What’s the best thing about teaching?
Everything about the pandemic has made me appreciate the joy of being in the classroom with pupils! My subject involves learning how to teach very practical skills which are often very abstract in their application. Finding strategies to support all learners with identifying and using the resources that I can provide using technology, to help them get the ‘ah-ha’ moment, is the best feeling (when it works out!).
It's a wonderful feeling to help learners better themselves and know that they have learned and enjoyed something new, within the short amount of time since they walked into my classroom. Often, class discussions provide a great way of getting to know how young people think – it's the interaction that comes with challenging their ideas, and seeing them leave with not only subject knowledge but knowing they've developed transferrable skills too.
Why did you decide to enter teaching?
I always knew that I wanted to become a teacher but it took a few twists and turns in my life to get to the stage where I was able to complete a degree, let alone find it in a subject that I have become passionate about.
Before becoming a teacher, I trained as an IT technician for Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service, which enabled me to complete a BSc Degree in computing at the same time as working full time. I achieved a First Class Honours which made me feel confident in my knowledge.
During this time, I had begun to establish myself as an IT trainer and having reached a certain point in my role as an IT technician, I decided that instead of becoming further technically qualified, my skills were of more use in teaching.
My employer was amazing when I approached them about taking a career break to see if I could complete a PGCE and even offered to allow me to return if I wanted to. In the end I gained employment at RGS Worcester and have never looked back!
What’s been your proudest moment in teaching?
I have really enjoyed so many moments of seeing children grow and progress, against their odds and their own learning difficulties. There have been many moments where a pupil has exceeded my expectations and achieved good examination results, which were beyond earlier predictions and were the result of particular interventions that we'd worked together on.
However, if I had to pick one moment it would be of a pupil who had learning difficulties and struggled with communication. Supporting him was a challenge, but we worked together and he achieved an above expected result for his A level. I think about him all the time because the proud moment came when I found out that he's studying computer science at university and is even gaining a research apprenticeship so that he can continue to study.
It's really nice to think that I taught him from Year 8 until he left. I just hope I was able to support him in identifying his successes, his skills, potential and ability.
What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your teaching career?
I can think of many difficulties both in a professional and personal sense. My own difficulties with mental health, the challenges of identifying how to progress my career, and continue both personal and professional growth. I've really enjoyed developing subject knowledge and professional training as a consequence of the ever evolving academic changes.
If it were one thing which I was able to identify more recently though, it would be the challenge of maintaining my family life and keeping up with the requirements of my role. That time management aspect of teaching was never a problem as I always worked through my weekends, my evenings and holidays, but now I have a young daughter, I simply cannot maintain that way of life. I have to find snippets of time when I can and I'm exhausted too!
I don’t think the industry talks enough about the struggles of early parenthood in this role. Of course, I don’t make it easy for myself, as I’m constantly trying to find new opportunities, courses and things that keep me busy, but learning to pause my own professional progress to meet the needs of my family has been frustrating and challenging.
Talking helps and that's something that my employer is really supportive of, they listen and that’s what I think is so important and something that has come from the pandemic. The conversation should be given higher profile and I would love for those with the power to make change happen, to understand that we probably lose talented individuals with a wealth of knowledge, background and experience to support progress in the educational sector. While individual schools may do their part (mine provides access to a counselling service and there is a strong open door policy), there’s nothing worse than feeling unprepared to teach. We teachers thrive on planning!
Certainly, as soon as something else came into my life, I seriously needed that support which was in place. Work-life balance is hard to establish and maintain, whether as a parent or just as a result of any changes that teachers find in their lives, a bereavement, a family issue, the feeling of being over-whelmed and over-burdened, we have to think about our adults, just as much as we care for our young people, because they're the ones facilitating the care!
What celebrity best represents you as a teacher in the classroom and why?
I'm a huge fan of Big Bang Theory because it really shows that being ‘technically minded’ is something to be really admired. Therefore, I would say Mayim Balik, she really inspires girls in STEM and apart from watching her develop as an actress since her ‘Blossom’ days, she holds a PHD in real life, which is so inspiring.
I hope that her style of experimentation and curiosity is something which represents my own style of teaching and allowing the pupils to ‘fail’ but in a curious and good-natured manner.
What do you use Tes for?
At the beginning of my career Tes was very important to search for employment! Today, I use the EduCare part of Tes [Tes Safeguarding] regularly for accessing training courses and completing various refresher certificates that are needed for my teaching role. I really like completing the courses online instead of during Inset because it means that I can complete the training in my own time and at my own pace. Probably the same as my pupils do!
I've also accessed a number of resources when looking for inspiration, for example I used a resource for a Christmas Escape Room challenge which I wanted to provide for students during their last lesson. I knew what I wanted to do but had no idea about how to go about it, which worked out well in the end! The videos were created by someone who sounded really professional and the entire resource was really engaging for the pupils to follow. That lesson saved me hours of work.
What has using Tes helped/enabled/encouraged you to do?
The Teaching & Learning section is invaluable for research and reading. It has provided me with some thought-provoking information which has helped me form understanding about pedagogy, children and delivering educational outcomes.
There are so many different aspects of education that continually change, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, I think as a professional it’s my duty to stay up to date with important research, stay fresh on teaching and learning theory and understand how others are implementing their own practice.
You don’t necessarily access the information until you really need it, and then you want it to be trustworthy. Tes provides this. For example, if I need to research information about a pupil I need to support in my classroom, I would research their particular need. It may be a Year 7 pupil who is struggling in form time and so part of this would be to find out what others have done to support the child. The articles on Tes form an important part of this research and from these I can try and adapt my pedagogy to meet the needs of the pupil, and there are often many varying types of learner in my classroom.
I really enjoy listening to the podcasts on the way home, it allows me time to think in a quiet space, disconnect from work and maintain interest in my profession.
If you were telling a friend about Tes, what would you say?
You can always trust what you find on Tes, from beginning your career, to accessing the latest research, jobs and information. You can find ideas and resources, some may require payment but evaluate them first because they can be really high quality. You can gain professional certification if your organisation subscribes to Tes Safeguarding. This is so useful because there are many different courses that you can take, which provide excellent training that your employer can trust.
You/your school gets a million pounds. What do you spend it on?
I would really want to invest in the 'classroom of the future'. We have so many devices and we're forward thinking but our facilities, apart from the setup of tables, chairs, projector, Apple TV, is still rather traditional.
Learning zones, hubs, creative and collaborative zones – encapsulating learning with the pupils not really sitting at their desks and beginning to simulate what they might experience in their future careers.
One piece of advice or top tip you’d give someone just entering teaching today?
Teaching is a lifestyle, you end up living your life in six-week blocks but it’s also one of the most rewarding jobs you can do. Young people always come up with the most unexpected conversation in class and will make you think about your subject in so many different ways. They say that you never really understand a subject until you can teach it, and the same is true of children.
Pupils inherently trust you as the adult in the room though it takes time to establish a professional repertoire. They love your spark and when done in the right way will surprise you with their responses. You can help them discover their own pathway and technology is really useful for differentiation, marking, feedback, providing creative resources and options for the pupils to collaborate.
Ignore people when they say “don’t smile until Christmas” – smiling and laughing with your new pupils will help you form trust and respect. Don’t forget that they are young people, who have needs outside of your classroom, they will react differently to the same task from lesson to lesson and so be patient. Learning is 'the process of getting an understanding of something by studying it or by experience' (Oxford Dictionary). The art of learning occurs through repetition, the format of facilitating that learning is the art of teaching.
