A Teacher Reflects
I think of my first taught class,
Of students’ peculiar faces;
Of curiousity and perplexity,
Awe, wonder and angst;
“Who is she!?”
I think of iboards and white boards;
Of the furnace-like classrooms,
Of cardigan-clad wintertime students.
I think of my thunderous heart beats,
Pounding, pounding to escape my chest.
I think of my first,
Of eight nerve-racking observations;
Of interesting, challenging questions;
The fear of silence; and Lord! How,
The tick-tock of the wall clock boomed!
I think of X-ray eyes,
Of students enraptured,
Of my enthusiasm and passion;
Of Bloom’s Taxonomy,
Of explaining concepts and ideas,
Of habits, learning skills, routines.
I think of resources and starter activities,
Inclusive and learning-focussed;
How hard-working and engaging they were;
How they made me guffaw,
On freakish doldrum days.
I think of the fun we’ve had learning “Thunks,”
And of hugging rainbows and stripeless zebras,
Of fishes that lay, and laying fishes,
Of spider diagrams and mind-maps,
Of Kahoot, and dictionary definitions,
Easter eggs and argumentation.
I think of my name
being shouted out,
By cheery, friendly learners,
Along college corridors and cafes;
Of animated chats and exploring topics,
Of smiley faces when I say, “great!”
Of skills progressing and improving,
Of forming, storming,
norming and performing,
Of problem-solving and brainstorming,
Of exam scripts, assessment, marking.
I think of why I became a teacher –
To teach not what I want,
To know what learners need to learn.
Descriptive writing, creative thinking, literary terms;
I think of how far I have come
Of the confidence, I have grown.
Qualified now to teach learners new,
English GCSE and Functional Skills too;
I think of special educational needs,
Of creating a safety ethos,
A climate positive, caring, respectful,
Humanistic and pastoral.
To promote and empower,
Spiritual, cultural, moral and social,
Goals and lifelong ambitions.
PGCE has ended, I now await graduation,
Yet classes to construct, lessons to build;
Analysis, synthesis and evaluation,
Education, education, education.
(01/05/2017)