WOW. I cannot believe it has been over 2 weeks since I made the big move to England....on one hand it feels like it was just yesterday but on the other I feel like I have been here for a year.
I spent most of this week with the federation I will working for that consists of several secondary and several primary schools. We did some training programs and I got my teaching schedule!
The UK education system is very different than the education in Ontario. For my non-teacher followers, in Ontario in a standard public school they run on semesters. Which means the school year is divided into two and student take "x" classes for the first half and a different set of "x" for the second half. Most public schools have 4-5 classes a day in each semester and it is the same classes everyday. On average, most Ontario teachers only have 3-4 classes a day (with one being a "prep" period) and those classes happen every day so they are only preparing for 3-4 classes a semester. The UK is extremely different. I have 12 different classes and within this 12 I see some of them more than once a week. The school year is not in semesters but in terms so the students have all the same classes all year long. Their schedule is based on a Monday-Friday schedule, where every Monday they have the same classes, every Tuesday they have the same classes, etc. Based on how many hours their courses require them to complete they may have the same class 2-3 times a week.
Overall I have 9 History classes ranging from Years 7-11 (this is equivalent to Grades 7-11 in Ontario), 1 Year 8 Drama, 1 Year 7 Religions and 1 Year 7 Social Morals class. Social Morals has been described to me as a class to teach students to cross the street, etc. I am hoping it is more interesting than just this :) Originally I had ZERO drama courses and with drama being my passion I was obviously a little demoralized (also the concept of teaching and prepping for 10 different history courses was overwhelming). However, the school I work for is amazing and when they realized that I had no drama courses, they worked their magic and secured me 1 hour a week of drama. It may not be a lot, but it is better than nothing and keeps my foot in the door of the Performing Arts department.
I also met with head of History at my school and he gave me so much information on how the History courses are laid out. Year 7 History covers Normas, Medieval Times, Tudors, Stuarts, Medicine and Growth of the British Empire. Year 8 covers Industrial Revolution, Jack the Ripper (Thank you Modern British History at Trent University for allowing me to write a 25 page single spaced essay on Jack the Ripper...I'm an expert), WWI, WWII, Slave Trade and Terrorism. The Year 9-11 is confusing from an Ontario perspective. Essentially they are courses that lead the students to writing standardized exams in the subject. Students can be enrolled in a 2 year or 1 year track program where they cover Russia, Germany and US history (selected time periods from both) over the program. At the end they write their examinations. This probably sounds overwhelming to any Ontario teacher, but after a few days I feel better about it all. Additionally, for at least all my Year 7 and 8s, my lessons have already been pre-planned up until Christmas holidays. So the preparation work load will be much more easy to handle than previously expected.
On a bigger plus side, the History department is planning some amazing trips including the Jack the Ripper tour of London, Tower of London tour, and going to France to see the Battlefields and D-Day beaches!
I officially start teaching next week. Tuesday is a Professional Development day and Wednesday is a Year 7 Introduction Day. Thursday is the first day that I will have students in my classroom and officially teaching! I am hoping to get to the school on Monday and decorate my classroom/set it up how I want it to be. I will post pictures of it all completed next Sunday!
I am heading off to Brighton (I think) today to do some touring of other areas in England before the insanity of school hits!
No comments:
Post a Comment