I’m not sure I know where to start with this post, as my mind is in a constant state of motion – usually circular, and often at high speed.
As my previous post mentioned (nearly 2 months ago), I have taken on a full-time workload this term. I teach all students at my school SciTech once a week, from the preschool to year 6. I also teach my own year 5 class all the other NSW KLAs (condensed curriculum). I also teach 4 extra curricular groups each week – 3 coding clubs and a STEM extension club. Somewhere in-between all this, I’m still trying to be a parent, wife, sister and daughter.
I won’t sugar coat it – it’s hard work. Trying to plan, program, assess, and teach that many classes each week often leaves me feeling overwhelmed. At best, I’m treading water. At worst, I fear I’m drowning.
A few reflective points based on the last 7 weeks of school:
- My science classes are supposed to be held in either of the two high school science labs. Sounds perfect in theory, although the reality is that any event has the potential to disrupt this, whether it’s school immunisations, in-school exams, high school Mathematics classes, renovations, ICAS exams or guest presentations. As a result of this, I spend much of my time trying to find alternate venues, and then hauling the necessary equipment to those venues. On a hectic day, this can mean trying to set up in 4 different locations in as many 40 minute periods, often in rooms without so much as a sink. I am allocated one period a week as “set-up” time for 14 science lessons a week. All the other resource-sourcing, setting up, and cleaning up is done in my own time. There is little action I can take to mitigate this, but wanted to put it here as a very important point both for me, and for any schools looking to employ primary STEM specialist teachers. It would be far better to have a dedicated classroom (lab not necessary) that would allow central teaching and storage opportunities.
- Some students still consider a once-a-week science lesson as an opportunity to abandon any semblance of normal behaviour. By way of reflection, I am still learning how to best manage these behaviours, but some are proving difficult to address and manage. I am aiming to introduce some new positive in-class learning opportunities such as the use of a Go Pro by students to record work done in the labs to drive better behaviour.
- Taking on a class well into the school year (in my case, a year 5 class) means I’m given little room to move in terms of programming, as I’m left to adhere to the previous teacher’s program, which in reality is based on programs that are several years old. It’s not a program I enjoy, and thus feel the students’ frustration when they roll their eyes at some of the activities. Reflection on this would be to suggest deeper learning opportunities to co-teachers based on the already-written programs, and hope they agree to take these on.
- I’m frustrated at the lack of ICT availability in the school. There is one computer lab with 16 Mac computers to cover all students K-6. There is also access to iPads, but these are shared with all students in the school, K-12. My year 5 classroom does not even have an IWB. Given that the focus of my study at university and certainly most of my professional development has been slanted towards ICT, I feel my frustration is warranted. However, there is little that can be done to remedy this – I’m open to suggestions if anyone has some!
- Support/mentorship is next to non-existent. As an early career teacher, this is probably the most disappointing and often disheartening. I really, really feel that this is something that should be mandatory for ALL teachers in their first two years of teaching. With all the talk of high attrition rates amongst early career teachers, I am convinced that this is something that would help mitigate this. On reflection, I’m glad to have a PLN to fall on if things get really bad, but there’s nothing quite like having a mentor teacher who understands the students and the prevailing atmosphere of all stakeholders, unique to that school. Further reflection – I will be proactive and ask one of the other teachers if they could be my mentor teacher. My fear with this is that all the other teachers in the school already have too much on their plates.
- Time constraints are so tight that I feel like there are not enough hours in my day to do all that I want/need to do as a teacher, and importantly for me and my students, do it well. I still desire to be the best educator I know I can be, but in order to do that, particularly as an early career teacher, I need time to write good lesson plans, to develop rich assessments, and to provide timely feedback to my students. I have an overwhelming amount of paperwork due to the head of primary before the end of this term, and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get it done. That terrifies me. I’m not sure how to reflect on this – I could say I should use my time more effectively, but I don’t know how. I managed to get good grades through university, studying more than a full-time load for 3 of 4 semesters, on top of working, volunteering and maintaining family life. I feel my time was managed at least as effectively as any other human could deliver. As such, this teaching gig with all its associated paperwork should be a breeze, right? It’s not, so I’m left to ponder – what am I doing wrong, and more importantly, how do I fix it?
I feel like I’ve really put my heart on my sleeve with this, and publishing it to the www worries me. That said, I want others to know – this is raw #lifeasanect. I’m not looking for platitudes, I’m seeking practical help.
educatorlearner 