First of all, I made it through my first half term working as a Learning Support Assistant and English as an Additional Language (EAL) Teacher.
There is so much to write about, but I’m going to try and keep it as concise and as reflective as possible. Also, I am going to split this blog post into sections.
What I have learnt about the job itself
Prior to starting this job in September, I’d never worked as a Learning Support Assistant and my only experiences and attempts at teaching English were in summer schools (where everything you teach is planned out for you) and in China (which of course FAILED), so essentially, I was going into both roles with no real prior experience. BUT, learning from how I also went into my roles of Creative Writing Editor and Deputy Editor and designer for my students’ newspaper at University (Waterfront, I miss you) with no experience either but I still made it work. That’s what I have started to do with this job.
There’s something to be said as well about the fact I am working at the school I was a student at and left in 2012. There’s the reassuring familiarity of the fact I know my way around (although navigating a one way system due to the pandemic is another story), and there are familiar faces too. Also, it’s genuinely a really nice place to work. But, I think it gives me a deeper empathy because not only do I know what it’s like to be a teenager in a school, I know what it’s like to be a teenager in that specific school. In fact, I’ve told my EAL students that “the school was built while I was at school” numerous times and they love it as well as answered the question “Miss, did any teachers teach you?” Yes. The answer is yes.
The two roles differ greatly. As an EAL teacher, I’m in charge of my classroom (did I say, I have my own classroom) and I decide what I teach and how I teach it. Also, I only have a maximum of six students to teach at one time so I’ve been able to get to know them. After half term, I’m having some year 7 students too. As a Learning Support Assistant (LSA), I’m in bigger classes, supporting up to 3 students at a time. Not only am I sometimes learning the content of the lesson with them, but I am thinking about how I can explain it again to the students I am supporting (not too dissimilar to having to think about how to explain things to my EAL students). Also, I’m trying to pick up teaching techniques and behaviour management techniques.
I definitely feel like I’m in the right job and in the right school. There’s so much support and I have never once felt ashamed of asking for help if I need it. I also go to the Professional Studies sessions with the PGCE students every week where I get to learn more pedagogy and try out ideas on them before I try them in the classroom. My BIGGEST confidence boost however came in the form of covering a year 7 D&T lesson and it wasn’t a disaster. Of course D&T is NOT my specialism, and I’d never stood in front of a group of 30+ children before but I did it, and it wasn’t perfect, but I’d 100% do it again.
My future in teaching
Going back to what I said about feeling like I’m in the right job and in the right school, I’ve felt like this since day 1. I’ve also been exploring my options for teacher training next year at the school. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, funding for trainee teachers next academic year has been cut to almost nothing and there’s no way I can just live on a student loan for a year without having to potentially get an additional job and risk burning myself out very quickly. It honestly felt as though my dream of becoming a teacher had been snatched away for a bit (I did end up having a cry in the toilets at work because how can I afford to become a teacher?) But speaking to the ITTCo at the school – we’ll call him Dr L for the sake of privacy – Dr L has opened my mind to the possibility of something called an Assessment Only route into teaching. This would involve first and foremost staying at the school and continuing to teach EAL, with the potential to also take some English and MFL classes too to gain my QTS. Essentially, I can specialise in EAL and English but also teach MFL as a second subject. Furthermore, this involves staying employed by the school (earning money), as well as having my QTS assessment paid for by the school IF I then stay there for my NQT years (basically job security for another three years). So, this is definitely something I am going to be considering as it is an almost win-win situation. The problem is at the moment whether I can take a SKE course in English, but SKE courses are currently on hold due to funding (or rather a lack of funding from the government) and the speculation is that they’ll only run for in demand subjects. To be honest, I’d do an SKE course even if I didn’t get paid for it, just as long as I didn’t have to pay for it myself.
What I have learnt about myself
Finally, I have learnt so much about myself in the past two months. First of all, that thing about being able to start something totally new and make it work – that’s something I am pleased with myself about. Secondly, I’ve started a job in a school in the midst of a global pandemic. Having a job to begin with at this time is a relief, but going into a school where there’s a lot of uncertainty as well as catching up to do post lockdown and learning about one way systems, wearing masks and all that stuff.
I have learnt a lot about my teaching style and I am beginning to develop it. In fact, in the week before half term, I’d written up a script for my EAL class and they read it (not only did they read it, but they performed it and they OWNED it). ALSO they LOVED it.
“Miss, who wrote this, it’s so good!” It was great to be able to give them each a character and see how they interpreted their character and put their own spin on it. There have been lessons that have been an effort to get through but I’m always trying to have the mentality of “okay, that didn’t work, so what can do I better next time, or how can I improve this?” It’s working. As a LSA, it’s been rewarding to see students have that lightbulb moment of “I get it now” once I’ve explained it or helped them to finish a task. The best one of these moments was the very last lesson of the half term where the year 8 English class have been listening to an audiobook called The Hate U Give (would 100% recommend this book by the way) which is relevant to the BLM movement in the USA. Explaining a very emotional part of the story in a different context to the student I was supporting and eventually he said “oh, I understand it now. I can’t wait to hear the rest of the book!” YES.
Also, I am resilient. I am strong (even on the days I have cried, I am strong), and I am brave.
And, my confidence in myself is slowly starting to grow.
