Describe your day as a trainee Maths teacher
I have chosen to describe today, the 20th of October, because it has been a day where I have experienced such a lot.
Teaching Maths today is not at all old school
My day began at 8am when I arrived at school. Coming into school early is essential for getting organised for the day ahead. It allows for time to check my email inbox (which is usually very full) and ensure I have everything I need for the day.
Period one I spent observing a year 11 middle set being taught about expanding brackets. Observations provided me with techniques for teaching topics and also enable me to identify areas the students struggle with. I feel that the observations I have had during the start of my year have been an invaluable part of my training.
Period two I spent in the maths office marking my 27, year 7 class books. Today was the second time I have marked their books. The first time, took me all of my free periods, break, lunch and an hour after school! I know this is a very long time but I was able to get a really good understanding of my class by having this detailed look at their book work. After marking I felt like I knew them all more as individuals, which is a nice feeling. Today I cut the time it took to mark by half and that I believe is a slightly more reasonable time to mark books.
Period 3 I had another observation and period 4 I carried on marking. I usual have a free period 5 but today was different because after half term I will begin teaching an upper middle year 9 class. I met with their current teacher to discuss what topic I will be starting to teach them. We discussed the scheme of work and the group of students.
Period 6 I had my weekly subject mentor meeting to discuss my progress over the week. This session is a good time to reflect on the busy week.
How creative can you be as a Maths teacher?
After school on a Thursday we have whole school CPD day. Today the new head teacher was taking our opinions on the schools reward and behaviour system. The weekly CPD events tend to be useful for getting a better understanding of how schools develops but today was good as I got to hear a lot of different subject teachers views on the topic which at the moment there are differences across the school. The heads aim was to gain more consistency across the school.
The final part of my day at 4pm was spent in a year 7 ‘settling in’ evening. This is similar to a parents evening however it is just with the year 7 tutors. This event was not compulsory for me to attend but if during your training you get the opportunity to go I would advise you take the chance. Just to watch how teachers interact with parents and use this experience in your own practice.
My advice for anyone looking to train to teach would be to take as many opportunities as possible, and to get fully involved in a normal teaching role as soon as you can.
- Emily Wildig
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