As far as professions go, teaching is unique. On so many levels it is transient - students attend class for a year with one staff member, then move onto the next, they then take their own paths into the world with well wishes and congratulations. We teach different grades, different topics, different texts, staff leave, staff arrive, executive staff changes, the stability is our routine and our focus.
Ensuring the needs of hundreds of students are met and encouraging all to work towards their personal best, each and every day, is a big responsibility. In English I see my students for around 7 hours a fortnight - a few times a week to assess for learning, assess as learning, assess of learning, hook them in each lesson, ensure they are expressing their ideas visually, verbally, and in a written form, minding that they are in a safe environment and that social issues from recess or lunch or the weekend don't cause disruption to learning time, allowing for 10-minutes silent reading, teaching figurative language, generic conventions, grammar, punctuation - so students can communicate effectively in their lives after school.
Dynamic is the word that comes to mind.
To lament further, during my university days I had the most wonderful methods lecturer, he was just so real, so pragmatic, and he directed our understanding of the theory in the most practical of ways - it just all made sense. I still, a decade later, return to the notes I took in his classes. One thing that has stayed with me is the impression of teachers out in the world, something I wasn't quite aware of up until this point - he very honestly told my class to say, when asked what we do, that we are in 'languages' just to save ourselves from being held culpable for all that is wrong in society. I was a little saddened, a little worried, would I manage the pressure? I am in my tenth year now, and I am less green and more aware of how education and society works, I have reconciled that many find fault with our education system but I love what and I believe what teachers do is very, very important.
So, I thought I would create my own list, here is my TOP TEN:
10. Time, if my face-to-face work day was longer I would not be as effective. Planning engaging lessons takes time, completing the administration tasks required, takes time and important tasks like calling parents, speaking to the Senior Executive about issues or project planning needs focused uninterrupted time. I like to have a whole heap of small tasks that I can complete readily during my breaks during the day and then once the patrons have gone home, I get stuck into the rest. I don't know that I have a perfect balance, but I have a routine, and I really enjoy both aspects - the face-to-face teaching and the administration - parts of the job.
9. Holidays (otherwise known as - do the washing, go to the doctor, dentist, hair dresser, mechanic, preparation time!). I love having uninterrupted time to read the texts my students will be studying the following term, prepare lessons ahead of time so I am not throwing something together the night or morning before I have to teach it, make extra resources, edit student work, mark assessment tasks, book computers, clean my classroom, laminate new images for my classroom walls, prepare presentations for School Development Days, read my new teaching texts that have been sitting on my coffee table for months (like, Creating Robust Vocabulary). This time allows me to rest and prepare for a busy term ahead.
8. As a high school teacher I have each of my classes for a maximum of one period (around 55 minutes) a day. During this time I teach a lesson that reinforces skills, introduces new concepts, and allows students to engage with texts. Then, the bell goes, and my next class arrives! It never gets boring, it is ever changing, the classroom dynamic is dependent on so many variables that even when teaching a topic that I may have taught before, it is completely different because students bring with them a unique set of experiences and the ideas they contribute to discussion and the way they respond to a text, is completely their own. It is great!
7. Professional learning is not only integral to staying up to date with current approaches to teaching and English teaching specifically, but it is an opportunity to network, share experiences and be inspired to try something different in the classroom. Sometimes the minutiae of everyday workplace tasks can overshadow the creativity and excitement of teaching but meeting with like-minded colleagues and learning new approaches can really energise a tired teacher! Professional learning can be in the form of readings, a face-to-face conference/workshop, online, and even through connections with colleagues on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and I have found numerous creative teachers on Pinterest. Teaching is a very generous profession, people love to share resources, advice, ideas.
6. Poetry, novels, film, comics, graphic novels, advertisements, short film, slam poetry, lyrics, music videos, illustrations, photographs, fiction, non-fiction. I love all of these things! As an English teacher, I get to search for texts to engage my students in class. I need students to grab onto the message in a text so that we can look at the way meaning is constructed and so they can respond with their own ideas - critically and creatively.
5. Language is just so powerful - I love imbuing students with the knowledge that they can wield words like an artist a brush, a football player a ball, a formula one driver a car. The pen is mightier than the sword, so they say, and the skills to use language can be incredibly empowering.
4. Being part of the community. I am about to move into the area I work in and some have balked at this. But, I am from a small coastal town where everyone knows each other and everyone works and lives in the same area. I love the idea that I am investing in my community.
3. Action research is something that has become more popular in education and I have had an opportunity to do a few mini-research projects. I have really enjoyed targeting a crucial skill set and developing a way to improve student learning. I hope to do this with another class this year utilising Nancie Attwell's 'Mini-Lesson' approach to writing skills.
2. I love learning and through teaching I hope I can give something back to the society that gave me so much - preschool, primary school, high school - both face-to-face and by distance, university, the many courses I have taken as a teacher. I have been lucky enough to become a better teacher and person through the many teachers I have had.
1. Making a difference in the lives of students is something that makes all the difficult aspects of the role worth it. Encouraging students to share their writing, praising them for trying something new in class and encouraging them to be critical thinkers in an ever changing world is a joy. Ensuring students have the tools to navigate the terrains of high school life whilst ensuring that they find success in the classroom and beyond, well, there's nothing more important.
