5 Teacher New Year Resolutions for 2023

Why do we create resolutions at New Year?

The tradition of creating resolutions at New Year is around 4,000 years old and comes from the ancient Babylonians. (history.com) The ancient Babylonians would make promises to the Gods to repay their debts and return any borrowed items (haven’t you still got the Year 2 teacher’s stapler somewhere?🤔).

How can 2Simple help you stick to yours?

No, unfortunately, we can’t send you a stapler to replace the one that you borrowed...

But, here are some we think you might have made and how we can help:

Check pupils' reading records more often

Oops, I’m guilty of this too! We know you have so many things to do during the day that some of these little tasks might just slip your mind. With our online, automated Reading journals on Serial Mash, it’s even easier for you to check them. Any books your class reads through Serial Mash will also be automatically added! That probably ticks off their New Year Resolution too.

(Not to mention how much money it would save by having all of your schools’ reading journals online 🤑 )

Send home spellings every week

Who wants to be spending their time creating spelling lists to send home? Me neither! Within Purple Mash’s Spelling Scheme of Work, there are weekly Look, Cover, Write, Check sheets for every week of spelling lessons. Why not print them all at once so they’re there ready to grab amidst the Friday afternoon panic?

Pssst.. You can even make your own spelling quiz and set it as a 2Do, so you won’t have to squeeze a test into the timetable.

Practise Times Tables with your class

There is just so much to fit into the maths curriculum isn’t there? With the government’s introduction of the Year 4 Multiplication Check, it’s so important for children to learn the multiplication facts. All well and good if you’ve masses of time, but we know that teachers don’t. Set up a few tablets on a table during Morning Work and have children play one of our multiplication games. We even have printable loop cards and times tables dominos, so you can set up a carousel activity for different groups.

Set aside more time for PE and PSHE

We know there are some subjects that sometimes get jostled out of the timetable for lots of reasons. We also know that PE and PSHE is amazing for improving children’s mental health (and yours too – hello comfy tracksuit!). It might be our best-kept secret, but Striver is our PE and Wellbeing Scheme of Work and contains all the planning you would need to teach across the school. It’s even available as an app, so you don’t have to chase your planning sheets when they blow away across the sports field!

Striver is available as an additional subscription to Purple Mash and Serial Mash, but you can sign up for a 14-day free trial or download a sample pack.

Have a better work/life balance

Teachers work incredibly hard and have a never-ending to-do list. That's why we have created our teachers area on Purple Mash - have you explored it yet? Inside you will find:

• Whole Schemes of Work for Computing, Spelling and Grammar
• Curriculum Maps
• Leadership toolkits for English, Maths, Science, Computing and Foundation Subjects
• Mash Club planning and resources - a whole term's worth of a computing club!
• CPD, Webinars and Training
• Parent letters and guides to Purple Mash

Hopefully, some of that will save you some time!

Have a wonderful January back in school, and enjoy exploring all that we have to offer! 🎉