The document describes a teacher's daily routine living and working at a boarding school. It discusses his dislike of commuting and preference for living on campus just 300 meters from his classroom. It then details his morning rituals, which include breakfast with students and staff in the dining hall where conversations about school life are common. It concludes with the teacher preparing for the school day by setting up his classroom and having conversations with colleagues before teaching begins.

1. From Bed to Classroom by @pjcann
The idea of getting into my car every morning and sitting at traffic light after traffic light, enduring
the irregularities of the British motoring public fills me with a sort of dread.
This post answers the 38th question from my TeacherToolkit Thinking page of Thunks.
Thunk 38: From bed to classroom by @pjcann
I’ve never had to commute to work, though I do live further from my classroom than I have
ever lived before – all of 300 metres. I can see what some people might find attractive about
commuting – searching for that elusive work/life balance, trying to switch off at the end of a
day and “get away from it all” – but I can’t really understand it (and I
suspect that it’s mostly practical for many, anyway). It’s all so alien to how I think.
Boarding:
I live in a school flat, next door to a girls’ boarding house. Every time I open my front door
there could be pupils there. Some people find that oppressive, limiting to their private lives. I think
we all recognise that the interactions we have with the pupils outside of lessons affects how we see
them in lessons, and how they see us. Whilst this can go to extremes, for me, living cheek-by-jowl
with the pupils just extends that interaction into almost every sphere of life, and it’s just
normal for me.

2. Photo Credit: Coolmonfrere.
Breakfast:
When I lived in a boarding house in a previous
school, the housemaster’s son would
come through to the dining room to have his
breakfast just as I was finishing reading the
Obituaries and Engagements, and demanded we
read the Sport pages. He thought I knew a lot
about football, though I was just reading the
captions faster than him. It became a ritual that
year, and I did learn a lot about soccer.
Breakfast in an institution seems full of rituals
– the same chalkies are there each day, sitting in the same seats at the same table –
not some tradition that must be maintained, but a habit that is hard to break.
A year into a new job, and it is still strange for
me that breakfast here comes with
conversation rather than early-morning-grunts
of recognition; it is often headlong into
“talking shop” –
discussing rugby training that afternoon, or
catching up with a colleague about a tutee
– or generally discussing life at school.
As a young teacher cutting my teeth as an
inexperienced HoD, it has often been these
conversations that have challenged or
moulded my conceptions about education,
though sometimes it can be too much at
7.30am on a bleak February morning.

3. Photo Credit: Asher Isbrucker
Teaching:
Last year’s addition to Common Room of bean-to-cup coffee machines means an essential
7.45am trip for a cappuccino (with an extra-shot of espresso – another ritual) and perhaps a
first look at the cryptic crossword. The usual couple of people will be there, reading the paper, doing
some administrative work or just passing through. It’s time to bite the bullet, though, and
“open up the shop”. A wander through the cloisters might elicit a few ‘good
mornings’ but it’s time to ensure that the department coffee machine is switched to
go, that the fridge is stocked with milk and that I am fully prepared for what I’mESL lesson
plans.
I don’t mark in the mornings unless I’m really up against it, though I’ve often
thought that I probably could. There are conversations to have with colleagues instead, often
administrative, but importantly social – though I dread the Monday morning “how was
your weekend?”; working in a boarding school, as I always have, the concept of a weekend
seems as alien as commuting, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. And by now it must
be time to hit the chalk-face …
What do you think? I’d appreciate your comments below.
End.
Written by @pjcann and edited and posted by @TeacherToolkit.
Biography:
Pip Canning has just completed one year as Head of Classics at an independent school on the south
coast. He is currently completing a Master of Teaching qualification through the Institute of

4. Education.
"Curiosity is a delicate little plant that, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of
freedom. Albert Einstein"
You can follow him on Twitter at @pjcann.
Pip Canning
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The most followed teacher on Twitter in the UK
who writes one of the most influential blogs on
education in the UK and across the world. Award
winning Deputy Headteacher; Author of 100
Ideas: Outstanding Lessons and writer for The Guardian Education. Founder of @SLTchat and co-author
of the #5MinPlan. Championed #TMLondon @MyEdHunt and @SLTeachMeet; plus one of
first UK teachers to venture into the unknown, with pay-per-download teacher resources.
http://teachertoolkit.me/2014/10/06/from-bed-to-classroom-by-pjcann/
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