Well, what a Term! When deciding to train through the SCITT route I was keen to be thrown straight into the hustle and bustle of school life and I was not disappointed! I could have never imagined that just within this short amount of time I could have felt like I have accomplished and learned so much. There have been plenty of highs and, like with any new venture, lows too, although I do have to say they have been minimal! There have definitely been plenty of learning curves along the way (note to self: make sure you don’t try and bite Sellotape in a visor) but it has just completely reaffirmed my desire to pursue a career within education.
The initial fear of standing up in front of my first year 8 class (where my fitbit logged high-intensity cardio) quickly subsided as the daily words of wisdom, encouragement and advice from my mentor began to sink in. Little by little, my confidence grew and before long I was suddenly teaching 10 lessons a week ranging from year 7 all the way up to year 11! Of course these all didn’t go swimmingly and I did have to keep reminding myself not to be too hard on myself, after all – at this point I’ve been a ‘teacher’ for just under three months! One of the main things for me was getting the idea out of my head that I wasn’t an ‘expert’ because as you slowly start to navigate your way through, you do realise you ARE the expert in the eyes of the students!
A real highlight of the term was when creating my own body of work for year 10’s to pursue within their GCSE coursework. To see students responding well to a topic you have personally picked and building a relationship with these students on the back of this topic has been really great and something I am hoping to take with me to my next placement.
