I think it’s important to keep a record of the exciting
things that happen throughout your life, as it’s easy to forget how you felt,
or the little details, 30 years down the line. That’s why I started writing in
this blog when I went to Thailand. It was new, exciting, scary, and ultimately
interesting for both me the writer, and you the reader. I now have a new
exciting path to write about. Today I took my first big step towards being a
teacher here in the western world. I started in my placement school as part of
my 2 year Masters of Education course.
For the purpose of this blog, I will not be directly naming
my school, any teachers I work with, or naturally any children I teach. Let’s
call the school Sunny Highschool, and my mentor teacher Ms. Wisdom (as she
appears to be the fountain of all knowledge teacher related).
I was told on Wednesday to come in for a meeting today to
discuss timetables etc, and I have to say, I spent the night dreaming of
students who refused to do as I tell them, and horrible dark classrooms with
nasty looking teachers in it. It was like going back to school myself!
Terrifying. After a small breakfast, a disgraceful amount of coffee, and a lot of ‘I can do
this’s in the car, I tottered in to meet my future. It’s a lot brighter than my
nightmares allowed. The corridors were hectic, every student was looking wondering
who I am (and probably why I look the same age as them), and Ms Wisdom was
telling me every bit of advice she could regarding curriculum, discipline,
resources, assessment. There were numerous names, dozens of handshakes and
smiles, even one sarcastic mid 30s male English teacher who decided to mess
with my head and tell me to run while I still can. I decided to take it as a
joke ….
It’s busy. It’s more
than busy. It’s organised chaos. But then there was a moment after the madness of introductions and photocopying id numbers when I walked into
the classroom with Ms Wisdom, and she introduced me as Ms Dalton, and I sat
down to observe the lesson (I won’t be facing teaching myself for a few weeks
at least), and she began with a smile to the girls. Suddenly there was
calm. They all listened to her and they answered her
questions, participated in the discussion, came up with their own ideas, and
she seemed to masterfully conduct the entire think tank like it was an
orchestra. She moved them in certain ways, brought about certain words, nudged
them towards certain ideas and thoughts, and then brought it all back to their
own lives. I have read the articles about teaching methods and lesson planning,
and it sounds exhausting and so complicated, but suddenly the reality was there
in front of me. It was a near perfect lesson, and she did it all without any
problems. Grant it, she has 30 years or so more experience than me, but I have
a whole year to learn from her, and she has a lot to teach.
Observations. Conversations. Assessments. Lesson planning.
Lectures. Debates. Reading. Studying. Exams. Marking. Eating. Sleeping.
Drinking. Keeping sane. For the first time since I finished college, I feel
like I am moving forward, and forward seems ….. interesting (let’s keep it
positive. It’s only day one)
And so it begins.
Amy.
