As a result of my mind being elsewhere (as it usually is!) and not looking where I was going, I stumbled in the school car park on Monday, losing my footing and injuring my ankle. Result: I’ve been unable to travel into work this week and spent my days with my foot up working from home.
Along with a couple of online lessons – like an unwelcome foray back into the height of the pandemic – I’ve managed to squander hours on the internet venturing down rabbit holes mainly through links to articles found on Twitter.
One search resulted in me signing up for a webinar hosted by the Bell Foundation which I understood to be about EAL mentoring. It seemed uncanny that the first topic of my two post blog at this point was going to be discussed online early evening on Wednesday, so I signed up on Tuesday before the rush for places arrived.
Unfortunately, no such rush took place which is a real shame because the webinar was superb. Not on the topic I thought I read (I’m blaming the painkillers), mind you, but on mentoring Early Career Teachers (or Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) as they’re known in Scotland) to ensure they adapt their practice to support EAL learners. With only three participants, if I was one of the presenters I’d have been tempted to fake a failure in technology, swap the ‘muter for the tele and zone out rather than Zoom in. The fabulous Caroline Bruce and Sheila Hopkins are far too professional to do so, thankfully, and what we received from them was akin to a private tutorial delivered by experts.
How I managed to sign up for something I shouldn’t have is beyond me. That I did so, though, I’m very much pleased about.
This was the third training webinar provided by the Bell Foundation that I’ve attended. It certainly won’t be the last as all three have been really good value.
You can find a list of Bell Foundation paid for and free events on their website. I strongly recommend giving them a visit.
