Life of a Teacher

The first day in the life of a teacher was the most difficult experience out of all three days. Being privileged enough to attend the same school where my Grade 2 practicals were completed in 2022 allowed me to see the major jump in content and pace from a Grade 2 level to a Grade 3 level. The sudden and rather wide gap in curriculum content and teaching and learning time made coping with the first day in the life a challenge. It was evident that I had still been used to teaching at a slower Grade 2 pace and often did not finish teaching lesson content in a single 30-minute period. To cope with this, I asked the mentor teacher to complete the lessons that went over the allocated time the following day. Homework was assigned to catch up on content covered in class to complete for peer marking the next day. However, this type of scenario would be anticipated before Block 2's life of a teacher so prior to completing days 2 and 3, up to a week was taken to research and prepare the delivery of this content for each day. This allowed me to plan the pace at which each concept was to be taught and engaged with by the learners. Oftentimes due to the content-heavy Life Skills themes in Term 3, lessons completed during days 2 and 3 were planned for a double session. In addition, it was decided to integrate the Life Skills topics with English Home Language lessons so as to complete two CAPS subjects and concepts or skills simultaneously. This made coping with the heavier workload and shorter lessons much easier and more effective on days 2 and 3 in Block 2. The success of planning and pacing content to an appropriate pace on day 2 and day 3 as required by qualified beginner teacher competencies, therefore, shows an improvement from Block 1's developing stance to a competent stance.

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After eight weeks of teaching practicals, a significant improvement has been achieved from a developing to a competent stance regarding sound subject knowledge competencies. This is because an active effort was made to research all topics to be covered during each lesson taught over the three days. For example, if the first Mathematics lesson of the day was based on time, basic time elements of time including how to teach them using differentiated approaches would be researched at least two days before commencing life of a teacher. This would include focusing on terminology such as 'o clock, quarter to, quarter past, half past, minutes, hours, and time passed (elapsed time). The same would apply to all English Home Language, Afrikaans First Additional Language, and Life Skills lessons taught each day. For Life Skills lessons, extensive research prior to teaching a specific theme or concept (e.g., the life cycle of a frog) was crucial and a priority during all three life of a teacher days, as learners would need to use this knowledge and their prior experiences to integrate with other core subjects, including individual creative writing in English and drama, respectively. Another area of development improved would be getting to know and understanding the learners, their learning preferences, educational needs, and diverse sociocultural needs. During Block 1, this survey criterion was sitting at a developing level mainly because only two and a half weeks were used to get to know each learner as best as possible. By the time days 2 and 3 came along, knowledge and understanding of each learner's educational and support needs had improved drastically to a competent stance. This is because of the personal commitment made to get to know the learners as much as possible.

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Naturally, taking on the responsibilities of a full-time teacher in block 1 was more daunting than in block 2. However, the mentor teacher had prepared me for these responsibilities because she allowed me to run the classroom for a full day every day from day 1 of practicals. Carrying out administrative duties such as taking the register, exchanging group readers, issuing homework, and marking and recording general and subject observations became second nature towards the end of Block 2. This experience prior to completing all three days of the life of a teacher resulted in a major confidence boost in my abilities to multitask and perform duties excluding the planning, designing, and implementation of lesson content. This being said, there was one teacher responsibility that occasionally became overwhelming which involved providing emotional support to the learners on a daily basis. A combination of my empathetic tendencies and a wholehearted effort to get to know each learner resulted in emotional exhaustion as I became quite attached to them and their needs both inside and outside of the classroom. For example, I found myself responsible for providing emotional support whenever a learner was experiencing hardships in the family (e.g., death, sickness). It was evident that I felt the need to take on all the learners' troubles which resulted in a burnout period during Block 2. To help cope, I relied heavily on the mentor teacher and other members of staff (e.g., Grade 3 teachers and Deputy Principal) to recentre. Having this support from colleagues was a major blessing and a true moment of enlightenment as a future educator. Additional activities that were considered a challenge included keeping up-to-date with marking and carrying out disciplinary measures when necessary.

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After completing day 1 of the life of a teacher, the marking load was fairly manageable. This is because the activities were mainly short revision work, discussion-based and hands-on activities. The entire afternoon was also free to complete the marking for the day for each subject. However, this picked up on days 2 and 3 of the life of a teacher. On day 2, the learners had Afrikaans which is taught by another teacher. Usually, this time would be used to mark activities, however, the learners' English readers needed to be exchanged which took up this 'free' admin period. It became apparent that marking would need to be completed after school including the entering of marks and behavioural comments in the observation book. It also became apparent that it would be impossible to complete marking all books for all subjects in one afternoon as desired. Therefore, the books were split between myself and the mentor teacher (my teaching assistant for the day) to complete marking at home. As there was only one observation book, a separate notepad was taken home to record each learner's marks and comments. These would then be entered into the mark book the next day. Marking activities and assessments on day 3 was also a challenge because of the catch-up sessions that needed to be supervised. While the class attended their music lesson with another teacher, there were learners needing to catch up with their formal assessments missed due to absenteeism or not finishing within the morning's assessment period. In addition, I was required to teach extra maths that afternoon. Therefore, marking was postponed for that evening at home. Again, the mentor teacher (teaching assistant for the day) and I split the books for home marking and recording. As a teacher who believes in positive reinforcement over punishment, it was difficult to carry out punishment for learners' behaviour (e.g., issuing demerits, shouting, or taking away up to 5 minutes of break time). To overcome the challenge, it was decided that whenever a learner displayed undesired behaviour as an initial offense (e.g., speaking out of turn during class or pushing another learner at break), they would be called for a private consultation with me at break or while the rest of the class was busy with individual work. I would then attempt to understand why the learners behaved the way they did by giving them a chance to explain themselves. After that, I would explain the consequences of their actions (e.g., demerits, 5-minute break detention, or writing a letter of apology) and the reasoning behind the decision. Depending on the severity of the offense, the learners' parents may have had to be informed which due to professional ethics, would be reported to and carried out by the mentor teacher.

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As mentioned previously, there has been an improvement in my ability to develop sound subject knowledge and pedagogical knowledge in terms of the pacing and sequencing of content. Another area of development that could be increased to the competent level is the ability to understand diversity in the South African context and adapt my teaching approaches to accommodate individual learner needs. This was achieved by consulting the mentor teacher at the start of Block 1 teaching practicals to discuss both at-risk, average and above-average learners, their learning, and educational needs, including enquiring about the preferred learning styles of these learners. During these consultations with the mentor teacher, background information on each learner's home life and developmental history would be discussed. However, this would not be as detailed to protect the learners' right to safety and privacy. An active effort was also made to introduce myself to the head of the School-Based Support Team (SBST) and remedial teachers who see the learners in my class weekly for additional academic and occupational support. These consultations were extremely helpful in informing me more about the educational needs of the learners which I could then apply to my everyday teaching strategies. For example, using flour trays and toothpicks to develop cursive handwriting skills and letter formations rather than practicing on a whiteboard like the rest of the class. I would then take the information gathered during these consultations and conduct additional research at home to enhance learning further. I also implemented plenty of individual and small ability-group-based learning in my lessons for days 1, 2, and 3 of the life of a teacher in response to the diverse socioeconomic needs of the learners.

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Finally, the ability to reflect critically and use both theoretical knowledge and advice from staff members at the school to enhance my teacher identity and skillsets has improved significantly from a proficient to a distinguished level. This was achieved by first adopting the mentality that lifelong learning must and always will be a constant requirement in developing teaching practice. Additionally, constant performance evaluations were requested from the mentor teacher after completing each day in the life which was accepted wholeheartedly and with an open mind and eagerness to improve teaching practice further. If the mentor teacher requested to 'jump in' on a lesson to showcase an alternative method for teaching a concept (especially in mathematics), this would also be accepted and evaluated after the school day.

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After eight weeks of teaching practicals, there has been an improvement in my professional teacher development and identity. The ability to demonstrate sound subject, curricular, and pedagogical knowledge has improved from a developing to a competent level. This is agreed upon by the mentor teacher as evident in the exit-level mark awarded in the School Assessment Log and Report. A pleasant surprise, however, was the mentor teacher's mark regarding my ability to identify and adapt selected teaching methods to accommodate learners in a diverse setting. While my mark went from a developing level to a competent one, hers went from developing to proficient. The same outcome was achieved for the use and development of reliable assessment methods to assess and improve teaching and learning. I awarded myself an improvement from a developing to a competent level, whereas the mentor teacher improved this to an extra level of proficiency. Contrastingly, my self-evaluation to integrate ICT in my lessons was drastically different from that of the mentor teacher. Prior to beginning this year's teaching experience, I had awarded myself a proficient rating for the use of ICT to enhance teaching and learning. But when it came to applying ICT into lessons, I was either reluctant to integrate it into my lessons or relied too heavily on a single form of ICT (i.e., PowerPoints) to teach content. As a result, the mentor teacher considered this an area of development for me going forward. The slight difference in these self-assessment criteria demonstrates the importance of seeking external evaluations from peers and colleagues as one's own judgment can either be too strict or entirely inaccurate. Thus, both an objective and subjective analysis of performance are crucial for successful and effective professional development.

Figure 1: Inspirational School Cliparts #2584758. [s.a.]. (Clipart library, [s.a.].).

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Reference list

Clipart library. [s.a.]. Inspirational School Cliparts #2584758. [Online]. Available at: https://clipart-library.com/clipart/857149.htm [Accessed 30 October 2023].

List of figures

Figure 1: Inspirational School Cliparts #2584758. [s.a.].