What it's like being a High School Teacher from Australia Part 1

Come with me for a week in the life of a High School Math Teacher from Australia. I talk about what it's like teaching in a high school, show footage of my classes, and discuss the ups and downs that come along with being a teacher. I show some behind the scenes footage, as well as some day-to-day clips of what life is like including extra-curricular activities, and lunch duties.
#teaching #education #weekinmylife
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[@bigblockboy0862]

Hey there Mr O’Donohue, I am a current student at SSHS, and I wanted to say that this is inspiring, as I might become a teacher when I get older, so thanks.

[@darkalligraph]

Hey, I just wanted to thank you, this was super insightful! I'm a student from Perth, who's perhaps considering becoming a teacher in the future. I think it's awesome that whilst you are a teacher, you also have the whole KZbin thing, gym, website etc. going on. As someone with many hobbies, and a KZbin channel of my own, it's good to see you definitely can maintain that. Thanks again, all the best!

[@markjodonohue]

Hey there, thanks for the kind words! I think teaching is an incredible job and if you're passionate about it I think it's a great career. It is a big job teaching full time and creating content, but if it can even help another single teacher it's all worth it.

[@miss.ari.and.hudson]

Here in 2024! Loved this video - I am currently studying to be primary teaching and this was a great video to calm my nerves as I get closer to my first prac! (only 80 days!!)

[@Rob-t7p]

I quit teaching maths this year because I hated the job. Two of my classes were so rude and poorly behaved,. Then there are meetings all the time, and you are always marking and doing paperwork. After 24 years I just had to get out and my stress levels are way lower, and I'm actually enjoying going to work. I didn't find it very rewarding, especially the last 4 years.

[@caravanlifenz]

I tutor maths for a job and I was thinking of becoming a maths teacher because both NZ and AU are so short of maths teachers. I was planning to enrol into teachers college next year, but here in NZ, they're mainly teaching Maori at teachers college these days instead of teaching classroom education, so I wouldn't be sufficiently prepared to be a maths teacher as they're hardly teaching any classroom management techniques now. Spending all my time at teachers college learning Maori isn't going to help me when a boy throws a chair across the classroom at another kid.

[@1881nityy]

I plan to study secondary education at UNSW as an international student. So this video really helps me to gain an intuitive sense of being a teacher in Australia. Thank you for making this video.

[@educatewithmissleonard]

Great video! Studying to become a high school teacher in Australia VIC myself, after having a break and am hoping to go back to uni again to complete LANTITE plus the GTPA (final year). Thankyou 😇

[@songyangzhou8523]

Hello Mark, first of all thank you for the video. I am trained as a high school social science teacher in Canada and have been teaching at international schools in China for several years. I am seriously looking into moving onto teach in Australia and wonder how the teaching see situation might different in different states in the country. so far I am most interested in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. Smaller cities like Gold Coast will be good too, just not too keen on the biggest cities. If you could provide any insights into how it’s like to be teachers in those places such as pay and saving potential and working environment, etc. it will be great. Thank you very much and best wishes to you and your students!

[@wiqz5682]

Just found your channel man, awesome. I just started my Bach of arts pathway to secondary teaching and then onto masters, going to be majoring in history and probably geography so I’m suuuper keen to teach those subjects. Love history and wanna share it with the bright young souls in nsw.

[@markjodonohue]

Thats awesome! History and Geo are such cool subjects, I wish I paid more attention during them when I was in high school haha (I even went to school in NSW). Good luck and let me know if there's anything you think I could make a video about that would help.

[@wiqz5682]

@@markjodonohue thank you so much! yea so interesting I loved them, I think what I am most stressed about is finding work so possibly a video on finding temp work and surviving through that phase of temps and moving into permanency.. am definitely stressing about work after my degree haha.

[@markjodonohue]

I reckon you'll find it surprisingly easy to get a job with your subject areas. In my school, English and HASS (SOSE in NSW?) are always in big demand. Honestly, I'm not the right person to make a video about that.. I got very lucky and got a job straight after my final prac, so never had to do supply work before my first contract.. Sorry I can't be of help in that regard! Totally empathise with your stress about getting a job though. On the bright side though, supply work pays really well and gives you much needed freedom from marking/reporting, obviously it comes with it's own downsides, but plenty of upside there. In any case my best advice is to put your best foot forward on your pracs, go above and beyond to help and support your supervising teacher, and demonstrate that you'd be a valuable member of their team. Basically, make it so you're asked if you can work there when you graduate (super hard work though, especially for no pay!!)

[@wiqz5682]

@@markjodonohue It's called HSIE in NSW but yea the same thing haha.. yeah I definitely will do that! It seems like that's the best way to go about it with my most pracs and work experience situations is just to work your ass off and make them love you. I will be very appreciative of any opportunity I can get my hands on as I know how hard they can be to come by. I won't be coming into the workforce until another 6.5-7 yrs though so a lot could change from now to then! Will just need to stay on top of what is happening in the community.

[@TeacherKellyTag]

Interesting to see how other teachers do it

[@Erica-pb7ei]

This is a very insightful video! I recently got my Teaching Registration and will be starting my career as a Secondary School Teacher in Melbourne this coming term! It’ll be very different cos I obtained my degree overseas. Looking forward to more vids!

[@markjodonohue]

Oh so exciting! Welcome to the team Erica! What country did you get your degree in? Let me know if there are any topics of interest specifically you have. Welcome to the channel :)

[@huyenmoon2206]

Thank you so much for your video!

[@lorenzlorenzo1975]

Just curious as what your opinion is on that thing they mask as "safe school program" they're trying to introduce in Australian schools, which is now well and truly within the Canadian school system?

[@puddinglion]

No part two?

[@kamalakinniyi152]

Quite impressive... I am a maths tutor too ....nice video

[@markjodonohue]

Oh cool! How long have you been tutoring for?

[@JG-ym5mo]

I’m a student in year 10 in Perth and I am thinking about becoming a HASS teacher Because I really enjoy the subject And the HASS teachers at my school are amazing! I was wondering, Do I have to do ATAR English To teach a subject that is slightly English based?

[@markjodonohue]

Hey JG! That's so awesome that you want to become a teacher so early in life! I'm not actually sure of the answer to your question, but I'd imagine you simply need an ATAR high enough for studying Education at Uni, but I think this requires some sort of General English or above? Not 100% sure sorry!

[@jackbyrne5394]

Hi mate, what’s the salary of a teacher like in Australia and then also how does it compare to standards of living. Is teaching in Australia something you would recommend?

[@markjodonohue]

Hey Jack! Our pay is actually really good. Our pay is available online to view if you look up Queensland teacher salary schedule you can find the various bands there. I'm on approx. $95k at my level. I can't speak of all of Australia, but the region I'm in is pretty great to teach in. Its more important to find a school with a supportive admin team though imo. That can really make a big difference when it comes to behaviour management.

[@jackbyrne5394]

@@markjodonohue thanks for the reply Mark, I’m doing my undergrad at the minute and was thinking of pursuing teaching postgrad. Always keen to hear from people in the field, as I’ve been thinking Australia is one of the places I would like to relocate to at some stage.

[@markjodonohue]

@@jackbyrne5394 Yeah mate would definitely recommend it. Not only for the great teaching conditions, but our lifestyle is pretty great!

[@rajnidhiman3568]

It doesn’t look like grade 11 maths. I learnt it in grade 6 or 7🙄😨

[@hereisdiki]

hi mark! I'm a student who studies English education (master's degree) in Indonesia. I'd like to ask if it's possible for a foreigner to be teaching English or any specific subject in secondary school in Australia even if they aren't a graduate from any university in Australia? if it makes sense lol...

[@markjodonohue]

Hi Hereisdiki! I’m not an expert on those matters, but I believe that as long as you have a qualification from a reputable university than you should be able to teach in Australia! Might be worth doing some research to double check though.

[@indisguiseofyou]

i really want to be a teacher in australia public high, so this video was a great taster to see what it's like !! having gone through US high, yr 9 math is SO EASY to us!! hahaha

[@markjodonohue]

Glad to hear it! Teaching in Australia is awesome, glad to hear you find the math easy :)

[@Giovanni-Learning-and-Stuff]

Awesome video!

[@wedg-wedg]

I had expanding brackets in the 5th lol

[@maxkennedy-q6k]

Hi Mark, cheers for your vid mate. I am interested in moving from the UK to Australia to teach, what is the best way of doing this or where can i get more info on this ? cheers

[@markjodonohue]

Hey there, I'm not very experienced in the exchange teacher program or VISAs for teachers or anything like that. If you're already at a school or in the education system, it would likely be best to contact your region/head office to see if they can give you more info. Otherwise, google is probably your best friend. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful!

[@aromalts-sj2ei]

Can u say.......... How to become teacher in Australia from India 🙏🏻

[@akarshikakerney1617]

Hii, it's a lovely vlog, I am from India and planning to do my masters in teaching fr Australia, are Indian teachers welcomed as high school teachers in Australia?

[@markjodonohue]

Hi Akar, yes of course! Passionate teachers of all nationalities are welcome. I'm unsure about the VISA process, but we're a very multicultural society so you'd be very welcome. Glad you liked the video :)

[@domcharles6052]

Hi mate, I’m a maths teacher in the uk, interesting to see how things are in aus. What’s a typical teaching timetable/schedule like over there?

[@markjodonohue]

Hey mate welcome to the channel! Well I can only speak from my own experience, but typically schools run from 8:30am to 3:00pm with approximately 4.5-5 hours of class time a day. Some schools do only 4 longer lessons (like mine, 70 mins each) but others do 8 shorter lessons of about 40 minutes. What’s it’s like in the UK?

[@domcharles6052]

@@markjodonohue ah nice, cheers for the reply mate, yeah I guess schools are similar here, mine is 6x50min lessons a day, in other schools some are 5x60min or as you say longer or shorter. For me out of 30 lessons a week I have about 25 lessons teaching, due to shortages cover teaching requirements can be quite demanding, I often get pulled to cover lessons, varies a bit by school no doubt. Student behaviour is a bit of a pain currently, how’s that in aus these days?

[@markjodonohue]

Mate it’s getting out of hand here as well. Relatively speaking my school had pretty good behaviour standards (despite being in a challenging zone/catchment) but even we’re seeing a big rise in behaviour issues. Do you get pulled to cover classes which reduces your non contact time? We’re lucky to have strict rules (government school) where we’re guaranteed our NCT (or get it paid back in later weeks). Are you private? Also feel free to join the discord (link in my channel page) where we can have a more informal chat about it all!

[@qwertyqwert2772]

❤

[@sarcasmo57]

I want to switch to maths.

[@matthewg8285]

Do they have calculus in their program there for years 11 and 12?

[@markjodonohue]

We sure do, but it’s opt-in so not all students do it.

[@AllieWilson-r4f]

I’m Allie

[@andrew_koala2974]

Every'one' Not Every'body' The emphasis is ion One Learn the difference Undertake an extensive reading program to educate yourself to a higher level. Answer the following Question: How many of YOU are there in existence on this earth ? Write an essay on the importance and significance of One. It's about eight lines of text. My youngest students age 8 completed the essay successfully. You will not be able to do the same - simply because academically they are more advanced than you. So get the point.

[@markjodonohue]

Sweet poem dude, needs more rhymes though.

[@Homer_Simpson248]

I can’t tell if your being mean or not

[@andrewspencer7539]

Your school is unrealistic compared to a lot of DOE schools

[@markjodonohue]

Which aspects do you find unrealistic?

[@levb.7338]

Can't believe you guys promote Rubgy there. Probably like half of those kids will get subconcussions, which lead to CTE if you have enough of them.

[@markjodonohue]

We love Rugby over here in Australia! If it helps you come to peace with it, we also take any concussion symptoms very seriously and there’s rigorous return to play protocol.

[@levb.7338]

​@@markjodonohue That's good, but these protocols are like a fart in the wind. CTE is (primarily) caused by subconcussive hits. In other words, you have a concussion, but without the obvious symptoms. You'll have one very time you get your bell rung, which in Rugby would be on a daily basis. Rugby leads the world in CTE cases (even surpassing wankee football and hockey). You can also get these in football, but they are quite rare since not all players use their head to hit the ball.

[@markjodonohue]

Yeah I definitely appreciate and share your concerns. I honestly don't know enough about the medicine aspect, all I know is what I'm told to do by the training we've received from the NRL. I'll definitely keep your comments in mind though over the next few years, it's going to be an interesting phase of the game I suspect.