This post is in our series What’s it like to be…, giving a glimpse into the realities of certain jobs. Ever wondered what someone who works in marketing actually does all day? What are the lesser-known qualities you need to work in finance? What unexpected surprises does being a teacher hold? This series is here to help answer these questions!
In this post we’re having a chat with Hollie, a Sixth Form Teacher.
What job do you do?
I am a teacher! I teach A-Level Psychology (sixth form, 16-18 year olds). I have been a teacher for 5 years, and I really love it!
How did you end up in that role?
My mum! She always thought I would make a great teacher, and she has this incredible talent of planting (psychological) seeds, and watching them grow! She would drop hints and make suggestions, send me articles about teaching and massage my ego by telling me how good I am with young people, and how creative I am! Well, I fell for it, hook, line and sinker, and applied to do my PGCE. You’d think, being a psychologist, that I would be better able to resist such flattery and manipulation!
But on a serious note, my degree was in Psychology and I really passionately love the subject, so inspiring the minds of young people, and helping them fall in love with Psychology too, was a no-brainer. I completed my PGCE age 29, having sufficiently experienced the world; travel, office job in London, festivals and fun, it was time to invest myself in something more meaningful.
What's your general working day like?
I arrive at school super early as I am more efficient in the morning. Annoyingly, I have a friendly face and a permanent smile, and often the cleaners and caretaker spend ages chatting away to me, I’m too polite to tell them I’m busy, so I end up spending a lot of my early morning in conversation! We have assembly/ staff briefing/ form time at 8.30 and then lessons begin.
I pride myself on delivering ‘fun’ and ‘engaging’ lessons (although I hate those adjectives!) Some of my favourite lessons have included building neurons out of sweets, making pill boxes to describe drug treatments, role playing relationship breakdown and infant-baby attachments, sampling using smarties, correlations using chocolate and shower cap brains!
We squeeze in a break-time, lunch-time and Psychology Club, tea and lunch in the staff room, meetings after school, endless banter with the students and there is rarely time for anything else. But of course, there is always marking and planning to be done! The school day is a manic one, but I thrive on the fast pace, I love the unpredictability of each day, and I really love the interactions with all of the students I teach. That really is what makes my job special and amazing.
Is there anything you do in your job that you never expected you'd be doing?
When a cohort leaves me at the end of two years, I make amusing leavers cards with psychology memes, the kind of ‘dad’ jokes that only a psychologist would understand! I make psychology keyrings, I fill little bags with sweets and token gifts with a little card to explain each gift (like an eraser, because we all make mistakes along the way, but it is OK to go back and fix them and learn from them!)
What I’m trying to say is, before becoming a teacher, I didn’t realise how completely invested I would become in every individual I teach, how much I would be rooting for them, supporting them, wanting their success and feeling their exam nerves with them! I didn’t realise how fond I would become of my classes, and how I’d miss them when they left. That was the unexpected for me.
I also didn’t expect to become an emotional wreck every time a student thanked me for inspiring them, for being the best teacher they ever had, for making them fall in love with Psychology and want to study it at university and beyond… the little messages left on my whiteboard, in cards and in emails. I have kept them all! Little reminders, if I’m having a bad day, of why I do what I do, and why I love what I do!
Is there anything you thought you'd be doing but you don't?
Telling students off! It’s not really in my nature, and I was worried I would be terrible at it! But luckily, I really haven’t ever had to. Perhaps because I only teach sixth form? Perhaps because they have chosen my subject and haven’t been forced into it? I’m not sure why it is, but I hope I don’t have to do any telling off any time soon!
Are there any qualities that you didn't realise you'd need for this job?
Sheer determination, resilience and grit. My first year of teaching was hard. The planning, the marking, the nerves. Teaching a second subject I had never studied, having very little support. I was extremely stressed, and was working 17-hour days, and only now can I look back and admire myself for persevering and sticking with it. Not every teacher has this same experience, but I put myself under a lot of pressure. Nothing has ever felt as good as my first results day though!
Any words of wisdom for someone thinking of becoming a teacher?
Do it! It’s so rewarding, it’s such fun, it’s just brilliant!
Every year gets easier. The first year can feel like hell, but every year gets easier and better. Once you have planned all your lessons and you have absolute confidence in the specification and exam skills, you can really enjoy teaching.
Get some life experience first! Teaching is hard work! Also, you don’t want to find yourself at the same pub or festival as your students, so get that out of your system first! The students love to hear about the countries I have been to and the festivals and bands I have enjoyed, it makes you human and relatable.
Teach something you truly love – they know! They can spot a ‘fake’ a mile off, but love the teachers who love their subject!
Oh, and of course, the holidays are GREAT!