Start of ITT Feelings
I applied for my teacher training course in October 2017, through the school direct route, whilst I was finishing my final year of my Maths degree. My first shock when starting my ITT was the age range of the other trainees. Although I have come straight from finishing my maths degree, I found most of the other trainees are older than me, having changed careers. Although this surprised me I have loved hearing about the different backgrounds of the other trainees and it’s great to know we are all learning together and are treated as equals, whatever the age.
Although I was excited to get stuck in with teaching, I was also nervous. Luckily my teacher training alliance, along with the University had 2 weeks’ worth of training based outside the school and so this gave me time to get to know the other trainees and learn more about the theory behind the lessons I was going to teach. Although at the time this often felt repetitive, and again I was keen to put all I was learning into practice, I have now realised how invaluable this information was. We had training sessions on topics such as lesson planning, behaviour management, and SEN issues. In my lesson observations, this week I have been able to link back to the theory and understand why the teacher has chosen to do certain things. My teaching alliance has been extremely supportive and organised set sessions within school to help me with my ongoing assignments. For example, last week I shadowed a Y7 pupil with a hearing impairment for a day. This allowed me to see what barriers the pupil experienced and what strategies were put in place in his different lessons. This was interesting to see – especially how his personality blossomed in certain lessons, along with how the school had put in separate study support lessons to ensure the pupil was coping well. This week I have also been shadowing a TA (teaching assistant). Once again this has been interesting, and has opened my eyes to how invaluable a TA is in helping support all pupils in the lesson.
Overall, although I started my ITT with excitement and nerves, the excitement seems to have increased even more, whilst my nerves have decreased greatly after meeting the pupils and seeing how truly wonderful they are. My teaching alliance have already been superb and offered me endless support. Although I am a Maths Trainee, I have already signed up to help the Y9 and 10 Netball training once a week – I can’t wait!
By Lucy Cooke