In my first teacher training placement, I watched other teachers, was allowed to raid their filing cabinets for resources, and more or less copied what they did.

In my second placement, in a different, less well-resourced school, I drew on my first experience and learned to adapt and be more creative with my planning and teaching.

And then one day, I was being observed by a mentor.  During the feedback, she said “I really liked the activity you used to start the lesson – could I have a copy to u..