It's finally the end of the school year and
now that I think about it, I'm not sure if I'm ready to finish.
In 2012 I came to Lebone II College of the
Royal Bafokeng as an intern in the Science Department brought by the Royal Bafokeng Institute. I
was just a young teacher full of energy for teaching. By then I anticipated
teaching as a way of facilitating learning and teaching. Lebone college
broadened my knowledge as they had their own way of showing support to their
teachers through CPD and New Teacher Café for new teachers coming to teach at
the school for the first time. These programmes offer teachers opportunities to
talk about their difficulty within the class room context and also implement
practical tools to help overcome the challenges. A resource that is frequently
used is the book called Teach Like A Champion.
It’s filled with a range of techniques that path a way for teachers to further their
training.
In 2013 I was offered the opportunity by
the school to work as the Natural Science teacher for Grades 8 and 7. My fear
was how am I going to manage the three Grade 8 classes and Grade 7 class,
bearing in mind that we have students with different learning abilities.
However, with the support that I got from the team of new teachers and my
department, especially my Head of Department, was really exceptional. She
provided me with extra support methods and material to use. The classes I had were
very naughty and I sometimes felt the emotions taking control of my lesson. But
I understood that as teachers and educators, we are probably more prone to
“Emotional Hijacking”. The encouraging message I got from Mr. du Toit turn about
the wheel of discipline (management ) within class was when he mentioned that
to students, behaviour challenges are a game that students like to play. As a
teacher you may chose to get involved, however if you get involve you should
know that the students are in-control. You as a teacher you have lost.
CHALLENGES
THAT A NEW TEACHER MAY ENCOUNTER:
- Discipline within the class room
- Differentiation of students
- Classroom management
- Structure within the class
- Constructive communication
- Respect
HOW DO YOU COME TO A POINT
OF GETTING IT RIGHT
I
believe as a teacher you need to be open for new ideas, even if you have been
in the field of teaching for years . Will Rogers once said, “Even if you’re on the right
track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there”. I started by putting my goal
ahead of other thing when I wanted to understand students through the process
of constructive communication to develop mutual respect. This in turn escalate
to students behavior being manageable, as well as having a structure within my
class and the implementation of different learning techniques.
As young as I was I was hoping for the best
from the students; the best that I believe you will only get it if you teach a student
about what is expected not assuming that they already know.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
My first task I had to do was to prepare a
lesson for my class and deliver it to the class. The lesson was supposed to
have a focus area on what I wanted to see and how I wanted my students to
learn. The challenge that I had to work on was the group work method within the
class, namely how students can learn within their groups and their interaction
with one another. The lesson had to be presented to the teachers in my
department so we could reflect on how to improve it. The most important thing
is to have a lesson plan throughout
the preparation and note the specific learning objectives. This helps teachers
to reflect and also to make improvements. I believe as teachers when preparing
we become full of energy on how the lesson is going to look like but also plan
around the students you have in the class. This makes learning easier for students
who have a complete understanding of their target.
NEW
TEACHERS CAFÉ:
The New Teachers' Café had a creative and
positive impact to my teaching. I had to do lots of my teaching using the
techniques I choose for myself which created huge growth within my students and
my self-esteem .These techniques were used within the teaching context and
lesson planning with your mentor chosen by you. Thanks’ to our peers for the encouraging
words and belief that they had in us. These sessions helped open a bigger picture
of learning the content in Science. Through the lesson study that I had to do
and present to my fellow new teachers I started having fun with them, at first
it might be difficult but the second time becomes easier. “Any human anywhere
will blossom in a hundred unexpected talents and capacities simply by being
given the opportunity to do so” - the word of Doris Lessing.
LEARNING
ABOUT MYSELF AS A TEACHER:
As a teacher I need to comply with the instruction
give by the authorities before complaining which gives me an opportunity to
think. Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed
is always to try just one more time. Learning what
routine worked for me was something very useful to learn about myself. I
discovered that solid preparation makes my work as a teacher easier to do
without me having to tell students every day what to do.
IN
ENDING:
Sometimes the psychological price we pay is
so high but we still love teaching because we know there is nothing in this
world so rewarding as to plant the seeds of knowledge in somebody's mind and
watch these seeds grow and blossom into a better citizen, one who would tend to
us and provide us with comfort, love and tenderness when we grow old. Education
is a progressive discovery of our ignorance.
In closing I would like to send my vote of
thanks to the special team we had within our department, the school for putting
a working system in place for teachers to embrace their career and every
individual who made an impact in my teaching at Lebone. Once more Lebone is not
a one man show. It is about being a person of integrity. We should embrace the
opportunity day by day in our space which is student and teacher friendly. Motswana sare ngwana sejo wa tlhakanelwa
(English translation:"Iit takes a community to raise a child").
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