Kicking off Season 2 of IYOTYW is an episode that addresses the elephant in the (staff) room: teacher wellbeing. Let’s chat real-life experiences and listen to the wishes of our hosts, Marie and Jodi, for positive changes in future education.

Important Note: This episode deals with teacher wellbeing and mental health. If you are triggered by this subject then now may not be the time to listen to it. Equally, if you continue to listen and find it challenging then make sure that you have someone on hand that you can talk to about your feelings.

When did it become the norm to accept detrimental teacher wellbeing? What factors contribute to this? How could we change this culture? These are amongst the questions we ask in between anecdotal examples to highlight the problems we face.

Teachers not only take the weight of a hefty workload. They provide essential emotional support to hundreds of students on a weekly basis in addition to liaising with parents on limitless numbers of issues. The strain manifests itself in different ways on different teachers but the telltale signs are often there - sleepless nights, inability to switch off, heightened anxiety, low energy levels, to name a few.

Our guest this week, Sadie, offers her valuable input from the perspective of an educational specialist and a keen advocate for promoting positive mental health. This leads us back to our key questions on teacher wellbeing and gets us hoping for fundamental improvements in the way teachers are allowed to do their jobs in future practice.

It never hurts to know you’re not alone so let’s share our experiences with you - whilst welcoming your input - with a hot cuppa and an warm atmosphere in the IYOTYW studio!

Timings

00:00 - Welcome to this week’s episode, ‘You Don’t Have to be Mad to Work Here…’

06:06 - Teacher wellbeing and how we set boundaries

13:17 - New year’s resolutions

14:45 - Hello to Sadie, an RSE specialist and champion of wellbeing

16:06 - Are schools a breeding ground for mental health issues?

30:33 - Three stars and a wish

#educationpodcast #IYOTYW

What happens with your Christmas lessons in school? Do you line up an audience-friendly run of festive film or are you obligated to wrap up those lingering learning objectives?

Join Marie and Jodi (in between mouthfuls of mince pie) for the latest from IYOTYW, a cosy spot for classroom-centred chit chat. We rustle through a range of seasonal teaching topics that cover decoration ideas for Christmas in school to activity suggestions and winter jokes (cue tumbleweed…).

And warming this week’s winter seat is Claire, an English and Drama teacher. She shares her experience of Christmas lessons in schools, her approach to pre-break teaching and her wishes for fun festive learning.

So pull up an armchair and join us at the fireplace of festivities for this snow-tinted edition of IYOTYW.

Timings

00:00 - Welcome to this week’s episode, ‘

01:58 - Activity and decoration ideas for Christmas in school - https://www.twinkl.co.uk/l/nuicp

03:43 - The ceremonial hanging of the lonely bauble…

04:45 - The Pirate Game - https://www.twinkl.co.uk/l/6jocs

07:20 - What do you get if you cross a snowman and a vampire?

08:20 - Wave hello to this week’s guest, Claire, an English and Drama teacher.

14:50 - Email us with your views on dating as a teacher, at [email protected]

15:40 - Christmas “jokes”

22:10 - Three stars and a wish

#educationpodcast #IYOTYW

Teachers by day, teachers by night? For many, this feels like the norm but this week we explore the secret lives of teachers. That is, when we pretend to have a life outside the classroom…

Each teacher’s endeavours to pursue hobbies and personal passions outside of school is often met with obstacles (marking, planning, clubs, parent’s evenings, open evenings, training, more marking…). However, some of us still manage to lead mini lives away from our day job.

This week’s guest on IYOTYW, James, manages to do just that as he enjoys a bit of fossil hunting here and there (but mostly on beaches). Not only does he talk us through his blossoming interest in geology but also his entrance into teaching and the unusual path he was put upon.

So, prepare yourselves to dig into the secret lives of teachers with the company of our first guest of this theme…and, you know the drill, get that mandatory cuppa on to warm the room further!

Timings

00:00 - Welcome to this week’s episode, ‘The Secret Lives of Teachers: Fossil Hunter’.

00:51 - Hello to our guest, James!

09:27 - Getting into fossil hunting…

15:54 - Where teaching and hobbies collide.

26:30 - Three stars and a wish

If you'd like to find out more about fossils on the Isle of Wight, and perhaps meet James on a fossil hunt, visit www.islandgems.co.uk.

#educationpodcast #secretlivesofteachers

So why is behaviour management important?

If subject knowledge is the meat of teaching, then behaviour management is the plate you serve it up on. And yet, behaviour management in schools can often be a mixed bag, with some having stringent policies, while others prefer to just wing it...

On IYOTYW this week, Marie and Jodi chat with Sarah, a teacher with experience of both mainstream and specialist settings, about the challenges of behaviour management in schools. As well as their usual anecdotes and laughs, they question the received wisdom of a ‘one size fits all’ behaviour management classroom strategy, they look at the thorny issue of swearing, and they discuss the importance of SLT support with school behaviour management policies.

So put your feet up, open the biscuits, and listen while our hosts put the teaching world to rights…

00:00 Welcome to this week’s episode, ‘Three Strikes and You’re Out!’

00:38 Why is behaviour management so hard?

05:40 Teacher training and behaviour management.

14:06 Welcome to this week’s guest, Sarah: chemist, teacher and behaviour specialist extraordinaire!

18:48 Why knowing your students is crucial.

21:43 Strategies for the classroom.

28:38 Two stars and a wish: our episode highlights.

#educationpodcast #behaviour management

Does my Bum look big in this? In this week’s episode of IYOTYW, Marie and Jodi ask the million-dollar question, what should teachers wear in school?

As a student you might have paid close attention to what your teachers wore on a daily basis and, as a teacher, you might be subjected to varying levels of dress codes depending on the type of school. 

Are visible tattoos prohibited? Have you experienced differing dress standards between genders and have you disagreed with any particular rule? But, for now, stick on your most comfortable clothing - perhaps that onesie you keep for ‘re-charge’ sessions! - get a cuppa ready and enjoy this week’s ramblings on the theme: ‘what should teachers wear in school?’...

00:00 Welcome to this week’s episode, ‘Does My Bum Look Big in This?‘

00:51 What should teachers wear in school?

11:54 Greetings to this week’s guest, Paul!

18:48 Non-school uniform days

27:55 Two stars and a wish!

Welcome to return listeners and newcomers alike, as we tackle some teaching issues that’ll strike a chord with many of you in or around the profession. Notably, this week we get into the public perception of teachers off the back of those “So…you’re a teacher” conversations.

If you’ve had this conversation, on either side, how has that conversation gone? Have there been any misconceptions that negatively affected the perception of teachers? How do you think this might affect morale and teacher retention rate?

Our guests this week, Callie and Henry help us better understand both sides of the coin as Henry speaks about his specific experience of teaching and work-life balance whilst Callie brings a non-teacher’s perspective to reflect on our topic under the microscope.

Despite the importance of teaching and the huge amount of work involved, there are still a number of negative tropes thrown at the profession. Jodi and Marie, our guests, discuss their own ideas on the topic and how these public perceptions might have come to be.

So get the kettle on and let’s listen in…

The spectrum for conversational pieces in education is endless, as is the capacity for Jodi and Marie’s discussion in the latest podcast episode of IYOTYW! This time, we turn our attention to learning walks…

Have you ever been subject to learning walks or conducted your own? Or are you on the outset of this and wondering what they are? Here, we look at the real-life experiences of Jodi, Marie and this week’s guest, Deb, in regards to learning walks and how different schools approach them. Were they used as structured observations for formal CPD or were they aimed at placing emphasis on best practice or were they used to place teachers first as a supportive tool (or something else…)?

Mixed in with the sharing of different practice, unique pain points and constructively used practice, our teacher podcast team offers supportive tips and advice as well as a warm atmosphere to complement your hot cuppa as you soak in the conversation!

00:00 Welcome to our podcast - meet Marie and Jodi.

06:40 Learning walks as structured observation for teachers

09:57 Disaster experiences!

11:15 Welcome to this week’s guest, Deb!

24:50 Two stars and a wish for positive practice

Our dynamic hosts are back again for episode 2 of IYOTYW, bringing you an education-themed podcast that broaches many teacher-related topics. This week, they discuss the evergreen conversational piece of residential trips, including school trips that went horribly wrong!

Marie and Jodi take the hosting hotspots as they provide a bit of back and forth on the importance of residential trips, school trip horror stories, and other first hand experiences of getting the students away from the classroom. There’s even a chance to win your very own school trip in the form of a Harry Potter tour (including additional goodies), courtesy of Warner Bros. and Beyond!

Competition information: https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/schools-competition/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twinkl&utm_campaign=schools-competition

English teacher of 17 years, Robyn, also joins the chat this week as she takes a short trip down memory lane to remember inadvertently losing a class of students early in her career and why she was held up from retrieving them! Not wanting to leave her alone, Marie reveals her dad’s school trip that went horribly wrong by way of two students left overnight in the woods…

Episode 1: New year, new you?

Join Jodi and Marie for episode 1 of IYOTYW as they discuss a range of instantly relatable themes to teachers and home educators. These topics include classroom management strategies, institutionalised bladders and what their thoughts are on that old-school piece of advice: ‘Don’t smile ‘til Christmas’...

We kick off this brand new education-based podcast by conversing on issues and situations familiar to teachers of all ages. Jodi and Marie warm the room with cathartic conversation that touches on new (school) year resolutions, planning and preparation, teacher types and advice to new teachers.

Of course, any educational podcast of this nature wouldn’t be complete without a few amusing anecdotes, intriguing stories and entertaining guests. IYOTYW ticks the box on all fronts here!

So grab a coffee (or water, PE teachers!) and soak up the school-centred chat you didn’t know you needed in your life.

It's education, Jim, but not as we know it... banter, biscuits and bonkers ideas are the key ingredients in It's Your Own Time You're Wasting - the new education podcast from Beyond. Join Marie and Jodi as they serve up a slice of staffroom chat and get to grips with the most pressing issues in education today, such as socialising with non-teachers, mislaying students on school trips, and re-training your bladder after the summer holidays.

So, ignore that pile of marking! Pop on your headphones, sit back, and relax as you listen to their super-professional trailer. And don't forget to subscribe to listen to their first full episode - if they ever get around to finishing it!