I am sitting here at the end of another school day trying to think of something to distract me from reports and what better than to pour my brain out to a computer screen! It seems that so much can happen in one school week that sometimes you don't really have time to think.
I am learning also that schools can be unpredictable places to work and just when you think that you know what your teaching allotment will be for the following year, everything changes. From the beginning of my time here, although I was hired as an English teacher, I have made it known that History is my other method and that I would like to take on some History as well next year. My KLA manager has been priming me for a Year 12 English class for the last half of this year, and I was really looking forward to it. The only teacher at this school that takes Year 12 History also takes Year 12 International Studies, and therefore, next year, was going to have 4 Year 12 classes next year. I was getting myself ready for Year 12 english next year, and then would try to get in some Year 12 History as well the following year. Just when I thought that my allotment was totally sorted, the History teacher has got a new position as Head of History at another school, leaving the school in panic mode because there is not really anyone to take his place. I have been asked to do one Year 12 History, and if a new staff member cannot be hired, I will be taking on both of the Year 12 History classes.
The prospect is really exciting, but not without its problems. One, I had really started thinking and planning for a Year 12 English next year, and am disappointed that I may not get to take it. Two, if a new staff member is hired to take the History with me, then I will be working with someone that I do not know and do not necessarily get along with.
And at this stage everything is still up in the air. If I only take 1 Yr 12 History, I might be persuaded to take a Year 12 English as well, thereby doubling my preparation.
I know that whatever happens, the support will be there to get me through, including the support of the History teacher who is leaving. He is going to spend a couple of days with me helping me plan and passing on the textbooks. He is also more than happy to be in close contact with me throughout the year.
So I have gone from an allotment of 1 Year 12 English, 1 Year 11 English, 1 Year 7 English, 1 Year 8 English and a Year 7 History
to an allotment of possibly 2 Year 12 History classes, 1 Year 11 English, a Year 7 English, and maybe something small like a Year 7 History.
Interesting.
I sort of like knowing what is going on, but I won't know probably won't know for another week. At least I have been told that I will have at least one History class so I can begin to plan.
I had a phonecall from VATE today about being involved in a beginning teachers conference that they have going on next year (thanks Scott!) and it sounds like a really interesting opportunity to share my feelings and experiences as a first year out teacher. I would love to get more involved in VATE, both in terms of being involved in conferences and that sort of thing, but I would also like to be doing some more writing. I have been to a few good PD days this year and it really makes me keen to be as innovative as I can. Just the chance to share ideas and techniques with other teachers is exciting. There seems to be, to a large extent, a lack of discussion about actual teaching methods and games and techniques to make the classroom more interesting. No two teachers approach the same content in the same way and no two teachers present it to the students in the same way, but it seems as though we presume that everyone teaches the way that we do. Maybe there is a fear of sharing. I wonder why?
Anyway, I have probably pondered enough today and the reports are no closer to being finished!
Monday, November 22, 2004
Saturday, November 06, 2004
A window to next year
Due to the fact that my Year 11's have finished and my literacy support student was not at school, yesterday I only taught 2 periods - and the first two of the day at that! Instead of being disappointed at this lack of class time, I actually started planning for next year. I know at this time of the year it might seem a bit odd to say that I started planning for next year, but I am actually really excited about next year. I guess that it will be like a new beginning in a lot of ways, but with familiar scenery and subject matter. I know that I will be having at least 1 Year 7 English class next year ( I had 2 this year) and so I have gone back to the beginning of this year in my mind to work out what I would do differently next year. It is funny to look back on what I did - all perfectly okay lessons, but I remember how I felt during the lessons. I was so new in the first week of this year, that I was learning as much if not more than my little scared year 7's were!
I was juggling planning with teaching with learning about the school and the discipline policy and the bell times and all the other things that you have to deal with in a new job, let alone a teaching position.
But I have been there and done that, and nothing is as hard as your first time doing something new. I am so much more confident than I was at this time last year, and so much more relaxed about the year to come. At this time last year I had just finished uni, and I had been hired by my school already, but I really had no idea what to expect.
I think I have come a long way in a year. It is easy to forget just how big an adjustment a new career is, and I think most of the time, because I just get on with it, people forget that I am new and that I might not really know what the hell they are talking about!
There has not been a single day this year, even when my year 8's were hanging from the rafters or when a lesson just really didn't work when I thought that I was in the wrong career. No matter what has happened during the course of this year, I have known all along with certainty that this is what I want to be doing with my life at this point in time, and that I will hopefully continue to love the job for many more years.
I was juggling planning with teaching with learning about the school and the discipline policy and the bell times and all the other things that you have to deal with in a new job, let alone a teaching position.
But I have been there and done that, and nothing is as hard as your first time doing something new. I am so much more confident than I was at this time last year, and so much more relaxed about the year to come. At this time last year I had just finished uni, and I had been hired by my school already, but I really had no idea what to expect.
I think I have come a long way in a year. It is easy to forget just how big an adjustment a new career is, and I think most of the time, because I just get on with it, people forget that I am new and that I might not really know what the hell they are talking about!
There has not been a single day this year, even when my year 8's were hanging from the rafters or when a lesson just really didn't work when I thought that I was in the wrong career. No matter what has happened during the course of this year, I have known all along with certainty that this is what I want to be doing with my life at this point in time, and that I will hopefully continue to love the job for many more years.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Sitting here a bit frustrated at the end of another school day. The problem is that I don't know who to be frustrated with; the year 7 student with a reading and writing level of a grade 3 and the concentration span of a gnat, or the school system or that has thus-far failed him and continues to do so? This student has completed virtually no written work, or work of any other kind in any of his subjects. He is on literacy support, which appears to be helping him slightly with his reading but not with his spelling or grammar or writing in general, and the only way that he seems to do any written work is if it is a creative writing piece and he has the use of a computer.
Should I be angry, that this student is so weak and yet refuses to concentrate and make an attempt on his work, or is it not his fault, because, by the age of 12 he should have a skill base to draw on which he somehow has missed? I am concerned that this student will just become lost in the system and that he will leave school illiterate. He is not concerned because he is convinced that he will enter a trade when school has finished, but I would like to think that he will at least leave school with basic written communication skills. I don't think that enough has been done to enable this student to function. Has he been failed by his primary school for promoting him (after already keeping him down one year) from primary to secondary, or are we not helping in secondary school by continuing to promote him through the year levels despite a lack of work and a lack of interest in school in general?
On the other end of the spectrum is one of my senior students who is extremely capable, and manages to get fantastic marks with minimum effort. I questioned him today about why he does not put any effort into his work and he told me not to worry, because it wasn't just my class, but it was all of his classes. I asked him why he is content with doing the bare minimum and he told me that he is not interested in going to uni, he wants to do a tafe course (which is great if he knows what he wants to do) but he believes that because he doesn't need to go to uni, getting good marks is irrelevant to him, and therefore he does not try.
I suggested to him that wasn't it worth trying to be the best that he could be in everything he does rather than to spend his last couple of years of school mucking around and being bored? I told him about how I had had 2 part time jobs whilst I was studying, one after the other, and even though I knew that I was not going to be spending the rest of my life in retail positions, I did my best for the time I was there, and that this benefitted both my development, and the development of the company that I was working for. I don't understand how he can make a decision that he does not need school, that marks are irrelevant and that he is not going to challenge himself in any way at school!
Why does this make me so frustrated? Is it because I see other students trying really hard and yet still struggling? Is it because I want to see all of my students being the best that they can be? Or am I just wanting him to be interested and doing well because it feeds my ego to think that he is enjoying my class? Maybe I feel that he is taking his intelligence for granted? Am I expecting too much from a 16 year old? HELP!
(i did warn you there would be ranting!)
Should I be angry, that this student is so weak and yet refuses to concentrate and make an attempt on his work, or is it not his fault, because, by the age of 12 he should have a skill base to draw on which he somehow has missed? I am concerned that this student will just become lost in the system and that he will leave school illiterate. He is not concerned because he is convinced that he will enter a trade when school has finished, but I would like to think that he will at least leave school with basic written communication skills. I don't think that enough has been done to enable this student to function. Has he been failed by his primary school for promoting him (after already keeping him down one year) from primary to secondary, or are we not helping in secondary school by continuing to promote him through the year levels despite a lack of work and a lack of interest in school in general?
On the other end of the spectrum is one of my senior students who is extremely capable, and manages to get fantastic marks with minimum effort. I questioned him today about why he does not put any effort into his work and he told me not to worry, because it wasn't just my class, but it was all of his classes. I asked him why he is content with doing the bare minimum and he told me that he is not interested in going to uni, he wants to do a tafe course (which is great if he knows what he wants to do) but he believes that because he doesn't need to go to uni, getting good marks is irrelevant to him, and therefore he does not try.
I suggested to him that wasn't it worth trying to be the best that he could be in everything he does rather than to spend his last couple of years of school mucking around and being bored? I told him about how I had had 2 part time jobs whilst I was studying, one after the other, and even though I knew that I was not going to be spending the rest of my life in retail positions, I did my best for the time I was there, and that this benefitted both my development, and the development of the company that I was working for. I don't understand how he can make a decision that he does not need school, that marks are irrelevant and that he is not going to challenge himself in any way at school!
Why does this make me so frustrated? Is it because I see other students trying really hard and yet still struggling? Is it because I want to see all of my students being the best that they can be? Or am I just wanting him to be interested and doing well because it feeds my ego to think that he is enjoying my class? Maybe I feel that he is taking his intelligence for granted? Am I expecting too much from a 16 year old? HELP!
(i did warn you there would be ranting!)
Monday, November 01, 2004
So young but so old!
This year really seems to have flown and I guess it is because it is a year of firsts for me; first teaching position, first classes, moving out of home. Already it is time to say goodbye to one of my first classes, my Year 11s. I think because the year 11s are my only senior class I have become closer to them in a lot of ways than I have with my Year 7s and 8s, and it sounds a bit sad, but I will actually miss them.
Sitting watching the Year 12's final assembly a couple of weeks ago made me think about what I will be like when my first lot of Year 7's from this year are finishing school. I will feel so old and yet I will only be 28! I think I will be sad enough when it is my Year 11s from this year leaving next year, and I only had one year of teaching them!
The upside to the year 11s leaving so early is that I will only have 3 classes once they are gone, which is quite exciting. It will allow me to start planning and organising myself for next year. I really want to be a lot more organised next year than I was this year. I guess I know the things that I think worked and those that didn't and so I will be using the next few weeks to try and rework my units of work so that I am happy with the outcome and so that the job is getting done.
Although, really, with teaching, what works with one class doesn't necessarily work with another so it will be interesting to see what my classes are like next year.
Well I guess that one ending (with my year 11s) will lead me to next years new beginning.
Sitting watching the Year 12's final assembly a couple of weeks ago made me think about what I will be like when my first lot of Year 7's from this year are finishing school. I will feel so old and yet I will only be 28! I think I will be sad enough when it is my Year 11s from this year leaving next year, and I only had one year of teaching them!
The upside to the year 11s leaving so early is that I will only have 3 classes once they are gone, which is quite exciting. It will allow me to start planning and organising myself for next year. I really want to be a lot more organised next year than I was this year. I guess I know the things that I think worked and those that didn't and so I will be using the next few weeks to try and rework my units of work so that I am happy with the outcome and so that the job is getting done.
Although, really, with teaching, what works with one class doesn't necessarily work with another so it will be interesting to see what my classes are like next year.
Well I guess that one ending (with my year 11s) will lead me to next years new beginning.
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