Well, I have survived my very first term as a teacher. 10 weeks. For the past 2 weeks I have been hanging on by a very thin thread. I've turned into a cranky cow and I am really not suffering fools - especially those aged between 11 and 16! I need these 2 weeks off so I can just catch my breath.
I do have a lot of work to do... lots and lots of marking! And if I feel motivated to do so I will try and plan a good 3-4 weeks of lessons before the first day of term 2.
Despite all that there is one thing I will be doing this holidays... I shall be sleeping in EVERY SINGLE DAY! I will also have an afternoon nap if I so desire! Ahhh sleep, how I have missed thee!
So what have I learnt about myself as a teacher this first term...
Here are the not so good points...
- I'm too soft. I need to be a lot harder on the girls (have I mentioned I work in an all girls school?) because the amount of respect they are showing me has slipped dramatically over the 10 weeks.
- I need to give more homework assignments. I give them time in class to finish the work and then they are expected to finish it before the next time I collect their books. They aren't finishing the work. I usually collect a lot of work at once every few weeks but now I am going to collect at least 1 or 2 items a week. All my classes receive marks towards their final semester grade for their classwork - it should be the easiest marks they can get.
- I need to do more preparation with regards to certain topics because I hate being put on the spot with questions that I just don't know the answer to.
Here are the somewhat better points...
- I am fair. I treat everyone the same which is sometimes hard to do.
- I enjoy teaching even if I would like to string them all from the ceiling at times.
- I don't see going to school each day as a job... I just see it as a part of my life that needs to be done. I proved this to myself when I was as sick as a dog but still went to school. In any of my previous jobs I would have called in sick for up to a week! I did have a couple of sick days in my first few weeks but I was really sick and couldn't get out of bed.
- I have the ability to build a good rapport with most students.
We recently had parent teacher interviews and I received some amazing feedback from the parents. Their girls had told them I was their favourite teacher. Their girls now considered science their favourite subject. It was very nice to hear that I was doing something right because at least once a day I question my ability and question if I am doing it right.
I suppose the test results for all my classes should have told me I was doing ok (very good averages!) but sometimes you need to hear it from someone!
Ok that is enough typing for one day!