Ok, so it's the last Sunday night of half term and I'm dreading being back at work tomorrow! Crazy how fast a week off goes, and I also can't believe I am officially half way through my NQT year. It's been a rollercoaster but I feel like the half term just gone has been a lot better than the term before Christmas. I have felt more in control and my time management has also improved massively - I now understand the importance of prioritising!! However, I am still making mistakes:
- My English group's coursework is too similar so I am going to be spending the next half term correcting a term's worth of mistakes.
- It took two attempts to moderate my NOCN unit as I had left careless pieces of work out which hindered the objectives I needed to meet.
- My maths group's behaviour has plummeted and they have been shocking all term - especially with a supply TA they have had in the class. I have had to fill in countless incident reports and had to have phone conversations with parents.
Rather than dwell on my mistakes, I have learnt from them and moved on. You can't change the past but you can shape the future and that is what I intend to do. My confidence in DT has increased though and I was suitably impressed with the learner's final designs which they were very proud of and showed them to countless adults around school.
This term is only 5 weeks and I am stepping into it feeling a lot more confident than previous terms. I feel like I have built positive relationships with both staff and students, I am feeling less tired with the intensive iron treatment and my work/life balance is improving more each week. I am due another NQT observation this term and although I hate them, the relationship between me and my mentor has also improved so I want to demonstrate that I can be a good teacher who promotes good progress.
I hope this term is a good one for all my fellow teachers and roll on Easter! Keep smiling :)
