What I wish I knew with Kerry Tokley

Kerry Tokley has a degree in Musical Theatre, performed at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games and in 2017 became the freestyle dance national champion, which was the year before she qualified as a teacher! Prior to that she had spent 3 years as a 1:1 SEN LSA and it was during that time, as she gradually took on more responsibility in the classroom including covering a class every week, that she knew she wanted to pursue a career as a teacher. Having retired from competitive dancing, Kerry now enjoys learning aerial acrobatics and martial arts, which must be the perfect combination for energising a flagging class of children!

In this episode we talk about ...

• The sparkle in the children's eyes when Kerry was teaching dance and drama at a special needs school.
• How success in one area of the curriculum helps children achieve in other areas.
• Never measuring your progress, as a child or teacher, using someone else's ruler.
• Why getting to know your class really well leads to children who feel listened to and respected and creates a family like environment.
• Planning lessons that incorporate children's interests as this ensures they are highly engaged and motivated by the learning.
• The fact that what happens in the classroom is so much more important than everything that happens outside the classroom.
• Why changing schools if work-life balance is not prioritised is immensely beneficial for a teacher's wellbeing and how important this is if you are to teach well.
• How energising it is to take learning outside and how much children learn beyond the the main focus of the lesson when doing this.
• The importance of essentialism - only doing what really needs to be done. If in doubt as to the value of a task then ask and see if there is a good reason for what you are being told to do.

You can connect with Kerry on ...

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kerrytokley Instagram: @kerrytokley

You can find Kerry's YouTube timetables songs at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuQ8JWDmKcj3KQbKSDQqiOQ