My 365 Blog Challenge

I've been doing lots of thinking about New Years Resolutions over the last few days. Are they useful?  What's the point in them? If I was going to make any what would they be? Etc .... Now I don't think I particularly know the answers to any of these things. But what I do know is that I do like a challenge, I also think it's about time I took myself out of my comfort zone. So here goes .... My challenge is to write a blog post every day for 365 days starting today!

I challenge myself to have a go and already I know that due to my personality, the Leo in me, I will not want me to fail, so I will do this if it kills me and believe me it might. Because sat here all relaxed during the holidays it seems possible, easy even. However, by this time next week after a long day at school it will not seem such an easy task!

I will blog mainly about teaching and my day to day experiences in the classroom. I will try to keep it lighthearted and also hopefully along the way share some ideas, resources etc.

My first thoughts on teaching on day one of my challenge are that I enjoy teaching, it is my vocation. However what I don't like is the stress, the politics that go with it. It is only when I am away from it that I realise how stressed I am at the end of term. Something I know is experienced by all teachers, in fact by 90% of the working population. But the stress I have experienced has impacted upon every part of my life. My relationships, my physical health, my mental health, everything!

Every time I read The Guardian Secret Teacher, go on Twitter, talk to colleagues I see how endemic this teacher stress is. It makes me sad for the adults but what about the pupils?  I know that if all of the other teachers out there are anything like me, they, we, do our best. We give 100% all of the time, our pupils do make progress, they are learning, but what stress are they under too? A lot more than they should be I believe.

So I will use this blog to keep a check on myself, to ensure that I stick to my blogging challenge but also to ensure that I stick to the vow I made way back in September to bring back the joy into my class, into my home, my relationships, my life!

So come on if your hard enough, join me, it's going to be a roller coaster!