Well, that’s my developmental placement over with. You have no idea how much I’m going to miss the place! So far, I think that the hardest thing about teacher training is meeting loads of brilliant people, being welcomed into a team and developing relationships with young people, only to have to say goodbye after a few weeks.
Myself and the other trainee I was placed with had a brilliant final day though. We were asked to help out backstage at a school production and the kids were fantastic. I had goosebumps listening to them all singing at the end, and they were so professional all the way through. Interestingly, some of the young people who were onstage are kids who are notoriously difficult to settle down in class- I guess drama reaches out to some people in a way that other subjects just can’t. The best bit had to be when the kids decided to ‘cream-pie’ the Drama teacher as he thanked the audience for coming. It was all in good spirit and everyone went home with a bit of foam on them, including me!
So I’m about to enjoy a whole week off, after depriving myself of sleep to keep up with planning, preparation, making resources, marking, evaluating lessons, updating my files and everything else that goes with placement. Only trouble is, I can’t think of anything worse than having a week off. Teaching is hard work and nobody considering a career in it should think otherwise, but it isn’t half worth it! I’m taking a shed-load of new learning and some brilliant memories with me as I leave. Roll on next placement!