An Eye Opening Week

This past week was the first week that the Year 4 teacher had off for maternity leave. It was also the week that the teacher taking over the class for the rest of the year was away with the Year 6 class on a week long camping trip. This meant that I was covering Year 4 all week long. 

I wasn't really worried about covering the class for the week. They're a good group a kids, and there aren't any serious behaviour issues. The teacher they've had all year has some great systems and routines in place so it was easy to pick up where she left off.  The medium term plans were completed by the teacher who will be in there for the rest of the term, so I only had to worry about getting the weekly plan done, and sticking to what had been laid out.

It was great to be in the same place, every day for the week. As a PPA teacher, I'm all over the school, every day so it was a great change to be able to put my stuff down, and not have to lug it at lunchtime to the class I'd be covering in the afternoon. It was also really nice to be with the same group of kids for a week and getting to know them a bit better.  I also liked that when I came across an extra 15 mins here or there, I knew of some other, relevant work they could use the time to complete, instead of getting them to do quiet reading, or extend what they had been working on like I would do if I was in there for PPA coverage.

I did have a few panic attacks throughout the week though. One being that next year, I'm responsible for everything that happens in my class - behaviour management, displays, assessments, the topics we cover, how the room is set up, general class routines, planning, field trips, assemblies etc. Another reason I had a bit of panic attack was that I'm also responsible for my students learning what they need to know and progressing up through the levels. This may sound stupid, but right now when I'm in a class, my concern is that the behaviour is where it should be, and that I have gotten through what the class teacher has left. If I'm marking the books, and I see that a few kids aren't totally grasping changing percentages into decimals, I'll leave a note for the teacher and that's that. I'm not the one responsible for re-teaching, or differentiating the work or changing what ability grouping they're placed in. 

Yet another minor freak out surrounded whether I'd be physically/mentally able to take it. At the end of everyday this past week, I was exhausted. When looking at the plans on Wednesday morning for the day and then the rest of the week, I definitely thought - 'How the hell to people do this day after day, and week after week?' And it's not that I'm not tired after covering someone else's class, but there is a bit of a detachment there. Once the books are marked (if even necessary) I'm out the door. I'm not prepping the lessons for the next day, making sure that the reading books are changed, checking over the class list to make sure everyone has their permission letters in or looking for a good maths lesson started on 'espresso'.

Although there are many things that I found myself to be really excited about for next year as well. How I'm going to re-arrange the classroom to make it an exciting and inviting place, the different displays that I'll be in charge of putting up, picking some amazing topics that my students are interested in, and taking pictures of my students throughout the year doing their best. Having behaviour management systems in place that will help my students be motivated to learn and respectful towards their classmates and other students. Helping them to become independent learners and problem solvers.

These are all fantastically lofty and 'dream world' type goals for next year, and I'm sure that not all of them will be achieved, but I don't think it hurts to be optimistic and excited for the opportunity to achieve some of these things. I'm also a realist, and know that when push comes to shove, there will be some days when my lessons are a total bust, and times when my Year 4 students are not motivated in the least to act in a respectful way towards others.

I'm just planning on taking it one day/task at a time, do my best, and hope for a good year.

Travel Addict

The UK school system is now in it's last term of the year. There are around five teaching weeks left until a fantastic six week break for the summer. I'm finding it hard to believe that I've been over here for nine months already, and have a full time classroom of my own awaiting me in September. It's fantastic, but definitely mind boggling when I sit down to think about it.

As I reflect on this past school year, I can't ignore the places that I've been lucky enough to see on school breaks. In October, my mom and I did a whirl wind tour of Milan, Venice, Lausanne, Geneva and Paris. In November, I took a long weekend and went to Berlin, and learned a lot on a free tour in a snow storm. February half term break saw a bunch of friends and I head to Amsterdam for four days of legal mayhem; in addition to a weekend in Glasgow with my flatmate.  At the end of March, I spent a fabulous long weekend in Paris with my cousin, taking in the sights and sounds of a city I definitely plan on visiting again next year, as I won't live 2.5 hours from Paris for my entire life! On the April Easter break, my cousin Jeff came over, and we spent 5 nights in Ireland, enjoying the accents and beer, but not the prices. And finally in May I took a relaxing three night trip to Ibiza to soak up some sun, sand and to generally unwind.

If someone this time last year would have told me that I'd be going to all of these places, I would not have believed one word of it. Not a single one.  Probably because in June of last year, I was busy preparing for coming over, and making sure that all loose ends were wrapped up. Things like deciding what to keep/bring with me/throw out were filling up my brain, in addition to saving money and making sure I had all the documents in order to move to a city I hadn't even visited before.  I also think it's a cultural thing as well. People at home generally have a different way of spending (usually very limited) vacation time. Often it will involve a trip somewhere south in the winter to get away from the snow and cold, and then spending summer holiday time at a cottage or at a beach not excessively far from home.  Whereas people over here will easily spend a week in Spain, or southern France or Greece without giving it a second thought. Not to mention taking 'city breaks' and visiting a new and foreign city for a long weekend.  This is most likely because all of these new places are so much more accessible, because the countries are so much smaller than Canada, and they are all closer in proximity. When at home, you can drive for 24 hours before you are out of Ontario. We Canadians have a much bigger task when it comes to being familiar with our 'entire' country. 

One thing I definitely want to take back with me is the idea of visiting the great places that are close to home. Living in Toronto, there are many cities that are much close to the places I've been this year, like Montreal, New York, Boston, Chicago etc. Hopefully when I'm back I'll be able to keep a bit of this travel bug and see some neat places closer to home.

Either way, now I find myself looking to the year ahead and thinking about the places that I want to see on the half term breaks next year. One thing I can tell you is that my weeks off are already filling up quickly. I want to spend more time in Italy and I would love to spend the February break next year skiing. Croatia is also on the top of my travel wish list.  As mentioned previously, more time will be spent in Paris, with Barcelona and Edinburgh being other cities I feel are 'must do's' before heading home. Portugal is also appealing, as is spending more time in Germany (I visited Frankfurt and Munich two summers ago), or possibly visiting distant relatives in the Czech Republic.

I'm not sure if one year will be enough!

Techie Teacher

First of all, apologies for such a delay between blog posts. It's been a crazy fews weeks. My cousin (who's living in Paris) came for an extended long weekend visit and my sister (from Vancouver) came for a super long visit. Luckily, their holiday times overlapped, and we were able to have a mini cousins reunion in London. In amongst there, the last half term break of the school year came and went. I was able to spend 3 nights in Ibiza, which was relaxing and beautiful.

I thought I'd do a blog post on how technology is used in the classroom here in the UK. I've been preparing for having my own class next year, and am realizing how integral technology will be in my planning, lessons and general classroom life.

First of all, all classrooms have a SmartBoard/ Interactive White Board (IWB) as standard equipment. This is a projector that displays the computer desktop on a screen that can be manipulated using the IWB pens. You can show your class articles/videos from the internet, power point presentations, teach lessons using EasyTeach  (like power point, but made for classroom lessons) and anything else you want your class to see. There's also a program with the IWB that's a blank screen, that you can write on using the IWB pens and save for later use.

My school just recently purchased a class set of laptops to be used to further ICT lessons. The school has also just been fitted with WiFi, so that they can use the internet on the laptops.

Schools may use a 'scheme of work', which is like a set program for a particular subject, complete with teachers guide, student textbooks and sample lesson plans. My school uses the Abacus maths scheme and recently we had a staff inset on using their software program. With this program, you're able to differentiate your lessons between high, middle and lower ability; see what activities require TA support and track your students attendance, to ensure that they are taught the concept when back at school.

We also had an inset recently on using the 'espresso' software, which is a cross curricular program for Foundation, KS1 and KS2 students/teachers. There are videos and activities on here that students can do on their own, as well as news reports geared at children,  handwriting practice and differentiated news articles that can be used on the IWB for the whole class.  They also have a 'Staff room' icon, that contains ideas for topic planning, field trips and assessment. This program is totally geared to teaching, and is very user friendly. They don't have anything on there that takes more than one minute to download.

Lots to know for next year!