Primary School Teacher UK Q&A (PLANNING, MOTIVATION, ADVICE)

[@ellieee_louiseee]

I have social anxiety and the weird thing is, when I teach in front of the children, all of those anxious feelings seem to go away. I think their humour and the fun lessons we do makes me feel more comfortable. If you put me in front of a group of adults though, I wouldn't be able to cope.

[@Cherface.]

Although not to the same extent, I do relate to this. Children don't judge the way adults do!

[@ellieee_louiseee]

@@Cherface. That's exactly it!

[@ForTeachersChannel]

Thank you for sharing your experience with others here. I’m so happy to hear that when teaching you are able to put aside any negative thoughts you might normally have and focus on the humour and entertainment of teaching. I have so much admiration for you as an educator! I know others will find this comment reassuring too. Perhaps in the future you will find this confidence will extend to working with adults too. Good luck and thank you x

[@ForTeachersChannel]

Very true! And they don’t act happy then say something different behind your back - they’re much more direct. They either like the lesson or they don’t. I enjoy their transparency ☺️☺️

[@TeachersMakingTheBasicsFun]

Try observing and volunteering to see how you react. Anxiety happens to me when I don't feel prepared. When I'm teaching I am very prepared. Your day can be chaos but when you have some control it's ok to have crazy happening around you. (that's my take anyway) I would say if you feel like you should be a teacher then you should go for it.

[@TeachersMakingTheBasicsFun]

In the US sometimes you have to substitute teach "supply teaching" and then they can see how amazing you are. Teaching is the best and every day is different. It is tough but worth it... most days.

[@zahraenn]

I absolutely love your videos. I'm currently considering going into teaching with the intention of moving abroad eventually and your videos are so encouraging and useful. I've heard many horror stories from teachers so this is much needed. Looking forward to Future content!! ♥️

[@ForTeachersChannel]

When did you realise you wanted to become a school teacher? I hope you liked my story :') Please share your questions and suggestions down here. Enjoy the new video! Katie @ForTeachers

[@Sophie-cf9kt]

This was really helpful - thank you! I am a PGCE trainee on my final placement for the Spring term. I'm currently finding the planning very difficult. I feel that my course has not prepared us for planning and teaching and how to do effective planning. The teachers I work with (two form entry) just seem to know how to do it, when they say they're doing a topic next week they have a sequence of lessons in mind and I just don't! I find it so difficult to see progression and I don't have twinkl so finding it so time consuming making all my own powerpoints and own resources (3 as they're differentiated). I'm currently only still teaching 8 hours a week, 1 core a day per week and 3 foundation subjects. At the moment this workload is enough and on my next placement on my EYFS/KS1 placement (YR, Y1 and Y2 class) I will have to plan for 80% of the time for a mixed year group class! My question is how do I get better at planning and less time consuming! I can plan, but it takes me hours. I feel like I will never be able to relax as im constantly stressing about planning- I love the teaching but the planning gives me nightmares! Please help!

[@ForTeachersChannel]

Hi Sophie! Thank you for giving details about your placement. I believe others will find it extremely useful to see your personal experience. With planning, I honestly feel like it used to take me 1 hour + to plan a 1 hour lesson (and then an hour to mark after most likely) 😓 but I promise it gets easier. You will learn genre features and age expectations and it will start to flow a lot easier. When you have a class of your own you will get a feel for how long lessons will last and when to cut them shorter or extend them for two/ three days for consolidation. I know it might seem like this will never happen but I do believe it will! It might even take a couple of years of teaching to find a system but keep putting the effort in and it’ll happen. Even now (6 years in) I have days where my mind is empty and I can’t think of a way to plan a unit. Other days I have so many ideas I can’t fit them in the timeslots I have available! Try to take placement experience for what it is (experience) and look forward to the day you have your own class and systems in place. Stay in touch and let me know how you get on! X

[@emilybastable9471]

I knew I wanted to be a teacher (currently going into student teaching) was when I entered secondary school and realised just how amazing my primary school teachers were! My year 1 teacher was very formative in my life simply because she listened to each one of us and encouraged our gifts and talents. I just hope I can be the same ... :)

[@ForTeachersChannel]

Good luck with your journey! Please keep me posted on your progress. Your year 1 teacher would be very proud of you x

[@zaynab1801]

Could you do a video on planning as a trainee. I just want to know that I’m not the only one who found it so time Consuming!

[@ForTeachersChannel]

I’m working on it at the moment ☺️ Don’t sorry, everyone finds it very time consuming at the start. I do think you get quicker at it after a while. But I understand your frustration! What age are you working with?

[@Cherface.]

I would really appreciate a video on this too. I've been a TA for the last year where I've done occasional bits of planning for interventions and 1 or 2 lessons. It takes up so much time and I couldn't imagine planning every lesson for every day. I'm starting Schools Direct Teacher Training in September and the staff at my current school have warned me about the lack of work-life balance due to constant planning (and marking etc). While I'm still new to the career the idea of working constantly doesn't put me off, but I've heard about and seen teaching staff burn-outs... I can't help but worry!

[@beigelover95]

YESSS

[@beigelover95]

@@Cherface. I thought I could give my 2cents on this - I'm a pgce trainee but your worries are very valid. the planning takes away a lot of the fun from teaching but if you do it with pupose (to ensure every child learns something new and progresses) instead of a waste of time, then you'll find it easier. Also, if you mark work (or end up becoming a teacher), ensure that the children are reading through your feedback (I really dont know why most schools do not do this) so your marking was not in vain! :)

[@Cherface.]

@@beigelover95I do enjoy planning (from the bits I've done) as I love to be creative with lessons but I am concerned about time management and whether I'll be able to stay on top of everything. The headteacher of the school I'm at now has said she doesn't want staff using twinkl resources (as it isn't 'meaningful') which just adds to the workload. My CT has also explained that she finds it difficult to plan using certain curriculum resources (e.g. Inspire Maths) that are used school-wide when the format is clearly confusing the students and not getting the best out of them - she'd rather just teach it her way. Regarding marking - the system at my school pushes us to get marking done during the lesson (walking round and touch-marking in the margins as they are working). We haven't been given strategies on how to address anything that isn't marked during lesson and so me and CT use a little sticky note to alert children to the page that needs a correction doing - which is the only time students go back to any previous work. Corrections take up the most time and I don't feel they benefit the children in any way, it is extremely frustrating. We don't really give any written feedback as a school, we all follow a strict marking policy. Do your procedures differ? I have only worked in this one school full-time and so don't have much to compare it to.

[@ShadowRiderxx100]

I'm looking for an NQT position, having gained QTS last June. Can you do a video about Medium and Long Term planning? On placements, I never got the opportunity to plan anything like that and so I'm quietly terrified of the prospect in addition to not knowing how to get begin to attempt to plan one.

[@beigelover95]

I think the reason I struggled with lesson planning so much in my first plcaement was that it was a one fom entry school and I had to do everything from scratch (ppts, activity sheets etc.). twinkle and tes were amazing and helped me but I think having to doing this made the experience horrible for me and I dreaded the week ahead every weekend. It was a good learning experience though and I definitely now know how to manage my time better in the future (also never working in a one form again lol). by the way, did/do you plan on weekends and did you have to create the content like I did?

[@ForTeachersChannel]

Hello! Thank you for leaving a comment. Yes, I did have to make everything when I started teaching. I now use a mix of online resources and activities I have made (and saved) over time. I’m also finding that after 6 years I am more confident to teach without the aid of worksheets and pre set activities - I go with the flow much more! How are you finding placements so far? Which year groups have you worked with? Good luck with everything!

[@princessrockz1000]

Hi, can you do a video on how to plan, observe and do a pupil progress meeting at the end of block placement 3 for focus children? We have 3 focus children to observe and track the progress of.

[@ninaazaria1408]

amazing video! Super helpful as well for someone like me who is only starting my teaching 'journey' this summer :)

[@ForTeachersChannel]

Thank you so much! Please let me know what else I could make to better support you. Good luck with the journey. Are you hoping to work with older or younger students?

[@ninaazaria1408]

@@ForTeachersChannel I'll be teaching at a primary school in London as part of the Teach First programme! I'm doing my PGDE at the UCL institute of education alongside that :)

[@TeachersMakingTheBasicsFun]

Welcome to teaching. There's no other career that makes such a difference in the world. (At least that's what I think).

[@ninaazaria1408]

Teachers Making The Basics Fun thank you! ☺️

[@irinofrancisco7743]

What is the different between the primary school lesson and sinior hight school??

[@kasiab.9682]

Hi! Do you think that having an actual portfolio that you carry around for the interviews is sth useful and popular in the UK? I see it as a good presentation of what I have done in the classroom, how I write planning etc. but wouldn't want to look silly with a binder with me while nobody does it :D Thank you.

[@ForTeachersChannel]

I’ve been asked this a couple of times and I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer. I’ve never heard of anyone get penalised for bringing a file along to an interview. I believe I brought one for my first job interview actually! If you feel as though it would make it easier for you to organise your thoughts and present yourself then go for it. If you feel as though you would be paranoid of carrying it and reluctant to hand it over, maybe skip it. Completely up to you! If you do choose to take one, keep it simple and not a massive info dump of papers. Just some examples to summarise you as an educator. Good luck!

[@niketacheney9260]

I did human resources as a degree then I'm thinking of doing the year teaching training PCGE as a primary school teacher will having a HR degree affect me getting a job

[@Bornstunna0]

it shouldn’t, as long as you’re a qualified teacher you should be fine

[@djaz246]

Hey I am doing a teaching course right now however everyone keeps saying the pay is terrible and now I am regretting and scared. I tried searching online it says the pay is minimum £28k in inner london is this true? could you please give me information on the pay as a NQT in inner london thanks x

[@ForTeachersChannel]

Hello! I’ve made a video called should I become a primary school teacher which explains the teacher wage in and around London. It isn’t exactly a terrible wage but it isn’t extremely high either. Hopefully the video I’ve mentioned will give you the info you need! Have a nice week :)

[@forza223bowe5]

I always thought teachers were well paid?

[@KKKaTTT123]

In Italy where I am from a primary teacher gets about 21.000 Euros a year, you could get to 24.000 Euros after YEARS. How is 28.000 bad pay??? Ill take it anyday