Describe your day as a trainee teacher
Having started my training in September 2017 I have now been on placement in a secondary school and sixth form for 3 months.
My typical day as a trainee teacher has constantly changed each week as I begin to take on more responsibilities within the school in terms of teaching, meetings and general school activities, and as most of you will know, it is very rare when working with hundreds of students that everything goes perfectly to plan.
My day begins at 6:45am, and I leave home with bags full of worksheets, textbooks and lesson plans to arrive at school for 8:10am. I attend either a departmental or year meeting lasting for approximately 10 – 15 minutes to discuss any issues which are arising with students and make decisions on how best to approach them. I attend my Year 9 Form class and with the form tutor generally present in the room I take the register, announce any notices and have a general chat with the students.
My day can then differ dependent on how many lessons I am teaching or observing and how many meetings I have to attend. My focus class consists of Year 10 GCSE higher tier pupils and I teach this class every day. For each lesson I set learning outcomes, share set lesson objectives, and then plan and prepare learning activities to ensure pupils make the best progress possible. My subject mentor observes each of these lessons and makes notes, providing feedback based on the teaching standards.
Throughout each day, I may also observe or teach a Year 7, 8, 12 or 13 lesson. The rest of my time is spent in the school work room, providing time for me to plan upcoming lessons, work on essays for university, revise that topic that I am going to start teaching next week or work through that pile of marking.
Break time and lunch time is spent in the staff room, giving a chance to meet and chat with other members of staff.
At 3:30pm the bell rings, hundreds of students run out of the doors as the school day ends. For me, the school day sometimes ends at 3:30pm however if I attend after school INSET evenings I leave at 5pm. I then return home to either continue with work or have a well-earned rest ready to see what tomorrow will bring.
By Kimberley Irving