. Be genuine in your praise. Get excited about stuff that you really like. Let the children be *themselves* give them opportunities to shine.

5. When explaining things go *much* slower than you think you need to. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Rephrase. Model. Make sure everyone is with you. If not tell them to come back to you. Tell them it doesn’t matter how long it takes.

6. Always remember to like every child- not always easy- but absolutely essential. Listen to what children say about each other. They often appreciate things you don’t. You can learn from them too

7. Try to tie your learning together as much as possible (old money topic planning) it works. It gives your class audience and purpose in writing often. It deepens the learning when you come at it from different subject disciplines. It makes sense to children. It contextualises.

8. Don’t rush through things, but also do not allow lessons to drag on. Stop and revisit. Allow children to produce high quality work. Plan over a series of weeks with high quality outcomes in mind. Celebrate beautiful work and achievements.

9. Teach children to value a clean, organised, beautiful environment. Make sure your classroom is somewhere nice to be. Give children responsibility over their space. It’s not your job to tidy up.

10. Finally, make sure you don’t get stale. Change the things you do, the books and resources you use, even the school you are at (if you aren’t enjoying it). Take time for you. Your happiness has a direct bearing on the teacher you can be. Remember it’s actually a great job.