The Reality of Being an ELA

Summary of topic: Don't be hard on yourself.

I realise the title of this sounds really negative, but its nothing major! I just wanted to be honest about the reality of this role and that it isn't always going to be positive. That being said, challenges are not always bad, they make you more resilient and stronger. 

Tiredness

I lead classes myself, which I did not expect from the title "assistant". The teachers are there to help but I did all the presenting and talking. You have to be happy and energetic as you teach kids, so doing this for a full day was really tiring.

Even though you get your 2 hour lunch break, I think the fact that it's so long tires you out even more. Maybe it's because you're still not in your comfort zone when you're in the staffroom. Don't get me wrong the teachers are lovely, but you do still feel a bit out of place, naturally. Especially since they speak to you in French your brain is working hard to think and process what they are saying.

Definitely bring a proper lunch and lots of things to keep you hydrated and energetic. You can be healthy on the days you dont work at school but definitely bring comfort and high energy food as you will need it!

I was exhausted every day after school, it does take it out of you. 

Travel

The starts are early. I had to take 2 forms of public transport because one of my schools was really far out which meant waking up at 6am!

This was 7am in winter. It was quite scary walking alone in the dark, try to keep to well lit streets.

Communication with Teachers

The teachers are all really nice and helpful. The thing is, they are really busy so sometimes they don't reply to your emails. I often sent a lesson plan to the teacher and they just didn't reply so on the day I just went with what I had planned. 

Make sure to keep a note of all your teachers and your schools. I had to coordinate with 10 different teachers in total between my two schools. 

Translation

During class, most of my teachers were great at translating things to kids. However, I did have some teachers who would go back to their desk and do marking while I taught. It was quite intimidating trying to explain things to children in English and the whole class staring blankly at you. Its okay to go ask the teacher if they can help, even if they seem occupied. Don't get stressed about it because they are there to help you! Remember if you're not a trained teacher, you shouldn't be responsible for everything.

Kids Behaviour

Unfortunately, the kids won't always be well behaved and listen to you. However, don't feel like you need to discipline them. That is the teachers job. If it does get out of control, the teacher should control the class.

In one of my classes 10 children had behavioural difficulties. A lot of the time we could only get through one thing and no one would answer my questions. 

Once in my CP class the teacher had to leave the classroom for a bit and just my luck, two of the children started fighting and shouting at each other. Thankfully I managed to calm the situation down but it was hard to manage at the time.

I also had a situation where I took small groups of my CM2 class alone to teach. This was supposed to give me more one on one time so that they learned better but it was so stressful. They didn't listen to me since their teacher wasn't around and I didn't get much respect. 

Things won't always go to plan

Sometimes I would spend ages planning something and the teacher decided to do something else or ended up taking over. At first I took it to heart as I thought it was something I did wrong. However, another teacher reassured me and said my plans were good it was just that teacher had a different way of doing things. I recommend you follow what the teacher wants because you are the assistant and it helps to keep a healthy working relationship!

Don't be disheartened by all of this. The positives definitely outweigh the negatives but I just wanted to prepare you for things that may be a bit more challenging x