This sheet of stickers has been rolling around in the bottom of my briefcase for months. It came out tonight attached to my soup flask and I decided not to put it back. The reason for that is I now know that I am extremely unlikely to ever become a teacher. I think I can pretty much say that it was not meant to be. Oh well, never say never…

You see, stickers are an almost essential item in the toolbox of teaching – your kit without some is a bit like a real toolkit without a claw hammer – unthinkable! It’s surprisingly easy to motivate children with them. For some reason, give one out to celebrate good behaviour and you immediately grab their attention. They become super competitive about them too. These are the handful left after my last placement and they’re a bit dog-eared and manky to be truthful – well it is eight months since I last set foot in a classroom. This time last year I was just about to finish my second placement and to start to think I could make it as a teacher.

I wonder if stickers would work in business? That’d be fun wouldn’t it? You’d see some people with their chests weighted down with them and others looking on in envy. Now there is a deeply satisfying thought.