"Teachers have it so easy. You just get to work 9-3pm and have 12 weeks holidays every year! How hard can it be?!" (Said by a person who has NO IDEA, no specific date because I've heard it every single year).
I am fuming just writing this. Without a doubt, teaching is an undervalued and underappreciated job where teachers are somewhat overworked and a little underpaid. There is no way any teacher gets to school when the bell goes in the morning and leaves as soon as it goes in the afternoon. It is not a job that you can just rock up to with no preparation. It is not a job where you can go home and not have to do any work, or not have to think about work until you go in the next day. Teaching is demanding. Teaching is hard. Teaching is tiring and sometimes frustrating. On the other hand, above all else, teaching is REWARDING. I'm going to stop here a moment and share two images that I absolutely LOVE and I really think they portray the complexities of being a teacher. The complexities that perhaps non-teaching folk don't appreciate quite enough....
Anyway, apologies....I got sidetracked a little. I just wish all people would give teachers the respect they deserve. I think I was talking about all of the holidays that we are lucky enough to get and how easy the teaching profession is wasn't I?! That's right! So in regards to the 12 weeks of holidays, annually, a lot of these "holidays" are spent figuring out what you have to teach, how you are going to teach it, what you have to create/make for the students to use, how you are going to cater for the wide range of abilities in your classroom and figuring out how you are possibly going to be able to get through everything you need to do, in the required time. I'm not sure about other teachers but I always think that I will plan and prepare the WHOLE YEAR during the summer break and be super organised and my year will run smoothly. This is unfortunately, just a dream. It's unfathomable I've learnt. Impossible. I've come to realise that planning ONE TERM at a time is difficult enough. And so, each holiday, this cycle continues; although each term as the year goes on I am less and less prepared.
To the people who whinge about teachers having it easy - when do you actually think we plan and prepare the lessons for our students? When do you think we write and reply to parent and student emails? When do you think we do all of the laminating, cutting, creating? When do you think we mark all of the students work and write reports? When do you think we run the extra tutoring sessions and attend school functions? Definitely not between the hours of 9am and 3pm, on weekdays only, for exclusively 40 weeks a year!
Here's a sneak peak at some of the preparations for Term 1:
Some resources made with Velcro, for Italian Classes.
$2 SHOPS ARE A TEACHER'S BEST FRIEND!
It's surprising how handy a pool noodle, a beach ball and some paddle pop sticks can be! Here's a quick summary of what I'm creating in the photo above.
Pool Noodle: I cut this up and have written a letter on each piece. Students would have a time limit in groups to make as many Italian words as they can.
Beach Ball: I have written some "Getting to know you" type questions on the ball. I would put some music on while students enjoy throwing the ball around. When I stop the music the student who is holding the ball has to share their name and the answer to the question that one of their thumbs is on (or near) with the class.
Paddle Pop Sticks: The possibilities are endless. This game is called KABOOM and I've made this for my maths class. 80% of the paddle pop sticks have a maths problem on them, and the remaining 20% have the word 'KABOOM' on it. I would walk around the class with the sticks face down in a cup. The students pick a paddle pop stick, one at a time and solve the equation. If they get the question right they keep the stick. If they get it wrong they put it back in the cup. If the student draws a stick that says KABOOM they have to put all of their sticks back. I use this in all of my subjects as a review activity and the students love it.
Anyway, thanks for reading. :-)
T minus 11 days until the students arrive!
Stayed tuned.
xo