The pressure has been mounting in the last two weeks - after half term (which wasn't really a half term for us) I started teaching my full timetable which is 4 hours one week, 7 hours the next, with an extra 2 hours thrown in for fun. Going from observing lessons to planning for and teaching a whole timetable (obviously much reduced as I am a student teacher, but still a lot for someone who has never taught before) has been overwhelming and I have been struggling to stay on top of things. Hence the lack of blogging.
But apart from a few bad lessons, the actual teaching part has been great fun. I recognise how much I still have to learn but more than anything else I have done in my life, I feel like I have the potential to excel at this job. I find being with the kids so entertaining - they are funny, cheeky, constantly pushing boundaries, but when you can find something to engage them it is like you have struck gold. They brim with enthusiasm and imagination and it is contagious.
Standing in front of 32 kids, I feel more assured and authoritative than I think I would have done if I had become a teacher straight after university. I can't say I look back at my 10 years in business with much fondness, but that experience has given me the tools to cope with the demands of this year and the skills to become a successful teacher.
Sunday, 21 November 2010
Monday, 8 November 2010
A milestone and an inspiration
**written last week - posted today!**
I have been caught up with school and family life these last few weeks and it has left me feeling very drained. But I am feeling more myself today - I have the day off and except for a 20 minute tutorial at midday and after working all day yesterday I have broken the back of my lesson plans for the week.
I passed my first milestone last Friday: I taught a full hour class. I was with year 7 (about 11 years old, fresh from primary school) and we were looking at using adjectives and adverbs to make sentences interesting. We played the 'washing line' game where I gave them an envelope full of words and they had 30 seconds to make an interesting sentence and then 'peg' it up on the washing line (a piece of string) that I also provided. Although it felt totally chaotic and I struggled to bring them back to me when I needed their attention, the kids were engaged and having fun. I hope there was some good learning going on (I'll be able to see from the homework task I set them!). It is one thing planning a fun lesson and seeing the students participating but it is difficult to tell if they are actually learning anything. That is an area I need to work on.
I also observed my first proper literature lesson on Thursday - so far English literature has been thin on the ground. But there is one teacher in the English department who I immediately warmed to and I asked whether I could watch one of her lesson on Thursday - she was covering the first scene in Romeo and Juliet. Her passion for her subject was inspirational and I loved her approach to the lesson - she actually brought the text alive. First off, she asked the students to stand up and insult her in 'Elizabethan'. As their homework she had asked them to translate an insult into 'Elizabethan' - the students loved this and some of the insults were hilarious. Then she took the kids outside to act out that first scene ("do you bite your thumb at me sir?") because she wanted them to 'feel the wind in their hair'. She has taken me under her wing which I am grateful for - I knew as soon as I met her that she is the sort of English teacher that I aspire to be.
I have been caught up with school and family life these last few weeks and it has left me feeling very drained. But I am feeling more myself today - I have the day off and except for a 20 minute tutorial at midday and after working all day yesterday I have broken the back of my lesson plans for the week.
I passed my first milestone last Friday: I taught a full hour class. I was with year 7 (about 11 years old, fresh from primary school) and we were looking at using adjectives and adverbs to make sentences interesting. We played the 'washing line' game where I gave them an envelope full of words and they had 30 seconds to make an interesting sentence and then 'peg' it up on the washing line (a piece of string) that I also provided. Although it felt totally chaotic and I struggled to bring them back to me when I needed their attention, the kids were engaged and having fun. I hope there was some good learning going on (I'll be able to see from the homework task I set them!). It is one thing planning a fun lesson and seeing the students participating but it is difficult to tell if they are actually learning anything. That is an area I need to work on.
I also observed my first proper literature lesson on Thursday - so far English literature has been thin on the ground. But there is one teacher in the English department who I immediately warmed to and I asked whether I could watch one of her lesson on Thursday - she was covering the first scene in Romeo and Juliet. Her passion for her subject was inspirational and I loved her approach to the lesson - she actually brought the text alive. First off, she asked the students to stand up and insult her in 'Elizabethan'. As their homework she had asked them to translate an insult into 'Elizabethan' - the students loved this and some of the insults were hilarious. Then she took the kids outside to act out that first scene ("do you bite your thumb at me sir?") because she wanted them to 'feel the wind in their hair'. She has taken me under her wing which I am grateful for - I knew as soon as I met her that she is the sort of English teacher that I aspire to be.
Bonfire night
It was Bonfire Night in Battersea Park on Saturday and after a delicious supper of sausages, onion gravy, bubble & squeak and peas we wandered down to join the fun. I do love Bonfire night, especially in Battersea Park. I did get the feeling that Wandsworth Council scrimped a little on the display, but as my sister rightly pointed out (she's a party planner, don't you know) fireworks cost £1,000 a minute and we are in a tough economic climate!
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