BT Prep for Term 1

This year's start to the school year will also serve as the beginning of my career as a primary school teacher, and the first of 2 years I have as a "BT."  In preparation for my role, I've put a few things in place to ensure I am well equipped for the start of school.

This began at the end of last year, where I acted as a reliever / teacher aide at my local primary school.  When I began applying for a teaching position, I realised I'd been out of practice for a while.  Getting back into the classroom even as a teacher aide settled a lot of the random worries I had about starting as a BT.

On my most recent practicum, I loved the way my AT would compile her long term plans for different subjects.  In an attempt to prepare what I could without knowing my learners yet, I created a copycat version appropriate to the levels I will be teaching.  I've linked an example of what my LTP for Writing might look like here.  Each time I plan a lesson, I'll use one of the things in a box as a learning intention - then highlight it on the LTP so I can see what I have completed vs what I am yet to cover.  *After our first meeting, I've learnt a lot of the LT planning is done collaboratively. I am very fortunate in that I now have a lot of things to pull from.

I've also setup a weekly plan template using Google Sheets that I plan to fill out as in advance of the week as I can.  I decided to use Sheets as opposed to Docs as I find making new tabs on the one sheet more compatible with how I like having everything in one space.  I've created it in a way where once I put in the start date, the next columns all change automatically to their correct number date.  I've linked the template of this here.

Despite my desire to plan as much as I can before the school year officially starts, I understand that each class I've taught and will teach is a new adventure.  One that can simply not be predicted.  What I can do is make my own ideas and values about education - explicit.  Throughout my placements, I've found that what I value and what I believe about my students' learning, reflect in the culture of the classroom (regardless of if that's what I'd intended.)  A-lot, if not all of what a classroom is able to achieve depends solely on a classroom culture that is developed by teachers and with students. 

This year I will be in a classroom with another teacher. Our class has a roll of 60 students.  I expect this to be an interesting challenge to manage this big a group of students, aswell as co-teaching.  I am expecting to grow a-lot in my first term (let alone my first year) as a BT.

I am glad I get to start my journey as a teacher within the Manaiakalani cluster - the same cluster I started in as a 5 year old.