This week has gone so quickly. I have to admit, I'm quite enjoying myself. It must be true what they say - a change is as good as a rest. I have floated about school, being useful, helpful, cheerful and purposeful, something I wouldn't have thought possible last week. But today I was a teacher again!
Being a teacher is usually a slog. Every day, it's a slog. I never saw it before, though, and I just accepted it as my lot. So much of it is pure drudgery. Getting through one hour after another with maybe the slightest hope that at the end of that hour, perhaps two or three of the pupils in my care would have made some progress.
But I worked with 5 pupils today. Not exactly one-to-one, but it might as well have been. I was able to devote my time equally to each of them in turn. Quietly. Calmly. Methodically. Instead of having 33 braying teens all clamouring at once for attention, I had 5 little stars who waited patiently for their turn. It makes a difference, you know. Of course it does - and anyone who says otherwise is seriously deluded.
Class sizes do matter. My 5 little stars completed more work today than my former Year 9s could manage in a week. Even though I had to juggle 5 different rates of progress, 5 different levels of ability, 5 different emotional profiles, 5 different styles of learning, I was able to simply because there were only 5 in the class.
I'm looking forward to my next session with them. I might actually make a difference here. Wouldn't that be novel!
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