I have been tweeting and blogging professionally for a few years. I see Twitter as professional development. It has provided me with hundreds of ideas and no end of inspiration. I have connected with fellow teachers from around the world and have been privileged to get an insight into their classrooms. My blog was a way of sharing my thoughts and ideas. It was intended to share the things that mattered to me about teaching, the things I was doing in my class that I hoped would help my fellow tweachers. It was a hopeful, upbeat forum brimming with ideas.
But then everything changed. I stopped blogging. It is only now, looking back, from what was a very dark time, that now thanks to @martynreah, #teacher5aday and @mr_patel100 and @thebodycoach that I can finally blog again.
So what went wrong? Firstly the huge changes that have happened in education that meant I felt cynical about the future. It all started with a man called Gove! I am sure you get the gist. Then an event in my school which resulted in a very, very difficult 18 months for our whole school community. Next Twitter itself, Twitter can be such a positive place but can also at times be judgemental, isolating and very negative. Finally, my own physical and mental health. I have lived and struggled with hypopituitarism for the past 12 years. It is a challenging condition which has many side effects including weight gain, fatigue and depression.
So what changed? Well Gove changed a lot and then left and we just have to get on. I still love teaching, I love having my own class and I have to keep going for those in my care, making the best of things for them. The problem in school was resolved eventually and an exciting new head joined our amazing team. Twitter has improved hugely due to the #teacher5aday initiative which supports and encourages teachers positivity and well being, @mr_patel100 provided a months worth of memories which connected teachers in a positive way via #memorymarch and @martynreah is now following this up with #stressawarenessmonth. As for my health, I have always had a 'this isn't going to beat me attitude' I have rarely taken a day off work believing that if I did I might never get back. It has been tough. But I have for the past year been seeing an amazing psychotherapist @seanorford, he has transformed my thought processes and put me on the road to rediscovering myself. Finally I came across @thebodycoach and his lean in 15. I have lost over a stone, I exercise daily, eat healthily and whilst I still have hypopituitarism, which will always be a battle, I feel better more positive and happy about myself .
I have a wonderful family, I work in a great school with a close team, so the future looks brighter, I can and will blog again!
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