As we all welcome in the New Year, many teachers and teaching staff make new years resolutions around personal health, commitments to the classroom and personal development. All of these areas are great to improve in the new year. It is important to make achievable resolutions, or we can feel demotivated for not achieving them.
Personal Health
This is a crucial factor to being effective in a classroom, especially with pupils with SEND. SEND pupils can require a lot of time and help for them to achieve their personal goals. Our own health is important to be able to assist them to their full potential. Finding time for ourselves in the evening and also at the weekends is important. Many teaching professionals like to travel or visit new places, this can be key for wellbeing. Some teaching staff like to go to the gym to keep up their health and fitness, this is great for being effective in the classroom and having a clear thought process. Whatever your personal health goals may be, do ensure you make them achievable and more importantly enjoyable!
Personal Development
This is something that can be really important to any member of staff working with SEND pupils. CPDs and further learning courses can help keep you up to date with the latest research and developments about young people. You may want to take a new course on behaviour management or specialise in one area such as Autism or Dyslexia. It can also give you a different approach to help the pupils develop and reach their full potential. Personal development is also great for your CV . If you are applying for a promotion or a new position, having evidence on continual personal development can go in your favour.
We have included some course providers you may find useful and if you work for us speak to us about further courses we provide.
www.freecoursesinengland.co.uk/special-education-needs-and-disability
www.ucl.ac.uk/short-courses/search-courses/special-educational-needs-and-disability-send-developing-quality-inclusive-practice
www.findcourses.co.uk/search/special-educational-needs-sen-training-courses
Classroom Commitments
This for some teaching staff can be something as simple as being more organised. Then time can be relaxed and spent with the pupils without thinking of what may need doing. Some Teaching Staff may want to commit to bring a different skill to the classroom. Such as more movement for the pupils or more creativity. You may want to ask for more support so that lesson times are more productive. Completing paperwork prior to deadlines and not on the day is also very useful as it can release unneeded pressure and give you more time to focus on the pupils.
Whatever your new year’s resolution may be, we wish you all the best with achieving this. Also there is nothing wrong in adjusting your resolution if you may have been over optimistic. The most important thing is that your health and wellbeing comes first, so that you can be your best within the classroom.
