My first week on the ITT course
The first week on my ITT course was very eventful, however I loved every moment of it. I really enjoyed being back in school, but this time on the other side of it all. It was very weird being in the whole school staff meeting and having a lanyard with a staff pass on it, but even though I am only 22 I really felt like I was a member of staff there and not just a student teacher! I met my mentor and all of the faculty staff, as well as being given my own desk. Everyone I met was really nice and helpful in the school, and I also got to hang out with the other trainees and see how they were settling in too.
After the inset days were over the children came back to school and I got to meet my tutor group. I was really looking forward to this as I would be helping with things like PDP and all of the house related activities the school does throughout the year. The biggest thing I really realised though in my first week is that there is a lot more to teaching than just planning a lesson and then teaching it. There are so many other duties teachers have around the school, as well as to the children. I was also very surprised at the level that the maths department knew the students in the school, and could give advice to each other on how to get the best out of a class where they had taught some of the students before.
The first week was obviously different because of COVID-19. I was required to wear a visor while spectating lessons, as well as everyone having to wear masks around the school when moving from lesson to lesson. Moving around the school in a one way system is also something I never had to do in my time at school, but the school managed everything very well. When I got to the lessons I found observing them really interesting as I had never focused on how a teacher teaches. I liked learning about different ways of teaching and was really looking forward to implementing them in to my own classes when I would get the chance to have a go myself!
By Rhidian Hill
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