Teaching Log - Task 2: Life of a Teacher

"Go to school in the morning, teach easy content to kids, play with kids, and leave by 3pm. Such a simple and easy life teachers have". That's something I have heard my whole life, especially once I started my teaching degree journey. Everyone who has ever told me that is far from the truth, and I think reading this post can give them some insight into the true "life of a teacher".

I knew that the life of a teacher was tough, but I did not expect it to be as tough as it actually was. The life of a teacher is complex and consists of way more than meets the eye. In my 8 weeks at Rivonia Primary School for my teaching practical's I was required to do 3 days for "the life of a teacher" (LOAT). My school's 120th anniversary falls in the 3rd term, so the school was planning a whole school anniversary play. My teacher, as one of the senior teachers in Grade 3, was assigned a lot of roles in preparation for the play, so she had to be out of the class and in the school hall quite often. This meant that a lot of the time I was left alone with my class, and had to pick up work where she left off and carry on teaching. Although it was a bit chaotic with the play going on and my teacher being out of the class often, the impromptu lessons that I had to teach helped me get insight into the true chaos that is the life of a teacher, and in turn allowed me to do more than the required 3 days in the life of a teacher. I did my first day of LOAT in Block 1 of my teaching prac in May. Seeing as we only had 3 weeks at the school in May I wasn't 100% comfortable with the entire class, school and new timetable when I did my LOAT. Although I did manage to cope with and manage the class that day, I was not as calm and collected as I would have liked to be. The 2nd and 3rd day of my LOAT was done in Block 2 in September, and because I was now fully comfortable with the school and class, these 2 days went much better and more smoothly. I coped with the lessons and learners much better, and the lessons went by easier and smoother. In Block 1 I felt more nervous and almost "incompetent" to take over all my mentor teachers responsibilities, but in Block 2 I was much more comfortable with the school, class, the timetable and my mentor teacher. I felt much more relaxed and competent in Block 2 than in Block 1, so in comparison I feel that I definitely grew in confidence between the two Blocks. The activity that felt most challenging to me was taking over my teachers entire timetable for the day, specifically managing the lesson times efficiently and effectively. In order to overcome this on the first day of my LOAT I wrote out a "daily schedule" on the classroom board for the learners and I to follow and refer to throughout the day. This helped me stay on track throughout the day, as the lessons and lesson times were visually present for me to refer to and be reminded off. Before my teaching prac started I was semi-confident in myself as a teacher, but after these 8 weeks I would rate myself higher as I am now much more confident in myself as a teacher. After this teaching prac I believe in my abilities in the classroom much more, as I feel that I have developed a lot over these past 8 weeks. I believe that I can rate myself higher now after this teaching prac, because as previously mentioned I had to teach many impromptu lesson due to my teacher being busy with the school play preparation, so me being "thrown into the deep-end" in a sense helped me break any teaching insecurities that I had, and allowed me to explore and grow in the classroom as a teacher. Thankfully my teachers marking of my "exit level outcomes" and final feedback matches my evaluation of my teaching competencies, so I have that closure of knowing that someone else trusted me fully with their class for 8 weeks. Overall, I am so grateful for my time at Rivonia Primary School and the teaching opportunities that I was given. The trust and encouragement throughout my prac, especially during my LOAT days, was so motivating and uplifting. Although I was scared and unsure in Block 1, by Block 2 I felt so much more confident and competent (I would like to believe :). I look forward to experiencing the "LOAT" everyday by myself as a teacher of my own class one day.