TEACHER INTERVIEW - The Young Educator
It brings Prac-E great pleasure to collaborate with The Young Educator.
Graduate teacher 🍎📚🇦🇺 Sharing my love & passion for teaching and learning 💗 Follow to watch me learn as I teach! 🙈Year 1 / 2017&2018🎈
Follow The Young Educator on Instagram here
How many years into your teaching career are you?
I have completed one whole year! *celebratory dance* This is my second year teaching, although it feels a lot longer!
What was the #1 thing you worried about being a teacher, before you started?
That I would actually know what to do when I was faced with a room full of children who looked at me with anticipation. That I would know how it all worked and that I knew how to help my students get from A to B.
How did you overcome that fear?
Fake it 'til you make it! I honestly was so nervous before school every day, wondering how the day would play out. I just took it one day at a time and before I knew it, I had survived my first term, first semester and first year! It honestly gets easier with time and practice!
What thing about teaching do you think University didn’t prepare you for?
The rush and demand of teaching. Teaching is so fast paced and a million things are constantly thrown at you – countless meetings, community events, assessments, extra curricular duties, professional developments, observations and before you know it, it's report time!
Do you think student teachers have it easy?
Absolutely not! You are constantly trying to prove yourself as being competent enough for the profession whilst trying to figure out what it all means! Placements are full on because you are expected to take ownership of a class that isn’t completely your own whilst being observed and judging your practice. I found that teaching became much more natural and easier when the pressure was off from someone watching me all the time.
What does it take to be a great teacher?
Someone who fosters a love for learning in all students, of all abilities and backgrounds.
If you could give your first-year-Uni self one piece of advice, what would it be?
It may not all make sense now (pedagogy, syllabus, outcomes, content, PDP, RFF, LAST, philosophy, units, visible learning, quality teaching, formative and summative assessment, effective feedback – just to name a few!) but it will once you're in action! It will all come together.
What is your biggest strength as a teacher?
I reflect a lot. Sometimes too much! I usually drive home and think about what worked and didn’t work and how I can help my students succeed tomorrow.
What teaching skill do you think you will never perfect?
Time management – fitting in ALL aspects of the curriculum, in a quality way. From what I hear of other, experienced teachers, it doesn’t get easier. I can accept that.
