Life of a Teacher

By: Tawonga Banda

Through completing my “Life of a Teacher” experience, I gained valuable insights that I will carry with me into my teaching career. This experience highlighted areas where I am strong, aspects I still need to develop, and what I can realistically expect when I begin teaching full time. It offered me a more authentic understanding of the daily responsibilities, pressures, and rewards that teachers experience beyond the classroom.

To gain meaningful exposure, I intentionally shadowed three different teachers. I prepared myself for these sessions by informing each teacher a week in advance that I would be shadowing them. Even before my scheduled observation days, I observed their teaching styles, classroom management skills, daily routines, and administrative responsibilities. These observations helped me prepare more effectively for the official shadowing days. Each teacher also met with me beforehand, sharing their timetable, lesson plans, and expectations so that I could familiarise myself with the content and classroom structure ahead of time.

With two of the teachers, we collaborated in planning the lessons, which resulted in a fusion of their teaching style and my own. Throughout the planning process, I constantly checked in with them, especially when adjusting resources, restructuring lesson phases, or modifying assessments, to ensure that my approach remained aligned with their teaching philosophies and classroom expectations. I also managed my workload by spreading out my three “Life of a Teacher” days across both teaching blocks. Completing one in Block 1 and the remaining two in Block 2 prevented me from feeling overwhelmed and allowed me to absorb more from each experience.

I believe I performed administrative duties more effectively during Block 1 compared to Block 2. In Term 2, there was less administrative work required, apart from taking the register and managing tuckshop orders. Block 2 was far more demanding because I was frequently assigned as a substitute teacher, had my own lessons to teach, and was completing my social action project. Although I still managed to complete the necessary administrative tasks, I could not perform them to the same level of excellence as in Block 1. There were also administrative tasks that I could not perform, such as curriculum coverage and uploading marks onto the system, because one of the days involved shadowing the HOD, and these duties involved sensitive and information.

One of the activities I found most challenging was teaching content using another teacher’s lesson plan. I prefer personalising lessons, adding my own touch, and tailoring the content to the learners’ needs and interests. I overcame this challenge by collaborating with the teachers to create hybrid lesson plans that incorporated both my style and theirs. This approach helped me develop confidence in my ability to adapt lessons while still respecting the original teacher’s framework. However, on one of the days, I was not able to make such adjustments because my primary responsibility was to assist learners with corrections and guide the Grade 7s with their English Home Language poster designs and research reports. Even so, I remained engaged and ensured that I approached these tasks creatively and effectively.

Overall, this experience has made me feel ready to enter the profession as a beginner teacher. I have learned how to pace content effectively based on learners’ needs, gained a deeper understanding of how learners learn, strengthened my literacy and numeracy skills, and significantly improved my IT skills this year. I now have a stronger awareness of diversity in the classroom, the ability to identify social problems affecting learners, and the competence to assess learners accurately according to their levels and needs. My work ethic has grown, and I have learned the importance of consistent reflection, which has been a major part of my development this year. Despite this growth, I recognise that I still need to deepen my content knowledge in English Home Language, particularly in poetry, as well as Afrikaans First Additional Language.

My exit-level outcomes, as evaluated by my mentor teacher, indicate that I am performing at a distinguished level in all areas, including professionalism, teaching and learning, and pedagogical and curriculum knowledge. This is a significant contrast to my initial self-evaluation, where I scored myself at level 3 (competent) because I lacked confidence and had not yet developed many of the skills I now possess. Seeing this growth has been reassuring and has strengthened my belief in my ability to be an effective teacher.

Overall, the “Life of a Teacher” experience was enriching, eye-opening, and a meaningful preparation for the teaching profession. It has given me a realistic understanding of the responsibilities of a teacher, increased my confidence, and affirmed that I am entering a career I am passionate about.