Well, seeing as I am about to begin my last term in the first year of teaching here in England; I figured now would be as good a time as ever to reflect on the term gone by (seeing as how I didn’t really update you guys that much over it). It was a very good term overall although there were difficulties here and there (to be expected). I am still extremely happy to be at Cheam and to be a teacher there. The staff is absolutely amazing and I have fit in and been included very easily by the other teachers. The students are great (for the most part) and are a true pleasure to teach. Although I am not a Drama teacher in the school I am trying my best to enjoy every lesson that I teach and approach it from an interesting and engaging way in order to keep the student’s attentions and make it fun for them. Religious Studies is not exactly the most popular subject at this school and many of the Year 7’s and 8’s do not understand why they have to take the course (especially if they are not particularly religious). This is where a lot of the problems stem from because the students are more inclined to misbehave or be distracted if they have a lack of interest in the subject. I try my best to keep them engaged but it’s a two way street in the classroom and I can only do so much while expecting participation, proper behaviour, and positive working habits from them to create a successful classroom environment (of course I have a large part to play in encouraging this positive demeanor). Although a large part of me wishes I was teaching Drama right now I am content with where I am and I am much better off in terms of sanity from the supply teaching I was doing previously.
In the classroom I can say that it has been successful for me. I have found out last week that the teacher I am covering will most likely not be returning this school year. She has already been out of the school since November of last year and to try and return to her classes this term would almost seem counter-productive given how much work they’ve covered this year and how much she’s missed. It would be easier for her to just return in September with a fresh start, which means that I will most likely be staying at her post until the end of this school year (although it has not been made official just yet). This amount of consistency in the classroom has reflected positively on the students and most of them have reacted very well to my continued presence (not all of them but hey, you can’t win them all). A lot of kids ask me when/if their teacher will be returning this year and every time I answer that she will mostly likely not they respond by saying that they’re glad I’m going to be sticking around for the rest of the year, which is always a very positive boost to the ego. I still mainly teach Key Stage 3 which means Years 7 and 8. This is equivalent to our Grades 6 and 7 so the students are between 11 and 13 years old. I continue to forget this whenever I am in the classroom. I suppose a part of me enjoys teaching older students more ergo I begin to expect too much from the younger students. This applies the most to the Year 7 classes I teach. These students are very young and have a very Primary School mentality and behave as such. This is understandable and I sometimes forget that. This actually works out great in the classroom because it allows me to have a lot more fun with the students and they laugh a lot more at my corny jokes. Once the students hit Year 8 they immediately start to become “too cool” for a lot of activities in the classroom and it becomes harder to figure out ways to engage them in the lessons. I’m determined this term to have a lot more fun with the students (like I did early on in the time at Cheam) to end the year on a high note and steer away from the disruptive nature of some of the classes. It’s very strange but the amount of strictness I employ in the classroom is very inversely proportional to the misbehavior of the students. They need to be given a certain amount of freedom (within limits) or they will explode with the pent up energy they have. This combined with the nice weather outside it’s difficult to get them to stay in their seats and so I want to try and have a lot more fun with them this go around.
In terms of my social life at Cheam things could not be better. I am still becoming closer and closer with the other teachers in the Drama department as well as more teachers in other departments (mainly Humanities which is what Religious Studies falls under). I still go to the Drama office every morning and lunchtime and spend break chatting with them as well. We’ve become very close and a couple of them even attended my recent performance at the South London Theatre. It’s nice to have become such great friends but it makes leaving Cheam at the end of the year very difficult for me. I know that I will still remain friends with them after this school year and Alexis (the Head of Drama) even proposed meeting regularly every month or so to catch up. In the Humanities department I’ve developed two “bro” friendships with a couple of the male teachers. One of them organizes our football every week and so we have much to talk about. The other actually grew up in California and is a huge baseball and American football fan so we chat about those sports every morning. It’s really cool having somebody at the school to discuss these things with and almost makes me feel like I am teaching in a school back home.
I am still playing football with a bunch of the other male students every Friday and we’ve played a couple of competitive matches against another school as well as the Year 11’s at Cheam. We drew the first and won the latter match. I’m definitely becoming much better at the sport, which I think stems from playing amongst guys who are very good, and I can’t wait to continue my tutelage in its ways. I think I have found my natural position in defense which was reflected very well in my play against the other school. I also played a half as Keeper against the Year 11’s and made some really good stops against them, enough that the other teachers were really impressed by them. We have a bunch more matches to come within the next month against the two Sixth Form years, the Tennis Scholarship program students, and potentially two other schools in the area. It’s a nice fitness boost to be playing every week and I really look forward to it, especially with the wonderful weather we’ve been having of late.
Looking ahead I’m starting to think of where I could be in September of this year. I want nothing more than a full time job teaching Drama at a school close enough to where I live now that I don’t have to move. This is asking a lot but my time teaching other subjects through cover positions compared to the three weeks I spent as a Drama teacher at Cheam have only reaffirmed my thoughts that I am a Drama teacher above all else. This is the subject I have a passion for, the one I am continuing to participate in myself, and the one I want to teach as a career. I’ve applied to a few jobs so far but none of them have gone passed the application phase. I’ve gotten letters back thanking me for applying but they’ve “received an overwhelming amount of qualified applications and unfortunately could not offer me an interview at this time”. Which is fine, I just need to continue to persevere in this aspect and hope that my hard work will pay off. I take the rejected applications as constructively as a I can and see where I could tweak my future applications to hopefully bring some success. Plus rejection just gives me a drive to continue to search and work harder…whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger right?
Until I find something new I continue to do the best job that I can at Cheam and the situation I currently have. The guarantee of work every Monday-Friday is a comforting notion and the consistent flow of income keeps me from being worried too much. I’ll continue to update everyone on how school is and whether my job search will eventually be fruitful. Until then…
Cheers and Love
Erik
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