RISK: Signposting better choices to more adventurous teaching(Practical Teaching)

39 reflections to improve your decision making in the classroom and beyond. Go on! You can do it! Are teachers becoming ever more compliant as a profession? By just quietly getting on with things there is a danger of losing that spark that attracted you to your career in the first place. However, if you feel empowered to take more risks - to take back control of how you teach - then you have the chance to reignite your passion for the job. This book follows on from David Gumbrell’s text LIFT!, arguing that when you are feeling more resilient you have the courage and confidence to take more risks. You can also calculate that risk more rationally, thereby making it less risky and more likely to result in success. As this cycle continues you become more invigorated, more inspired and thus more engaging as a teacher. A beautifully written book with David's characteristic use of rich metaphors and thoughtful narrative. This book will certainly help you make bolder and better decisions in the classroom and beyond. Adrian Bethune.

Table of Contents:
Introduction - Emerging RISK 1) Training on Plimsolls 2) Prey for the Minotaur 3) Are you tall enough? 4) That’s you tot 5) Living with Earthquakes – who’s fault? 6) Is sleet rain, or snow? 7) 21 again, what are the chances? 8) Floating, yet tethered 9) Feathered Friends 10) Pulsating Stuff 11) Sharpen Up 12) BOIINNGG! 13) Gone for a Six 14) Inflatable Pillow 15) Can’t Resist Air 16) Smashing Time 17) Angles of Elevation 18) Don’t Get Burnt 19) . . . and they are off 20) Pedaling Power 21) Whorls, hoops and arches 22) Swim, Cycle, Run 23) Stifling Suppositions 24) Channel your Tunnel vision 25) What the value of the Ph Scale? 26) ‘One fails forwards’ 27) Goosebumps are great! 28) Push Down and Turn 29) Ever been framed? 30) Pufferfish Puff 31) ‘Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat’ 32) Pixelating Goggles 33) Pint-sized Problem 34) How Purple is Purple 35) Doh! What’s that buzz? 36) Chlorophyll-a-gap 37) ‘I want my Mummy!’ 38) Anyone for RISK? 39) Go for Broke CASE STUDIES

About the Author :
David Gumbrell is an educational consultant, working in schools to support teachers with their resilience and also with teacher training providers and student teachers. He delivers INSET days, one-to-one coaching sessions, and speaks at headteacher conferences. Drawing on over 20 years of teaching experience, including 7 years as a headteacher, and research conducted at Kingston University, he is well placed to nurture the development of those new to the profession - as well as those who have been teaching for a little longer) He understands how precious time is for teachers and wanted to create a resource that made the best use of this.

Review :
A beautifully written book with David's characteristic use of rich metaphors and thoughtful narrative. This book will certainly help you make bolder and better decisions in the classroom and beyond. Adrian Bethune, teacher and author of Wellbeing in the Primary Classroom The power of this book centres around the questions posed throughout. These questions focus you and challenge you to think about not only your practice and the way in which you teach but also your habits and routines. The questions invite you to change the way you do things to enable you to be far more confident in taking risks within your own teaching that are beneficial for all, and that includes you, the teacher! Catherine Carden, Canterbury Christ Church University David uses his detailed and knowledgeable insight into the ways schools work and how we work within them to create an inspirational handbook full of practical advice and questions that make us think. This book should be on the reading list for every teacher and leader. Kate Redman, deputy regional CEO, South Coast at Aspirations Academies Through fascinating and engaging links to historical events and general knowledge, David encourages the reader to be confident and to take risks, embracing the creativity that leads to exciting and memorable lessons. His carefully crafted questions help to coach and reassure you that, although you cannot always predict the outcomes, it does not mean you have failed and that both joy and frustration are part of the journey as you move from bunny slopes to black runs! Helen Shaw, Director of Teaching School at Glynn Learning Foundation This is a welcome addition to sources of much needed support available for trainees and early career teachers. It is presented in a way that is practical and quickly accessible meaning that they can pick up and learn from it in bite-sized chunks – so important in this incredibly busy, sometimes overly pressured time. The advice is easily actionable but appropriately underpinned by research and evidence and will be an invaluable addition to busy teacher’s toolkit Samantha Twiselton, Director of Sheffield Institute of Education at Sheffield Hallam University