With social media and job board websites that are relatively cheap to access, why do so many businesses still spend thousands of pounds on recruitment? For many jobs, it makes perfect sense for the business to recruit on their own, using many of the tolls available to them, such as LinkedIn advertising or posts onto job boards, not to mention the free avenue; word of mouth. There is now such thing as cheap recruitment, thankfully, and more businesses should take advantage of this. Of course, there are cases whereby specialist help is required. This could be a particular industry or niche where you’re looking for a very specific and talented individual, and unfortunately the job boards aren’t going to cut it, especially when we start considering ‘head hunting’.

What is head hunting?

It’s a technique that’s used when there is a very defined background from which the recruiting company is looking for. It’s ideal for when someone wants a person ‘who is from a competitor’ or where that particular expertise is employed in similar, but not competitive organisations. In the case of headhunting, many of the cheap recruitment options simply won’t cut the mustard.

So, putting these recruitment situations aside what are some of the top cheap recruitment options for small businesses? One kind of recruitment that seems to be growing in popularity, especially for small firms, is flat rate recruitment. This kind of recruitment is where you pay an individual or agency a flat rate and they then dish your advert out across social media and job boards. This is a wise option for those who simply want to get their advert out there for hundreds of people to see, and if it’s a job where you know you’ll have many qualified applicants who are interested, it’s a great way to spread the word and receive plenty of CVs to go through. Some of the flat rate agencies will even filter the CVs for you and order them fro most qualified to least, so you can have almost all of the work complete by paying just a few hundred pound. This was unthinkable just a few years ago.

Of course, with LinkedIn as a business orientated social media platform, you can use the advertising feature yourself, spending just a few hundred pounds to spread the word about the opportunity available in your workplace. This can be just as cheap as flat rate recruiting, however, and to ensure your ads are optimised you’ll need to learn a little about LinkedIn ads, so perhaps choosing a social media agency or flat rate recruiter to help is a wise option.

There are of course still the tried and tested traditional methods, such as advertising your job in the local paper and nowadays these are published in print and online, so the reach is still relatively good. Adverts in local papers are often viewed with more trust than a listing on a job board, and you can choose to have candidates email their CV and cover letter over, or call you to learn more.

What is in a name?

It’ one’s own brand, something that you’re identified by, anytime, anywhere. Well, have you been at a hospital and noticed how nurses and doctors display their names on nameplates? This is not only merely to reveal part of their identity, but also to ensure patients know who to refer to, whilst a name and job title can ensure people know who to go to for particular purposes.

Likewise, teachers are role models to students and should show pride in their work by having their name and job title on show at any time within schools. Displaying nameplates indicates that the teachers are proud of their career and are not shy of being associated with this noble profession. It is a sign of self-confidence in teaching as a career, but of course, there’s much more to a nameplate or name tag than that. (more…)

UK schools spend a significant amount of their budgets on top quality gadgets that can facilitate the teaching process, and it’s not uncommon to walk into a classroom nowadays to see 30 odd students using iPads.

That said, there is some debate over how useful these are, as they can be rather distracting. As an example, with a textbook, all the students can focus on is the text in front of them, they’re then more likely to absorb that information and process it. Whilst iPads may also be used for other apps, games and websites, so it could be a little easier for a student to go off topic. Of course, teachers can set up the iPads in ways that keep them focused, perhaps using passwords to keep the children in the app, but are costs going to waste on tech our kids don’t need, and should students just use textbooks most of the time instead? Let us know what you think about this one.

There are certain traits that people need if they want to have a successful career as a teacher, and if you don’t possess these qualities, you may want to consider another career.

Patience

Without patience, you may struggle to adapt in a classroom. There will be such a diverse range of students and you have to have the patience to really get the best out of each individual.

Attention to detail

You have to know your course material inside and out, but you also have to have a keen eye to see which pupils are doing well and which pupils need more of your time to see better results. It’s all about being on the ball at all times, which isn’t easy.

Confidence

If you lack confidence in the classroom the students will sense it, and that can be a major problem. They need to respect you, and the only way they will is if you really own that classroom and ensure they know who is in charge.

As the new academic year approaches, are you ready for your next year teaching in a school? As the new year starts, being organised can help you get back into the flow of teaching much easier. The 6-week break is coming to an end so making sure you have all the essentials is, well, essential.

Making sure you have the basics such as an organiser, stationery, notepads and lesson plans is the place to start. After having a break from work, getting back into the swing of things can be difficult, from preparing each lesson, setting homework and of course the dreaded marking. Make sure you manage your time wisely to help you stay on top of your workload and provide yourself enough time to detach yourself away from school life.

Stress can often show in lessons and student pick up on this easily, if you feel like you are struggling with your workload, speak up early and it will become easier to manage with help and support from the rest of the team.

Good luck and happy teaching.

It can take a good amount of planning and energy to prepare your class for their next academic year. However, if you follow these tips, you should have a smooth running throughout the year.

Tidy up your books and notes- If you want to a have a clear mind, then you must clean your desk. This will allow you be productive and get to work once classes resume.

Create your schedule- If you don’t have a planner yet, you should be looking for one. Create your own scheme and mark out some of the most important dates.

Check if you have everything that you need for the year- It’s important to have a list and check whether you have everything that you need. This will allow you to get organized for the next academic year.

Set your goals- You need to set your next academic year’s goals so that you can work towards achieving them. Have something that can constantly remind you of your goals.

As the school year comes to an end, it is important to keep your students engaged with their work. Students can become easily distracted as the eagerly anticipate the summer holidays away from school.

Planning fun and interactive lessons during the end of term can work well for keeping students engaged and learning. Setting out creative projects to be completed within lesson time, such as model building can help keep them focused. Following this create a presentation session where they can present the teach the class about the project they created.

As the final days draw in, the lessons tend to get lighter and it can be a great way to end a school year on a positive note. This can include a film and popcorn session in between classes.

As teachers the end of year is great way to reflect upon the previous terms and start your preparations for the next school year, after your well-deserved break that is.

Children today spend less time than ever outdoors. They are so busy playing with their computer games, surfing the internet and texting that they simply do not spend any quality time outside. Children are missing out on the wonders of nature and the world around them. This is why the teaching student’s outdoors is a good idea for teachers.

Outdoor classrooms allow pupils to spend some quality time outdoors away from the classroom environment. Many people wrongly assume that outdoor classrooms are only of use when teaching about the environment or natural science subjects but, this could not be further from the truth. Outdoor teaching can be used to teach all manner of subjects. For example, children could take art classes in their outdoor classroom; this would allow them to draw landscapes and environments that they see. It can also be used in English classes as children can be asked to write about their environment and so on.

A new way of learning with the changing technology of today. Learning has never been easier, with online learning you can simple download the App for your smartphone and learn on the go. If you have mobile data usage or are connected to WiFi then simply open the App and start learning. Many online learners choose to take a lesson during their commute to or from work or even on their lunch break.

Having the lessons on your phone means you are not tied down to attending a class at a particular time, you have control of when and where you want to learn. One of the best things to learn online or on your interactive device is a new language. Duolingo is a fantastic site that is completely free, meaning no hidden costs, just pure learning.

Learning with Duolingo is also made fun with reward points and a heart system for getting questions right or wrong, if you lose all of your heart you must start again. The App makes it easy to become addicted to as you collect your points for all of your correct answers. It also encourages to learn everyday by having a streak counter, keeping your learning consistent and motivates you to stay on track.

The Application allows you to choose which language you want to learn, you can even learn multiple amount of languages, although this is more challenging and requires a little more time.

Having an online interactive learning platform allows your learning to fit around your busy lifestyle. Impress your family and friends as you begin showing off what you have learned, you could even encourage others to join the platform and compete with each other.

Whether you want to learn a second language so you can have an extra skill, or you want to show off your lingo on your next holiday abroad, interactive learning is a great way to learn.

Teaching is a difficult task to get done right and involves a great deal of expertise to be done professionally. Some of this expertise can be gained prior to actually starting out your career, but this is mostly of poorer value than what you can learn in work for a number of reasons:

As with most standardised training, the goal is to standardise results, which, in the case of teacher training, results in teachers whom have a solid understanding of the basics. While the basics are essential, they aren’t always enough to produce great teachers. Likewise, not continuing formal training as a teacher, and relying purely on your own experience to develop your skills, will cause you to have gaps in your understanding of how to teach a classroom.

To develop your teaching skills, you should rely on a mix of formal training, for instance during teaching training days and various teaching conferences, as well as your own experiences. By using the formal training as a means to discover new ideas, you can then use your experience to determine which ones you’ll be able to apply easily and effectively.