You know, the teaching part...

Just in case some of you don't know, or don't remember, I did come to England to teach. And other than my half-term break (which was amazing,) and my frequent Saturdays out, I spend the majority of my Sundays and all week working on... well teaching!

Teaching has been a great experience. I was able to work my way in very slowly, so didn't have any breakdowns as of yet. But let me tell ya, teaching is time consuming. My Sunday normally consists of me dragging myself out of bed, and spending about 6-7 hours planning out 4 different courses, with 3 lessons in each course. I am teaching 4 separate classes, with different teachers:

Year 7A English-
My Year 7's were the first class I took over, and I have been full time teaching this group for about 5 weeks now! It has been a blast working with such young students, as they are only 11! In America, they would be considered 6th grade, but they start school here a year earlier than US students. The Year 7's are smart and highly motivated. I can whisper, "Can I get your attention?" and within seconds they are silent and looking at me.  There are about 20 students, and all of them have something special about them. One student I observed for a whole day, needs things to be clearly identified and laid out for him. This other girl though, on the other hand, is always finished first and needs extension work in order to stay engaged. A particular boy will almost always forget his pen or pencil, and will need to be reminded about 5-6 times throughout the lesson on what we are doing. Through it all, they respond really well to me, and I have really enjoyed teaching them.

We have been working with a novel called Wolf Brother. It is written by a British author, and is very similar to Hatchet. We have been looking at how the author creates setting, how she describes characters, and are moving onto personal opinions now that students have completed reading. The end product I will be assessing is a book review on the novel, with point-evidence-effect explanation on their opinions. Most of the students have enjoyed the book, and I find the book pretty reasonably easy to teach  because they are really interested in it. There are times with this class I am amazed at their knowledge level, especially with Shakespeare's work. They seem to surpass a lot of information I remember learning in middle school, and they are certainly well behaved. However, there are times when I am reminded of how simplistic some things need to be. For example, I did a starter where they were to write down their favorite fairy tale, and explain to me the major themes in the story. Over 3/4 of the class ended up giving me a complete summary of the story, whereas others informed me that the fairy tale was a fiction piece of work. Clearly, the students hadn't done much work with themes, and I had to create a lesson to focus specifically on that topic.

Year 8A English-
So take everything I just said about Year 7's, and think of the opposite! haha, Okay, they aren't that bad. But these students put all the motivation skills I learned in grad school to the test. On the first day of class I taught, I put my hand up and counted down from 5 to 0. Not only did they not pay any attention to my hand raised, they only got louder with my counting. It took me several minutes to get their attention, and I would lose it in another second if I didn't keep talking. However, I can't bash them at all now, because as a class we are learning. Although I do have to get more cross with this class than others, this class is so intellectual and brilliant, it is so worth it. I have come to realize the main reason they talk so much, is because they are genuinely interested in the topic and cannot keep their information to  themselves. If you can manage to keep the conversation as a class, you will get great results and amazing answers from the students.

When I entered year 8, they were currently working on A Midsummer Night's Dream. I continued that scheme of work, and have since moved onto a favorite subject of mine. In college, I took an entire course on Frankenstein and the Romantics period, and now I get to teach Frankenstein to Year 8! They are reading the play, because it is shorter, but the ideas and themes are all still attached. They are currently producing a leaflet (brochure) that explains Mary Shelley's life, Frankenstein, and Galvani and science of the time. It's so fun, I love the subject...


Year 9A History-
I haven't done too much teaching with this class yet, still observing and team-teaching. But this class is really eneregetic, and has the most students in it than all of my other ones. They just finished World War I, and we are currently moving into the topic of Boom and Bust in America. What's interesting is how much time they spent discussing American history in the history classes. Year 7 is specific to British history, but then it is essentially world history from there on. I think because they are really interested in American culture, they spend quite a bit of time discussing it. In class this week we have been looking at the Depression, and the Hooverville's around America.

Year 10 History-
Year 10 history, whoot whoot! Okay, so as you can tell, I am super excited about Year 10 history. Right before half-term break, the teacher was incredibly busy planning a trip to Berlin with students, so I took over quite a bit in this class. The way the school works is you have assigned classes year 7, 8, and 9. However, at the end of your Year 9, you pick certain classes you want to continue to take for your GSCE to study. So Year 10 students have specifically picked History as a subject they want to pursue. Because of that, and the fact that they are just cool, the students are extremely involved and energetic about the topics. Some students are really good at debating subjects, even when there is a clear option, and that has lead to some great discussions.

Right now we are discussing the Cold War in Year 10, which is awesome because it is a subject I know quite a bit about. They are focusing on the bitter battle between America and the Soviets, and looking thoroughly at the tactics played. Right before break, I completed the lessons on the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine, and last week we moved into the Berlin Blockade. This week we are looking at the Nuclear Arms Race, and the Space Race, and comparing moves played by the US and USSR. Its a great topic, and the students get super invovled. Instead of stating the somewhat obvious about the negatives of communism, the students in the class think critically and are able to actually point out positives of communism and argue them strongly. It's a great class

Along with these 4 classes that I will be full-time teaching, I am also observing several others such as:
*Year 10 English- with the same students from Year 10 History
*Year 12 English
*Year 7 History
*Year 8 History

And you can't forget my activities!!

On Tuesdays, I have girl sports, which normally means playing netball. Don't ask, because I still don't get it. The closest it looks like is basketball, but when you get the ball you can't move until you pass it. It's weird, I don't get it.

On Wednesdays, I have Art where I normally teach them something simplistic, and they have an hour to replicate it. Pretty fun :) Then, I have weightlifting... Not much to say about that activity, it's awkward... :)

And last, but not least, on Fridays, I have drama! There are 2 Year 12 students who are doing Commedia dell'arte for their IB exams, and have been teaching the students how to perform Commedia dell'arte. At the end of the term, the students will present a script of Commedia dell'arte.

:) Needless to say, school is pretty intense. Traveling has been beyond exciting, but I find school the exhausting part. :) It is a bittersweet feeling to know I only have 17 more days of school left!