A member of my English department was at a meeting all day today, so I got to be her. I got to be an English teacher!
It's funny, but looking in on this profession while still a member of it shows me exactly how relentlessly tiring it really is, and how much of it is pupil behaviour management, not actual teaching. I had 3 scehduled lessons before lunch and one after (Year 12 do not come to lessons if their teacher is away) and for every class, I had to explain what I was actually doing in school these days. The pupils know me as an English teacher and now they are confused about my role, and consequently, they believe they do not have to behave in my presence. They are wrong.
I reminded them about good manners, asked them to avoid calling out, calling across the room, throwing things at each other, playing on their phones, playing on someone else's phone, drawing on tables, swinging dangerously on chairs, hitting each other with rulers; it was endless.
And it was exhausting. They were exhausting. I'm exhausted writing this now, just thinking about it. My head aches, my hands ache, my eyes ache. Even my eyelashes ache. I haven't taught a full day since July.
The same teacher is away at another meeting on Monday so I have to do it all over again. Best get some sleep in this weekend then.
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