I am really enjoying using fairytales at the moment as the stimulus for my lessons. We got two weeks out of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Prior to this we read The Three Little Pigs. We are starting Little Red Riding Hood on Monday. Little Red Riding Hood If you can when teaching younger children, […]

Last October I attended the NCSE's Introduction to Autism course for teachers who were beginning their first year in an ASD class. I was so motivated and impressed after that course and decided to apply for a support visit to get one of the experts out to my classroom! We were told that they were […]

Our stimulus last week was Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The story prior to this was The Three Little Pigs, which the boys loved, so I knew it would be a hard act to follow. I embellished the story slightly and used dramatic effect a lot and it went down well! The boys loved her […]

One teacher and a class of up to thirty young children in the lead up to Christmas is not easy! The excitement is palpable at this stage and it is common for teachers to give in and go with the flow of excitement. Try not to though unless you want these to weeks to feel […]

When I was told last June that I would be taking over the junior ASD class, I felt so nervous, simply because like many other teachers, I didn't feel confident enough, I hadn't completed many courses in ASD, I had never worked in this area before, and I was just overwhelmed. I always like to […]

We had our Science Blast meeting this week. We discussed Science Blast and what it entails. We looked it up on the interactive whiteboard, discussed the logo, and watched the short clip of the children from Castleknock NS who shared loads of interesting scientific questions! I distributed post its to the class and each child […]

I recently signed up to bring third and fourth class in my school to the Science Blast Science Fair in the RDS. I have Junior ASD this year , and the Science Blast is only for third- sixth class so the third and fourth class teacher has kindly agreed to let me work with her […]

We attended our in-service day just before midterm for the NLC. We had a really informative and helpful facilitator who made everything much , much clearer to me. I took a lot of notes which I'll share here! The NLC is a language learning experience and does not recommend any one template- once it contains […]

My goodness this was the fastest week ever. If they all keep going like this it’ll be Christmas before we know it! We had a busy week in school. We had the photographer in at the start of the week which threw our routine a little, but you just have to accept these things will […]

Fine motor skills: continue building these through use of: pom poms and pegs pushing Lego blocks together (and pulling them apart) manipulating play dough practicing getting dressed with belts, buttons, zippers and snaps objects Sticking high interest stickers on pages Painting with sponges cut into very small pieces Gross Motor Skills: Toss bean bags into […]

The Scholastic Book Fair came to our school last month. We have the book fair every year and I always enjoy it! I love seeing the hallway full of bright and colourful posters and books. The children love it too. The Scholastic Book Fair really encourages reading and I think this is so so important […]

The History Box arrived in school for me a few weeks ago. I was excited to receive it as I had heard about it online and I thought it looked really impressive. I waited a while to review it to give it my full time and as there’s a lot in it, it took some […]

I can't believe we are near the end of September and I am only doing my school update now. Truth be told I am just finding life very busy at the moment! Good busy though! Very often my posts offer advice and sharing of ideas to other teachers. I started in my new role as […]

I was recently asked by the lovely owner of Mrs Mactivity to have a look at her site. I am sure most of you have heard of it by now but basically it is a a site similar to well known sites which you pay a subscription to and can download unlimited resources from. The […]

Hello everyone! I always forget that lots of people are new to my blog, I have been writing here for so long now I forget that some of my posts from years ago are too far back for new readers! If you google múinteoir valerie and teaching practice then they should come up. Anyway, long […]

I have used story books with 1st class all the way up to 6th class. You are never too old for a good story book! I adore picture books, and would just teach using these for the whole year if I could.Novels are a firm favourite too. This post includes a list of story books […]

So you have one week down, and if like me you are still frantically chasing your tail, then fear not! This list is not exhaustive, but it contains the things I would personally prioritise for this busy time. if you are an NQT you need to have your weekly plan done. There's no excuses for […]

Hello everyone, I am having a seminar in The Hills Cricket Club on the 28th of January, from 12- 3pm. I chose this weekend because I know a lot of you will have completed a week of placement at this stage and will know what you need to work on, what you would like advice/assistance […]