I love the idea of #pedagooresolutions and there are many that I could (and probably will) sign up to but I’m struggling a wee bit on a purely selfish and personal level.

The thing is, I work in several (does three count as several?) small, rural primary schools providing CCR and management cover for six classes, three p1-3s and three p4-7s. I do everything from RME to a bit of Gaelic in classes of no more than 18 munchkins. For the most part it’s a joy and a pleasure, read all about it, as they say, here. No two days area ever alike and the interactions with the children vary so much from one school to the next that I’m always kept on my toes.

But here’s the thing; it’s that very variety which can often be most challenging. I’m never in the same classroom, or even the same school, two days running. I’m the educational equivalent of a hermit crab; nowhere to leave my things, no opportunity to carry work over sometimes for another whole week. Cloud storage and Edmodo are my twin saviours of sanity: round here if I forget a resource it’s a long, slow drive home to get it!

I feel,  often, disconnected from the lives of  the three schools; at one in particular I’m not there from one week to the next and trying to catch up with colleagues can be something of a challenge. Planning meetings can either be few and far between or it’ll be a case of trying to fit in fourteen million things into a stolen half hour at the end of a day.

I’m not complaining, I’m not even 100% sure why I’m writing this post. What I do know is that being organised – not necessarily something that comes easily to me – is absolutely paramount. Having to be a jack of all trades – again something we primary teachers are well used to – is particularly tricky when you go days at a time without the opportunity to see, far less build a relationship or rapport with, the children. Nonetheless, the rewards are huge and the opportunities to try out the many and varied wonderful ideas that come from the Pedagoo community, such as Edmodo, one minute writing and more thoughts on science teaching than you could shake a stick at are certainly more than worthwhile.

I don’t for a moment purport to have any great ideas or be in any position to offer answers to the many conundrums presented by teaching across multiple multi-stage composites but I’m always willing to listen and learn and, if I *can* help or offer support at all then consider this ear loaned.