I miss people. Having recently returned to work after a year of maternity leave (second time in the last 4 years), I was really happy to be back at work. I had my spark back! I love being a mummy but I also love being a teacher and I am very lucky that I get to split my week and do both. Only a few weeks into my return to work and I am at home again. On lockdown. Don’t get me wrong, I am quite enjoying being at home with my little family again and spending time with them. We are well, we are safe and we are together. But the same as everyone else, I miss my family and friends and I miss my students and colleagues. So over the last few weeks, I have re-engaged with social media. Despite being one of the first to get Facebook (year abroad/uni days), the online world scares me a little. I use it personally but haven’t really dared to put myself ‘out there’ publicly and in a professional context. Twitter reliably informs me that I joined in 2011 but I find it quite confusing and tend to dip in and out of it. I did discover the wonderful Mfltwitterati which has been invaluable in my teaching so far and I now also use the MFL Facebook groups to share ideas and thoughts. Instagram is my current fave, however. I created my @_leolanguages instagram account a few months ago whilst still on maternity leave and I am becoming more and more confident with it. I love the photography and ‘showiness’ of it all. I follow quite a few primary teachers but it doesn’t currently seem to be used by many UK secondary teachers (or if so I’m yet to find many). But I’m hoping to keep building it. Also along with many others at the moment, a Zoom meeting is a daily occurrence (either to online quiz with family or to run a little Spanish lesson for my friends’ children). I haven’t yet used it in a capacity as a teacher. The online world has become a new reality and one which many people have been forced to get on board with. I am really enjoying connecting with other teachers online, and Twitter, Instagram and all the wonderful free CPD which is being offered (and which I am taking advantage of) is really helping to keep me inspired and motivated while not in school. So that brings me to this blog…. an online journal of my thoughts and ideas as a secondary MFL teacher. Something that I have wanted to do for a while but life hasn’t allowed me the time. A place to keep all of the teaching tips, advice and hacks that I have been collecting along the way. I may not even dare publish it but I am going to have a lot of fun creating it. 🙂
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