Life of a teacher

The three days in the life of a teacher was an eye opening experience as this allowed me to understand how much dedication and preparation goes into a full day of teaching. I also realised how there are many situations that occur within the classroom, that are not planned for and teachers' need to think on their feet and find solutions to these problems.

How I coped and managed with completing the three days in the life of a teacher

I coped and managed with completing the three days in the life of a teacher by ensuring that the lessons that I planned were interactive, purposeful and engaging so that the learners' attention would be on the activities at hand. To maintain the discipline within the classroom and to avoid unwanted behaviour I made use of my classroom management tool which reminded learners to obey the rules of the classroom whilst still keeping a healthy buzz amongst the learners. I also ensured that I made use of my time management skills by allocating an appropriate amount of time to each lesson that I planned within each day of the life of a teacher. I also coped and managed with completing the three days in the life a teacher by ensuring that each activity planned accommodated each different learning style.

How I felt about taking on all the responsibilities of a teacher in block 1 compared to block 2 When taking on all the responsibilities of a teacher, within block 1, it was daunting at first as there are so many components and tasks that one needs to take on when teaching for a full day. In block 1, of a day in the life of a teacher, I was overwhelmed when I realised how much work and preparation I needed to do in order to successfully complete this day, however, everything fell into place on this day and my worries were eased when I began teaching. When taking on all the responsibilities of a teacher, within block 2, I was more confident in my abilities and less anxious as I now knew how I needed to structure these two days and I was more aware of the tasks that I needed to complete. Within block 2, in the two days of a life of a teacher, I was more prepared to to solve situations that would arise unexpectedly within the classroom and felt more comfortable in my capabilities as I had gained valuable experience within block 1 of teaching experience.

The activities that I found most challenging and how I overcame these challenges

The activities that I had found most challenging were trying to focus on completing all the required components of my planned lessons whilst still needing to complete all the administrative tasks that were required of me, as the teacher for the day. I had overcome this by creating a schedule for myself for the different days in the life of a teacher and I had given certain time allocations to each activity so that I could comfortably complete all tasks for the day. Another activity that I found challenging was trying to keep the class focused and well behaved when I was doing one-on-one reading with the learners. I had overcome this by making use of my classroom management tool and by reminding the learners that when another learner is reading, they need to be respectable and lower their voices.

Where I would rate myself higher within my self-evaluation survey

I would rate myself higher within the "newly qualified teachers must have highly developed literacy, numeracy and Information Technology (IT) skills" category as before I went on teaching experience, I I had rated myself proficient in this area but now reflecting back on this, I would rate myself as distinguished because I was able to distinguishably explain literacy and numeracy concepts to the learners and I was able to assist learners in areas such as reading, writing and mathematical skills. Reflecting back on my teaching experience, my Information technology (IT) skills were distinguished as I was able to assist the learners in their computer lessons by demonstrating to the learners how to access and use programmes such as Microsoft Word, Excel and Power Point.

How I have improved these competencies through this experience

Through this experience, I have improved the competencies mentioned above as this allowed me to have more exposure and practice in these skills and enhance my ability to teach these skills. Through this experience, I was able to improve in my ability in using different methods and strategies to teach the learners various concepts in the topics of literacy, numeracy and Information Technology (IT). I improved within this competency as I was able to observe how my mentor teacher taught the learners the above concepts and how she used different activities to accommodate the various learning styles, which aided me as I was then able to incorporate this into the lessons that I taught. I was able to understand how a particular topic can be taught in numerous ways.

A comparison of the initial self-evaluation that I had completed to the final comments of my mentor teacher

Comparing the initial self-evaluation that I had completed at the beginning of my teaching experience to the exit level outcomes and final comments of my mentor teacher, I would say that I improved and advanced my skills in most areas as I was constantly learning new approaches and methods of teaching. Within my initial self-evaluation I rated myself proficient in the category of being able to reflect critically, in theoretically informed ways and in conjunction with their professional community of colleagues on their own practice, however, my mentor teacher identified my progress in terms of this and recognised how I was able to adapt this to evolving situations. Having my mentor teacher identify the progress I made on my teaching experience, has aided me in improving all my teaching skills and has made me want to continue to improve everyday.

The three days in the life of a teacher allowed me to have insight into what a full day of teaching really consists of and has enabled me in advancing my teaching abilities and skills. This has also prepared me for the next chapter of my life, which is being a foundation phase teacher, as I will be able to apply the approaches and strategies that I have learnt on this experience, to my own classroom.