Stacey Lloyd, Author at Stacey Lloyd

My Favourite Quotations: 1

Every now and then I come across quotations which attract my attention. Sometimes they make me smile, sometimes they inspire me, sometimes they challenge me, and sometimes they just make me feel warm and fuzzy. I thought I would post some of these quotations from time to time, and share my reflections. ************************************************ A few weeks ago I wrote a post about a teacher who really influenced my life. Since then I have had many conversations about the influence teachers have had in friends' lives. Some influences are positive.[...]

Product Development

5 Reasons Why I Love Teaching Figurative Language

1. It’s all around us. I regularly hear the question, ‘Why do we need to learn this?’ For figurative language the answer is simple: Because it’s all around you. From popular song lyrics to political speeches, figurative language is prevalent. This makes teaching relevant as students can actually engage with the application of this linguistic technique in their everyday lives. I ask them to bring in cuttings of newspaper headlines, to present their favorite song lyrics, to do collages of advertising slogans – it’s fun and engaging. Personally, this is[...]

Blog Posts

Student Teaching Tips: 8 Things I Wish I Knew As A Student Teacher

Student teaching: an exciting, daunting, overwhelming and thrilling experience. It’s the first time you step back into the classroom on the other side of the desk and realize that the view is rather different from here. Student teaching wasn’t all that long ago for me, and in the last few years, as I have sat at the back of the classroom and observed other student teachers, I have thought about the experience a lot. These are the eight things I believe all student teachers should know. 1. We were all student teachers once. Sadly, you will encounter many te[...]

Blog Posts

Inspired by Fizzy Fish: Memories of Great Teachers

Can you identify a particular teacher who shaped the person you are today? I can. Her name was Mrs Carter and she was simply wonderful. She wasn’t a big personality. She wasn’t a comedian or an entertainer. She didn’t have a commanding voice or a captivating teaching style. In fact, in many ways, and to many people, she was neither remarkable nor impressive. Yet to me, Mrs Carter was inspiring. A small lady, softly spoken and gentle; sat down when she taught, spoke quietly and listened intently. Classroom management was not her forte – but it didn[...]

Product Development

Using Music Videos in the Classroom

A few months ago I had a startling revelation. Before I explain this, a small disclaimer: When I say ‘music video’, I am not talking about those verging-on-pornographic spectacles of musicians exposing far too much skin and dancing in inappropriate ways, which are degrading and contribute to unrealistic expectations of beauty and sexiness (can you see me on my soapbox?). I mean those meaningful narrative videos, which add layers of subtext to the song, portray the essence of the lyrics and contribute to its effectiveness. Got it? My revelation was this:[...]

Poetry

Thread: A Poem About Teaching

by Stacey Lloyd I fumble through the kitchen drawer searching for something, not quite sure what, exactly. I come across a ball of thread, red in fact, and my mind wonders to the classroom... To a class who remind me of this thread and the dread I get in the pit of my stomach when I try to make them learn something. At times, you see, the attention of the grade nines Is held by a clumsy, delicate thread. If only t’were the puppeteer's string. My quick decisive tugs would bring them back to the space in which each movement I make mov[...]

Blog Posts

Teaching Grade 9

I have a love-hate relationship with Grade 9. Walking into the classroom, you can almost smell the hormones in the air: the anxiety of teenagers trying to shake off primary school identities and find their ‘grown-up’ individuality; the adolescent angst; the confusion of young people trying to come to terms with growing up. You see the lovesickness in the eyes of those going through their first crush (which is so all consuming, don’t you dare tell them that their attention would better turned to prepositions for forty minutes). Childhood friendships shift[...]