My dream career isn't what I thought it would be..

LegacyUser

I am not working yet in the profession, but I have been working in my old school one day a week with 6th class as I was hoping to train to be a primary school teacher. It's very tough, and a lot of the time I come out with a headache. I don't know what this is from but i'm guessing it's a tension headache. The class can be lovely one week and crazy the next. I know this is normal with 11/12 yr olds and I have been telling myself if I was to go and study to be a teacher, my first class could be 6th class so I have to suck it up. The teacher is in there with me at all times but she find them tough too. I know not every class will be like that. But it has made me wonder if teaching is really for me. I do music with them, and they don't listen at all. I have tried to be assertive but I just feel embarrassed. I just don't know what to think of it.

I work in an office, I have no qualifications other than media and it's been 4 years since I graduated so I don't think there would be many willing employers to take me on. I don't know what I want to do with my life. I am 26, so still young enough, but I have a young child so I can't just leave a job and go in search of my calling..

Any advice would be welcome. I feel at the moment, I am just not happy with my current situation (job/being a single mother/lack of money/lack of ambition) so i'm always looking for something else...

R.D. aka MR.D

Is it classroom management that you're having problems with? Or do you not like the role of teacher at all?

Are you sent in there to actually teach something with absolutely no training?
That seems like a recipe for disaster.

From my own experience, this class isn't 'your' class. You didn't get the opportunity to lay down the law and make them your own. Also, what are you teaching them? Surely, if you actually go and train as a teacher, you will get a better foundation in lesson planning and be bit more of an expert.

However, if you aren't the kind of person who feel capable or willing to walk into a classroom and make it yours, then teaching kids might not be the career for you. I think 98% of classroom management depends on the confidence of the teacher.

LegacyUser

Thanks for your reply. it is mainly the class management that I have trouble with. They are a loud and hyper bunch of kids and they have rotten attitudes. Again, I know all kids can be like this at times but it makes me dread going in.

I am not actually teaching. I mainly sit in an observe how the teacher does her job and when the kids are assigned work, I will go around the classroom to help. I was asked would I like to do music with them and I said yes, thinking it would be good experience. We mainly just sing songs, but even that is hard because they're very uncooperative.

I know that it's hard for them and myself to build a relationship because I only see them once a week but I thought it would have gotten easier as the year passed, but it's only gotten harder. I have to repeat my leaving cert Irish before I even get into the masters so it's a long journey and I don't wantto have to go through all that and then find its not for me.

retro:electro

Op I've been in this very position and its a very hard dynamic. You're not their actual teacher so it can be very hard to assert any authority over them and likewise you don't want to step on the actual teacher's toes. I would say to you though that if they get any hint that you feel uneasy or uncertain about what you're doing they will take that and run with it. Just try and be as confident as you can be. It's just once a week and it's excellent experience so try to make the best out of the situation.

Catari Jaguar

Hi, sorry about your experience. I know how it can feel. Teaching college chewed me up and spat me out, then I had a horrendous inspector for two years. I teach inner city kids, I've had absolute headcases, in junior infants! Like any job, there are good days and bad days but, really, your own class is nothing like teaching practice or observation.

Kids respond to the Alpha. Calm, cool, controlled. Practice a firm voice. There should be class rules that they can't argue with clearly visible on the wall. "X, what is our rule on talking out without asking?" "You have to put up your hand" "Yes, do that in future thanks." Brisk, move on.

You learn as you go along. With children you have to make a ton of mistakes before you find the balance of what works, trial and error, and once you know their personalities you know how to treat them and how to discipline. Hand on heart, I *adore* my job. I live to work, not vice versa. It's so rewarding, so fun, so much creativity and freedom and bags of love for my little misfits. I hate the summer holidays because I miss it so much I'm lost!

Please hang in there if it's what you want to do.