I went back to secondary school this week, not my old school, not as a student either but as a lab technician/ teaching assistant. The 6.30 am starts were horrific, sleep became the thing I most looked forward to every day. I'd get into school at 8 am and most of my day was filled with the strangely satisfying tasks of setting up experiments and cleaning test tubes. Every so often I'd help out in the classroom.
One of the first problems that I faced in the classroom was what I should let the kids call me. Mr Gillett? Sir? A girl asked me this on my first day and I replied with 'call me Jack, that's fine.' She did and was immediately cautioned by the teacher. 'Don't be so rude! You will call him sir! That's one less vivo point for you!" (Vivo points being the reward system used within the school).
She looked over at me for support and I was torn between sticking up for her but undermining the teacher's authority and saying nothing but losing the kid's respect in the process. I turned from her gaze and said nothing. I realise that it's not important for your students to think you're cool, their adoration is good for the old ego but it isn't a prerequisite for being a good teacher. I however, am not a teacher, so I gave her an unprecedented 3 vivo points for drawing a picture. We immediately became best friends again, kids are fickle like that. It was a shit picture.
As this is a very new school, the only pupils were year sevens. They're not the most threatening bunch but they were constantly chatting and asking questions. My mum is the deputy head teacher, this means I would get asked at least twenty times a day, 'is your mum Ms Richford?' to which I would always reply, with a slightly embarrassed smile, 'yes.'
Some would say, 'you look just like her' others would say 'you two are nothing alike.' One Design and Technology class thought I looked more like one of their classmates, an awkward looking kid with curly hair. It actually stimulated a little class debate on whether I looked more like him or he looked more like me, I obviously argued the latter and at the time their seemed something quite profound and philosophical about the whole discussion. On later reflection it was probably just the class attempting to waste some time, kids love wasting time. If that was their plan then it proved successful, by the end of the lesson none of the kids had come close to finishing their plywood wind chimes. I would probably try and waste some time too if I had two hours a week dedicated to making a wind chime out of cheap wood.
Being a teaching assistant I don't have any teaching qualifications or training so I was never really sure about how much authority I had. A kid came up to me during a science class shouting 'Sir! Sir! Kade threw a pencil at me!' She had the actual pencil clutched in her hand. My first thought was 'who is Kade?' Not knowing the names of any of the kids in the class my first hurdle was deciding where to aim my discipline. Secondly, I wondered if it was even right to tell someone off based on the word of a kid I'd just met. She did have the offending pencil in her hand but anyone can pick up a pencil and wave it in my face, not just someone who had it thrown at them. Finally I questioned whether I was even allowed to dish out discipline and, if I was, was it appropriate to dish it out onto someone for throwing a pencil, not exactly the worst thing someone can do.
In the end I responded with 'oh...ok.' The kid, looking fairly despondent, walked away. Most likely in awe of my alternative teaching style. I later started to think of the possible consequences of what had happened, how kade would probably grow up to be a criminal because of my inaction. Pencil throwing, I imagine, is a gateway crime, often leading to more serious offences such as armed robbery and GBH.
Ironically, spending time working in a school hasn't taught me very much. I already knew that teachers work incredibly hard and I already knew working with kids can be very rewarding. As a living creature I already knew I had a massive appreciation for sleep and as a human being I already knew I had a bit of an ego. It seems, like the students, I spent most of the week wasting time. I suppose, I learnt that I'm still more of a student than I am a teacher. Then again, I think I already knew that.
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