So much for using this blog to track my graduate teaching journey.... I am now a teacher of 2.5 years standing and I have not managed to share that journey with you at all here. Why did that happen?
Well.....as the title says, it has taken me this long to start to get my head above water enough for me to prioritise writing reflections here again.
And why start again now? In the past two weeks I have had two experiences that just reminded me that I need to record somewhere my learnings and my experiences for a future me, or for others who may be interested in journeying this road called teaching.
Today, I had a highlight: a year 8 student whom I have taught maths from the beginning of year 7 was excited today to show me that he was ready to tackle extension assessments, because he had found out for himself (using resources I had provided in our online notebooks) the process for solving problems above his year 8 level. Why was this significant? This student began year 7 at a grade 5 level maths, has a dyslexia diagnosis and had been completing modified assessments in year 7. Today he was excited to show that he would be able to tackle the extension end of term test, not the modified test. His progress has been huge, his confidence has grown immensely and he is excited by where he can go now. That's what I came in to teaching for.
So what was the other experience..... two weeks ago, in a week where I was overtired, as I had been working extremely long hours trying to deliver what I believed my students need, in differentiating learning, leading a year level faculty team of 8 teachers and trying to broaden their perspective of teaching students to think, dealing with students who have huge trauma backgrounds that show in the class through acting out (sometimes personally directed at me as their teacher) etc I received an email from a non-teaching AP that actually messed me up for the rest of the week. The email was a global email requiring us to commit to trial some classroom practices, in a knee-jerk response to some school data and making assumptions about what caused that data, that really went against the culture I have worked hard to build in my classes. The frustration this caused me, and then the additional work to replan my teaching was just exhausting. I ended up needing a personal day to get myself right again and be able to front my classes properly. I am sure the AP is unaware of the impact this global approach has on some people. The frustrating thing is that if I spoke to the AP, they would tell me that they have no concerns about my practice and I didn't need to be so concerned. And they would never had intended to make me feel the way I did.
This has been my journey. Highs and lows, successes and struggles, exhaustion and joy. I think it is a pretty normal journey for teachers. So I am writing again, to keep things in perspective, and to record the journey so that I remember what I learn along the way and it does not all get lost in the busy-ness of teaching secondary school.