Today I did something very radical. After I finished planning my lessons, I took off all my hats (or put them all on at once?) and decided to update my scholarship log. To explain, here at USIC/ELTC@The University of Sheffield, our schedules include 3hrs per week scholarship time, with the freedom to use it as we please as long as it is CPD-related. The TD team (including me) provide support/ideas for this through the bulletin (my current baby), and a varied programme of workshops. In order to monitor this/hold teachers accountable for it, we have to log what we do on a template provided centrally which we all make a copy of and share with our line managers. So back to today, which indeed is in February so actually (terrifyingly enough) not hugely far off half way through the academic year, I finally got round to sorting mine out for this year (new version each year required so that the document doesn’t get too unwieldy!). Which translates as being faced with trying to log, including dates and time spent, everything I did CPD-wise last term. Can I remember off the top of my head? Hell no. If I asked, I would have said well I did my SFHEA, suppose I haven’t done heaps else otherwise. However, fortunately, most if not all of the CPD I do includes an element of reflection carried out via my old friend, this blog.

In fact, it turns out that last term and into the beginning of this one I have:

• completed and submitted my SFHEA application (watch this space), which probably accounts for more than enough scholarship hours on its own!
• written about using Mindfulness with students
• done a TD session for colleagues at USIC about using mindfulness with students
• reflected on and written about looking back on the last academic year and looking forward on this one, based on reflective questions I included in my first TD bulletin of the academic year.
• reflected on and written about how I approach my first class of an academic year and why
• set up a scholarship circle focusing on using mindfulness as teachers for our wellbeing and with students
• attended and written up a workshop about inclusivity delivered centrally by the university
• watched and written up one of the conference webinar sessions of the Macmillan World Teachers Day Online conference – Mindfull or Mindful?
• delivered a workshop at the ELTC about using mindfulness for our own wellbeing as teachers and with students
• watched an IATEFL webinar about what makes a good language teacher
• done Sandy’s 10 year challenge looking back on my last 10 years of teaching and life and what I have done (her original linked to in my post!)
• listened to Garnet Education’s podcast about teacher wellbeing and mindfulness by Rachael Roberts, which I will be writing up next!

…which is actually a fair chunk! Thank you blog for being my memory and reflective aide!!

Having done all the scholarship log updating and looking through my blog in order to do so, I am filled with fresh enthusiasm to add more, albeit time is not often on my side! 🙂

So that is just one reason why blogs are useful! Of course there are many more…

How does your blog help you (unexpectedly)? 🙂