How I became a Teacher

Name: Sam Boal

Age: 24

Job: Teacher

1. What made you want to be a teacher?

“I done an internship at the media hub in Sunderland University and being a mentor to students was a part of the role I felt passionate about. It brought me so much joy.”

2. What do you enjoy the most about your job?

“Seeing light bulbs go off every day because of my teaching is the best feeling in the world. There is no better feeling than seeing a child be proud of themselves, and that’s a feeling I hope to feel more and more of.”

3. What qualifications did you need?

“There are different routes into teaching, but most result in an Honours in Education or a PGCE, both with QTS. A QTS is important to gain a teaching job in most schools, but it also allows you to teach outside of the UK.”

4. What does a typical day as a teacher look like?

“Every day is so different. Children are incredibly unpredictable, so I never know what the kids in my class are going to say or do next. I’m fairly certain that the majority of teachers you speak to will not be able to say that they’ve had a day where everything has gone to plan. For me, I usually arrive at school at about 7:30am, I make sure my resources are ready for the day and finish marking any books that I didn’t finish marking the previous day. When the children come in, which is usually about 8:40, they complete handwriting and grammar tasks. They do these every day to try to keep on top of the skills they have learnt, as well as improve on them. After that, we tend to do guided reading after that, which usually centres around a different text each week. The rest of the morning consist of Maths and English, with a short break time in the middle. After lunch, we usually do spellings, reading and then a foundation subject. This could be music, science, history, geography, or PE. The children leave at 3:20, and then is when I get most marking and preparation done for the next day. Staff meetings or training tends to happen once a week, and sometimes I support other members of staff in extracurricular activities. Usually, after a very busy day, I leave the school at about 5pm.”

5. What advice would you give to anyone who wants to be a teacher?

“I think it’s important to do plenty of research into the different routes into teaching. If teaching is something you feel passionate about, I would say to jump right in!”

6. Favourite magazine?

“Elle.”