Life of a Teacher

I was scheduled to take over the class on the 16th and 17th of September. However, on the 4th and 5th of September my mentor teacher took off sick, so I assumed command of the class earlier than anticipated. As I was only informed on the morning of the 4th I was unprepared which made me feel nervous about assuming the role of my mentor teacher. In spite of this, I was able to formulate lesson ideas for my grade 4 and grade 7 classes before the start of school day. This gave me the confidence to perform my role of a teacher. I was further encouraged by the fact that the learners enjoyed the lessons and participated in the class discussions.

When I inquired with the secretary about my mentor teacher, she informed me that he would be back by the following day, the 5th, so I thought that I would then continue my two days of ‘life of a teacher’ as originally planned. Due to this I did not prepare lessons for the next day. My mentor teacher did come to school in the morning but left school in first period. This period was our free period so when speaking to him he told me to just treat these two days as my ‘life of a teacher’ days. I felt flustered that I once again did not have lesson plans to aid me. However, reflecting on the fact that the previous day turned out to be a success helped restore my confidence and I developed a plan of action for the day.

The lessons planned for the day ran smoothly. Learners respected me as their teacher. I did not allow learners to have a free lesson and always had work for them to complete. When learners asked a question, I had enough subject knowledge to immediately and confidently answer them. This showed learners that I was not like their former student teachers, whom they told me allowed them to play around. Instead they viewed me as someone who would educate and help them. The response I received from my learners throughout the days, as well as the way I handled all my daily teacher duties, indicated that I am ready to be a teacher.

The school does not have any discipline measures in place other than sending the out of control learners to the principal’s office. Because of this learners’ behaviour is chaotic and barely manageable. Having never experienced such behavioural issues in the past I was unable to control some classes without raising my voice and becoming a teacher who learners feared. I am concerned about learners who only behave well out of fear of authority rather than respect for authority.

I believe that every few years learners change as the world around us changes. Due to this a teacher should always be open to learning new teaching techniques. Throughout my teaching career I will always remember to do so instead of relying on techniques that may have worked in the past and are no longer effective. However, for now I need to focus on developing discipline techniques that do not involve raising my voice at my learners or making them afraid. Rather I strive to become a teacher who instills respect in her learners and shows enough compassion towards my learners so they may trust me enough to open up to me about their problems instead of acting out in school.