Let me walk you through my week

Let me walk you through my week.

I hit the ground running at 7.45ish on Monday morning as most days. I need to wrap my head around what classes I have that day and what and how I’m going to teach the content and organize any resources I need for the lesson. I need to check that the relief lessons for absent colleagues (I’ll just put Covid here) are in the tub for the relief teacher to grab. I have to then explain to the relief teacher what is needed as a Science teacher nervously waves the relief lesson around for clarification.

I need to grab a cupcake from the canteen for a birthday in my Pastoral class at 8.30 and find matches for the candle. I have to ensure I have all the paperwork for my Pastoral students– camp letters, overdue absences… I have to check in with Jack as something’s happening at home- I’m not told, but told to ‘ensure he has TLC’ this week. Bit hard to support him when I don’t know what I’m supporting. What if I ask about his dad and it’s dad that’s been diagnosed with cancer last week? (No pressure). We take the roll, have prayer, read notices and rush off to class.

Two classes this session; walk around helping all the students navigate the lesson, spend time clarifying with the kids that need extra support.

Teachers are said to engage in something like 1300 decisions every day. How am I going to put the content to them? Just how am I going to reiterate the concept and say the same thing in different ways so that everyone gets it? What anecdote can I think of to help clarify? How am I going to explain it to Johnny and Eloise who have cognitive processing issues? What examples can I use to further clarify the concept? What questions do I ask to engender discussion and check for understanding? What specific resources am I going to use to support their learning of the concept? Does this article or that video help them best? And between transitions, review and admin, I really only have 40 minutes to do it in. Mostly you only have this time due to curriculum demands, to teach this particular concept. There is not the luxury of following it up in any real detail. (In junior classes, we only have 5 hours a fortnight and in senior, 7). That’s few precious learning hours and days between reinforcement. But it’s needed to support the assessment in a few weeks so you can’t really afford to get it wrong. (No pressure).

I have 3 senior classes for Social Justice. Do I teach the same lesson 3 times? Well yes, and then again, no. They are 3 very different groups. One engages more in discussion but I have to spread the discussion around to ensure the quiet ones get a say. I have to maintain a vigilance. I have to keep the talk on topic without unhelpful tangents yet encourage sharing. It’s a fine line. One class is more sociable so I have to keep a firm reign on the talk and cajole attention to the task at hand. I pull humour out of thin air and gently tease to maintain some control and walk around more. The third class is a mix of amiable and ardent. I have to ensure the mix keeps all of them attentive. Challenge and engage in equal measure.

And all the while you have to keep an eye on the clock- just the right amount of cajoling to keep them on task, just the right amount of time to allow them to engage with the topic and make notes, just the right amount of time to allow for review of learning and cognitive closure before they all leap to their feet and their thoughts turn to maths…

A quick silent review of the lesson in your head. What did you miss covering? Which important point needs further clarification next time? Make notes in your book so you don’t forget next time.

Cancel Susan’s mentoring time during lunch because you’ve picked up a duty cover.

We all work straight through recess, grabbing bites of something as we check emails and reply, chase up whatever the parent/student/exec need and prep for the next class. Quick loo break.

Ok, next class, the one where  you know squat about the content. You need to keep vigilant; the assessment is due next week. Time’s got away on you. The planned lesson needs to be scrapped because the assessment takes precedence. Review the assessment task. Remind them of the deadline. Check in with each student about where they’re at. Focus young Justin (autism spectrum disorder and horrifically immature to boot) on his priority tasks. Go over it yet again with him. (He’s going to fail, I just know it. He just can’t focus on anything but his games. He throws a tantrum every time you push him to work). Manage the tantrum quietly, try to refocus him and calm him down. The strategy that works at home to get him what he wants, doesn’t work here. It enrages him further. He’s out of strategies so he storms off. You have to fill in a report to send to the Year Co. You have to contact someone to ensure that they find him and take care of him as you can’t leave the class.

Debrief in the staffroom, listen to everyone’s breathless download of their day. Wolf down a sandwich and go to duty on the oval. The grass is soggy and Year 7 boys are diving into mud puddles. Drag them out verbally and send them to the office. Keep walking and be vigilant. Stop Year 8 from turning touch tag into tackle. “Hands off!” Keep patrolling. Keep scanning.

Last lesson; a long one to comply with BSSS requirements. The kids are restless and talk somehow moves to scrotums. Get them back on task.

I debrief with the new guy and listen patiently to his complaints and try to offer constructive advice, but he only wants to vent and receive affirmation.

I have a pastoral meeting.

At the end of the day, as every day, I can hardly say my name. I drag myself home. It’s 5pm but feels like 10pm.

No day is the same, but the rushing is. I have 2 mentorees to see on Tuesday, in both breaks. Teenage angst and anxiety. Try and find some way to give solace and advice (I’m not a trained psychologist). Full day teaching, same problems but different faces, so different solutions. Get that frontal lobe working overdrive on the problem solving! I should eat more seaweed.

Wednesday is my light on day with a few free hours to focus on work. I have to encapsulate Noam Chomsky’s Concentration of Wealth and Power. The film is wonderful but 16 year olds will not be able to handle it. But the learning is invaluable. They need to understand that they cannot just trust in the status quo. They need to learn about the machinations of industry and the wealthy if they are to be engaged, thinking citizens of the future. I am not an academic. This is going to take me quite a few hours to make the ideas accessible. And short.

I’m interrupted by a panic with our new teacher. He’s run afoul of his students. I’m the only one in the staffroom. I need to intervene and make peace with everyone. Peace afterall, is a major theme of Jesus’.

I have another mentoree. He comes early. He’s in the mood to talk.

I skip recess and just get breakfast down. Need to have a meeting with my boss. We sit down and I take notes for an hour while he runs through the next few weeks and things we need to be on top of. We need to redo the Yr 11 powerpoint on 7 Theories of Social Justice as it was too heavy and the kids missed the main points. It needs to be on the list of things to do for next year. We need to be rethinking the schedule for Year 10- there have been too many Pastoral days, at home learning days and incursions and we’re running behind to get them to the next assessment due in a couple of weeks. I need to update the learning platform with the new schedule. We have Moderation day coming up…

Duty.

Get back to Noam. No, there’s a report I need to do on an at risk student. I reply to the email with my feedback. I need to go talk to In Ed Support to discuss how best to modify the assessment for this boy; how do we best support him and allow him to achieve success? No Noam today.

Thursday, pretty much the same as Tuesday, different classes. What did we do last lesson? Pull out the lollies to elicit the review. Ideas are sluggish, pages turn. Offerings are made, most rewarded. Move into the next concept. Get them focused with some provocation. Pull, tug, press, coax, do the dance of the 7 veils…sing them into submission… I’m tired but energized; can be a deadly mix.

Suddenly it’s Friday. It’s been a blur of faces, laughter, frustration, swearing at the photocopier, biting my tongue, pulling advice out of some nether region, consoling, empathizing, glaring pointedly and hugging a colleague in desperation. Spent last night preparing food for staff morning tea today. We’re on prayer. My boss is on duty so I have to run it. Someone accidentally cooked Bron’s dinner she’d brought in for her weekend away and offered it up to the masses. It was delicious. Two other faculties forgot they were on morning tea so it runs light with only our offerings (and Bron’s).

Stop in during my prep hour to another teacher’s class to make sure his kids are on target having had 3 weeks of relief teachers during his absence. Run through the assignment again. Answer questions. Reiterate expectations.

Onto my regular class, one of my seniors asks to speak to me. He’s been through hell with a divorce and admits he was suicidal. I am horrified that he didn’t reach out and madly scramble to alleviate his distress at fallen grades and his own personal suffering. (I’m not a trained psychologist. Talk of suicide is a minefield of possibly saying the wrong thing- no pressure). Talk him into talking to the counsellor as he’s averse to the idea. He’s not alone. Every one of us is here to ensure his wellbeing and do everything we can to help him complete college successfully. I want to hug him but can’t. We have both teared up. I am not his mentor; I won’t really have time to talk to him out of class, but must find it somehow. Our muttered conversation is taking place in front of the class. We need to turn to business so I talk him through an outline for the upcoming essay. I do a quick search of resources to get him started. The next student comes up and I need to help her with her plan.

Last lesson with seniors. They are working on their assignment but I still need to check in with each one to ensure they know what they are doing. I clarify some points. Again, I have to be on the ball. I need to be all over each of the options. If I give wrong advice here they may get graded down because I misspoke when not thinking clearly. (No pressure).

Friday night, as every week is spent by my throwing myself onto the sofa and turning on some mindless drivel on Netflix with nice hair and a thin plot. The kids in Home Ec have provided dinner tonight; there were pizzas for lunch. Bless them. Maybe I’ll get onto Noam on Saturday…