My Life as a Teacher

My three days in the ‘life of a teacher’ created an eye-opening experience in which I gained thorough knowledge on the reality of being a teacher, beyond teaching and lesson planning. Teaching is more than teaching learners and ensuring they are prepared for any assessments that come their way during their academic journey. As teachers, we strive to nurture young minds and guide them towards developing a vision and a mission for their future. Our learners deserve a learning environment that is positive and supportive towards their way to thinking, understanding, and learning; therefore, we are consistently building our teaching styles and attitudes on the grounds of diversity and uniqueness catering for the success of every learner in our educational environment. We become successful teachers when we spend our life as a teacher working towards the success of not only our learners but our schools and education as well.

Managing these three days required resilience, adaptability, and a love for teaching. I learnt that teaching requires us to wear many hats as administrators, mediators, and support structures to our learners, parents and the school community. We contribute to the success of the school when we dedicate our energy and time to enhance the quality of teaching and learning, engage in effective communication with all stakeholders in the school, and promoting and engaging in the support of extra-curricular activities our learners should participate empowering them to excel beyond the classroom walls.  

My coping mechanisms revolved around remaining organised and efficient when completing all my required tasks in the days of the life of a teacher and being open to learning on the job. My mentor teacher provided a strong foundation of support and guidance in which I continued to bear in mind allowing me to keep positive, dedicated and focused despite any challenges. When taking on the responsibilities of a teacher in block 1, I felt unsure about how I will be able to complete all tasks successfully, however as I used block 1 to receive guidance from my mentor teacher, I was able to complete my days in the life of a teacher more effectively in block 2, thus allowing me to become more confident as a teacher in every aspect. My most challenging activity was adapting to my learners needs, whom I have not spent much time teaching. This reminded me to ensure that I ask my learners more about themselves and how they enjoy learning, thus enhancing my teaching practices to their needs. The challenges faced allowed my to effectively complete my self-evaluation survey providing me with a valuable understanding in my readiness as a teacher. I felt a significant improvement in my beginner teacher competencies, particularly in classroom management, lesson delivery, and my ability to connect with students on a personal level and further have a deeper understanding of aspects of improvement.

My days in the life of a teacher pushed me beyond my comfort zone, unlocking exceptional growth as a teacher. I’ve come to learn about all the responsibilities of a teacher and the passion and dedication it takes in being able to create a positive impact on young minds.