''Life of a Teacher''

• How did you cope or manage completing the three days of ''Life of a teacher''?

I managed to complete the three days of life of a teacher with the support, help and guidance of my mentor teacher. My mentor teacher provided guidance on my lesson planning, my classroom management, and my teaching strategies. She observed my teaching and provided constructive feedback to help me improve on my skills. My mentor teacher engaged in reflective discussions with me about my teaching experiences. She helped me to analyze my strengths and areas for growth, and provided me guidance on how to address those challenges. My mentor teacher provided me with emotional support during the ups and downs of my three days of life of a teacher. She offered me her encouragement, reassurance, and a listening ear when I faced difficulties or doubts.

• How did you feel taking on all of the responsibilities of a teacher in Block 1 compared to Block 2?

Overwhelming is the word that best describes my block 1 of life of a teacher. I was not prepared for the multitude of things on my plate. I did not have a handle on my classroom management, and I left just feeling exhausted and defeated. My time was spent a lot on the CAPS curriculum, developing personalized learning techniques and modifying my lessons. I knew this was important work, but I also knew that something was not working. I felt a disconnect in my classroom and I knew I could do better.

I looked around and saw that there were some teachers who seemed to just take everything in stride and really enjoyed what they were doing. Their classrooms ran smoothly, and their students looked happy. To figure out what they were doing that set them apart, I made an effort to go to them and ask them what where their teaching methods and how did they seem to have everything so under control in their classrooms.

I asked my mentor teacher if I could sit in and observe some of their classes during my free time. I watched those teachers interact with their students outside of the classroom: on the playground, during lunch, in the hallway, and in assemblies. I paid attention to conversations, comments, and attitudes. I started to see that the highest priority for these teachers was forming relationships with students—everything else fell into place after that.

One teacher did a 15-minute morning meeting and ended the day with a short reflection, asking her students to share one thing that went well that day and possibly one goal they were working on for the remainder of the week. Another teacher came early every day to meet a struggling student and preview their math lesson for the day. I knew I wanted to model myself after some of these teachers, so I made a gradual, conscious shift—changing my priorities to make my relationships with students my main focus. So when I did my two days life of a teacher in block 2, I started out with a morning meeting. This was something I could implement easily. I started to gather my students at the beginning of the day. We did different class greetings and then had a discussion. I used this time to give short announcements and go over the day’s schedule.

Making this shift changed me as a teacher, and it changed the vibe in my classroom. I began to feel happier at school, and I could see that my students were happier too. They were more prepared to tackle the day. They trusted me and felt more comfortable asking questions and taking risks. They were reaching out for help and clarification more than ever before. The discipline problems I had been having started to decrease, and honestly, the school day was so much more enjoyable for all of us. We were building trust and friendships, and the students knew that I was on their side and willing to help. I started to hear that the students really enjoyed being in my class. I never abandoned my work on curriculum, differentiation, and all of the other things that are essential in a classroom, but I did shift my priorities.

• Which activities did you find most challenging? How did you overcome these challengers?

Disruptive environment:

Issues such as student discipline problems, student assemblies, extra-curricular activities, and even announcements interrupted the flow of the school day. These are some of the issues that served as a disruption for me. The fact is that any disruption will take away valuable instructional time and negatively impact student learning in some form. Therefore, I feel that I must be able to handle disruptions quickly and get my students back on task as soon as possible. I implemented my classroom management tool to help me with the students discipline problems.

Meeting the Individuality of each student:

Every student is different. They have their own unique personalities, interests, abilities, and needs. Gauging these differences can be extremely difficult. Most teachers now have to find a way to differentiate and accommodate every student according to their own individual needs. Doing so benefits the students, but it comes at a price for the teacher. I found this to be a difficult and time-consuming task. I had to adept at utilizing data and observations, finding the appropriate resources, and meeting every student where they were.

Lack of teaching and learning resources:

I feel that school fees impacts students learning in several areas. Underfunded schools have overcrowded classrooms and outdated textbooks. They are understaffed with many administrators and teachers taking on dual roles to save money. Students lose out on opportunities when schools are underfunded. Teachers must become adept at doing more with less. Most teachers unselfishly spend hundreds of rands out of their own pockets to purchase supplies and materials for their classrooms. I feel that a teacher’s effectiveness cannot help but be limited when they are not afforded the necessary resources to do their job effectively. Since the school I was at had a lack of physical-hands-on resources for the learners, I had to use the resources that was available and I had to plan and design suitable learning programs.

• Analyze your results from your self-evaluation survey, where would you rate yourself higher?

I feel that from the beginner teacher competencies, I will rate myself higher by:

• Newly qualified teachers must be knowledgeable about the school curriculum and be able to unpack its specialized content, as well as being able to use available resources appropriately, so as to plan and design suitable learning programs.

• Newly qualified teachers must be able to manage classrooms effectively across diverse contexts in order to ensure a conducive learning environment.

• Newly qualified teachers must be able to reflect critically, in theoretically informed ways and in conjunction with their professional community of colleagues on their own practice in order to constantly improve it and adapt it to evolving circumstances.

• Justify how you have improved these competencies through this experience?

I was familiar with the CAPS curriculum for all of my subjects as I had to teach content across the various subjects. I was able to unpack the content confidently and independently. Since the school I was at had a lack of physical-hands-on resources for the learners, I had to use the resources that was available and I had to plan and design suitable learning programs.

I had a classroom of forty one learners. It was a big and overcrowded classroom. I had to have a classroom management tool in place to control my students classroom discipline and time management in order to ensure a conducive learning environment.

Communication and networking with colleagues is key to learning, improving and adapting to evolving circumstances. I would critically reflect after each of my lesson that I taught my students and gather feedback and advice from my mentor teacher on any difficulties or doubts I would experience.

• Look at the exit level outcomes and the final comments of your mentor teacher in your School Assessment Log and Report. Compare this to the initial self-evaluation you had completed at the beginning of your teaching experience.

From comparing my exit level outcomes, the final comments of my mentor teacher to my initial self-evaluation that I had completed at the beginning of my teaching experience, I would say that I have learnt, grown and developed a lot over the 8 weeks of my teaching experience. My ideas were imaginative and creative, some of my teaching methods, my mentor teacher loved and she adopted some of them in her classroom. She loved my classroom management tool and she asked me if she could carry on using it in her classroom because it worked well with all of the learners.

I was proficient in all of these areas: I was able to demonstrate sound subject, curricular and pedagogical knowledge through the practice of teaching. I was able to identify and adapt teaching methods to the unique needs of learners in diverse settings. I was able to use and develop reliable methods of assessment to assess learning and improve teaching and learning. I was able to reflect critically on practice, skills and ethics to enhance professionalism in the teaching profession.