What it's like to be a teacher
Teaching is a challenging but rewarding career that allows you to make a significant impact on pupils' lives. With no 2 days being the same, it’s an excellent choice for those who thrive in a dynamic and varied work environment.
An example day in the life of a teacher
Your school day could vary hugely depending on the age group or subject you teach, the number of pupils in your class and many other factors. However, some things, like the timetable of the day, are more predictable. This example day is designed to give you an idea of the sorts of things you could be doing on an average day.
Morning
7:30am arrive at school
Teachers often start their day early, arriving at school somewhere between 7:00am to 8:00am. The morning is usually spent preparing resources for the day ahead so that everything is organised for when the pupils arrive.
8:45am pupils arrive
Depending on your role, you might be responsible for a form group or registering pupils. During this time, pupils typically engage in morning activities. It's also an opportunity to talk to students individually to check their wellbeing, or to talk to their parents or carers about any concerns they have.
Seeing the students arrive and knowing they can’t wait to get to my class. There’s no feeling like it.
9:15am first lessons
Often there are 2 lessons taught in the morning followed by a break. In total, there may be 5 hour-long lessons in the day. Each class could be around 30 pupils and will have its own dynamics as well as unique needs.
11:15am morning break
Teachers are sometimes responsible for break-time duties. This involves supervising pupils for their safety but it's also an opportunity to interact with pupils outside of the classroom and build relationships.
11:35am second lessons
After break, pupils return to lessons with renewed energy, which can be harnessed and channeled into their work. During this time, teachers usually teach 2 more lessons before lunch.
There’s nothing better than those light bulb moments when students just get it.
Afternoon
Lunch
Lunch is an opportunity for teachers to have a well-earned break. Many teachers also use this as an opportunity to get ahead on their marking. By tackling some books during this time, it can reduce the amount of marking needed to be done in the afternoon.
If you’ve had a hard day, there’s always someone there to listen - even if it’s just a 2 minute natter or moan.
2:15pm last lesson
After lunch, there's often just 1 more lesson to teach. Schools sometimes work the timetable this way because after lunch pupils are generally more excitable, making it harder to teach.
3:15pm pupils leave school
When pupils leave school, teachers may spend their time talking to pupils' parents or carers about any concerns they have. They will also spend their time marking work and planning upcoming lessons.
Some teachers will also run an afterschool club such as a football team, drama sessions or computer club.
Getting involved with extracurricular activities can be extremely rewarding.
5:00pm leave school
Depending on how the teacher likes to split their work, they'll leave school between 4:30pm and 6:00pm. Some teachers will take home books to mark or carry on planning once they're at home.
Usually around once a week there will also be a staff meeting after school. In these meetings teachers will discuss school wide policy and engage in training.
Support for teachers
Managing behaviour
Teaching is not just about delivering lessons. It also involves helping pupils understand how to behave appropriately in school. Some pupils may test limits, become disruptive, or fail to follow instructions at times, which can be daunting.
However, training courses will provide you with strategies to boost your confidence and make you feel prepared. Schools will also have behaviour policies in place which you can follow and colleagues will help support you.
It’s all about the relationships you build with pupils. If they know they’ll ‘get away’ with disruptive learning, they will disrupt learning!
Workload
Teaching around 5 lessons a day to classes of 30 pupils can create a lot of admin. Teachers spend a lot of their time outside of lessons marking work and planning lessons.
When you're training, you'll work with a teacher who will help you plan and may share some of their own planning with you. Over time, with the help of other colleagues, you'll get a better feel for what makes a good lesson and build a bank of resources you can reuse to cut down on your workload.
Teachers are entitled to 10% of their timetable to do planning, preparation, and assessment (PPA). Depending on the school, this could mean that you have a couple of free periods next to each other, or they could be spread across the week.
There will be challenges along the way but persevere and the rewards are amazing. It's my 35th year and every day is still different.
To find out more about what it's like to be a teacher, explore subjects you could teach.
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