The second month of my placement has been rather engaging. Having finished my contract at my summer job in the evenings I was able to channel more of my time and energy into my primary job at the school. I often stay later than the time I’m paid for marking homework books and preparing the classroom for lessons the next day. Although I’m allocated some time to do these jobs within my hours in the classroom, there simply isn’t enough time, where there is often a student or the teacher in the class who would appreciate and benefit from your support engaging with the students in the actual lesson. So what do I do? One option could be to speed up my marking giving less individual feedback, noting any major common misconceptions to be tackled in an intervention, seen as with homework marking is just to acknowledge that they have attempted to do at home by themselves what they have done in class that week. Yet out of my desire to see these children be the best they can be, I opt to mark in my own time, like a teacher to give each child the personal feedback and follow up I think they deserve. Just comparing my role in the school to my summer part-time job, you can really gage the difference between a job and a career. Someone who works in Careers advice once asked me ‘what would you be willing to do for free? That’s what your career should be.’ and I think I finally understand what she meant. In my summer part time job, once your time was done, you were out of there! I worked with people who would do as little work as possible and still try to get off early, however in a career you are committed to your growth and progress in your area of work even if it means working past the hours your paid for, or that not even being defined. In this case as working in the Education sector, you are committed to your growth and that of your students even if it takes hours of marking, research or preparation after your working day.
Extra-curricular activities after school is another part of the teaching career which teachers or TA’s often so without extra pay, which I am currently experiencing first-hand as a TA at Harlesden Primary. After asking about whether the school participate or put on anything for Black history month it was suggested that I start something. So I’ve written a short play for the children, entitled ‘WINDRUSH’, which follows the story of some Caribbean’s and their story just before and after their migration to the UK in the 1950’s. After selecting pupils who shone at the auditions we now have rehearsals every Thursday after school for an hour. The process has been hard work and is still underway. A production in itself is hard enough, let alone with under 11s who forget what they rehearsed during our lunchbreak the same week! Myself and Pat Evans, the school’s Parent Support who is working with me, hope for our budding actors to be ready to perform the play in two to three weeks’ time.