Classroom Tales

This post was written for the TES New Teachers website, where it will soon ‘appear’.  But I thought I would re-post it here as well!

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I’m sure lots of you are just about to embark on your NQT year.  The start of the school year is fast approaching (how fast do these holidays go?!) and, probably along with it, lots of nerves, worries and anxieties about the year ahead.

Over the past year, I feel like I’ve been on a massive journey- that between the end of a PGCE year and the end of the NQT year.

I’ve been browsing the TES New Teachers web-site and forum over the past few weeks, and have seen many messages and posts from new NQT’s that really resonated with me- I of course remember feeling exactly the same this time last year (and, yes, I have to say, am feeling much of the worry, anxiety  and nerves again this year- sorry!).

This made me think and find a piece of reflective writing I did around this time last year, which basically listed some of my ‘fears’ about the next year.  I’ve decided now would be a good time to share a few of these worries with you now, and reflect on them a year on.

I’ve also then put   things that I feel about my NQT year, which I probably didn’t expect (well, not to the same degree anyway!) this time last year.

I hope this proves an interesting read for anyone, and that it goes some way to reflecting on the differences between the end of the PGCE and the end of NQT year.  I really hope this doesn’t sound ‘preachy’ in any way, and of course these are just my experiences and reflections!

3 things you may be feeling now.

Everything is down to me!

This, for me, is the ‘big one’- or at least it felt that way at the start of my NQT year!  During last summer, I all of a sudden had the realisation that everything (or pretty much everything) that happens in my classroom is down to me.

A year on, I still feel like this was still a ‘valid’ ‘feeling’ after all, there is nothing to inherit from the class teacher whose class you are ‘borrowing’.

This feeling was especially strong at the start of the year when I was sorting out things for my new class and working out how to ‘establish’ my class- afterall this part of the school year isn’t normally ‘witnessed’ on a PGCE.

But, over the past year I feel I have managed to ‘adopt’ all the small things that need doing into my day-day routine.  I also feel that the fact that there is nothing much  to ‘inherit’ is a good thing- it gave me the scope to try things out and ‘borrow’ things I’ve seen on placement and elsewhere.

The biggest thing I forgot to take into account was how helpful others will be (in ‘real life’ but especially on twitter’) and that help was only ever an ask away.  (most) In school won’t expect you to know these things and will be more than willing to help!

Everyone say’s it’s the hardest year of teaching- can that really be true?

During our PGCE I remember we were constantly disheartened when (it seemed like) everyone who came to talk to us made reference to our PGCE year only being our second most difficult in teaching and that the NQT year was ‘harder’.  Many of us were in denial- things like ‘It can’t possibly be harder than this’ were frequently heard.

Looking back on the past year, it’s very tempting to agree and simply say, yes, your NQT year is harder that your PGCE year.But, thinking deeper, I’m not quite sure that’s true.  I’ve found my NQT year, and the challenges it has presented very different from my PGCE year.

Assignments, copious research, incredibly detailed lesson plans, form filling and mastering the basics of teaching are ‘replaced’ by. amongst other things,  getting to grips with everything expected of a qualified teacher, teaching a fuller timetable, evidencing your NQT standards, and importantly, developing your skills as a teacher.  These are not necessarily ‘harder’ than the challenges you face on a PGCE- just different.

I don’t want to be sick!

I remember worrying being sick- which I guess is silly really when sickness, I think, is almost inevitable in this job, especially to someone not ‘immune’ to all the germs carried by children

I’m not sure if I was more worried about being ill- in which case, my worries were right- I had some form of light cold, cough or something else on and off throughout my NQT year!

Or if I was really worried about having time off sick (probably more likely!)- but I have now learnt that it is counterpdocutive to come to work as a teacher, and attempt to teach, when you *really* should be at home.

I didn’t learn this lesson though until the first time I was off work ill, where, rather embarrassingly, I actually went into school in the morning and effectively got sent home by a group of children in my class, who took it upon themselves to go and tell our head at break that ‘Mr H isn’t well enough to be here, but he’s here because he doesn’t want to let us down’ (or words to that effect!) – needless to say the head then promptly took one look at me and told me to go home.

Saying that I have managed to get through my NQT year with *only* 2 days of sick…

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4 things you might not expect.

Your teaching style develops enormously.

Probably the biggest change for me has been seeing my teaching style develop massively.  I did realise (well hoped anyway!) that my teaching style would develop, but don’t think I quite realised that it would develop as much as it has.

I didn’t appreciate how teaching ‘full time’ gives even more time to develop the way in which you teach.  You ‘suddenly’ have a whole year to try out things, keep those that work and build upon them, whilst letting those that didn’t quite work slip ‘quietly’ away.  This sometimes didn’t feel possible to do during the PGCE- because of the simple fact that you are only ‘borrowing’ a class for a short period.

You also have the added benefit of your NQT time (which I already know I’m going to miss next year!) which can be used to see other teachers teach, both in your school and in others, so you can continue to ‘magpie’ snippets of practice that you like from others too.

You also have a whole year to adapt the way you teach to give your group of children the best possible learning experience for them. Whilst, of course, I tried to do this during my training, it’s more difficult when you are only with a group of children for a shorter period of time.   I was also able to develop my class’s (and my own) skills- for example in co-operative learning- so that we were working in ways in March that simply wouldn’t have been possible in September.

I think what I’m trying to say is I’ve found that my NQT has given me a great opportunity and freedom to develop how I teach, rather than, perhaps, trying to fit a ‘mould’ on placements. This is really the positive ‘flip side’ of having a fuller timetable, less direct supervision and the responsibility for your own class.  I really hope that I can look back next year and say that I have seem the same sort of development.

At some point, you’ll look back to something you delivered on your PGCE and won’t believe the progress you’ve made.

I didn’t quite expect to look back on plans I’d written during the (later part) of my PGCE and think, quite frankly, how poor they were.  I didn’t have much chance to try to re-use many plans for the PGCE, but when I was teaching the Healthy Living science unit which I taught during my last placement  looking back on them I remember them seeming at the time a ‘model’ unit, which I had spent copious hours planning, resourcing and preparing, I was even observed in one of the lessons of the unit and received a really positive observation report.  So, I thought it would be a good opportunity to re-look at the plans and adapt them- afterall, I wouldn’t have the same amount of time to spend on the planning this year.

When I revisited these plans, I was, in a way, disappointed at what I found- I didn’t feel they were  really awful- but they seemed to be the sort of things I could have planned quickly this year, rather than the hours and hours they took last, and they also were lacking in some key elements I had tried to really focus on (child led learning, open ended science investigations etc).

I guess this does nothing but evidences my first point about not appreciating how much I would develop over this year.  In our job there are always areas to develop and to be built upon and I guess this showed that some of the things I had been really focusing on during the PGCE had now become almost ‘automatic’ and new areas for development had become my focus.

Having your own class(es) is amazing-

Yes, I knew this would be great after ‘borrowing’ classes on placement- but didn’t quite fully appreciate how different it is having your ‘own’ class and how simply amazing it is

You get to see the development of the group of children over a whole year- rather than just a few months.  You get to get to know your children really well and use this to plan learning that (most of the time!) really fits how they learn best.   You get to see the academic and social progress of the children over a longer period- and- get to directly affect this.

It was, of course,  a great feeling to look at my end of year levels this year, and know that the progress the children had made which in the most part had met or exceeded the ‘targets’ set (of course, there were a few who hadn’t made quite the progress I would have liked)- and know that the progress was evidence that I can actually teach

But- that was nothing compared to reviewing some of the work which I completed with my class on transfer day with them and firstly to see their own reflections on the differences between a year ago and now and secondly it provided a good opportunity to reflect on the ‘social’ development of the children in my class- which I am, rightly or wrongly, even more ‘proud’ of than the ‘academic’ achievements.

So put simply- I have found having my own class a fantastic experience- far outweighing the extra responsibility and ‘stress’ it gives

It’s an even better year!

And finally- I didn’t quite expect my NQT year to be as amazing as it has been.  Yes, it’s been challenging (to say the least) in parts, but as a whole I’ve found the past year has been a super experience.  All the hard work etc is easily outweighed by the responses from colleagues, parents and importantly the children- and the realisation that you are making an impact, no matter how small, on the children in your class.

So, if you are about to embark on your NQT year I wish you good luck (not that you’ll need it of course!) and hope that you will find your NQT year to be as rewarding as I have found mine!

TH

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On Tuesday 6th September 2011, I’m hosting a live web chat here on TES New Teachers site for NQT’s and PGCE students, where I’ll be able to answer any questions about your NQT/PGCE year and answer questions about what it’s ‘really like’.  More details will be added to the TES New Teachers site soon!

If you are about to embark on your NQT year, have you seen www.nqtguide.co.uk?  This is the tempoary home to all the super articles submitted as part of the #NQTTIPS and NQT Survival Guide project.