Five lessons I’ve learned from five years of teaching

Posted on by J.J. Hamilton

Well, that’s it, isn’t it? Summer’s over and done with. We’ve been on our adventures throughout a whole term’s worth of time off, have done our preparations for the next week back, and are raring and waiting to hit the ground running with another great year of teaching.

I’ve been on this circuit for five years now. I trained to teach in 2019 and completed my NQT (or ECT, as it’s now called) year in 2020. That year alone taught me so much about what it means to be a teacher, and I managed to narrow it down to 50 when I shared my findings in this post.

In the meantime, I’ve focused my efforts on the digital side of teaching, alongside attempting to perfect the craft of Form Tutor Extraordinaire, and have documented my experiences of both. 

Now that we’re five years on, though, what more have I learned? What are my five key takeaways about the profession?

The Myth of the Perfect Lesson Plan

Much like how there really is no such thing as ‘motivation’, the perfect lesson plan is also a myth. I started my career meticulously crafting every minute of every single lesson that I taught. This wasn’t just a Me Thing; it was encouraged by my University Tutor. When I joined my first school as a qualified teacher, the reigns were loosened, and I no longer had to write any formal lesson plans.

I don’t think it would be realistic to overplan in a full-time teaching job, anyway. When you’re training to teach, your timetable is much smaller to allow for more meticulous planning. It’s supposed to give you the scope to plan for the unplannable and anticipate as much as possible.

As you progress through the ranks of teaching, you’ll quickly find that you have less and less time. It’s less about trying to craft the perfect lesson and, actually, the best teaching will often happen when you’re flexible. You will absolutely need to deliver well-planned lessons, but that doesn’t mean that you should be immovable in your delivery of them. The very best teachers will know to adapt their plans if something’s not working. I’ve had to change my plans on the fly many times – sometimes many times within the same 50-minute block, if students aren’t ready to move on.

By shifting your attention from the perfect lesson plan onto adaptive teaching, you’ll quickly reduce your daily work and stress along with it. Interested in more ways to combat stress at work? Check out my recipe for better work-life balance here.

The importance of the unscripted

Just as we can’t plan the perfect lesson, we also can’t plan every moment of our lessons. Sometimes, the best memories that you’ll make will happen in a totally unexpected fashion. My favourite moments have been when I’ve unknowingly had a huge impact on a student’s life, and they bring something in to show their gratitude – whether it’s a small gift, a card, or even a conversation after class.

To teachers, these human connections are far more important than anything in our curricula.

Hopefully less texting takes place in your classroom

Finding my work-life balance

This one’s a huge struggle for many teachers – myself included. In my first year on the job, I was working 7 days a week. That wasn’t because of where I work, but because of my experience (or lack thereof). From a mixture of dealing with the uncertainty of everything that happened in 2020 to not always knowing the best way to deliver a lesson, I spent countless hours trying my best to fit as much work as possible into my waking hours.

As a result, I’d be pushing marking into the weekends or into the cold hours after school ended in November and December, during my time, rather than work time. In my second year of teaching as a fully qualified teacher, I shifted that to 1 day at the weekend – usually on a Sunday. I’d designate a specific room in my house, organise my workspace, and get on with it.

Now, I’m so good at managing my time during the week that I can also fit in an after school club, while having to very rarely work weekends – and when I do, it’s only during our busiest marking seasons. The beauty of teaching is that you can manage your workload in whichever way works best for you. For me, that usually means getting in early, leaving later than others, but then keeping the weekends for myself. As a result, I also have time to go climbing, play video games, and produce weekly content for this blog.

The Power of Asking for Help

It’s no secret that many teachers feel the pressure to be perfect. We believe that we should have all of the answers, but this really is not necessary. Collaboration is key to success in the profession, and the most that I’ve ever learned has been from interacting with and working hard alongside my colleagues. Whether it’s ideas for a new way to deliver a stale lesson or to get someone to pop their head into my room and offer advice on how I’m teaching, all it takes is asking someone you trust for a helping hand.

And, you know what? That person could be a veteran teacher, but it doesn’t have to be. There have been countless times when I’ve asked colleagues who started at the same time that I did for their advice on managing tricky behaviour. There have been times when I’ve lent support to a cover supervisor or a pastoral lead, which aren’t fields that I’m an expert in. There have also been times when I’ve sat down with colleagues to speak with parents or other stakeholders collaboratively, if discussing a tricky situation, and have grown my own skills in these areas.

It’s all about humility here. Recognise your strengths; recognise your weaknesses. Use them to empower the entire community in your school.

What does success mean to you?

In my first year, success meant perfect exam scores and a quiet classroom. Then it meant being in the classroom to teach full stop, despite teaching from home having its perks. 

Then, in my second year, it meant guiding my first GCSE class, single-handedly, to the finish line, and taking on full responsibility for their successes and failures.

My third year was all about learning to stay positive in the face of adversity.

Four and five years in, I’ve attributed success to how I’ve worked with my colleagues. This year? I’ve got a new challenge: running a department as the new Head of History. More on that later.

Your definition of success will change as you progress through this profession, and that’s okay. Take a second at the start of the new term, wherever you are in your career, and take a long, deep breath. 

What does success mean to you?

Then, run with it, don’t beat yourself up as you face any adversities, and try your best.

That’s all you can do.

Are you teaching, or hoping to train soon? Let me know in the comments about your successes last year, or what you’re hoping to achieve in the years to come.

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