Teaching

Since moving back on January 8th, my life has been a whirlwind but in a mostly good way. I have been incredibly busy teaching. They always say that your first year of teaching is the hardest and you'll stress the most and be the busiest while making the least amount of money. So far this seems true! I'm finally out of the woods as of this weekend but before now I was working about 12 hour work days every day including on weekends. It's ok though because I've hit some amazing teaching milestones!

I was given my own classroom when I got back to England! It's so fun! I'm in room E5 in the English building and I am in the process of cleaning it out from its last owner and making it my own. I have the desks arranged into groupings. There's five groups of six spots and then right by my desk I have a single long table that two people can sit at and that's usually where I keep the bad ones hehe. I actually just love having my own class. At the end of each day I erase the board and write the next days date at the top so it's all ready for the next day. I have drawers of pens and pencils and fun supplies and changes of shoes under my desk. I have my seating plans pinned to the walls and I'm going to start decorating with student work. There's also a nice shelf at the back filled with books for silent reading time. 

I was also given a STUDENT TEACHER!! It's crazy because two years ago I was also a student teacher. His name is Joe and he's actually older than me so it's even weirder. He's not with me for every single lesson; he's only with me when I teach my Year 7's. Its neat because I get him to do the register every day and he's planning our next lesson and he's going to lead it and then I feedback him. I hope I'm being a good example for him to follow! 

I have also been entrusted with a rather large and important task. I have to develop the Year 7 (equivalent of our grade 6) scheme of work for the rest of the school year. So I plan all the lessons for every unit and find every assessment and every English teacher in the school will implement the lessons I create. It's crazy because everyone has been teaching for a lot longer than me but I'm so honoured and excited to be entrusted with the task. It's quite a large one though so I've been quite busy. 

It just makes me a bit sad that I can't have these same opportunities in Canada and be progressing as quickly. Hopefully one day soon I'll be in this same position in Ottawa. 

This term I have all new classes and kids. I have 7 classes and approximately 160 students so it's been a job getting to know them all. Here's the classes I teach: 

7X3 - a group of year 7's (11-12 year olds) 

8Y3 - a group of year 8's (12-13 year olds)
9X2 - a group of year 9's (13-14 year olds)
9Y3 - another year 9 group

10X2 - a group of year 10's (14-15 year olds)

10Y1 - another year 10 group 

Year 13 Language and Literature - this is what is called Sixth Form or A Level and its a group of older kids (17-18 year old). There's only 8 students in this class and it's much more similar to a university seminar that I run. 

I have so much fun and I love all my classes. There's two that are a bit more challenging but I love having a challenge because it really helps me learn and develop. The rest are soooo sweet and adorable. I really do love all my students. I have also developed a bit of a fan club which is so sweet. My former year 7 students from last term are all upset that they don't have me anymore so they've written letters to the school asking to be put back in my class and these two girls in particular keep sneaking into my class to leave me cute notes and give me hugs. It makes meeee so happy and teary, I just love it. 

The days are long and hard, the stress is unreal, and the travel to the island is extensive but there are moments where the profession is just so rewarding that I couldn't imagine anything else. There's no better feeling in the world than when I'm in front of my students and I love planning and delivering fun lessons to them that matter. It's also been really fun developing my "teacher voice" and "teacher look". It's so satisfying to be able to shut up a student with just a death glare or to give your "I'm really pissed off at you now" teacher voice which makes everybody shake and apologize to you instantly haha. But mostly I just love having fun with them and making jokes. I would say that I'm a teacher with really high expectations for behaviour but that likes to have some jokes with my students. I have strict routines that all my students have to follow, especially for the younger kids. At the start of every lesson, they have to come in, hand out their books, write the title I put on the board, the date, their learning objectives, and my starter question to them. At the end of each lesson they have to pile their books in a neat pile in the middle of the table, push in their chairs and stand silently behind them until I dismiss them. I love reading to my students, especially because they love my accent so much. I'm so happy with every opportunity that Ryde Academy has given me. 

Anyways if you want to check out what school I teach at just go to http://www.rydeacademy.org/ and you can check it out!