When I first took this job, there were mixed reactions from a lot of my teaching friends. Some thought it was a great idea and that it would be easy teaching only two students. Others thought that it would be boring and not so stimulating. After two and a half months in the job, I thought I'd share with you the realities of teaching 2 children each day. Being a good teacher, I'll provide my feedback in a sandwich format ..... positive, negative, positive.
View from the classroom
Pros
- Shorter working hours - I arrive at work 15 minutes before I start teaching, just enough time to quickly go over what we are working on that day. I stay for about an hour after I finish teaching to plan for the next day and I'm normally home by 4pm.
- No meetings!
- Only two students (albeit at very different learning levels!) to plan for and provide reports for.
- No classroom displays to maintain.
- Only one set of parents to deal with.
- Flexible working hours - If I have something I need to do, I can rearrange the school times.
- Exciting field trips are easy to organise (no parent permission slips and bus bookings etc!)
- It is wonderful to watch two children so develop so quickly with one on one attention every day. At the moment, the children and I are compiling portfolios and preparing for a 'Celebration of Learning' day next week and it is amazing to see how much learning has occurred over the past few months.
- We have a moveable classroom - Sometimes we learn at the local cafe, on the beach or in the local library.
- Freedom to go where ever we want with the curriculum. If one of the children shows an interest in something, we can run with this idea (currently military weapons for the 10 year old boy!)
Cons
- I don't have any colleagues to plan and debrief with, which also means no Friday afternoon drinks!
- Sometimes, it is a little unstimulating just working with one student at a time .... I'm constantly thinking of ways to 'spice' up the school day.
- If one of the kids is having an 'off' day, it shows and sometimes, it's not pleasant!
- Some of the ways that I like to teach are a little difficult, for example working in groups and some Maths games.
- There is little discussion to be had amongst students, so each student needs to construct their own understanding, as opposed to having the social context of a regular class to do this.
- I really miss the excitement and energy of the classroom, especially the diverse range of personalities and the fact that every day is different.
- The job is not so mentally stimulating, probably due to a combination of the above reasons. I'm so glad I decided to study for my Masters because that's where I'm getting all my mental stimulation from at the moment. And then there is the conference in June as well, so I am keeping up my professional development needs.
But, all the negative aspects aside, I wouldn't give this job up for the world (or at least for the next two years!). The opportunity to work so closely with one family and develop such a close relationship is very unique and then of course there is the lifestyle. The travel opportunities and the people I will meet along the way are things that I wouldn't be able to experience in a regular school. My Australian classroom with a view of the ocean is stunning, and I can't wait to get to see my Canadian classroom, complete with living room, climbing wall and a soon to be installed interactive whiteboard .... oh, and did I mention the views over the Rocky Mountains?
No comments:
Post a Comment