Reflecting on workload during my ITE year

It’s done (almost!). Within the next couple of weeks, barring any major mishaps, I will be confirmed as passing my PGDipEd at the University of Birmingham, therefore being recommended to be awarded QTS. It’s at this time prior to starting my teaching post, that I think it’s best for me to reflect on some aspects, of what has been an extremely rewarding, and enjoyable experience.

The Hours

Yes, the workload is high. Yes, you will at times fall to sleep once home, even on occasions before you get chance to eat. Yes, you will, even once asleep, find yourself dreaming of teaching. It’s normal to feel like this. But I am now going to say something potentially controversial…

(Please do remember that this is only applicable to my ITE year. I am NOT an NQT yet. Ask me this again in 6 months and I may have a different answer.)

It’s not actually as hard as some make it out to be, BUT, you HAVE to be willing and prepared to put in the hours. 

It probably will be one of the hardest years of your lives to date. But lets face it, we’re coming from (most of us), an undergraduate degree where contact time was few and far between. Switching from a 15-20 hour working week, to what for me has been upwards of 60 hours a week, possibly more at times where assignments are due, is tough.

You will need to adapt your lifestyle. My alarm during term time has been set for 6am throughout, and I am often in school for between 7am-7.30am, dependent on how busy my day looks to be. On average, I would say I have then be leaving at around 4.30-5pm, but have taken home limited amounts of school work, getting particularly better at this during my second placement. I may well do a little bit of planning of an evening in front of the TV. I may well respond to a few emails on my phone whilst in the gym. But really, once I finish and leave school, other than when university assignments have been beckoning, I have managed to keep my home life and work life pretty well separated. This will require organisation. This will require hard work whilst in school during these hours. But for me, and my experience on THIS university course, it has been manageable.

(I appreciate other courses may have differing requirements, so this workload may not be accurate, dependent on differing ITE course requirements). 

Your ‘teaching fitness level’

We’re all aware, whether into sports and fitness or not, that we all posses a physical fitness level, that can be altered dependent on the quantity and intensity of physical exercise we partake in (of course combined with many other factors, but I’ll leave that to the PE/Science teachers).

The same goes for teaching.

Overtime, you will develop a teaching fitness you did not posses at the start of the course. Those few hours of teaching each week at the start of the course will leave you exhausted. You may well find yourself questioning how on earth you will manage 15-18 hours per week by the end of your course. But you will, trust me. As the hours slowly increase, so too does your stamina to teaching, both physically and mentally. Sure, you’ll still be as exhausted and tired as you were during those first few weeks, but no longer will you be teaching just a few lessons, but instead be teaching an almost full NQT timetable. Stick at it. It will all be worth it in the end.

Balancing your work and personal life

I’m going to take a crack at this, but I know full well that many teachers will tell you they are yet to find the perfect balance, so this is one that may well change and adapt as your career/training year progresses.

Draw a line. You WILL NOT be master of all teaching trades. You will not possibly complete every single task that you may well THINK needs completing. Prioritise, and let some things go. That lesson that you’ve planned but think could be improved? If you have time, do it, if not, let it go, adapt and teach it to the best of your ability, reflect, and think how you will ensure you plan it more effectively next time. That map that’s slightly out of date? (here comes the geography!). Use it! So long as it doesn’t defeat the purpose of the lesson, make use of it, it could well be more effective than a perfectly up to date map. Reliability of data source do I hear someone calling?

Prioritise. Write a to do list. Bombard your desk/folder with post it notes. However you do it, ORGANISE YOURSELF, prioritise the tasks that need to be done now, this week or at some point in the future. Whatever you do, don’t allow yourself to work through the early hours of the morning perfecting a lesson. We’ve all been there. But I will tell you a secret…

Some of my best lessons have been the lessons I’ve spent least time planning.

(This does come with a note of caution. I do not take responsibility for any lessons you deem disastrous. DO NOT quote me to your university mentor/tutor!!)

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