Tag Archives: teaching

And so it begins… again

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Image courtesy of [FrameAngel] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

So, tomorrow a new term begins. After having a week off, I now go back to being a teacher. It is strange how much changes when work starts up again. I already know what I am teaching and when up until Christmas, I have a meeting schedule running through my brain and Parents’ evening on the horizon.

It would be a lie to say I am not a little apprehensive. We are on Ofsted standby, we have a Christmas production to film, I already know we are short staffed tomorrow. I also have my hospital appointment which means I am nil by mouth from 7am tomorrow.

I am looking forward to seeing the students again. You see, it may sound trite or cheesy but for me my job (vocation) is all about the students. I have a holistic approach to my teaching, one that was at times frowned upon as I was not solely driven by targets.

Being senior teacher, a large percentage of my week is spent listening, listening to students in crisis, listening to their complaints, listening to their fears. It is one of my favourite parts of my job. I have been criticised for having too much of a ‘milk and cookies’ approach and not being punitive enough. I will take that. I am not a soft touch, I have high expectations of the students my approach is just different and it works for me. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach in teaching, your personality plays a large part.

I spent a lot of my life adapting and changing to fit into what people wanted of me. I am no longer prepared to do that.

Criticism is a large part of teaching, when I did my PGCE my tutor said I was ‘too emotional to be a teacher.’ I have no idea what he meant, I took it as a statement to rail against.

You can have a heart and be a teacher, in fact, I would argue you can’t be a teacher without heart.

Tomorrow, the journey begins once again. I will say this evening, that I am going to have more of a work/life balance this half term, that I won’t work until 9pm every night, that I won’t get burdened by the grumbles and complaints, that I won’t answer emails at 11pm but I know deep down that I will struggle. Being a teacher is 24/7.

So to all of my fellow educationalists, here’s to a new term. Let’s make the best of it. Let’s enjoy it more, but most of all let’s support each other.

‘Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just in fact as you are doing.’ 1 Thessalonians 5:11

I would appreciate your prayers for my hospital appointment 🙂

In it for the long haul

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Yesterday, school finished for half term. One week of rest, one week away.

The funny thing is, the closer we got to the end of the day, more love was being shown by students.

We have a phrase called ‘team hugs’ where I work. This describes an appropriate show of care.

Yesterday, I got team hugs from two of our most difficult and complex students along with ‘Thank you for everything miss!’

There are moments, days and sometimes weeks in teaching when it is a slog, hard going and you question why?

All of that is worth it for the short moments I had with those two students today.

People know when you genuinely care about them. They know if you are being authentic or just going through the motions. You can’t be in it for recognition, it doesn’t work like that.

It’s a long haul thing, there are no short cuts. It is consistent day in, day out actions, despite the response.

I do my best to act out of care and love. I don’t always get it right. I make mistakes but I don’t let the mistakes define me.

There is something powerful about genuine love.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:7 ESV

Tough Day

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This is the last week of an eight week half term. I have been teaching for ten years so my body is trained to know when half term is and usually responds by shutting down and I develop what I like to call end of term itus.

This year, half term is a week later than usual. This probably sounds pretty minor, but it has a huge impact on my body and my ability to function. It is also a well known fact in the educational community that the last week of half term or a full term are the toughest. Staff are tired, students are tired and that mix is not good.

Today, I spent three hours of my day standing outside in the cold, assisting my colleagues de-escalate a child in crisis. This was emotionally demanding and required me to be a decision maker. I was also conscious of staff well being and was ensuring staff had breaks and were doing ok.

Managing staff and their emotions is tough, taking on other people’s worries and concerns can become draining and you can begin to feel empty.

 This evening, I am emotionally exhausted. I could barely hold a pen at the end of the day. The student is safe, happy and well.

 Days like today are hard going and it is so easy to just shut down and switch off. What I have learnt is that is exactly times like these that I should be talking and making sure my thoughts are in check.

It would be easy to become despondent and to give up, to say that it is not worth the effort.

The thing is, I do think that it is worth it, despite what happens. This is because I am secure in the knowledge that I have purpose and a hope.

It is on days like this that I am so glad that I can look to one who is greater than me. That I can bring all of my failings, all of my worries to a God who cares.

‘Cast your cares on The Lord and he will sustain you’ Psalm 55:22

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