Journal with a BT - Week 0

Key takeaways

• Reserve your last week of holiday to prepare for the year.

• Watch and copy the hacks used by experienced teachers.

• Helping others gives joy.

My learnings...

Just started school! My first time starting with a class since Day 1 actually... Starting the year with the full teacher load, really made me realise there is actually so much to prepare before school starts. Thankfully, I did manage to do them, and hopefully I helped some of my newly transferred colleagues along the way.

This school start really taught me so much about the many administrative task that a teacher has to do to prepare for the year. Let me share some of my roles and how I learnt I to prepare for them, so that next year will be easier for me, and I hope this would make it easier for you once you have more duties after passing your practicum!

1. Form teachership

   This is by far the most challenging of the responsibilities of a teacher. Your form class is really like a platoon that you are in charge of. It is your job to know them well and take care of them as you try to bond with them to create a cohesive unit. Some helpful tips which I learnt chatting with and just watching other teachers:

   a) Print out your class list. (Super helpful to know who is in your class)

   b) Create a secure form to collect student information on their contacts, emergency contact and any medical conditions / food restrictions. This information helps in creating a class whatsapp group, finding out which parent your student prefers you to call and allows you to check for any allergies or medical conditions to watch out for.

   c) Create a class Google Classroom. This is super helpful for disseminating information, especially if lesson materials are needed on Day 1.

   d) Look through your welcome and check in slides to ensure necessary information are in.

   e) Prepare a parent's letter to introduce yourself to your students' parents. I think it helps to build rapport early with our partners in education, and I think parents appreciate that the teacher makes the effort to reach out to let them know their child is in good hands and they know who is on the end of the line when they receive a call.

2. Level coordinator for Sec 1 LSS

   a) Create a level whatsapp group. This helps in communication.

   b) Get teachers to check if teacher allocation and enrollment is correct for each teaching group. This is useful so you know which teachers are teaching which group and the number of copies of resources to print per teaching group.

   c) Check through that SOW and resources are up easily accessible and up to date.

   d) Prepare lab booking forms early so that teachers can book the lab asap to give time for STEM instructors to prepare.

   e) Send in Week 1 materials during the last week of holiday. In my school, the printing lady works even during school holidays. I regretted not anticipating the influx of printing load when school starts, which result in the delay of printing of notes.

3. 2IC for science department program

   a) Familiarise with the SOW for the year.

   b) Convene a first meeting with the team to get everyone up to speed on the plans for the year.

4. Subject teacher

   This was quite interesting for me as I started to create systems to help myself in lesson planning which I will share about after refinements and trials.

   a) Create class Google Classroom, Whatsapp group and Padlet. This helps me in communication and sharing of e-resources with students.

   b) Check that the resources for the first chapter are ready.

5. CCA teacher

   Moved to a new CCA so there is not much to plan. But, if I were to continue from my previous CCA, here are some things I would note:

   a) Convene first meeting with team to update on plans for the year.

   b) Introduce the vendors/instructors/students to any new teachers in charge.

   c) Prepare students for Sec 1 CCA showcase and bonding activities for new members.

6. Committee member

   Moved to a new committee so there is not much to plan. But, here are some things I would note:

   a) Take note of first meeting with team for updates.

   b) Find out what is part of your work scope in the committee and brainstorm how you can make your work more efficient.

Hopefully this would be a helpful checklist for me next year :) While it can be stressful juggling so many responsibilities at a time, I think a new life mantra I acquired last year really helped me out.

Do something today that tomorrow you will thank you for

As part of applying this mantra, I created a google form which list out my goals as a checklist. Every evening, I make it a point to do a 2-min reflection to write down what are the things I did that day that moved me towards my goals for the year. That also serves as a reminder of what I did for the week when I do this Journal with a BT series.

the image for this post is created using chatgpt BUT I wrote the post myself :)