Hi,
I hope you like my website.
My name is Steve and I am a 50 something teacher currently working as supply (relief) teacher in the Midlands in the UK
I previously worked as a special needs teacher educating secondary aged kids all of whom had serious social, emotional and behavior difficulties.
I work in many schools teaching all primary children aged between 4 and 11. Teachers always work incredibly hard- the time, energy, care and emotional commitment that teachers dedicate to their chosen profession never ceases to amaze!
As a supply teacher I am always a ‘spare tyre’ but nevertheless I really enjoy supporting teachers in the classroom and teaching kids to the best of my ability. I meet some great teachers and great kids in some brilliant schools!
The idea for this website came to me recently when I was working at an inner city school. I received a late phone call to go into a school to deliver a full day’s teaching to a class of fractious 11 year olds. After muddling through the morning Literacy and Numeracy lessons, I was faced with having to deliver a science lesson in the afternoon.
After trawling the internet during my lunch break I thought many of the existing websites a little dull and boring and not the kind of thing that would stimulate Leroy during the afternoon science lesson!
I wanted to have a go myself… and Newtonsapple.org.uk was born!
During the afternoon lesson I was unable to concentrate properly because Leroy, the alpha male pupil of the class wolf pack, decided to play his favorite sport, “show the supply teacher who’s really in charge”!
I remained very calm while he strutted his stuff, peacock style, impressing the more impressionable young girls in the class, whilst having several jokes at my expense!
Several days later I returned to the same class again in the same school. Leroy greeted me like a long lost friend! Had he genuinely missed me or was he looking forward to playing his favorite sport once again?!
This website aspires to achieve the following:
- fulfilll my personal need to discover the wonders of science.
- provide a flexible resource accessible to educators teaching in a variety of educational settings including primary schools, elementary schools, middle schools, lower secondary schools and special schools.
- be accessible to educators teaching science as a foreign language through the medium of English.
- explain scientific concepts concisely in an uncomplicated and uncluttered way.
- steer away from science assessments, assessing pupil progress and all that paperwork stuff!
- uses images in a fun way to extend and develop understanding.
- use images that are copyright free on the world wide web. You wouldn’t expect me to pay for anything, would you? I have short arms and long pockets!
- aspire to be gender neutral.
- provide me with a useful ongoing project when the phone doesn’t ring offering me a day’s work.
- enthuse students with an enduring interest in science.
Happy teaching! Bye for now,