Back in 2019, I had a brainwave. I had been developing my own morning resources, for the previous five years, and wanted to share them with the wider community. After all, with so many teachers permanently snowed under, and struggling to find time to plan, in amongst the endless to-do list entries, why re-create the wheel?
Morningchallenge.co.uk and 'The Student-led Classroom' were born, and endeavored to offer a bank of ways in which student-led learning could be embedded into primary school spaces. Over time, the site has grown and it's now used in six continents, daily, by thousands of professionals who value their time, well-being, and, most importantly, strive to engage and motivate their learners.
Yesterday (12th November, 2021) was a date worth celebrating. After spending literally thousands of hours producing challenge slides, for both 7-9 & 9-11 year-olds, I uploaded the 732nd offering (yep, there's even one for a leap year!) The calendars are now full to the brim and promise to offer a range of English, maths, geography, history, art, science and well-being related tasks. Don't forget the daily proof-reading, either, which comes in the form of 'spot the mistake'. Funnily enough, I receive at least one email, every single week, letting me know that I've spelt something wrong...
It's also been a project to produce a daily story-starter - hugely influenced by the brilliant work of Simon, at Pobble, and to add daily maths starters. This new addition is in development, with new dates added every day. I firmly believe that the structure of teaching blocks of maths, based around a single focus, and then moving on to something else, means that children cycle through learning, forgetting, moving backwards and relearning. That is, unless they receive regular reminders and opportunities to brush-up on skills. Warm-ups are the perfect place for this, and the three daily, differentiated questions aim to keep them on their toes and in-the-loop!
There's so much on offer, now, and it's been a massive pleasure to hear from so many fellow professionals who have positive stories to tell about how they use the site. As always, my goal is to strive to keep the site free, but it does cost to keep it online, and to avoid the addition of adverts. If you're a daily user and you'd like to say a little thanks, donations are warmly received and can be made by clicking the link at Morningchallenge.co.uk!
Finally, a big thank you to everyone who's got involved in this project and shared it with colleagues in schools and via social media. What started as a simple idea continues to grow and I'm excited to see what the next three years bring for both the site and teaching, in general, as we emerge from the barriers that the world's thrown at us.
Make your comeback stronger than the setback!
Mr.W.