Teacher Training During Covid-19 - By Lauren Hunt
My newly-turned-trainee self of September 2019 would never have foreseen that I would be finishing the last three or so months of my teacher training from the comfort of my own home, largely through various Zoom meetings with my fellow course mates and teaching remotely on Google Classroom.
I was disappointed to finish at my B placement school earlier than expected. It had taken me a little while, but I felt like I had finally found my feet there by the time the school closures happened. Returning to my A placement school after Easter was also something I was sad not to be able to do; I had been eager to get back to the school I would be working in for the foreseeable future, since I am staying there to work as an NQT. I had been excited to reunite with the maths department, to get to teach my classes from the Autumn term again, as well as teach some new classes and be able to further develop my practice.
However, teaching remotely has given me a new and different experience of being a teacher. I have found setting work online to be relatively okay though there have been new challenges to face, one example being trying to ensure I am still finding ways to effectively differentiate work for my students to make sure everybody in the class is well supported in their learning. I’ve had some really nice experiences of students responding to the feedback I have left on their work and acting on it to address things they haven’t understood. I’m pleased to still be able to have positive teaching experiences like this whilst teaching from home, though I really do miss being in the classroom, and teaching remotely doesn’t quite compare.
I have also missed doing maths as often as I would have been, had I still been at school and teaching. To make up for this I have kept myself busy with the Scholarship resources webinars and have also been slowly making my way through the A level text books in preparation for hopefully being able to teach A level classes in the future.
With the future in mind, I look forward to getting back to school as soon as it is safe and possible to do so, which it seems will be after my training has finished and I am an NQT. I imagine returning to school will be quite different, since not only will I no longer be a trainee, but schools will also be developing and adjusting to whatever the ‘new normal’ for schooling maybe. I think being an NQT after a pandemic is going to be a challenge, a challenge that I am a bit nervous about but mostly excited for.
By Lauren Hunt
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