What an interesting first week teaching remote this has been! I had many preconceptions, both through excessive reading and through my previous experience volunteering remote. I realised quickly the preconceptions that were true for my year 9 class or not! Yes, many of the students were lower literacy, but not all. I made the assumption that this would mean that students would need extra time to complete tasks. Which is true, but I failed to take into account the extremely low attention span of some of my students.
Another surprise was the intense mood swings. I knew that I might not understand all the factors contributing to student mood in the classroom, including when they spoke in language, made signals to each other or underlying tensions brought into the classroom from outside issues. However, I didn’t know about the impact that trauma has on students ability to maintain their mood or express their emotions in a socially acceptable way. I was aware of some of the impacts of feotal alcohol syndrom, but not that it can have emotional impacts on students that appear otherwise ‘normal’.
Another surprise was the way that my school’s timetable was arranged. I have been extremely fortunate with some extra DOTT time due to extra funding to this particular school that will allow us to work individually with students, complete assessment for forward plan for individual students. However, I have been allocated a two hour and forty minute block between recess and lunch to teach English and Math. This has proven to be a challenge, especially with afore mentioned low attention spans.
Most staff have been willing to help and really supportive. It has been difficult with three out of six teaching staff in the high school being new to the school including our area leader. The three other staff had only been here for a year or less before that and are all graduates. Think we are just still finding our routines and place in the team.
Interestingly, there is a shortage of education assistants (EAs) in the school. With many funded students turning up, on top of the challenge attracting EAs without anywhere near the same incentives of teachers, I have repeatedly found myself with a student with down-syndrome in my class without support in addition to 12+ indigenous students. I realise that 12 students sounds like a dream for other mainstream teachers, but it is amazing how demanding just 12 students has been. I do not envy the 7/8 teacher for her classes of 25+ each day. Several teacher’s partners or relatives have been recruited to work as EAs in the school, however there is still a shortage. The lovely male EA who manages to scrap some time to work in my class, has no EA training demonstrating how desperate the school is to attract people to work in the role.
On another note, the landscape around this remote community is stunning. I love watching the light play with the mountains in the distance creating amazing displays of light and shade. I have enjoyed some photography trips along a tourist track where hills with shards of rock stick out in the stark landscape. I am still looking forward to going to see the local pools, springs and rivers.
The allocated GROH housing has been comfortable and the furniture I was allocated is brand new. The GROH housing office in town, while friendly, have been terribly unorganised. I have not received a condition report for the house even after repeated visits to the office. However, I did not all the issues I had and submitted that instead.
Personally, I have been exhausted every day! On two of the days I was questioning my teaching ability after an extremely intense day. I was emotionally, mentally and physically exhausted but then had to find the energy to plan for the next day to make it better and work on the issues of the day before. And yet other days I have experienced success and enjoyed the day.