What I wish I knew with Clare Armstrong-Morris

Clare still believes that teaching is the best job in the world, even though it is tiring and demanding. When you listen to Clare speak about teaching you will recognise why she loves it so much and also why she is such a great example of an outstanding teacher. If I had to go back to school then I would want Clare to be my teacher; she is an inspiration!

In this podcast we talk about ...

• How speaking on the podcast was more scary than cage diving with sharks! Really?
• Why children come to school looking forward to seeing their teacher more than anything else.
• Just how important it is to know the children you teach very well so you can get the very best from them.
• How children can be extremely supportive of you as a teacher as long as you are open and honest with them.
• The challenges of supporting a child whose parent has died. I think this part of the podcast is essential listening for all teachers of traumatised children as Clare's insight for how to support a child in this situation is inspiring.
• Creating a foundation of laughter in a classroom helps to build respect.
• The fact that butter comes from butterflies and the Titanic should not have sunk because it was being filmed as it happened, so the Captain could have been warned about the iceberg!
• If you can capture children's intrinsic motivation then children will switch on, skip through the door and eagerly await what the day brings.
• Why you must not overload yourself in your first year even though there is so much to get involved in that is so exciting.
• How you need to learn quickly that assessment is based on what children do in class every day; it is not just what they do in a one off test or in an end of unit assessment. Plus it is much more than just making academic judgements.
• The importance of knowing where the glue sticks are.
• Teachers are superheroes, yes they really are!

You can connect with Clare on Twitter @clarepmorris.