Learning How to Teach in the UK

If you have me on Facebook, you may have noticed I started sharing wonderfully silly situations I've experienced in the school system here. I am not a great teacher, I still have so much to learn on this career journey, but I was getting good back home. I was getting requested back, I knew how to take attendance, I knew that if they had music I should be taking them to a classroom somewhere else in the school and I knew I could look at the timetable hanging on the wall to let me know what time I should be transitioning into the next lesson....

Well, if you ever want to mess with your confidence as a teacher, try moving to a new country.

Here's some differences between teaching back in Alberta and teaching in the United Kingdom that my teacher friends can enjoy and where my non-teacher friends can laugh at my mistakes. You're welcome.

1. Take their Lunch Order
What? This is such a weird step in my morning. After I've done the registration (NOT attendance) I have to go through a list and find out which students have brought a packed lunch, who's getting a cooked dinner, who's getting a Jacket Potatoe (I still don't know what this is) and so on and so forth. I'm pretty sure I forgot to even send it to the office one day but luckily the TA was on top of it.

2. They have Books for Every Subject
You know how your parents had to buy you those exercise books and duotangs and scribblers and as a teacher you always bought some extras to have on hand? Those don't exist here. Every school I have been to will have about six or seven coloured coded books for each child. Every class in the school will use the yellow book for English or the blue book for Topic. I really enjoy this aspect because you can clearly identify with books they need to be using for which subject.

3. They mark EVERYTHING
And you have to use specific colours for your marking... "Pink is for THINK"... oh man. I was unaware of this on my first day. The next day, when I went to the same school the Head Teacher told me I didn't mark anything.... I ended up staying an extra two hours that day to do all the marking from the day before as well as the marking from that day. Needless to say I walk around during the lesson with my green and pink pens now.

4. It's Head Teacher, not Principal
But you already knew this.

5. They Take Security and Safety very Seriously
Check out that alliteration... and I thought I was loosing my touch. Every school has an wrought iron fence around it with a gate entrance that is padlocked at night. Once you get through the gate and into the school, someone has to let you through the first doors. At the end of the day, you have to go to where the parents pick up your students, a parent will come up to you and tell you who their child is and then you call them forward.

6. There's no Bells and No One Puts Up a Timetable
I can not stress enough how stressful this is! I never know when they're suppose to be going out for play time or starting to pack up for lunch or when we go from music to assembly to English to Spanish.

7. It's Maths, not Math
Bet you didn't already know this

8. Religion Plays a Big Role Here
Back home, unless a school was in the Catholic system you didn't cross much in regards to religion studies. Here, I've encountered it in some way or other in every school I've been in. Now this is fine and dandy, but I'm not religious so it's been tough listening to what they're telling these children like "Gods the only one who will be there!" while I'm thinking "Mmmm partial credit..." It'll be interesting teaching a religion lesson. Stay tuned.

9. You don't realize How Many Words are Different
Here's just a few examples. Sweaters = Jumpers. Bathrooms = Toilets. Pants = Underwear. Trousers = Pants. Eraser = Rubber. Fries = Chips. Chips = Crisps. I'm constantly messing things up.

All in all it's been a fantastic experience so far. I really am grateful for the opportunity to explore teaching through a new lens and get a perspective on the profession I don't think I would have gained staying in Canada. I'm getting into the swing of things and learning new things every day.

- Vanessa xo