Well, I have spent the better part of a month regaling you all on the trials and tribulations (and amazingness) that was my winter holidays. Unfortunately, that time of fun and fancy-free is no longer with me and it has been back to the classrooms for going on five weeks now. You may think I have a lot to catch you up on in this regard but I really don’t. One of the wonderful aspects of being in a school for a long period of time is students recognizing you and thereby not giving you such a hard time. As a cover teacher I cannot stress how good this feels. To be able to walk onto the school grounds every morning knowing exactly where I’m going and what classes I’m going to have. Passing students in between lessons and being able to use their names because I remember them! It’s really cool when students say “Hi Sir!” or “Hello Sir!” or “Hi Mr. Smith!” while they walk by too. It’s a real sense of belonging, not only in the classroom but in the school as a whole. I’ve developed great relationships with staff as well, mainly in the Drama department but in other departments as well. Including two male teachers who are really big into NFL football and we’ve been discussing the play-offs and upcoming Super Bowl almost every day. I’ve really found a wonderful niche at Cheam High School and while I know it is going to be a sad day when I have to move on to a different school, that’s just the nature of the job. I know there will be many more experiences out there waiting for me and I have to keep travelling along the road of this incredible journey I’m taking. Maybe at some point while I’m still here I’ll find my way back to Cheam.
All lamenting aside I have been having a positive experience this term. I have not had as many Drama courses this term because the teacher I was covering, Lian Downes, has returned to the department. She was not taking her full class schedule at first in order for her to ease back into all of the movement required (especially with the Key Stage 3 classes) so I was taking about one or two of her Drama classes to begin with. At this point in the term she has taken over her entire schedule so I actually don’t teach any Drama at all...uber sad. Instead I’ve been spending my time covering a long term illness in the Humanities department. I’m actually teaching entirely Religious Studies and Life classes. This has obviously been a huge switch for me (especially in the dynamics of having desks in the classroom) but it has been going really well. Luckily I’m still teaching mainly Key Stage 3 classes so I actually end up having most of the students I was previously teaching in Drama classes. This has made it so much easier to keep the ball rolling because they already know me, they know how I get on in the classroom, and they know my expectations so we’ve been getting a lot of work done together.
The Religious Studies classes have been the more interesting of the two subjects. Year 7 classes have been discussing festivals from a general as well as a specific standpoint. We’ve been talking about what festivals are and how we, as well as different people around the world, celebrate them. We’ve also recently began discussing specific festivals including Ramadan and Easter. In Year 8 they have been studying Islam as an overall topic and we’ve hit on various elements including the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), Mosques, and Jerusalem. I’ve quite enjoyed myself in these lessons because I am learning a lot that I didn’t know about these areas as well as the students. I think this benefits my teaching practice greatly because, not only am I better at delivering material about these topics, but it has peaked my own interest into religions that I did not know much about and I have been researching a lot into the customs and specifics about them. It has been quite an eye-opening experience for me and I’m glad that these classes have sparked that flame. Life is a never-ending opportunity for knowledge and, as a LOT of you know, I enjoying knowing a lot….especially random facts. Coincidently in the newspaper recently there have been excerpts from a new book on the history of Jerusalem and Britain’s involvement there during colonial times. The publishing of the articles coincided directly with my lessons about Jerusalem and I’ve been reading them when I might just have skimmed over before and thereby gaining more insight into this topic. I love when these sorts of things happen, it was a bit much for 13 year olds but if I had older classes talking about this subject it provides an excellent opportunity to bring in a current story to aid the lesson.
The Life lessons have been going well too. Unfortunately a lot of the older classes don’t care too much about this subject. When they have so much on their plates from GCSE classes something like Life (it’s compulsory but there’s no assessment) it’s easy to cast it aside. Luckily there are a lot of videos watched in this subject which makes it go by a lot faster.
Other than this I’m just trucking along one day at a time. The past weeks have gone by very quickly and each day has been neither extremely good nor really bad. I find that each class may have some problems but I have a lot more faith in my behaviour management abilities that I can cope with issues and move on in the class without too much disruption. I don’t let things get to me too much and, like I said before, the behaviour of the students has improved greatly the more I’ve been around.
Apparently I’ve developed quite the reputation in the Drama department as well. Students tend to ask where I am and why I’m not teaching their classes anymore. I’ve been helping out directing a lot of GCSE and A-Level (Sixth Form) work too which has given me desired experience working with these age groups. It’s really cool working with Year 11, 12, and 13 students in Drama because it is very much approached from a professional theatre standpoint. Their exams are largely performance based and sometimes they have to be teacher directed and other times we just help them put it together with suggestions and notes. It’s funny, but I’m developing theatre and teaching skills at the same time which is something very unique to Drama. The goal is to be able to apply these to my extra-curricular theatre work and vice versa. What a lovely subject don’t you think?
I suppose I’ve rambled on a bit too much and repeated ideas a lot but I’m sure you get the point. I just want you all to know that the bottom line of this post is: I am happy. I am in a good place right now and just trying to enjoy every moment of it while I can. I’m not going to be at Cheam the whole time, and I know that, but I’ll worry about then when it happens. I’m focused entirely on the here and now and cherishing those relationships that I’ve built while continuing to develop and hone my teaching practice and skills. I couldn’t have asked for much more than this and I am so grateful this experience has happened…know that J.
I’m going to stop this post here because I need to go to bed soon but that covers my last few weeks from a work perspective. Obviously I’ve also been having quite the time from a social perspective as well, including being cast in a show recently as most of you know! I’ll save all of those updates for the next one.
I hope everyone is well and I wish you all of the best. I send my love out to each and every one of you.
Cheers
Erik
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