Meet the … teacher: Jennifer Pierce

What do you wear to school? Do you have a favourite outfit for teaching?

Colleagues often describe me as ‘the science teacher with the lovely dresses’ – I love a cheerful dress with a fun print. My favourite is the chemistry-themed dress I made with help from our talented textiles teacher.

I still love any excuse to get my ancient lab coat on. One of my classes sneakily printed a special periodic table on the back with a new element ‘Tuckeranium’ (a play on my maiden name) in my honour, before the discoverers officially named Uut, which to this day still makes me smile.

Describe an embarrassing moment you’d rather not relive in your classroom or teaching life …

Not really embarrassing but unusual and very memorable. One sunny July lunch time, a colleague and I were eating lunch in the ecology area, enjoying the peace and quiet. Suddenly a huge (it felt huge) swarm of bees that nearby building work had disturbed descended to settle underneath the bench we were sat on. We carefully extracted ourselves and later watched with great interest as a local beekeeper calmly put them into a box and removed them to a new home.

Do you have a teaching resource you keep coming back to?

What’s your favourite teaching hack?

Remember small changes can reap big rewards. Show more examples than you think you ever need to and break them down step by step, building familiarity and confidence. Why not be brave and abandon PowerPoint? Use your whiteboard/chalk board, tablet, visualiser, a flip chart, a roll of lining paper – or join me in wheeling out the dusty overhead projector. As you model, take your time and talk through each step as you write it. This means you slow down, and students can more easily follow along.

Are you involved in any extracurricular activities at school?

What’s on your bookshelf?

I love a thriller or murder mystery, especially a Nordic noir. As I have a six year-old, I am also rediscovering and enjoying new to me children’s literature. We are currently reading the Rabbit and Bear series, ‘The pest in the nest’ being one of my favourites. It’s a story about friendship, enemies, compromises and, most importantly, how to cope with a very noisy woodpecker.

Imagine you can only share one piece of advice with your fellow teachers, what would you say?

Teach like yourself and be true to your core values. Be authentic, warm, fair and firm. Never underestimate the power of a smile, a thumbs up, a sticker, a well-placed joke or just noticing to enthuse, encourage, acknowledge and motivate all ages. Narrate joy; your enthusiasm for your subject and learning is infectious and motivating.

How do you relax?

My son, Thomas, keeps me very busy and I love seeing the world differently through his eyes, appreciating the awe and wonder in little things I haven’t really thought about for a long time. And of course, Lego. Everywhere I look there is Lego.

We also have two cocker spaniels and are fortunate to live near Dartmoor and the coast with endless dog walks and rock pooling opportunities on our doorstep. We also enjoy geocaching across the UK and whenever we have been abroad, and I enjoy gardening and growing fruits and vegetables.