All About Jake and the Teacher Syndicate

This site is my (very extended) experiment about the role tacit knowledge plays in teacher professional sharing.  What does that mean?  Read on...

About Me, Jake Riley

I post new messages to this site every week for teachers.  Why?  Because I always wanted someone to do it for me.  I do this all by myself for no money, no advertisements and no sponsorship. Why?  Because all teachers do a lot of extra work for no money.  I'm no longer in the classroom, but I still work in education and I am still very passionate about innovation and new ideas.  And I love sharing good stuff.
 

Another teacher site? Do we need another one?

I know there are lots of teacher sites out there already.  I just don't like most of them, but the ones I do like, I read every week and put their content up here for you, so you don't have to look everywhere. 

I think teaching is an incredibly hard profession.  In my world there is no room for overly twee worksheets or lessons that don't engage students. I cater to the type of hard working professional who says "I want REAL teaching resources and I want lots of them, now!"  

And I especially like the teacher who says "I have a class of 25 kids that are going to eat me alive unless I photocopy this worksheet about fish right now!  I need the 20 minutes it will give me to calm down after that playground duty from hell.  Who cares if it's academically relevant.  It's fish.  It's not porn.  That's educational enough for me!" 
 

What do I do?

Basically I Google the internet each week and find the best new stuff for teachers.  It saves you a lot of time and it stops you wasting time on those commercial sites which promise good resources but don't deliver unless you pay up.  I write some of the resources myself, but I don't scan or copy other people's resources that aren't on the internet already.
 

About me

I'm 40, I come from a teaching family, and I know just how hard the job is.  I'm a proud educator and in the last 20 years I have had just about every job from teacher to senior government manager (and everything in between).  I've spent three years training teachers, a few writing policy and many more years designing resources and professional learning programs for teachers.  And I've spent the last two years making the Teacher Syndicate - and I am very proud of it.  
 

My experiences

The four schools I have taught at were very challenging, but highly rewarding places.  The schools were isolated, rural and in poverty stricken areas.  I relied on older teachers (and my father) to share good advice and resources with me.  I hope the Teacher Syndicate can do the same to support all teachers working out there, wherever you are.
 

Fun

I used my sense of humor to get through the toughest times, so that's why there is a lot of fun on my site also.  I love teaching and teachers, but I enjoy having a laugh at our insane jobs and working conditions.  Humor is a bit hard to use effectively, but I'll take my chances and try it out.  I remember in my first few years of teaching I poked so much fun of the people working in central office - how they would never know about me teaching in my little tin shed in the middle of nowhere.  It wasn't long before I was one of those people.  But even after that I still used fun to get through.  Education, no matter where you are, is a tough gig.

Tacit Knowledge - Why so personal?

I currently believe in the value of tacit knowledge - when personal knowledge is mixed with professional knowledge.  Tacit knowledge can't be copyrighted, can't be stolen, but is a result of lots of experience and reflective thinking. It's also what makes a good teacher a good teacher.  So in the interest of modeling, I share a bit about myself on here.  Blogging Too Far is my attempt at showing the insides of a teacher - a person who teaches.  The quality of what comes out of my mouth when I am teaching depends on not just what I am teaching, but who I am as a person.  I think we all personally contribute to teaching based on our life experiences.  I'm not sure how much experience is enough, or when it's too much, so I am writing about anything that comes to mind, especially my insane family.  They may be weird, but they have helped me understand a lot of students and their own problems.

Where is the Teacher Syndicate?  Who is the Teacher Syndicate?

The Teacher Syndicate has members in every country.  Although it is hosted on a server in the USA, it is accessed by, and contributed to, by teachers from around the globe.

My name is Jake Riley.  I started the Teacher Syndicate in 2009.  I live between Australia and the Americas.  I go from first world to third world quite often (and sometimes I write about the third world).