Hello all,

Halfway through week 3 of teaching in Ireland and I’m only getting to grips with things on a basic level. As I trained in the UK, I always looked forward to teaching in Ireland because I’d been told there was “so much less paperwork, minimal planning and lower expectations”. Despite this, I’m feeling like an NQT all over again and this is why.

• I find the fortnightlies/monthlies too vague and struggle to understand what actually needs to be taught.
• I’ve never taught Irish before, so that’s taking some getting used to.
• I have never taught from text books before and find SESE topics boring and dated (from the text books).
• (Controversial opinion) I don’t think reading stations are as beneficial as whole class guided reading.

I’m writing this post in hope to share some tips and advice to anyone returning to Ireland, so that if you’re facing any of these issues, they can be avoided.

Why I find the fortnightlies/monthlies too vague

In the UK and Qatar (British Curriculum School), the expectation for planning was that it was detailed, differentiated and daily like the example below.

In my current job, I was shown how fortnightlies and monthlies should look here in Ireland and I just couldn’t piece together what should actually be taught. I know that’s just because I’m not used to that style of planning, but it has made me feel like an NQT again, staying up until 9pm daily trying to figure out what I’m teaching for the next day. As well as that, I have always struggled to teach off other’s plans and that’s just a personal problem I wish I could overcome.

What I did to get my head around the planning: The other 2nd class teacher and I divided up the planning and planned each subject on daily plans. It took some time at the weekend, however we both feel much more prepared and organized this week and lessons are running much more smoothly. It’s so much easier to glance at what you’re teaching the next day and adapt the plans to suit your class then.

How I have approached teaching Irish for the first time.

I’ve never taught Irish before, so that’s taking some getting used to. The ‘Abair Liom‘ program has been a god sent and has helped me to structure lessons, making them fun and purposeful. You can access the book and resources for free on Folens Online if you are employed in Ireland. All you need is your school’s roll number.

This program is filled with games, songs, comprehensions, posters, flash cards- you name it! Having it online means that the kids can get involved and interact with the lesson, like they would in any other subject. Personally, I would have been lost with the Abair Liom program and it’s giving me a comfort blanket for teaching Irish, while I get my head around other areas.

Furthermore, I invested in some games as Gaeilge from various teacher sellers on Teacher’s Pay Teachers- Class of Creativity to name one. This has brought more fun and confidence in speaking Irish in the classroom and it’s been money well spent in my opinion. Lastly, following Instagram accounts like Muinteoir Meg and Little Ms Fox have been very helpful for picking up phrases as Gaeilge and for interesting ways to teach it.

Interested in attending my webinar on an insight into the Irish Language Requirement? See more information here: https://rahoo.ie/events/an-insight-into-the-irish-language-requirement/

SESE text books are boring and dull

Maybe it’s the text books we use. Maybe it’s the fact I’ve never used text books before. But I am finding teaching SESE to be very dry and dull. I also struggle to use a text book for teaching. There’s not interaction, no research, no group work. SESE can bring such general knowledge and interest into daily lessons. Myself and the other 2nd class teacher have decided to ditch the books and cover the objectives in our own way.

That might seem like a lot of extra work, however it has not been too time consuming yet. We have taught the topics so far by using some of the below strategies:

• Scavenger hunts: children find out information about a topic through hunting for facts around the class/school.
• Create a fact file, using the chromebooks/iPads for research.
• Experiments (where possible) in Science.
• Making posters on sugar paper of topics covered.
• Debates: children discussing issues/topics and giving their opinion (this needs modeling first).
• Giving each group a topic to research and feedback/present their findings to the class.

I hope some of these ideas can be applied to your topics to give them more substance and excitement.

Not seeing the benefit of Reading stations.

This is down to personal preference and I know that. Having made the switch to whole class guided reading last year, I am struggling to revert back to teaching stations. I find:

1. Not all stations are helping children improve at their reading.
2. There’s less chance to engross children in a novel and discuss themes/vocab/expression/characters as it arises when they’re all at different stations. Yes this can be done at the end of the day, however to dive completely into a novel it needs to be a proper session/discussion.
3. Seems to put a cap on children’s reading ability (in my opinion).

I know some of you will read that and think I’m cracked! I can see how reading stations could be beneficial. Personally, I just saw so much more progress from using Whole Class Guided Reading last year and I’m hoping to trial it with my 2nd Class in October (with permission of course).

I have some free whole class guided reading plans on my store, I’ll link them here if you’d like to try it out in your class.

Whole Class Guided Reading: Lesson Plan

Whole Class Guided Reading: Inference

I also have some blog posts from last year on why and how I made the switch to Whole Class Guided Reading, plus the benefits I found:

Whole Class Guided Reading: Scratching the Surface and Making a Start

Whole Class Guided Reading: A Week Of

Teaching Essential Reading Skills Beyond the Words

Guided Reading: How and Why

Teaching Inference through Pictures

 

For anyone that feels like they’re juggling in work at the moment, it’s completely normal! It’s September still and Term One is always about finding your feet and making a start. To sum up, teaching in Ireland is not as easy as I was once told/believed. I hope some of these pointers have been useful for you. If you have anything you’d like to add that helped you, please leave a comment and let me know.

Best,