Covid’s been really tough for everyone - as students, we’ve been cheated of a normal university experience throughout the pandemic, and campuses are ghostly quiet. 

But it’s not all gloom and doom. Certainly, for me, there have been positives - not least that it’s been a period of time when I’ve realised what I want to do with my life.

Ever since I was young, I’ve been interested in helping other people to learn. When I was doing my A levels, I was involved with a school scheme to mentor younger students, and I’ve volunteered before to run Girl Guide groups. And, while studying for my degree, I worked on a project with local primary children where we taught them about environmental issues. 

So in lots of ways, deciding to become a tutor was a pretty logical next step.

Covid catch-up tutoring inspired me to be a teacher

The thought of being a teacher had crossed my mind, but I wasn’t really sure whether it was for me. But getting involved with MyTutor in my last year of university and offering catch-up tuition in local schools as part of the National Tutoring Programme really opened my eyes to how much I would enjoy teaching, and was a major motivation in applying for my PGCE when I graduated. 

Many of the students I was working with had their places funded through the school’s pupil premium funds, which particularly appealed to me. The idea of working with young people who otherwise wouldn’t have the chance to have this extra support helped me to see the value I could provide as a teacher. 

The difference this makes became clear when I was tutoring a student who had lost so much confidence in their ability to learn. It took time, but I was able to support and work with them to build their confidence and knowledge. 

We went from struggling with times tables and basic spelling to a point where they could solve complicated questions on algebra and work through reading-comprehension exercises.

As a tutor, I always found it so powerful to see the young people I was supporting grasp new concepts, and I loved seeing the delight in their faces when it clicked. It made me realise that I wanted to do this more, and it really cemented my desire to be a full-time teacher.

Learning to manage a class

Obviously, teaching in front of a class is very different to the one-to-one tuition experience. Classroom management has been the biggest challenge with the move into teaching. One student, in particular, has proven especially challenging - sitting in the furthest-away corner of the room, despite the seating plan, and even actively getting up and walking out of the room when I’m explaining topics. 

What works here is that my teaching style is quite laid-back, so while I’m talking to the rest of the class, I can just politely ask him to come back and sit in his proper seat, rather than escalating the situation. Being fair to him and not rising to the bait stops any tempers flaring and means he’s more likely to quietly engage with the lesson. 

I realised as well that he acts up when he struggles to understand the content. By giving him the time he needs, he’s started to trust me more and is happier to learn on his own terms. 

Even now he isn’t perfect, but he’s clearly trying so much more and we get on really well - he even actively asks for feedback on how he’s learning and how his behaviour has been. I have him in my GCSE class next year, and I’m looking forward to working with him.

Seeing this difference in a student makes teaching feel so worthwhile. I have an extremely shy student, who was used to sitting quietly in the classroom, hoping not to be called upon. Remote learning gave him the space he needed, and after a lesson over Microsoft Teams about the Second World War, he emailed me with a list of great questions, and asked for advice on wider reading. 

He opened up more over email, and started coming up to me after class with new questions. He’s even talking more in class, and is so much more confident talking with his peers. 

And that lightbulb moment is even more powerful when it’s a whole room full of students. Like the Year 10 class who had a real gap in their knowledge when it came to using grid references, meaning that they struggled even with the skills work right at the start of our lesson. They wouldn’t have gained anything from continuing with my planned lesson, because they lacked the basic knowledge, so I went back and used some of our Year 7 resources to introduce them to the basics. 

I had to adapt the lesson on the fly, and it wasn’t quite what I’d planned, but it was far more worthwhile, and by the end they were able to answer the questions. Ending a lesson with students saying, “Miss, this makes sense now. It’s never made sense before,” gave me a feeling unlike any other.

Seeing these changes take place in different students is an incredible feeling, and one that makes me so sure that I made the right decision. 

I know there’s still so much to learn, but I’m really excited by the journey ahead, and looking forward to doing my part to help our children learn. 

Chloe Badge is currently doing her PGCE training at the University of Huddersfield with the intention of becoming a secondary school geography teacher